Xbox 360 Controller Not Connecting / Sync Issues - Top 25 Tips Guide!

EXPAND THIS DESCRIPTION FOR A LIST OF REASONS...
1. Always Power On your XBox with the X button on the controller!
2. RF Channel Interference - press the two 'communication' buttons (controller and xbox front panel) together, try this at least x3 times to test the alternative RF channel frequencies
3. Controller Battery Pack failure - replace battery pack
4. Metal objects near Sensor area - remove to fix
5. USB devices draining power - remove to fix
6. Sensor Cover Dirty - clean with soft cloth and polish
7. DVD Drive causing Earthing problems - eject DVD drive, waggle, insert a different game, close DVD drive
8. Washing Machines, Microwaves, Mobiles, Wi-Fi, Ipads - switch off and remove
9. Kinks or Coils in Wired leads- straighten all leads
10. Front USB ports not working for controller - use rear USB port
11. Dirt Inside Sensor Bay - remove front cover and blow strongly into the hole
12. Controller too far away - bring closer to Sensor, try with front cover off
13. Front Edge Earthing Problem - apply pressure to top and bottom on front of unit
14. Leads not connected securely - push in all leads
15. HDD causing RF or Earthing probs - push HDD,remove cover, remove HDD
16. Plastic sides causing earthing connection problems - remove plasic sides
17. Shielding Plates not earthing correctly - bridge shielding plates with a wire
18. Front Circuit Board Dry Joints - pull forward, use pencil eraser to fix
19. Sensor Face Dirty - use a lint-free cloth, blow away dust
20. Sensor or Caps faulty - push down all caps, replace if necessary
21. Shielding Plate Screws not perfect - remove some screws, quarter turn loose.
22. Lower Plastic Housing causing issues - remove lower plastic housing
23. Unknown reasons - some machines like to be on their sides!
24. Unknown reasons - some machines like to be upside-down!
25. Faulty Controller - replace with new one (usually never the problem!)
Ok, so you've tried everything else, now try these - in order - and something will eventually work. Pin down the issue and then correct it. Sometimes one trick will work for six months or so, like Bridging the Shielding Plates, or ejecting the DVD drive on boot, so it is important to find the solution which works for you and your machine independently. As said above, always turn on your machine with the 'X' button on the controller, so that the link to your machine is established during Power-On. If the machine responds to the 'X' button but still fails to connect, at least you know the wired/wireless system is working and that the machine is not connecting for a different reason. Most of the time, maybe 70%, I'd say Earthing or Shielding are the two main issues, so sometimes pushing the xbox in various places might have an effect.
It has taken me two years to find all the issues which were causing my machine to drop the signal - and I know it is late in the 360 life-cycle, so please forgive the lateness of this video. Hope it helps someone. :)

[@hanacharyislost5047]

BRUH SIX YEARS LATER AND IM HERE TO SAY TTTHHHAANNKK YYYOOOUUU

[@nightwolf7607]

GUESS WHAT IM STILL HERE TOO

[@Sprangatang]

Mine is wireless and syncing won’t work so hopefully I find a fix

[@justicejones6789]

@@Sprangatang mine doesn't even have the connection button

[@chernobylsurvivor2398]

Did not help me ;(

[@williamstanbridge3569]

8 years later thanks you 🔙🔛🔝

[@JessicaMButler]

Thank you for sharing this. In our case, it turned out to be an earthing issue. Your video helped us figure out the problem. Thank you again. And don't worry about the carpet. I'm not sure what carpet some folks were expecting to see, but it certainly didn't seem to be the focal point or the purpose of the video, lol. Thank you again for your time.

[@ibequikscopin2814]

I’m here 7 years later and I approve this meesage

[@johnxdjtheway1278]

@Gatlin Scott stop spamming

[@johnxdjtheway1278]

@Maverick Jesse stop spamming

[@bakerbryce77]

This is the very first CZcams video I have watched that actually helps well done man

[@slomofome14]

1st suggestion worked. You da man, saved our night!
1st time playing video games in 12 years

[@helenamare7344]

OMG!!!!I just did what you suggested and fixed my son's controller that was out long time ago.THANK YOU SO MUCH.

[@slipdunk2]

However, good job on the video. I do agree that the cause of these issues is usually electrical interference, or a short of some sort, either somewhere in the grounding, or in the actual RF/ring of light circuit board itself. I have had many controllers/units that simply would NOT connect wirelessly, thankfully as soon as the "play and charge" cable is connected, the controller will re-sync with the unit and, once done, should not need to be re-sync'd unless you connect it to another console.

