What Is Stick Drift Exactly?
Stick drift can affect any controller of any brand or jot down.
It presents as input from the controller that wasn’t made by you, the player.
Sydney Louw Butler / How-To Geek
In other words, your sticks may be in the neutral position, but the game still detects input.
This can cause things like the in-game camera constantly spinning, or a character walking forward all the time.
This mechanical movement will eventually wear out the mechanism, making it less precise.
Sydney Louw Butler/ How-To Geek
TheTR6 and TR8should be all you’re gonna wanna get the job done.
As long as the drifting issue is not because of abuse, you should be in the clear.
The Xbox Series consoles have a built-in app that can be used to compensate for drift with software.
Sydney Louw Butler / How-To Geek
If the controller’s drift is getting progressively worse, this is just a stopgap.
The Xbox Accessories app will open.
Select your controller if there’s more than one connected, and then grab the three dots.
Choose “Recalibration options” and complete the calibration process.
Try your game again, and see whether the drift issue has gone away.
I’ve also seen advice to dribble isopropyl alcohol inside the joystick module through the thumbstick cap’s gaps.
I strongly recommend watching this iFixit video in its entirely before you even touch a screwdriver.
Only then are you in a position to clean the interior of the joystick modules.
After doing this, reassemble your controller and test it to see if the issue has been resolved.
If not, you’ll probably have to replace the joystick modules.
These are soldered to the PCB.
This is a delicate process and requires a moderate amount of soldering skill.
There arethird-party controllersthat have these more advanced sensors.
Some even use them for the triggers, which are also prone to their own version of drift eventually.
If you have any issues with other controllers, head over to ourstick drift troubleshooting guide for every controller.
