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Door staff@engadget.com (Ben Stegner) - 09 Nov 2026
While many modern games have expansive control scheme options, sometimes you can't adjust exactly what you'd like. For those cases, you're able to remap buttons at the system level. Open Settings and go to Accessibility. At the top, choose Button Mapping — if you plan to use this often, enable Button Mapping in Quick Settings and a shortcut to this tool will appear when you hold the Home button.
In this menu, you'll see each connected controller on the left side. Select one and choose Edit Controller's Mappings to show its buttons, where you're free to remap most of the inputs to anything else. For example, you could swap the ZR and ZL buttons with R and L, or move an inconvenient input to a button that's in closer reach.
The C button is of particular interest; if you don't use GameChat, you can disable the button to avoid accidental activation. Alternatively, turn it into a secondary input for another button, like a D-pad direction or pressing one of the sticks. Check the Control Stick Settings if you'd like to swap the left and right sticks or use a Joy-Con 2 vertically when a game intends you to hold it horizontally.
While you can't apply a remap to a certain game, you can save up to five profiles per controller and swap them as needed. After hitting Save, choose Save as a Preset and give it a name. When remapping is applied, you'll see a blue wrench icon at the bottom-left of the menu and anywhere else that controller icon appears. Games are not aware of remapping done this way, so if you've swapped ZR and R, for example, you'll need to press the latter when the game prompts the former.
There's one more related option at the bottom of Settings > Controllers & Accessories: Swap A and B. This simple toggle does what it says and is great if you're used to PlayStation or Xbox controllers that have the Confirm button at the bottom and Cancel on the right.
In this menu, you'll see each connected controller on the left side. Select one and choose Edit Controller's Mappings to show its buttons, where you're free to remap most of the inputs to anything else. For example, you could swap the ZR and ZL buttons with R and L, or move an inconvenient input to a button that's in closer reach.
The C button is of particular interest; if you don't use GameChat, you can disable the button to avoid accidental activation. Alternatively, turn it into a secondary input for another button, like a D-pad direction or pressing one of the sticks. Check the Control Stick Settings if you'd like to swap the left and right sticks or use a Joy-Con 2 vertically when a game intends you to hold it horizontally.
While you can't apply a remap to a certain game, you can save up to five profiles per controller and swap them as needed. After hitting Save, choose Save as a Preset and give it a name. When remapping is applied, you'll see a blue wrench icon at the bottom-left of the menu and anywhere else that controller icon appears. Games are not aware of remapping done this way, so if you've swapped ZR and R, for example, you'll need to press the latter when the game prompts the former.
There's one more related option at the bottom of Settings > Controllers & Accessories: Swap A and B. This simple toggle does what it says and is great if you're used to PlayStation or Xbox controllers that have the Confirm button at the bottom and Cancel on the right.