Topic: Factory reset without joycons

I factory reset my switch without knowing I need joycons, my dog chewed them up, so now I’m stuck on a screen saying to plug in the joycons and I can’t, I tried using my procon but it won’t connect, I need help connecting it or some other work around

I need to connect my procon to the switch but it has the stupid screen saying to plug in joycons

Sounds like you need a new pair of Joy-Con.

I don't know what else you expect us to tell you.

You can try contacting Nintendo Support, but I suspect that they will ultimately tell you the same.

@Sisilly_G there might be a way, someone might have had this problem and solved it somehow

@Colorthecool2 What about using a usb C to usb C cable to plug the procon into the bottom of the switch in handheld mode?

Dog chewed up both joycons, and then you wanted to do a factor reset? That's an odd series of events. Then again, I've done some seriously dumb mistakes myself. No judgement.

I don’t have any usb stuff

And also I had no idea that factory reset needed joycons

@Colorthecool2 If your stuck in the factory reset menu, I think if you hold down the power button for like 20 seconds, it will force the console to reboot, and give you control again.

Yeah, while there is a touch screen, you can't get by with touch screen alone. And the switch interface assumes you have joycons since all switch consoles are sold with joycons attached, or built in. Even if you get through the factory reset, I think it's possible you may still encounter a scenario where you may need joycons attached again. I could be wrong, but it's just my guess based on your issue. If you know someone else with a switch, you could use their joycons, or possibly put your switch in their dock, and then maybe the procon will work? Or youask a game store if there's some joycons you could use to complete the reset.(forgive me if that's a long shot)

Maybe you know someone with usb-C phone charger cable with usb-C plugs on both ends? That's what I used. That works on mine, but I don't know if it will work for resetting the console. I'm just guessing.

Thank you very much for the advice, I’ll give it a try, sadly I can’t go to a store cuz of reasons and I have no usb stuff but the rest I will try, I haven’t tried my dock yet cuz it’s in my brothers room and I don’t have a tv

@WoomyNNYes I tried the power button thing and it didn’t work, it reset but then just went back to the screen

@Colorthecool2 Regarding your brother having a dock: If you put your switch in the dock, you may need to plug your pro controller into the dock for for the controller to work - forgive me if you know that already. Just trying to be thorough in case it saves you time, since I don't know how familiar you are with the switch. Every switch pro controller is sold with it's own nintendo branded usb to usb C cable. So, I'm assuming you have that cable. Forgive me if you got the switch used, and they didn't give you the pro controller's usb cable. Good luck!

Thanks

@WoomyNNYes help, I plugged my usb to usb c into my doc and the controller and it still won’t work

@Colorthecool2 I think this means you need a pair of joycons attached to the switch to resolve this. You probably should contact Nintendo support to see if there's anything else that might help.

If you get unstuck, feel free to let me know how you did it.

@Colorthecool2 I just got off the phone with Nintendo Support and they said a pair of Joy Cons are necessary. The USB-C cable that came with the Pro controller is just for charging the controller. So like other people have suggested, either borrow a set of Pro Cons' from a friend or store, or buy a new pair of Joy Cons'. I have to do the same thing. I wish during the reformatting process Nintendo would have added a note stating DO NOT reformat to factory default unless you still have your Joy Con Controllers!!