[@Co2QuikScope]

THANK THE LORD!!!!! Thank you for these tips they REALLY helped and it connected when I applied pressure to the top and bottom...
RATED - COMMENTED - SUBSCRIBED

[@jarrettowens3915]

1:40 I did that strategy and it worked like a charm! Thank you!

[@ChrisBevrly]

Thank you! These tips helped me. The HDMI cable wasn't plugged in all the way

[@icee8820]

Dude!! Thanks so much it was a big help this has been going on for literally days and i had no idea what was wrong i can't thank you enough xD.

[@ORDER4STU]

MAKE SURE YOUR CONSOLE IS CONNECTED TO YOUR TV.
Your system's controller will not sync if your console isn't plugged into the TV.

[@easye3671]

Omg this was me, turned it on and now it works. Thank you so much. I am an idiot

[@mwaleedmaqsood99]

Most helpful comment ever...stay blessed sir

[@josephmattina18]

Travis Garman you saved my life. Thank you

[@jamesmarsh4669]

i just got my 1st xbox/used. turn it on and xbox appirs on tv. thats all . controler sync. disk loaded. NOTHING..... please help'

[@livd9578]

Travis Garman I appreciate you

[@sevensixzero9556]

Thanks so much! Fixed my controller wishing 30 seconds of the video

[@MorganMaumell]

Well despite some of the rude comments here, your video helped me fix my connection issues. Just a simple problem of cleaning under the faceplate and hard drive. Thanks!

[@Solospiller7]

Oh man, this fixed it for one of my controllers not wanting to connect. Cheers mate. :)

[@dennywooten3170]

You're a genius man the pressure thing did the trick thank you

[@JamsheedRpgGodBoss]

Your are a life saver I almost broke my controller it wasn't connecting and I tried three different controllers and battery packs so I tried the DVD method and it worked.

[@davidguerra5237]

Nothing was working, but this one did. Thanks man.

[@racczs2336]

I doubted you but you prevailed. Thank you 🙏🏾

[@seadseki12]

This is video which make me happy. Thank you man !

[@martinlkkennedy8001]

Thank you so much number 7.worked for me eject the game jiggel dvd push the button on the controlla and now it's working.

[@mason3697]

thank you soooo much I didn't realize how many times I had to try it again. thank you!!!

[@chriswilliams5493]

Your my hero

[@xm214-aminigun9]

You don't fucking know how much i respect you for putting the tips in the desc.

[@dhooton31]

Awesome! I have being trying to figure out how to reconnect my controller for weeks now. Step three did it. Thank you.
02 Feb 2016

[@SHAWNTheBrickman]

THANKU so much my brother .. just ejecting disk I was able to re connect my controller. thanks again

[@dukeofburgundy4229]

Thanks:) And now i know how to open the front side too!

[@ivysmith5633]

best and most thorough understanding

[@jodymcconnell2281]

Cheers mate, finally I can play my new xmas Xbox games

[@martinlkkennedy8001]

Thank you so much number 7.worked for me eject the game jiggel dvd push the button on the controlla and now it's working.g

[@nelita_brosnacbrosnac4967]

This really helped out a lot

[@trollman_9]

THANK YOU I HAVE A NEWER VERSION AND IT STILL WORK

[@potatoforlifez9650]

OMG DUDE THANKS SOO MUCH YOU HELPED ME

[@zackmarcuson3966]

this video was helpful I was about ready to buy a new controller

[@nyoombaroomba]

thanx bro this really helped!

[@mohammadhaider4727]

Great information bro.....Thank you very much.

[@MayankSharma90]

Thanks a ton bro, You saved our night.

[@nikitaboryanov5959]

thank you dude both of the controllers work now

[@jojohnny4206]

Thank you this was very helpful

[@montydaniels1054]

I can't believe I didn't check the console last year after I applied fresh thermal paste. When I reassembling the 360 Slim Console, I forgot to tighten 4 of the 5 Black Screws that hold the bottom plastic panel to the top metal bracket panel. So here's what the problem was. When you would try to sync the controller to the console, the sync button on the face would bottom out before it could hit the small on/off sync button on the logic board. I tightened the screws & the front sync button was lined up perfect with the logic board. Man I felt dumb there man... But glad I figured it out....

[@typhonkill3r420]

Thanks for the tips mine works perfect now

[@superdarksyd]

thank you!!!!!!! this was a great help

[@stasial.1270]

Thanks man, you fixed my problem!!!!

[@damianpalacios8185]

Thank you! Now my controller is synced!

[@Ultimatetrunks11]

dude you helped me out so much thank you :D

[@jessemusic606]

Thanks bro. You fixed my issue.

[@qmickey1066]

Thank you for making this video . And I have a xbox slim.

