Trusted Reviews is supported by its audience. If you purchase through links on our site, we may earn a commission.Learn more.

How to delete save data on Nintendo Switch

In This Article

In This Article

TheNintendo Switchand its two siblings, theNintendo Switch OLEDandNintendo Switch Lite, are all fantastic consoles that boast a massive and high-quality games library.

However, with a base storage of just 32GB, the vanilla Nintendo Switch model will not be able to store too many games, screenshots or videos, meaning that you may want to invest in a MicroSD card for additional storage.

But if you’ve reached the point where you have too many games and you know you’re not going to be revisiting them anytime soon, an easier option would be to erase some of the game save data files from your Switch. Not only does this free up storage, but it means you can replay your games from the beginning and relive the magic.

Read on to find out the easiest way to delete your game save data on a Nintendo Switch. It’s important to note that once you delete your game save data there is no way to recover it, so make sure you’re happy with your choice before you delete any data.

What you’ll need:

What you’ll need:

The Short Version

Step1

Click on Settings

Turn on your Nintendo Switch and click on Settings from the menu at the bottom of the screen.

Step2

Go to Data Management

Scroll down to Data Management.

Step3

Click on Delete Save Data

Scroll down and choose the Delete Save Data option.

Step4

Choose the game you want to delete

You will be presented with a list of games that are on your console. Choose the game you want to delete to save data for.

Step5

Click Delete All Save Data for This Software

Click on the Delete All Save Data for This Software button to continue.

Step6

Press Delete Save Data

Make sure you are happy with your choices and that you have saved your game data on a Micro SD if necessary, and then click the red Delete Save Data button.

Troubleshooting

No, the game will not be uninstalled from the console but all your game data from the game will be deleted.

No, at the time of writing there is no support for external hard drives on the Nintendo Switch, meaning you will need to use a MicroSD card for expansion.

You might like…

Gemma joined Trusted Reviews as a staff writer after graduating from Leeds Beckett University with a Journalism degree. She’s worked with national outlets, covering breaking news stories to reviews fo…

Founded in 2003, Trusted Reviews exists to give our readers thorough, unbiased and independent advice on what to buy.

Today, we have millions of users a month from around the world, and assess more than 1,000 products a year.

Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.

We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.

Why trust our journalism?

Founded in 2003, Trusted Reviews exists to give our readers thorough, unbiased and independent advice on what to buy.

Today, we have millions of users a month from around the world, and assess more than 1,000 products a year.

Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.

We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.