How to Find a Lost VR Headset or Controller

What you’re dealing with

Controllers have excellent battery life and sleep rather than switching off, so they stay findable for a long time.

Broadcasts as	Quest, or a controller identifier
Typical battery	2 to 3 hours on a headset; weeks on AA-powered controllers
Findable by scan	Yes, while powered on
Search window	Days to weeks

Once the battery is gone: Controllers on AA cells run for weeks and sleep rather than power down.

Put down on a sofa, slid off.

Dropped during a session and pushed to the edge of the room.

Carried off by someone else in the house.

Check the last-seen map firstBefore you search a room, find out which building. A pin saves you from searching the right way in the wrong place.
Scan from the middle of the roomNote everything that appears, then select the device you want so the rest of the list drops away.
Walk and watch the signalSweep in a straight line, give each position a few seconds, and turn 90 degrees when the reading stops rising.
Search inside things, not across themA strong signal with nothing visible means it is underneath or inside something. Fabric and metal block Bluetooth badly.

Scan from the middle of the play space, controllers almost never leave the room they were used in.
Press a button if you are close; waking a controller makes it advertise far more frequently.

The same method applies to these, with different battery windows and different hiding places.

Yes, while they have charge. They pair over Bluetooth and continue advertising in sleep.