Nintendo Switch Can’t Connect to iPhone Hotspot? – Complete Fix Guide

Your Nintendo Switch can’t connect to iPhone hotspot? Keep reading!

The problem can be related both to your Switch and the iPhone, so let’s learn more…

When Nintendo Switch can’t connect to an iPhone’s hotspot, users should first make sure that the hotspot is accessible by using another device. In case the issue appears to be on the Nintendo Switch’s side, perform a restart, followed by a factory reset.

How to Connect Nintendo Switch to iPhone Hotspot?

Before we investigate what could be preventing you from pairing the switch to your iPhone’s hotspot, we shall first go through the essential process of pairing the console to the WiFi. 

You could have accidentally let a mistake slip by and the WiFi setup process has failed, which resulted in your switch disconnecting from the hotspot.

Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to hook up a Nintendo Switch to iPhone’s hotspot:

1. Go over to the Settings of your iPhone.
2. Head to the “Personal Hotspot” tab.
3. Make sure that the hotspot is enabled and check the network name and password.
4. Once you have the credentials, open your Nintendo Settings and go to “WiFi”.
5. Bring the iPhone near your Nintendo and wait for the switch to discover the “iPhone”.
6. Once the Nintendo detects the iPhone’s network, press on the connection.
7. Write the connection password and hit the “Connect” button on your switch.
8. Wait for the pairing process to undergo.

In case the Nintendo Switch won’t connect, proceed with the solutions below!

Nintendo Switch Can’t Connect to iPhone Hotspot – Fixed

The solution includes addressing both instances, the Switch, and the iPhone until the root cause is identified.

Let’s begin with the good old restart method!

Solution #1 Restart the Switch

This issue is most likely to be occurring due to a software bug with your Nintendo Switch.

The easiest way to fix software glitches with your Nintendo is to reboot the device and see how that goes.

Generally, we recommend a hard reboot, using the power button on the device, rather than the software reboot.

To restart your Nintendo Switch, hold the power button on the device for 15 seconds! 

Once the screen of the switch goes pitch black, press the power button again to power the device on.

Now, give your switch a couple of seconds to start back up and check if it will now connect with the iPhone’s hotspot.

Notice: Keep the iPhone in close proximity to the Nintendo Switch throughout the guide!

Solution #2 Toggle Hotspot ON/OFF

Sometimes the hotspot feature on your iPhone may be producing bugs. To resolve the problem, you should toggle the hotspot OFF and then toggle it back ON.

This will cause the connection your iPhone sends to be re-discovered by all devices in range.

To toggle the hotspot on your iPhone off and then turn it back on, follow these instructions:

1. Open the Settings of your iPhone.
2. Open the WiFi tab and toggle OFF the WiFi.
3. Go to the “Personal Hotspot” tab.
4. Turn OFF the Personal Hotspot.
5. Wait for a few moments and tap the activation slider again.
6. Choose Turn ON WiFi Only.

Go over to the settings of your Nintendo Switch and check if the connection is going to work now.

In addition, you should attempt connecting another device to the iPhone’s hotspot to localize the problem to your Nintendo Switch.

Note: In case that doesn’t help, stop the WiFi and Bluetooth, then try again.

Solution #3 Change Hotspot Password

One of the reasons that your Nintendo Switch refuses to hook up with the iPhone’s hotspot is an incorrect password.

Sometimes even the passcode of your hotspot may be giving problems and prevent other devices from connecting with the iPhone.

To change/adjust the current value of your iPhone’s hotspot, follow these instructions:

1. Access the Settings of the iPhone.
2. Go to “Personal Hotspot”.
3. At the bottom of the page, press the password field
4. Insert a new password value that you can easily remember.
5. Save the changes you’ve made to the hotspot.
6. Double-check if the password has changed.
7. Attempt to connect your Nintendo Switch to the hotspot now.

Alert: Changing the password of the hotspot will cause all currently-connected devices to unpair from the network.

Solution #4 Manage iPhone Carrier Settings

Chances are that your iPhone’s wireless carrier may have not enabled the function or your plan doesn’t support it.

You should also note that to enable a personal hotspot, you must have active megabytes of the internet in your wireless carrier plan.

How to Check If My Plan Supports a Hotspot?

The easiest way so far to verify or find out whether your plan supports hotspot or not is to call the service provider.

You can also check through your online registration, but calling your provider is the easiest and quickest way to determine.

How to Add Internet to My Plan?

If you’ve found out that your wireless plan is compatible with a personal hotspot, but you have no internet, you can either select a higher-paid plan that offers more internet or buy Mgbs.

If you do not want to change your plan or wait for the refill period (which is once a month), check your online mobile registration and purchase additional internet.

Note: For additional assistance regarding the management of your wireless service plan, you should get in touch with your carrier provider.

Solution #5 Update Your iPhone

The personal hotspot may be refusing to work due to an outdated software version of your iPhone.

By performing an update on your device’s iOS, you will be able to resolve any software-related problems with both the Nintendo Switch and your iPhone.

To check for updates and apply a software update on your iPhone, follow these steps:

1. Open the Settings of your iPhone.
2. Go to the “General” tab located at nearly the top of the settings page.
3. From the general tab, press “Software Update”.
4. Next, hit the “Check for Updates” button.
5. Wait for your iPhone to check and validate any new updates that are available.
6. If there is an available update, press the “Update” button to begin the process.

Notice: Disconnect ALL other devices connected to the iPhone’s hotspot.

Solution #6 Reset Your Nintendo Switch

If the Nintendo Switch mobile hotspot not working even after all previous solutions, then the issue is most likely to be with the Switch itself.

Fortunately, a factory reset on your Switch should be able to resolve the problem and hopefully, you’ll be able to connect after.

To execute a factory reset on your Nintendo Switch, follow these instructions:

1. On your Switch, go to System Settings from the home menu.
2. Head to “System”.
3. Now, navigate to “Formatting Options”.
4. From there, choose “Restore Factory Settings”.
5. Read through the information about the reset.
6. Press on “Confirm”.
7. Wait for the reset to begin and then wait for your Switch to complete the reset.

Alert: A factory reset is going to erase all content and settings configuration on your Nintendo Switch.

Nintendo Switch Online Is Down?

If the problem still persists for you, there is one last thing you can check before contacting Nintendo customer service for more help.

If the Nintendo online service is down, you will be unable to connect your switch to WiFi, nor use any of the online services

To check if Nintendo is down, visit this link. If you see “All servers are operating normally” then the problem is on your side!

However, if there is an alert message for downtime, you’ll need to wait for a few hours until the Nintendo servers are operational. 

In case the problem does not go away, contact the Nintendo support team for more help!

Quick Recap:

Hence, the Nintendo Switch can’t connect to the iPhone’s WiFi because the personal hotspot was not enabled correctly and the console’s experiencing bugs. To solve the problem users should update the iPhone, restart the hotspot and reset the Nintendo Switch.

Final Thoughts:

Here we’ve learned why Nintendo Switch can’t connect to iPhone hotspot and how to solve the problem by following a few solutions.

However, in case the problem is persistent and you’re not able to connect the Nintendo Switch to the iPhone’s hotspot, the next step would be to seek more help from Nintendo Customer service.

We hope that this post was helpful and for more relevant content, make sure to check our blog!