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The PS4 is an excellent entry into electronics company Sony’s line of personal gaming consoles. An upgrade from its predecessor, it features more powerful hardware that allows it to run hundreds of games at high resolutions for an immersive experience. While the console is robust, it can run into problems occasionally.
This extends to some of the accessories you might use with the PS4, and the controller is one of the main ones you’ll have. If your PS4 controller is blinking blue, it could indicate a few issues that we will discuss below.
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Table of Contents
What Does a Blinking Blue PS4 Mean?
Occasionally, you may find that either your PS4 controller or PS4 console itself displays intermittent blue flashing lights. There could be a few causes of this, and some of them might depend on if you’re seeing the lights on the controller or the console.
PS4 Console Blinking Blue
Our article mainly focuses on the controller, but it is worth noting that the console can also flash a blue light. Sometimes, this might have something to do with the controller. In other cases, it could be a problem with the console.
1.BLOD
One of the most serious issues that can happen when a PS4 is blinking is what users refer to as the blue light of death. When the PS4 console enters its powered-on state stably, it should display a solid white light.
A blinking blue light could show that the device cannot fully enter its powered-on state fully. This blinking light could show a more serious issue.
It’s important to remember that the blue light of death is very specific, and you must ensure that this is what you are seeing. A BLOD will pulse on and off but remain blue. Other lights could be solid instead of blinking, or they might be a different color.
It can be difficult to determine the precise cause because you usually won’t have access to any audio, video, or features of the PS4 if the true culprit is the BLOD.
2. Hardware Issues
Failing power supplies, power cord problems, hard drive issues, or dead graphics cards could all be some of the reasons that the PS4 console is blinking blue.
3. Poor Connection
This could be as simple as having a faulty connection that isn’t sending the appropriate signals to the PS4. Check all the cables that are meant to be attached to the PS4, including the power supply.
4. Console Cannot Start Properly
You can also try restarting the PS4 completely by holding down the power button for a few seconds. Sometimes, the console can fail to start properly but still works fine, and a restart could solve the issue.
5. Battery
You might also try replacing the CMOS battery to see if that helps.
6. Software Updates
Last, an update may have caused an issue, and Sony may need to fix this on their end. While you can also restore the console’s factory settings, you should keep in mind that data that isn’t saved already will be gone.
Why Is My PS4 Controller Blinking Blue? (3 Reasons)
The rest of our article will focus on the possible causes of your PS4 controller blinking blue. We will also take you through some of the most common fixes you can try. While this list may not be exhaustive, it is intended to provide you with solutions to the controller issues many users seem to face.
We will connect you with some of the most common fixes you can try to alleviate the issues we discuss here. Even if nothing seems to work for you at first, you may be able to mix and match some solutions with different problems.
1. Desynchronized or Lost Pairing.
If your controller works fine with your PS4 most of the time, it could have just lost the signal it uses to communicate with the console.
Possible fixes for this issue
In such cases, your best bet is to just turn the controller off completely. Once you do, press the appropriate button to turn it back on and see if it reconnects with the console.
You can put the controller in pairing mode again if this doesn’t work and do the same on the console. This could let both devices “find” each other again and sync up normally. There is a very small hole in the back of your PS4 controller. Pressing this can reset the device and allow you to pair it up again.
If none of the above solutions work out, a third option is to pair the controller in Bluetooth mode. You may need to enable some settings on your console for pairing Bluetooth devices to the same network as the one your PS4 is on. You can then scan for devices that have Bluetooth and try to connect the controller that way to see if it solves the pairing issue.
2. Software Issues
The console may be experiencing software issues that affect the controller.
Possible fix for this issue
In these cases, you can try updating or reinstalling the drivers. This is something that you should be able to do from the PlayStation page itself.
If a software problem is present, addressing that issue might fix whatever is going on to stop the controller from connecting to the console.
3. Faulty Connection
Third, you may experience a faulty connection that is interfering with your controller.
Possible fixes for this issue
One of the easiest ways you can determine if this is the case is to check to see if the controller works while it is connected to the PS4 through other means.
If you can use a USB port on the console to connect your controller via a wire, you can test if there is some sort of severe fault between how the two devices normally communicate.
If the controller seems to work fine when it is plugged in this way, you could be dealing with a faulty connection or internal component that sends out the appropriate signals. In such cases, you may need to replace the controller or send it for repair to achieve the best results.
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Why Does My PS4 Controller Light Flash Blue Then the Controller Turns Off?
This is a similar problem to the one above, but it is one that could stem from different issues. Previously, we’ve discussed what sorts of problems you might be running into if the PS4 controller light flashes blue continuously in a loop.
Here, we will discuss what could happen if your controller flashes blue but then seems to shut itself off completely.
1. Interference with previous pairing
If you have a used controller that you are trying to pair with your own console for the first time, the device may be trying to sync with whatever console it was connected to previously. Since it cannot find this console anywhere nearby, the controller may shut down entirely.
Possible fix for this issue
The full reset might be the best option to try here. As we mentioned earlier, this is not quite the same as just restarting the controller. A restart would just involve shutting it off and turning it on again. To get it to reset, we need to flip the controller over and find the tiny hole on the back.
Once you see the hole, use any small tool to press inside it and hold it down for a few seconds. Instead of shutting down the controller normally, this action will reset it.
A full reset could allow you to pair it with your own console, as it should forget about the previous pairing and its interference.
2. No battery or faulty battery
In some cases, the battery on the PS4 controller might go bad. When this happens, it may have enough power to register blinking lights.
However, it may not be able to give enough juice to the controller for it to function normally. If you find that your battery is not faulty, the problem could be the power supply.
Possible fix for this issue
You may need to replace the battery. Although there are ways that you can do this yourself, you might also be able to send in your controller if it is still under warranty.
It is especially good to keep this in mind if the battery is not the issue and you can’t get the controller to work at all.
3. Sleep mode bug
There is a sleep mode bug which may cause the controller to flash blue but not turn on. In this case, you may need to do some work with the PS4 console to solve the problem.
Possible fix for this issue
You can try to boot the console in safe mode in order to remove the sleep bug.
- Turn off and unplug the PS4 console. Wait at least 60 seconds.
- Connect your PS4 controller using its original cable or a compatible USB cable.
- Reconnect your console, but hold the power button down when turning it on.
- You should hear a second beep a few seconds after the initial beep on startup.
- Once ‘PS4 Safe Mode’ is displayed, you can restart the PS4 normally to see if this fixes the controller issue.
Conclusion
PS4 controllers should run great most of the time. However, they can occasionally meet with glitches or problems that you need to solve by doing a little digging. Fortunately, most of the common issues that users will face require relatively simple, straightforward solutions that you can try at home yourself.
If there are bigger problems, you can check to see if your controller is still under warranty. If so, the manufacturer or other experts may be able to eliminate the problem for you.