Fast + Easy Fixes if your Oculus Quest 2 Drifts

An easy-to-follow guide for fixing a drifting Oculus Quest 2 controller

Last Updated: March 13, 2023

Recalibrating the Controllers

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Cleaning the Controllers

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Less Common Solutions

Have you noticed that your controller is moving to the side slowly? This is "controller drift," but there are a few ways that you can fix this. Instead of purchasing a new controller, try troubleshooting it yourself! This wikiHow article guides you through two different solutions for an Oculus Quest 2 controller drifting.

Things You Should Know

First try recalibrating the controllers in "Menu > Devices > Controllers > Deadzone."
If recalibrating doesn't work for you, and you're comfortable with opening tech up, try cleaning the inside of your controller.
If the more common solutions don't work for you, there are other things that you can try, like cleaning your headset's cameras and setting tracking frequency.

Section 1 of 3:

Recalibrating the Controllers

1
Press the Oculus button on your right controller. This button looks like the Oculus logo, which is a thin, white oval.^{[1]
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- This will open the Universal Menu (also known as the Main Menu).
- While this is the most common fix for controller drift, a more severe issue may require you to clean the controllers as well.
2
Go to Settings. You can simply aim the controller to select menu items.

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3
Select the search bar and enter Deadzone. The search bar is at the top of the menu and you can use the on-screen keyboard to type if you don't have an actual keyboard connected.
4
Select Thumbstick Range and Deadzone. This will bring you to the controller menu.
- Alternatively, go to Devices > Controllers to get here.
5
Select Reset Left or Reset Right next to Thumbstick Range and Deadzone. Doing this will allow you to reset the calibration on your controller so it won't drift.
- Do this on the controller that you notice is drifting. If you don't know which controller is the culprit, you can repeat these steps to calibrate both of them.
6
Select Callibrate Left or Callibrate Right and follow the on-screen instructions. You'll need to roll the thumbstick around and click Next to continue.
- When you're prompted to select the deadzone, make sure the inner circle encompasses your controller's drift. That way a small drift on your controller does not affect any movement recorded on the controller.
- Remember that you can repeat this process to calibrate the other controller if you need to.

Section 2 of 3:

Cleaning the Controllers

1
Remove the battery from the controller. You can do this to one controller or both.
- Since you're opening up the controllers, make sure you're not in a dusty area. You'll also need a bit of skill to do this. If you're not confident in your ability to take the controller apart and put it back together, you shouldn't attempt this method.
2
Take off the black plastic faceplate. Use something like a Jimmy, a pick, a lego disassembler, or a flathead screwdriver to gently pry off the faceplate.
- The plate is held together with adhesive, so it may be difficult to remove. Don't use so much force that you break the plate, though!
3
Remove the joystick cap. You can gently pull up on the joystick until the cap comes off.
- Don't bend or break the spring that's exposed between the joystick and the joystick cap. It controls the touch sensor.
4
Clean the joystick area. With a can of compressed air, blow away any large particles of dust that could be causing an issue. Then use a small amount of contact cleaner or isopropyl alcohol on the joystick and wiggle it around.
- Wait for any liquids to dry before continuing.
5
Reattach the thumbstick. Make sure the spring attaches to the thumbstick (you may need to get a hold of it as you rotate the thumbstick clockwise) or your finger sensor won't work.

Section 3 of 3:

Less Common Solutions

1
Use hand-tracking. If you have the latest update of the Oculus 2, you can simply use your bare hands instead of the controllers in most instances. All you need to do is turn on your Oculus and hold up your hands (without turning on the controllers).
- Not every game supports using your hands instead of the controllers, so this is a temporary fix if you need to access Settings without your controllers.
2
Clean the headset cameras. You'll see cameras on the outside of your headset, and these track the position of your environment as well as your controllers. Use microfiber cloths to clean them and make sure they are clear of dirt, dust, and grime.
- You'll want to clean your headset if you think the controller drift is caused by tracking issues and not the thumbsticks.
3
Make sure you're using the correct lighting levels. Lights that are too bright can affect your cameras, so make sure you have the right lighting set up. Your Quest should alert you if the light levels are too low or too high.
4
Check the tracking frequency. Your electricity flickers, although it's usually invisible to the naked eye. Your Quest needs to know these frequencies to take any electricity fluctuations into account. Double-check this setting occasionally, especially if you move, to make sure it's set accordingly.
- Find this setting in the mobile Quest app in your smartphone or tablet in Menu > Devices > Your Headset > Advanced Settings > Tracking Frequency. You usually want to leave this on "Automatic." If that wasn't the default, your change may affect your controller drift.
5
Avoid signal interference. Home appliances like microwaves are known signal-blockers, so make sure there isn't one blocking the path between your controllers and headset.
6
Replace the batteries or make sure they are charged. Older or draining batteries may not work as properly as newer or charged ones and can cause incorrect signals, which leads to controller drift. Solve this by replacing the batteries or by charging your controllers.
7
Reboot it. Just like a glitchy smartphone or anything else that's smart, turning it off and back on may fix your problems. To turn the system off, press Power on the headset while you're wearing it and you'll see a Power menu. Select Restart to reboot it.
8
Re-pair the controllers. If there's a wireless signal issue or a connectivity issue that's causing the drift, unpairing and re-pairing the controllers may solve the problem.
- Simply open the Quest mobile app on your smartphone or tablet, go to Menu > Devices > Your Headset > Controllers and select the controller you want to unpair. Select Unpair Controller.
- To re-pair, open the Quest mobile app on your smartphone or tablet, go to Menu > Devices > Your Headset > Controllers > Pair New Controller and select if you're pairing the left or right controller. If you're pairing the left controller, hold B and System down together. Pairing the right controller means you need to hold down the Y and System buttons together. Hold the buttons until the LED light blinks. The light will stop blinking once pairing is complete.
9
Do a factory reset. This is a last resort, since you'll be resetting the headset to factory settings and will lose any game data that you have saved to the device (games that save your data in the cloud will not be affected).
- To continue with this process, open the Quest mobile app on your smartphone or tablet, then go to Menu > Devices > Your Quest > Advanced Settings > Factory Reset.
10
Buy a new controller. If a factory reset didn't work, your old controllers may have worn down and cannot be fixed. You can buy a new controller from Meta.