How to Reassemble an Xbox One Controller (Video)

Take apart or disassemble an Xbox One controller and looking for a way to put it back together? You’ve come to the right place.

Maybe you’ve taken your Xbox One controller apart to clean it, repair a damaged bumper, or replace the buttons with a color that’s more your style. No matter how much of the controller you took apart, you’ll have to put it back together.

We’ll show you a step-by-step guide that will have you back up and gaming

What You’ll Need to Get Started

• Safety Torx Screwdriver
• A Soldering Kit Soldering Iron and Soldering Stand
• Rosin Core Solder
• Solder Sucker/Desoldering Pump
• Replacement Xbox One Controller Parts (Optional)
• Helping Hand with Magnifying Glass
• Wire Strippers (Optional)

The beginning of this guide assumes you’re starting the controller reassembly from square one – a controller frame, and mostly loose parts. You can jump ahead to any point in the guide if you’ve only partially disassembled your Xbox One controller.

Step #1 – Place the Buttons Back into the Xbox One Controller Frame

The first step of reassembling your Xbox One controller is to place the buttons back into the frame of the controller. You’ll need to place the A, B, X, Y, Home, Back, and Start buttons back in to the proper slot. Make sure you have them the right way by flipping the controller back over before moving on to the next step.

After placing the buttons back into the frame of the controller, take the grey button cover and place it over the same buttons. You’ll know it’s in the right position because it will sit nicely over the buttons and flush with the frame.

Step #2 – Secure the First Circuitboard to the Xbox One Controller Frame

The next step of putting your controller back together is securing the first of two circuit boards to the frame of the controller. Place the circuit board flush with the controller frame, and your Torx screwdriver and 6 Torx screws to secure the circuit board.

Step #3 – Secure the Second Circuitboard to the Xbox One Controller Frame

After securing the first circuit board to the controller, you’ll need to secure the second circuit board to the first circuit board and controller frame.

The biggest difference between securing the first circuit board and the second circuit board is that there are two 14-pin connectors that need to be aligned before securing the controller.

Make sure these snap into place (you’ll feel them click) and then use your Torx screwdriver and 2 torx screws to secure the circuit board.

Step #4 – Replace the Sync Button, and the Home Button Cover

Don’t forget this part: Place the sync button in the sync button slot (to the left of the home button), and then slide the Xbox Home Button cover on top of the controller. If you have trouble getting the Xbox Home Button cover on, press down on the Xbox Home Button before sliding the cover back over.

Step #5 – Reattach the Triggers and Trigger Rumble Motors

To reattach the triggers, place the trigger rumble motors into the trigger housing that is already attached to the frame of the controller, and then place the trigger covers back over the top of the rumble motors.

When placing the trigger rumble motors back into the frame, make sure that the motors sit flush against the trigger housing. You’ll know the motors are placed correctly when they sit nicely in the housing. Also, make sure that the wires run down the front of the controller (we will wrap these wires around the back of the controller, and reattach them in a later step).

Finally, reattach the top of the triggers by aligning the trigger cover with the frame, then use your torx screwdriver and 4 Torx screws (2 for each trigger).

Step #6 – Reattach Attach the Bumpers

Once the Xbox Home/Sync Button housing and triggers have been reattached, the next step is installing the left and right bumpers.

Simply slide the bumpers in between the triggers and the Xbox Home/Sync Button housing.

Make sure they are secured, you’ll feel them snap in to place. You’ll hear them snap in to place.

Double-check that they are working correctly by pressing down on the bumpers; you’ll hear a click.

Step #7 – Solder the Trigger and Handle Rumble Motors Back on to the Circuit Board

Important: If you're under the age of 18, or have never soldered before, make sure to get help from a parent or do your research. Soldering can be very dangerous if you don't know what you're doing! 

