Here's What The Blinking Blue Light On Your DualSense PS5 Controller Means
When Sony released the DualSense for the PlayStation 5, it was a welcome improvement from the PS4's DualShock. While the DualSense has a better grip, vibrations, adaptive triggers, and more, it still shares similar visual notifications with its predecessor. Both the DualSense and the DualShock will flicker blue while trying to pair or facing connectivity issues.
If you press your controller's PS button to use it with your PS5 (or other gaming rig) and it flashes a blue light before shutting down again, then it's quite likely your controller isn't paired with the device. But there's another type of blue light flickering, which is persistent and repetitive. If you notice your controller is continuously flickering blue, it's in pairing mode. In this mode, the controller is now discoverable, and you can connect it to a new device. You can only activate this mode by simultaneously holding the PS and Share buttons.
It could be an annoying problem, but luckily, it's easy to fix. The controller needs to reconnect to the device you want to use it with, or it needs to be updated.
Reconnect your controller to your gaming rig
Did you just press the PS button on your controller, and it flashed blue, but nothing happened? You have a few options for reconnecting your controller to the gaming rig you want to use it with. Before you begin any of these suggestions, restart whatever device you want to use the controller with to ensure it's not a temporary connectivity bug.
- Reconnect with Bluetooth: Hold the Share and PS buttons until you see a consistent flickering blue light. Go into your gaming rig's Bluetooth settings and find a "DualSense Wireless Controller" to connect to.
- On the PS5, you should go to Settings > Accessories > General > Bluetooth.
- Reconnect with a USB-C cable: Find a trusty USB-C cable, connect your controller to your PS5 or PC, and press the PS button. This should register the DualSense controller on the device and let you use it.
- Use a USB-C to USB-C cable on non-PS5 devices. We can't confirm that it will work with other cables for all devices. It certainly doesn't work with the iPhone lightning cable.
One way to know that a USB-C cable works is if your controller begins to pulse orange. If your controller isn't charging, you should see our guide on fixing a PS5 controller that won't charge. But you might want to try cleaning out your ports and replacing the cable.
Factory reset and update your controller if you still get only blinking blue lights
If all else fails, you should try factory resetting your controller. Flip your controller backward and look for a pin-small hole. Get a narrow object, like a SIM card tray pin, and push it there for about 5 seconds. That's where the PS5's reset button is located, and that should effectively make the controller software refresh like it's brand new. As an extra measure, you should delete or forget the DualSense controller from your devices and reconnect them using the tips in the slide above.
After that, if you manage to connect to the PS5, update your controller's firmware. Updates can address issues and bugs, but there's no guarantee they'll fix your connectivity issues. However, it's certainly worth a try. Go to Settings > Accessories > Controller (General) > DualSense Wireless Controller Device Software.
If none of these tips work, and you've tried different cables, try going to Sony's support webpage. In the worst-case scenario, you have a defective controller that may be due for a replacement.