Loose Joy-con’s

I ran into something that sounds similar on my granddaughter's Switch; while I wouldn't have described it as "loose", one of the Joy-Cons did slide off the Switch console very easily and often at inopportune times.

The fix for her Switch was to replace the little locking mechanism, called the buckle lock. It's basically a piece of plastic with a spring that snaps the Joy-Con onto the rail and keeps it in place. The problem is, the buckle lock is plastic and the rail it snaps into is metal, so it's only a matter of time before the plastic wears down far enough that it won't keep the Joy-Con on the rail any longer.

The fix is fairly straight-forward; you just replace those plastic buckle locks with a pair of metal ones that you can get right here on iFixit.

Nintendo Switch Joy-Con Replacement Metal Buckle Locks

Being made of metal, they won't wear out like the originals. Oh, and you'll be wanting a guide to show you how to put those in, which iFixit also has for you.

Joy-Con Buckle Lock Replacement - iFixit Repair Guide

The only gotcha you'll want to be aware of is that the buckle locks are specific to each side Joy-Con; there's a right hand one and a left hand one. If, like me, you don't notice that fact and put them in the wrong side, they'll go in okay but won't keep the Joy-Con in place. Then you get to go do the whole operation again, only with the correct buckle lock this time. So don't be me, okay? :D

Good luck, and let us know how it goes!