3-Way Light Switch Basics

Three-way light switches can be confusing, right?

Watch our video! You’ll find out exactly how and why a 3-way light switch works.

Once you understand the basics, it’s not that difficult to wire or troubleshoot your own 3-way switch.

Three-way switches allow you to operate a light, or device such as a ceiling fan, from two different locations. That’s why a 3-way circuit always involves two 3-way switches.

Watch our video for a straightforward guide to understanding how a three-way switch works – theoretically.

Learn How a 3-Way Switch Works

I’m confident this tutorial lesson on how a 3-way switch actually works, will make your wiring job a piece of cake.

Starting with a quick explanation of a single-pole switch to a complete 3-way circuit, it won’t take long for you to see the light. Plus, get troubleshooting tips so you can fix problems with your own 3-way switch.

If you prefer getting your information by reading, simply follow our notes below.

What Is an Electrical Circuit?

Understanding electrical circuits is helpful for our tutorial on 3-way switches. It’s actually quick and easy to make sense of it.

Electrical Circuit Basics

An electrical circuit is created when a continuous pathway is formed that allows current (electrons) to flow. In our illustration above, power comes from the service panel and electrons continuously flow through the hot wire to the load (which is a lightbulb in this case), and back again to the service panel through the neutral wire.

Single-Pole Switch Basics

Now let’s introduce a switch. A switch is a device that can make or break a circuit, creating an easy way to turn the light/device on or off.

Getting the gist of 3-way switches starts with a basic knowledge of a single-pole switch.

Single Pole Switch
Single Pole Switch terminals

Electrical Word Warrior
(aka Electrical Glossary)

Single-Pole Switch – controls a light(s) or device(s) from a single location. It’s the most common type of switch and has the toggle marked on and off.

A single-pole switch has two terminals for two hot wires:
1. Power Wire 2. Load Wire. The load wire connects to your light(s) and device(s). Electricians refer to a light or device as the load

The nice (and easy) thing about single pole switches? The wires can go to either terminal as shown in the photos. So you can connect and conquer!

Look at the image below. Here’s a complete circuit with a single[pole switch. See the area with 2 brass circles? these are terminals where the wire is connected to the switch. It’s the electrical symbol for a single-pole switch.

Single pole switch demonstration

Looks a lot like a drawbridge, doesn’t it? That’s actually a very good way of looking at it.

What does a drawbridge do? It opens and closes to allow traffic to flow, or stop traffic from flowing.

When it’s open, traffic stops.

When it’s closed, traffic flows.

Our traffic is electrons.

Electrons want to flow from the panel, through the bulb and then back again.

See what happens when I close the switch? There is an unbroken path for current to flow. The switch is now in the ON position.

3-way switch in ON position

Power from the panel can now flow to the lightbulb and Viola! You’ve got light!

Again, this is a complete electrical circuit without any breaks.

Single Pole Switch Basics

When you want to operate a light from 2 different locations, you need a 3-way switch. This type of switch has 3 terminals.

Here are the basics of a 3-way switch:

  • Two brass terminals for traveler wires
  • One black terminal for the common wire

Just to be clear, a 3-way switch never really turns on and off. It simply diverts power from one wire to the other – much like a railroad might switch a train from one track to another. Get the picture?

three-way switch

We call the black circle the common terminal because it’s always connected to one of the brass terminals. But never both at the same time.

The 2 brass circles are called traveler terminals, because the 2 traveler wires are connected to them.

We’ll label the two traveler wires T1 and T2. Our common terminal is labeled C.

Above, traveler wire T1 is energized because it’s making contact with the common terminal.

Below, traveler wire T2 is energized because it’s now making contact with the common terminal.

Three way switches

Fully Diagramed 3-Way Circuit

Most homes have at least one 3-way switch circuit. I know I enjoy not running up and down the stairs just to turn on a light. How ’bout you?

Hee’s how a fully diagramed 3-way circuit looks. Remember, a 3-way circuit must have two 3-way switches and you can see them in the image below.

Fully diagramed 3-way circuit

Study this diagram. It’s fairly simple to tell why the light is not on. The electrical circuit has breaks in it. Flipping just one of the 3-way switches should do the trick and turn on the lights.


Let’s operate the switch on the right. Power can now flow through traveler wire T2 and the light goes on! (Flipping the switch on the left would have given the same result of turning on the light.)

3-Way Switch "ON" position

Starting with the scenario above, I now operate the switch on the left. The light goes off. You can easily see that there’s no path for current to flow to the light.

3-Way Switch "OFF" position

Complete 3-way circuit diagram

I operate the switch on the right again, and the light goes back on. However, the current now flows through traveler wire T1.

3-way switch basics

Electrical Word Warrior
(aka Electrical Glossary)

3-Way Switch – a 3-way switch has 3 terminals: 2 brass terminals for the 2 traveler wires, and 1 common (black) terminal for the common wire.

A 3-way switch circuit is always comprised of two 3-way switches that control light(s) or device(s) from two different locations.

Fun Fact #1: a 3-way switch does not have “on” and “off” markings. Can you guess why?

Fun Fact #2: the technical term for a 3-way switch is single pole double throw switch (SPDT).

3-Way Switch Troubleshooting

Now that you know the correct way to wire a 3-way switch, it’s pretty easy to troubleshoot problems. You can soon impress your friends with your 3-way switch troubleshooting skills.

Why doesn’t My 3-Way Switch Work?

A frequent question I hear is “why doesn’t my 3-way switch work?” More often than not, there’s a wiring mistake.

A common error in wiring a 3-way switch is connecting the common wire to a brass terminal.

An example is shown below.

3-way switch troubleshooting

To compound the problem, a traveler wire is then usually connected to the common terminal as illustrated below.

Wrong 3-way switch wiring

Deceptively, the 3-way switch appears to work properly when you operate the switch. (See below that when I flip the switch on the left, the light goes on.)

However, it worked because current has a path – not because it’s hooked up correctly.

3-Way Switch Wired Incorrectly

When I double-check my work by operating the switch on the right, the light goes off just as I expect. I think I nailed it.

3-Way Switch Wired Wrongly

I’m feeling pretty good. I decide to go back and operate the switch on the left one more time. I expect the light to go back on.

Uh-oh! It’s only now that I realize I have a problem because the light stays off. Current does not have a path.

3-way switch troubleshooting

The moral of the story is, never be content operating 3-way switches just a couple times. To confirm you wired them correctly, check back and forth between switches at least 3 times.

3-Way Switch Troubleshooting Tips

Follow these 3-way switch troubleshooting tips to avoid needless frustration in diagnosing a problem.

Here’s how to troubleshoot a 3-way switch problem:

  1. Warning! Always start by turning off the power at the breaker panel.
  2. Verify that the common wire is connected to the common (black) terminal. I usually connect the common wire to the common terminal first. This is the critical one that must be done right.
  3. Double-check that the traveler wires are connected to brass terminals. It doesn’t matter which traveler wire is connected to which brass terminal. As long as it’s brass, you’re good!
  4. Make sure all the screws on the switch are tight so that there are no loose connections.
  5. Do you have a neutral wire from the load back to your power source? Nothing works without a neutral.
  6. Make sure you have 120v power coming from your panel.

Troubleshooting a 3-way switch is not too difficult as you can see from the tips above. Man times, the problem is simply wires that are connected to the wrong terminal. That’s a quick fix that takes just minutes to remedy.

Wrapping It Up

Get the picture of how a 3-way switch works, and it’s not that hard to wire them yourself or fix a problem.