Related: How to Solder Your Xbox One Controller

The first thing you’ll want to do before soldering the rumble motors back on is to make sure the board and contacts are free of any solder. You’ll use a soldering iron, and either a solder sucker or soldering wick to clean the contacts. Be careful, you can burn the contacts and ruin your circuitboard, rendering your rumble motors inoperable.

After you’ve cleaned the contacts, insert the bottom rumble motors into their housing. Since these are freestanding, you may want to tape them down temporarily to make it easier to manage. You can always remove the tape after.

Once your rumble motors are in place, run the wires along the sides of the controller, securing them with the yellow tape that we took off while taking your Xbox One Controller apart.

Make sure the wires are long enough to reach the contacts but have enough slack so they don’t pull on the triggers or the rumble motors.

If you need to remove the insulation to expose more wire, use a pair of wire strippers.

My recommendation for the next step is to either use a helping hand with gator clips or find a friend who’s brave enough to let you put a 600 Degree soldering iron near their fingers.

Let’s go with the helping hand.

Don’t forget to match your wires up to the contact on the circuit board prior to soldering. Remember: red is positive, black is negative – there are labels on the board that will show you the positive and negative contacts as well.

Place the wire in the helping hand, and move your circuit board and wire close together. Before reattaching the wires, make sure to tin the wire to make it easier to attach the circuit board. This is the act of applying a tiny bit of solder onto the wire.

The next part is pretty simple. Place your wire and circuit board contacts on each other with your helping hand. Then, use your soldering iron to melt the solder until it covers the wire and contact, reattaching it to the board. Check that the solder job is secure by gently tugging on the wire.

*If you placed tape on the rumble motors in the handle of the controller, don’t forget to remove it before moving on to the final step.

Step #8 – Reattach the D-Pad and its Housing

Placing the D-pad back into the controller is pretty straightforward. Simply reattach the metal housing – you may need to bend the metal clip at the top and bottom of the housing for it to fit properly.

Then, place the D-Pad back on top of the metal housing, ensuring that you feel the feedback of the D-pad as you normally would. You may need to reapply electronic grease if you accidentally wiped it off, or if it wasn’t there, to begin with.

Step #9 – Reattach the Xbox One Controller Shell

If you’re thinking about changing the look of you’re controller, at this step you can either decided whether you want to learn How to Paint your Xbox One Controller or buy a custom Xbox One controller shell.

Now that your controller is starting to look like a controller again, the last thing you’ll need to do is reattach the front, back, and sides of the Xbox One controller. If you’re interested in re-painting, or applying an Xbox One Controller skin, this is the time to do it.

Place the back of the Xbox One Controller on – make sure the battery prongs slide into the battery housing, and the triggers have enough room to operate.

Next, flip the controller over and place the front cover of the Xbox One controller over the buttons. Make sure there aren’t any gaps between the front and the back of the controller.

Once the front of the controller is on, take your torx screwdriver, and the 1 torx screw with a pin in the middle of it, and use it to secure the front and back of the controller together via the hole behind the battery pack cover. This will make the rest of the assembly easier to manage.

After securing the front and back together, use the torx screwdriver and 4 torx screws to secure the top and bottom of the controller by the handles. The smaller torx screws should be used to secure the bottom of the handles, and the larger torx screws for the top of the controller near the triggers.

Once your front and back panels have been secured, snap the side panels back on. You’ll hear a few clicks when these have been secured correctly.

Last but not least, put 2 AA batteries into the battery compartment and place the battery cover back on (luckily, the Xbox One controllers don’t have a terrible battery pack cover like the Xbox 360 controllers did).

Did you reassemble your Xbox One controller?

Unfortunately, there’s no official support for taking apart and reassembling Xbox One controllers. Our guides helped you disassemble an Xbox One controller for customization, repair, or cleaning, and this guide helped you put it back together.

What did you learn while taking your Xbox One controller apart? Is there anything unique you were trying to accomplish? We would love to hear from you. Post a comment or send us a message on our Contact page. Game on!