We know what you’re thinking. That hot new Animal Crossing edition Nintendo Switch, or the coral pink Switch Lite, looks just good enough that you want to upgrade from your launch console. But! You’re worried about losing all your progress in Stardew Valley or Breath of the Wild. Spending all those hours re-doing that past gaming would be such a chore. There’s got to be a better way! Well, there is. Here’s how to transfer your save files to a new Nintendo Switch.
Good news, everyone! Nintendo has made it pretty easy for you to make the switch to a new Switch, so transferring all those hours you’ve spent in Hyrule or Pelican Town won’t take you hours.
If you want to transfer your save data to a new Nintendo Switch, there’s an option baked into the Switch’s settings menu to help. Best of all, it doesn’t even need a Link Cable! The future is now, and it’s amazing.
How to transfer save data to a new Nintendo Switch
First, you’ll need to have both Switches signed in to the same Nintendo Account. So set up your new Switch as if it’s your current one. Make sure both are updated to System version 8.0.0 or whatever is most current, as well.
On your old Switch, open the Home menu and select the System Settings cog. Navigate through Data Management to find Transfer Your Save Data. You should see a screen like the one above. Select Send Save Data to Another Console and then choose your user account, and the game save data you want to send.
On the new Switch, navigate to the same menu (System Settings > Data Management > Transfer Your Save Data) and then select Receive Save Data. Now you can leave both consoles to wirelessly send to each other, as long as they are kept close by.
Two important things to note: the save data is not being copied, it’s being moved, so it will be deleted from the old console once the transfer completes. Additionally, if you have already created a save data file on the new console for games whose save data you’re transferring over, that save data will be overwritten. So just make sure you’re really ready to do this!
You’ll need to do this for all the games you want to transfer save data for, which could take a while if you have a lot. After that’s done, you’ll just need to transfer the games themselves! This is a little easier if you’ve installed them digitally to a microSD card, as you can just simply pop that out of the old console and into the new one. Take a look through the HyperX range of microSD cards to expand your storage and install more games to take on your adventures!
That’s everything you need to know to transfer save data to a new Nintendo Switch, be sure to check out some of our related Switch articles to get the most out of your new best friend!
