4-way Switch Wiring Diagram (Multiple Lights w/ PDF) - Electric Problems (2024)

If you need to wire multiple lights in your 4-way switch setup, connecting them in parallel should do the trick. All you have to do is connect a white terminal to the white wire, a black terminal to the black wire, a ground wire to the ground terminal of each light bulb fixture.

This is what connected light fixtures in parallel should look like (white wire and terminal on this schematic is blue color):

In this article, I will be discussing ONLY how to connect a 4-way switch with multiple lights. If you would like to see some schematics on a 4-way switch with a single light, feel free to read this article.

Here are some wiring diagrams:

In this setup, we are connecting the live (black) wire coming from the common terminal of the second 3-way switch to the black terminal of the first bulb. The same wire goes to the black terminal of the second bulb and you are using more bulbs, connect it to them as well.

After that, connect the neutral (white) wire (that is coming directly from the source) to the neutral (white) terminal of the first bulb. Connect the same wire to the second bulb and if more lights are present, connect it to their neutral terminals as well.

Repeat the same process with the ground (or green) wire. Connect it to the ground terminal of the first light bulb, then to the second bulb, and so on. In some cases (if the ground terminal is not present) the ground wire gets connected to the light fixture itself.

Here are the wiring diagrams:

Here are PDF files (schematic and wiring) you can download for a more detailed view.

There are three cases in this example:

1. Power coming into a 3-way switch first
2. Power coming into a 4-way switch first
3. Power and light coming into the same switch

1. Power coming to the 3-way Switch First (with Multiple Lights).

In this setup, just add another bulb and connect all the wires that are connected to the first bulb to their respective terminals of the second bulb.

All the lights that are added should be connected in parallel to the previous light. We can use a 14-2 cable to wire the first light to the second light and so on.

Here are the diagrams:

And this is a PDF version (schematic & wiring).

2. Power coming to the 4-way Switch First (with Multiple Lights).

Here is a diagram of when power is coming to the 4-way switch first with multiple lights:

Here is a PDF version of this setup (schematic & wiring).

3. Power and Light to the Same Switch with Multiple Lights.

In this case, in addition to the previous drawing (power and light to the same switch with single light), there is a 14-2 cable which is used to power the second light. The connections to the second light are the same.

The live (black) wire gets connected to the black terminal of the second light and the neutral (white) wire to the neutral terminal of the second light. Of course, the ground wire gets connected in the same way to the ground terminal of the second light.

You can increase the number of lights in this setup by connecting them in parallel as described above. Here are the diagrams:

Here is a PDF version of this wiring setup to give you a better view (schematics & wiring). Also, all PDF files with the above diagrams can be downloaded here.

Now, let’s get your house as comfortable as possible! Did I mention that Smart switches are something you cannot really live without once you try?

Imagine just making it to bed and forgetting to shut the light down someplace! Now, take a deep breath, pull out your phone and press a button! Done!

This is also a good tool to use to check if your family members left some lights on in their closets 🤔…