More than 125 million people own some form ofNintendo Switch. Actually, that’s probably not entirely true. Since some of you own multiple versions of Switch, even though more than 125 million consoles have been sold, some of those sales will have been to the same person. Anyway, since so many people have bought one or more Switches, that means it will have been the first console for a lot of the people who now own one.
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Whether buying it for yourself or your kids, setting up your Switch might not be as straightforward as you thought it would, even if you have owned a console before. It’s an entirely new groundbreaking system after all, so don’t feel bad if you’re a little lost and you’ve come here for help. Below is a step-by-step guide on how to connect a Switch to your TV. Before you know it, you’ll be ready to playNintendogames on your big screen as well as your small one.
Setting Up Your Dock
If you have only been using your Switch in handheld mode or it’s fresh out of the box, your dock will have gone unused up until this point. It feels a little bit like a flimsy bit of plastic when you first pick it up, but it’s the key to playing Switch games on your TV. On the back of the dock isa cover you’ll need to opento find the various ports you’re going to need.
Once that cover is open,connect the power cord to the top outlet labeled AC adapterand pop the plug at the other end of that wire into a nearby wall outlet. Next, grab the HDMI cable that should have come with the Switch andconnect it to the bottom outlet on the dock which is labeled HDMI out. The other end of that cable will need to be plugged into an HDMI outlet on your TV, usually somewhere on the back.
Setting Up The Console
Once the back of your dock is covered back up, you can turn your attention to the Switch console itself. If you’re going to be using the Joy-Con attached to your Switch when the console is connected to your TV,this is the point you’ll want to remove them. You can pop them off once the console is docked, but it’s just easier to do it now.
It’s also worth noting that if this is the very first time using your Switch,you will need to turn it on with the Joy-Con attachedbefore you dock it so they can be registered to the console. If you don’t do that first, they will not be wirelessly connected to the Switch and therefore cannot be used to play while the console is docked.
Once the Joy-Con are registered and have been removed from the Switch,the LCD screen can be slotted into the now connected dock, screen facing towards you. You’ll know you’ve done it right if the power light on the bottom left corner of the dock lights up and turns green.
At that point, the Switch should be connected to your TV and ready to go, provided you have navigated to the correct HDMI output. In some cases, your TV will pick up your connected Switch all by itself and navigate to the correct output automatically which is always nice.
Other Models
If you’re lucky enough to have an OLED Switch, all of the above applies to that model too and you can follow the exact same steps. If you’re attempting to connect a Switch Lite to your TV, I have some bad news. You can’t. Even though it is still called a Switch, the Lite model’s gameplay cannot freely switch from handheld to TV and back again.
FAQ
How Do You Connect A Nintendo Switch To A TV Wirelessly?
Unfortunately, there is currently no way to connect a Switch, regardless of model, to your TV wirelessly.
Do I Have To Use The Nintendo-Branded HDMI Cable With My Switch?
No, you do not need to use the HDMI cable provided by Nintendo to connect the dock to your TV. Any standard HDMI cable will suffice.
