Some Nintendo Switch 2 owners are reporting that their Nintendo Switch 2 Joy-Cons are disconnecting over and over again. However, they’ve also found an easy fix: just use the Nintendo Switch 2 official HDMI cable.
This comes from a number of Reddit posts, where users are reporting Nintendo Switch 2 Joy-Cons disconnecting randomly, sometimes every few minutes. Our own tech editor, Bo Moore, has also suffered from this issue beginning immediately after unboxing and hooking up his brand new Nintendo Switch 2, saying his console would lose connection with the Joy-Cons every few seconds.
But it turns out, the solution was a simple one: just use the HDMI cable that comes with the Nintendo Switch 2, rather than whatever other HDMI cable you happen to have lying around.
For some this might be obvious, but it sounds like a number of users have been unhooking their old Nintendo Switch 1’s from their TVs, but not swapping out the cables under the assumption that the old ones would work. Plugging in the Nintendo Switch 2 to the old Nintendo Switch 1 cables seems like it should be fine, but it turns out that it’s not. This is because the Nintendo Switch 1 HDMI is not an “ultra high speed” HDMI cable, while the Nintendo Switch 2 cable is. So if for some reason you don’t want to use the cable that came with your Switch 2, any other ultra high speed HDMI should work instead.
Our tech editor confirmed that using the new Nintendo Switch 2 HDMI cable solved the problem for him, as it seems to have solved it for several other users online.
Nintendo is also advising people of the same via its official support website:
Confirm that you’re using an “Ultra High Speed” HDMI cable to connect the dock to the TV. If it’s not Ultra High Speed, your console won’t perform as expected when docked.
- If you’re using a different cable than the one that came with the console, it should have printed on the cable that it’s “Ultra High Speed.”
- The HDMI cable that came with the Nintendo Switch is not “Ultra High Speed” and should not be used with the Nintendo Switch 2 dock.
Generally it’s a pretty good idea to use the included cables and accessories with any piece of technology, but it’s a good reminder too that if for some reason you need to replace the Nintendo Switch 2 HDMI cable, you’ll need a special one if you want to play with functioning Joy-Con controllers.
For all the accessories not included in the box with the Nintendo Switch 2, check out our guide to the best Nintendo Switch 2 accessories available now, or take a look at our in-depth guides to the best Nintendo Switch 2 controllers and headsets.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to [email protected].
