Xbox One Controller Discoverable but Fails to Connect to Windows 11 via Bluetooth

Question

The issue encountered is as follows:

The controller is powered on by holding the Xbox button, and then the sync button is pressed until the controller blinks rapidly, making it discoverable in Windows 11 under the Add a device section as shown below:

After clicking on the controller, it stalls for about a minute and a half, as depicted here:

Eventually, the connection fails with the following message:

"Try connecting your device again."

The following troubleshooting steps have been attempted:

1. Disabling, uninstalling, and redownloading the Xbox peripheral driver, and selecting a different driver on the PC.
2. Connecting the controller via USB to the Xbox Accessories App for firmware updates and reverting firmware.
3. Replacing the batteries.
4. Power-cycling the controller.
5. Downloading .NET 6 and .NET 9.
6. Performing many many MANY restarts.
7. Updating Bluetooth drivers.

The controller functioned properly wirelessly prior to using the Xbox Accessories app for the update. What could be the reason for this issue? Any assistance would be appreciated.

P.S. (Apologies for any messy writing or formatting, I have been at this issue for hours and may be losing my mind)

Answer 1

Dear Leastyto

Thanks for reaching out! Welcome to Microsoft Q&A. I'm Haien from Microsoft Q&A. 

The continuous stalling ("Connecting...") means your Windows 11 Bluetooth stack detects the controller's advertisement signal (the rapid blinking), but when it tries to complete the secure pairing process (the handshake), the new controller firmware is providing an answer that the PC's current driver set cannot accept or process, causing the connection to fail silently and timeout. Since reverting the firmware via the Xbox Accessories App failed to resolve it, we will now focus on a deep driver and pairing profile cleanup to make Windows treat the controller as a brand-new, never-before-seen device.

Since you have done the basic troubleshooting steps very well and correctly, the best solution is to contact Xbox Support directly to check the controller configuration you are using if your controller is still under warranty.

In the meantime, you can try the temporary solutions so I can follow up on your case:

Option 1:

• Connect the Controller via USB > Press Windows Key + X and open Device Manager.
• Go to Xbox Peripherals (or look under Universal Serial Bus controllers or Human Interface Devices) > Find your Xbox One Controller entry. Right-click > Update driver.
• Select "Browse my computer for drivers" > "Let me pick from a list of available drivers on my computer." > Uncheck the box that says, "Show compatible hardware."
• In the left pane, select "Microsoft." > In the right pane, look for and select "Xbox One Controller" or "Xbox Wireless Controller." > Click Next to install the specific Microsoft driver.
• Restart your PC.
• Disconnect the USB cable and try the Bluetooth pairing process again (hold the Sync button until rapid flashing).

Option 2:

• Press Windows Key + X and open Device Manager > Go to View > Show hidden devices > Uninstall every device you find under these categories that relates to an Xbox or HID device: Bluetooth/ Human Interface Devices/ Xbox Peripherals
• Press Windows Key + S, type powershell > right-click Windows PowerShell > select Run as administrator >Type the following command: Get-Service -Name "bthserv" | Restart-Service –Force > Press Enter
• Press Windows Key + I to open Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Turn the PC's Bluetooth Off and then On. Put the controller into pairing mode (rapid blinking) > Select Add device > Bluetooth and try connecting.

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Please keep me updated with anything new that you were try to each option.

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We appreciate your patience and look forward to resolving this quickly for you.

Warm regards