How to fix your Nintendo Switch if Bluetooth interrupted its wake-up call

Did yesterday’s surprise Nintendo Switch Bluetooth audio update make your handheld worse instead of better? This is what happened to me: instead of inviting me into the magical world of wireless audio, it repeatedly failed to detect my headphones and connect to them reliably.

Worse, it suddenly took over 30 seconds to wake my Switch from sleep! It’s a huge pain in the ass, given that one of the Switch’s greatest strengths is how instantly you can get back into a game.

But after a whole bunch of testing, I think I know what’s going on – and if you see the same, a complete Switch shutdown seems to offer a partial solution.

It’s not quite as simple, however, so read on for the details.

The Nintendo Switch Bluetooth pairing problem

To pair a Bluetooth headset, you must go to System settings, scroll to Bluetooth audio, set your Bluetooth device to pairing mode, tap Pair the device on your Switch, then select your device once it appears on the Switch screen.

If it pairs, you’re ready to go! If it fails because your device was not ready to pair, you strength always be well. Just put it back into pairing mode and press the button Search again button on your Switch.

Problem # 1. But if he doesn’t pair correctly – if your switch think it has paired, if your headset is flashing as if paired, but not routing audio and appearing on your Switch screen as a paired headset – you might be in a world of injuries. The Switch process does not not gracefully fail, and you may encounter all kinds of error messages afterwards.

After this point, my Switch sometimes won’t even bother to continue searching for Bluetooth devices. A “Cannot find Bluetooth audio devices” message will appear when I press the search button.

Problem # 2. And if you are having a phantom pairing issue, you may also have an issue with the Switch coming out of sleep mode as it looks like the Switch is trying to trigger Bluetooth audio. before it wakes up the screen and the controllers.

This is what the Nintendo Switch looks like without any paired or memorized Bluetooth audio devices. It wakes up pretty quickly, right?

But once I pair a headset with the Switch, it’s no longer instant: the screen takes a little longer to turn on, and it doesn’t immediately recognize my button presses that allow me to unlock the system.

Now here’s what it looks like when the Switch fails to pair properly with a headset on hold:

(Why yes, my eyes to do look creepy when bored, thanks for noticing.)

How to partially fix Nintendo Switch Bluetooth

You need to turn off the Switch completely, and I mean turn it off completely. I restarted it a few times, and it didn’t seem to help.

• Press the power button and wait as long as it takes for your screen to turn on
• Unpair and forget all bluetooth devices
• Hold down the power button for four seconds until you see Power Options
• Faucet Power Options then hit Switch off
• Wait a moment, then turn your Switch back on

Sometimes it was enough to turn off my Switch to resolve my phantom pairing issue (where I saw a 10-30 second delay when waking up the system) and allow me to start pairing the Bluetooth headsets again. I was able to pair my Wyze Buds Pro on the first try, a headset that failed to connect multiple times last night.

But other times it still wouldn’t make an initial pair – and as soon as I saw that “Cannot find Bluetooth audio devices” message, my Switch would take a long time to wake up. Your mileage may vary: in case it matters, I’m using version 2 of the original Switch, the one that added more battery life.

And if you’re trying to restore the full wake-up speed the Switch is normally known for, you’ll also have to unpair and forget about all Bluetooth devices. before you come to a complete stop. When I just unlinked a bluetooth headset but left it in the bluetooth menu, I always saw the little delay. Same thing if I turn off first, then unpaired and then forgot the headphones.

I’m assuming the Switch leaves its bluetooth audio feature on whenever it thinks you’re going to use it, but you can force it by removing those devices and throwing a complete shutdown.

We asked Nintendo if these are known issues and if we can expect fixes in a future firmware update. We’ll let you know what we hear.