Do Joy-Con 2 work on a Mac?
Not natively. macOS supports the original Joy-Cons from macOS 13 Ventura on, and it has no support for the Joy-Con 2 sold with the Switch 2. Two community projects, both called JoyCon2Mac, connect them over Bluetooth anyway. One turns the buttons and sticks into key presses. The other presents the pair as a virtual controller and a mouse, and its current release needs two of the Mac's security protections switched off. I have not tested either.
I make InputConfig, a free Mac app that maps controllers to keys and the mouse. It cannot read the Joy-Con 2 yet, and this page says so plainly. It does read the original Joy-Cons, and the Switch 2 Pro Controller on a cable.
On this page: 9 sections
Steps
- Check which Joy-Cons you have: the Joy-Con 2 are the pair sold with the Switch 2.
- With original Joy-Cons, pair them in System Settings, Bluetooth. macOS supports them.
- With Joy-Con 2, decide whether key presses are enough. If they are, loyahdev's joycon2mac maps the buttons and sticks to the keyboard.
- For a virtual controller and a mouse, read the OZORDI JoyCon2Mac readme first: its current release needs SIP and AMFI switched off.
- For a Nintendo pad that needs none of this, use the original Joy-Cons, or a Switch 2 Pro Controller on a cable with InputConfig.
Know what the Mac supports
- Original Joy-Cons. Supported from macOS 13 Ventura on. They pair in System Settings, Bluetooth, and games that read controllers see them. How to connect Joy-Cons to a Mac has the steps.
- Joy-Con 2. Not supported. They do not pair as Mac game controllers, so no game and no mapper sees them through macOS.
- Switch 2 Pro Controller. Not supported by macOS either. On a USB-C cable, InputConfig 1.6 starts it and maps it, as an experimental feature: the Switch 2 Pro Controller on a Mac.
The Joy-Con 2 reach a Mac only through software that speaks their Bluetooth protocol itself.
InputConfig is free on the Mac App Store. macOS 14 or later, no account, no tracking, open source.
Tell the two JoyCon2Mac projects apart
Two unrelated projects on GitHub share the name. They do different jobs and ask very different things of your Mac.
| loyahdev/joycon2mac | OZORDI/JoyCon2Mac | |
|---|---|---|
| What its readme calls it | A tool to use the Joy-Con 2 on a Mac as a keyboard controller | A native macOS driver and companion app for the Joy-Con 2 |
| What the Mac sees | Key presses. Every button and stick direction is mapped to a key, and the mapping is fixed for now | A virtual DualSense controller and a mouse, through a DriverKit system extension |
| How it connects | Hold the sync button on a Joy-Con 2 to pair it with the app. Up to two | Bluetooth Low Energy. Hold SYNC on each Joy-Con until the lights flash |
| What it asks of the Mac | An app download from its releases page | System Integrity Protection and AMFI disabled, for the current development release |
| Extras | The layout changes by itself between one Joy-Con held sideways and a pair held upright | Rumble, motion data, a mouse from the optical sensor, and remapping for the four rail buttons |
| Latest release | 1.0, August 9, 2025 | 0.1.5, September 6, 2026 |
| In its author's words | Numerous bugs remain, and some mappings may be wrong in one orientation | Do not treat this as a normal consumer install yet |
The repositories are loyahdev/joycon2mac and OZORDI/JoyCon2Mac. Both are unofficial and unaffiliated with Apple or Nintendo. The name alone does not say which one a download is, so check the repository it came from.
Weigh the security cost first
The driver project's readme is direct about it: the extension is not notarized, a stock Mac can block it, and the current release needs System Integrity Protection and AMFI disabled.
- System Integrity Protection. The macOS protection that keeps software from changing protected parts of the system.
- AMFI. The part of macOS that checks that code is signed before it runs.
- What the readme advises. Use a Mac you are comfortable using for driver development, and switch both back on when you are done testing.
I would not switch either one off on a Mac I rely on. The keyboard project asks for neither, which makes it the lower-risk one to try, with its fixed layout and its bugs.
Use a Joy-Con 2 as a mouse
The Joy-Con 2 has an optical sensor, and the driver project uses it. Its readme says the sensor becomes a real mouse to macOS, that the app picks whichever Joy-Con is resting on a surface, and that one Joy-Con can be the mouse while the other stays part of the controller pair. It has Off, Slow, Normal and Fast modes.
That path carries the same security cost as the rest of that project. For a pointer from a controller with nothing switched off, any pad the Mac supports does it through a mapper. How to use a game controller as a mouse on a Mac covers that with InputConfig, including a single original Joy-Con.
Use the Nintendo pads that work today
- Original Joy-Cons. Bluetooth, no extra software, one or two at a time. Joy-Cons in InputConfig covers a single one held sideways.
- Original Switch Pro Controller. The Nintendo controller that simply works on a Mac. How to connect a Switch Pro Controller to a Mac.
- Switch 2 Pro Controller, on a cable. InputConfig 1.6 starts it and maps it, marked experimental.
If you own both generations, the original Joy-Cons are the ones to pair with the Mac. The Joy-Con tester shows in a browser whether a paired Joy-Con is sending its buttons.
Know where InputConfig stands
InputConfig cannot read the Joy-Con 2 yet. Its Live Visualizer can draw a Joy-Con 2 pair, so a preset can be laid out for them, but no input arrives. I will change this page when the app reads them, and not before.
What it does today with Nintendo hardware: the original Joy-Cons and Pro Controller over Bluetooth, and the Switch 2 Pro Controller and the GameCube controller for Switch 2 on a USB-C cable, both experimental.
The short version
- macOS alone. No support for the Joy-Con 2.
- loyahdev/joycon2mac. Joy-Con 2 as a fixed set of key presses. An ordinary app, last released in August 2025.
- OZORDI/JoyCon2Mac. A virtual controller and a mouse, at the cost of SIP and AMFI switched off for now.
- No compromises. The original Joy-Cons.
Until Apple adds the Joy-Con 2, every route to a Mac is a community project, so read its readme before you install it.
Questions
What is JoyCon2Mac?
Two separate community projects on GitHub share the name. loyahdev/joycon2mac turns Joy-Con 2 buttons and sticks into key presses. OZORDI/JoyCon2Mac is a driver and app that presents the Joy-Con 2 as a virtual DualSense controller and a mouse. Neither comes from Apple or Nintendo.
Is JoyCon2Mac safe to install?
They differ. The driver project's own readme says its current release needs System Integrity Protection and AMFI disabled and should not be treated as a normal consumer install yet. The keyboard project is an app download with no such step. I have not tested either one.
Do Joy-Con 2 connect to a Mac over Bluetooth?
Not through macOS, which does not support them. Both JoyCon2Mac projects talk to the Joy-Con 2 themselves: you hold the sync button and the app connects.
Can I use a Joy-Con 2 as a mouse on a Mac?
The OZORDI JoyCon2Mac readme says yes: it turns the Joy-Con 2's optical sensor into a mouse and picks whichever Joy-Con is resting on a surface. That project's current release needs two macOS security protections switched off.
Does InputConfig work with Joy-Con 2?
Not yet. It can draw a Joy-Con 2 pair so a preset can be laid out, but no input arrives. It reads the original Joy-Cons over Bluetooth and the Switch 2 Pro Controller on a USB-C cable, the second as an experimental feature.
Do the original Joy-Cons work on a Mac?
Yes. macOS has supported them since macOS 13 Ventura. Pair each one in System Settings, Bluetooth.
Related
Free. macOS 14 or later. No account, nothing leaves your Mac. Open source on GitHub.
Updated