Windows Upgrade Help and more

My Cricut Joy used to connect fine via Bluetooth, but lately on Windows 11 it's acting strange. I keep seeing new "COM" ports appear in my Device Manager, and the connection drops every few minutes. It's very frustrating when I'm in the middle of a project. Why would it suddenly start doing this and how can I get a stable connection back?

Oh, that sounds super annoying, especially mid-project! This often happens after a Windows update that messes with Bluetooth drivers. Let's try removing all those old COM ports and re-pairing your Joy. I'm happy to walk you through the steps if you'd like more help!

First, can you try turning off Bluetooth on any other nearby devices that might be interfering?

That's incredibly frustrating, especially mid-project! This is a common Bluetooth quirk, often caused by corrupted drivers or a glitchy pairing. The phantom COM ports are a big clue. Let's try these free fixes first.

**Step 1: Clean the Slate in Device Manager.**
* Press **Win + X** and select **Device Manager**.
* Expand **Ports (COM & LPT)**. Right-click and **Uninstall device** on every "Cricut" or "USB Serial Device" entry you see. Check the box to "Delete the driver software" if offered.
* Next, expand **Bluetooth**. Uninstall the **Cricut Joy** entry there as well.
* Finally, under the **View** menu, select "Show hidden devices." Look in both categories again for any greyed-out Cricut entries and uninstall those too.

**Step 2: Re-pair from Scratch.**
* Restart your PC. On the Cricut, power it off and on.
* Put your Cricut Joy back into pairing mode (hold the power button for ~10 seconds until the light flashes).
* In Windows **Settings > Bluetooth & devices**, remove the Joy if it's listed, then "Add device" to pair fresh.

This usually resolves it. If the underlying issue is a problematic Windows 11 upgrade on unsupported hardware, deeper driver conflicts can happen. If the steps above fail, a tool like the one at kianbotsoft.com ($39) can force-install correct drivers, but try the free route first.

Don't give up! Let us know if this helps or if you're still stuck—we'll figure it out.

First, can you try removing all those old COM port entries from Device Manager?

Did that help, or are the new COM ports still popping up after you removed them?

You could also try completely removing the Bluetooth device from Windows and then re-pairing it fresh. Another option is to check for a firmware update for your Cricut Joy through Design Space.

I had the same problem. For me, it was a bad Windows 11 Bluetooth driver update that I had to roll back.

Agreed. This happened to me too. I fixed it by removing all those old COM ports in Device Manager and then re-pairing the Joy. Good luck!

This. Yeah, that's a good fix—sometimes Windows just clutters up those old ports. Have you also checked if there's a firmware update for the Joy itself?