How to quickly pair a guest's Wii remote?

Every time my friends are over with their own pair of Wii remotes, I have to do this hit-or-miss pairing dance over and over again. I'm not sure what the "correct" way of doing this is, and the manual is kind of vague.

So, what's the easiest (fastest) way of (temporarily) using a guest's Wii Remote on my Wii?


The easiest way is this:

Edit: Here's the text from the manual. Any use of bold, numbers, and bullets are from the actual manual text.

Wii Operations Manual - System Setup, page 20

ONE TIME MODE - This mode allows you to temporarily use your remote on a console other than your own or to use a friends remote on your console. It does not delete the Standard Mode setting stored in the remote.

Wii Operations Manual - System Setup, page 21

One Time Mode Synchronization

NOTE: This mode temporarily removes the Standard Mode synchronization setup for all remotes until the power of the Wii console is turned off. When the power is turned on again, the Standard Mode settings will return.

  1. Press the HOME Button on a remote that is synchronized with the console.

  2. Select the Wii Remote Settings option from the Home Button menu, then select the Reconnect option.

  3. Press the 1 and 2 Buttons simultaneously on the remote that you want to synchronize with the console.
    The order in which you synchronize remotes will set the player order for multiplayer games.

  4. The Player LEDs will blink during the syncing process. When the blinking stops, the connection is complete.See diagram at right for description of what the blinking indicates.

Next to said diagram:

During the syncing process, the number of LEDs that blink will show the battery life of the remote that is being synchronized.

After the syncing process, LED that is lit shows the player number for that remote.

NOTE: One Time Mode synchronization is temporary. The Wii Remote will lose this synchronization under the following conditions:

  • When your turn off the console by pressing the Power Button on either the remote or the console.
  • When starting up a game or Channel from the Wii Menu.
  • When returning to the Wii Menu after exiting from a game or Channel.
  • When you select Reset on the HOME Menu Screen.
  • When you press the Reset button on the front of the console.

The way that seems to work best for me when pairing wiimotes (or using the "reconnect" option to change the order) is this:

Pair each wiimote one-at-a-time in the order you want. Have each player hold down the 1+2 buttons until that wiimote pairs. Then have the next player, etc. It seems to take a few seconds for each wiimote.

I wish it was a bit smoother than that.