[@sajidpakusa]

Thanks man. Don't have to watch full vdo. In min was working

[@coolnhlfan1]

I got lucky and got a silver remote to the xbox 360 slim and it's been flashing for about an hour now so I went on the internet and looked for a while..
1 week later I find this. Thank you

[@DXMSommelier]

Adding another thanks- it was definitely earthing (whatever that means)- I turned my unit sideways and voila, fixed. Gotta love a quality $400 machine that is easily knocked out of sync by the subtle vibrations of the earth

[@LouieV6]

It worked for me! thanks dude!

[@JOEYVAUGHN100]

Amazing video very helpful.

[@Ephigy1]

It worked for me. Thanks man.

[@tripz2754]

thanx man it worked good advice e other ones didnt work for me but the cable one the one that you said that you need to check if all your cablles are connected good you said and i checked but one of them was wabaly so i fixed it and it worked thx man

[@omardco21]

Thank u very much!! It's working now 👍

[@phillyhandsome5919]

This video just saved my life, I was about to take a sledgehammer to my controller!

[@Void3642]

BRUH IT'S BEEN 8 YEARS TTTHHAANNKKSSS YYYOOOUUU SSSOOO MUCH

[@levigoff4788]

Thank you so much U video is very helpful

[@haiderfarooq1303]

It worked man. Thank you!!!

[@KESHop69]

your awesome guides tho :it really worked thanx :)

[@fahadchoudhry6518]

bro u helped me thanks bro i forger about the sync button on the controller thank u very very much love u bro i cannot tell about my happiness thnx

[@zachwhitney239]

thanks guy lol :D usually these things dont work but it did! thx

[@wizardharry-ux4ft]

they really helped me out to play GTA V for thank you so much

[@kingcrooner8011]

Thanks alot! you solved my problem

[@brinegret]

life saver! Thanks man!

[@lifeschool]

hi, I kinda covered this with point #18 in the guide when I talked about the front circuit board issue. As I did, you pushed it forward, but without taking the machine apart. Neat trick. However, I used the tip of a pencil eraser to wedge behind the board to prevent it from happening again. I'd say this 100% fixed my problem. ;)

[@hanishurrab2790]

Helped Me allot. Thanks

[@EasternBladee]

thnx so much bro
you're a life saver

[@lwillzz]

I appreciate your help.

[@Quark1Z]

Thanks for helping me I tried the button it worked thanks 😇😍

[@jamielishbrook2384]

Do you have one of these for the slim? Mine started doing this yesterday or the day before.

[@kravenzabdieldepalco9083]

Thank you so much bro more subscribers

[@tshepangmmolawa8883]

Woo! Thank you brother it worked♥️😚😚

[@Glaceon42]

Thank you so much!

[@unconditionalspamfounder3339]

Thanks it's alive! :)

[@mattis1389]

[@dutchebarron2102]

Thanks this really helped

[@usamatahir5429]

very helpful i'll fiks my issues in 2024 through this video

[@WS6xMASTER]

I have a custom gold casing for my controller that i bought on eBay. The gold coating is causing bad connection. Do you know if there or any areas i need to remove gold coating to make it more functional as that it is stylish.

[@Myalicole]

Omg thanks all I had to do was hold the botton on the controller and on the Xbox at the same time!!

[@jameelsyed9045]

Awesome it resolved my issue.

[@introcrat]

U really helped thanks man

[@christianflores201]

Thx this helped alot.

[@logiquesport]

Great,good contiunuity.

[@pcity5136]

It worked. Thank you.

[@MajickPalindrome]

You can disassemble the 360 without a master key. I've done it many times with just a small screwdriver while gradually applying pressure to the case corner to pry it open. Never damaged any of the locking points.

[@jeffreyrapp2418]

Cool. Worked. Thanks

[@aldousdamaso4721]

Tnx it works the first one the little button on top tnx and like it

[@nolanrobinson6753]

Yes! It worked, thanks

[@kaylareynolds2581]

Thank u soooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Much for it works I subscribed and liked

[@rus1bac918]

Thanks you sir, God bless you

[@theeternalkidz2027]

Thank you so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Very helpful

[@marcuss1796]

thank you really helpful

[@josiejacobson1730]

thankyou so damn much hoky

[@giannim3612]

Thx I subbed!! :3

[@jedijareddibble]

Thank you so much!!!!!!

[@amitjul6]

This helped thank you

[@capricornkid5875]

First tip worked for me

[@ThePavlos11]

Thanks very much

[@nyoombaroomba]

im not even half way and this helped :D

[@jaxthedog909]

Nice one mate cheers