How to Transfer Your Island to Another Switch (Even OLED) - In 2 Minutes!
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 11 ก.ค. 2024
- How to transfer your island to another Switch in Animal Crossing: New Horizons! This video not only shows you how to move your entire island save data, but also the new function of moving just a single resident. For your island, you need to use the Island Transfer Tool which you can download from the Nintendo eShop. To move a resident (not the main Resident Representative), you don't even need the app! This can all be done within the Animal Crossing game itself.
Please let me know if you have any questions or if you think there should be any details added to this description! If I can't answer, hopefully someone else can! 🙌🏝
Video Guide:
0:00 - What is it?
1:07 - How to transfer resident to another island
3:52 - How to transfer entire island to another Switch
7:12 - How to unlink user profile
7:49 - Questions
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Please drop this video a like if it was helpful, and send it to someone you know could use the help! I'm really glad they added this feature. It's a lifesaver!
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Same. It really is a lifesaver. Thank so much for this video. It really helped. I'll give u lots of likes 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
@@briak3846 Haha awesome glad I could help! You are very welcome!
@@switchunboxing Thanks and you're welcome. You know what, since ur so nice and so helpful, I'm going to subscribe to you right now.
I just can't believe how Nintendo managed to turn all this "new horizons transfer thing" into such a hassle... 🙄🙄
It’s super easy really! I just think the communication it’s a little complicated. I think they do a lot of things to try and make things sound more simple but really in the process they make it more confusing
I hope Nintendo learns from Microsoft on how to run Nintendo online service things need to be more user-friendly
@@MrJewishfox Very true. Hopefully they will improve.
@@switchunboxing i actually disagree the whole process could be alot easier and user-friendly. Its unnecessary complicated. Ive been going through both processes and its a nightmare. The translation for the process in my language isnt easy to understand important features aren’t explained. For one process you need an extra app for the other you dont. Instead of making the additional app an easy to understand tool that explains everything and does things for you. And the cherry on top is that the explanation on their site is just as hard to understand and leaves out important information. To decide what i would do and to actually do both things i needed to watch videos from youtubers.
The whole thing is overcomplicated and the least Nintendo could do is make a video themselves explain the different options and showing step for step how to do them.
@@JayJay-gj9bu Most of what you just said falls under communication. With more clear communication, people wouldn’t be anywhere near as confused. To move your island, you just open the app and keep pressing A really.
Thanks so much for this video! I'm decently tech savvy, but I was so afraid of messing something up. This video explains what to do really well.
You are welcome! I’m so glad it helped! Maybe share it with someone else you know could use the help?
I just did this and it worked! Thanks for the step by step help!! I had a switch lite for a year now and got the ac switch for my birthday just as last year lol. I was able to happily transfer my old island over! So happy to play on my tv now, yay!!
Yayy so glad to help! Maybe share this video with someone else it can help? And join the Discord for all things Switch and Animal Crossing!
Thanks! The Instructions were Clear and you got Straight to the point, Much appreciated!
Yay I’m SO happy it makes sense and was helpful. Ahh that’s amazing!
You explained it so well, thank you so much!
Very happy to help!! Maybe share this video with someone you think it might help? And join our Discord to talk ACNH and Switch with our community! discord.gg/BgRPMpXJ
audio and explanations were great - i'm now considering getting a new switch since i want one with a longer batter life (and i want dat NH switch
Thank you! The battery life truly is great! I look at that bar and I’m like??? BUT I can’t say I’m digging the screens on these. I don’t notice the yellow shade while playing so that’s good, but the interface and eShop etc, everything looks yellow to me. And this fan makes a noise I don’t think my original Switch did. But luckily I got another ACNH Switch to see if it’s any better.
Literally picked my NH Switch yesterday and am AMAZED at the extended battery life. 10/10 recommended.
@@SifandThor Yayyyyy yeah I just switched mine for this video! The fan is louder. The screen is more yellow. But the battery is better haha!
I got an AC Switch and am giving my Switch Lite to a friend, and your video was SO much more helpful than any of the articles I found while googling. Thank you so much!
You are welcome! So glad! I made it because other resources didn’t seem to make as much sense as they could.
Thank you so much for making this video! It's very helpful.
Thanks for watching! Maybe share it to someone else who might be able to benefit from it?
Thank you. I’ve got the New Horizons Switch and I wanted to transfer the ACNH on my older switch onto this, this really helped! New sub.
Awesome I’m glad I was able to help!! Otherwise I would be bummed haha
@@switchunboxing I just got the AC Switch and I’m so excited to transfer my data! But, I have to transfer my user profile to the new Switch, as well... can you possibly help me figure out what exactly I should do? I’m so confused.
I’m getting my own switch and my brother is going to have the one that we are using right now and this was very helpful thank you!
Awesome I’m glad it was helpful!
Same, I got the oled to myself 🤪
thank you so much for this. I was really nervous that the save data would be deleted but its fine so thanks again :)
You are welcome thanks for watching! Maybe share this video with someone it could help?
Super helpful and clearly laid out
Good to hear Dylan that’s what I was going for! Spent way too much time making this one lol
Intro song has flight of the concord vibes. Love it!
Yes! Just without the comedy haha. LOVE Animal Crossing music, although some people aren’t as into the New Horizons jams as previous entries. I just wish there was royalty-free music like this.
Thanks so much for this!
You are welcome happy to help! Did you get it working?
This video was a big help. And This merry Christmas
Awesome I’m so glad it was! Thank you very much and maybe share it to someone else you think it might help!
Awesome job shib
Tanks
This turned out great and easy to understand! Thank you for helping me with the character transfer. I successfully transferred my character from my friend's switch to my own switch.
Discord link isnt working btw. I'd love to join.
Super happy to help! So I’m guessing you made a new island? We would love to have you on the Discord. I just updated the link so it should be working now!
This is so helpful, but I was really hoping we could finally sync our island across more than one Switch. I really want to use my Lite on the go and my docked Switch at home. This update gives me hope though. 🤞🏽
Right wouldnt that be cool? I wouldn’t count on it happening. 😭
Omg me tooooo! This is the perfect game to take on the go but I’m just not willing to transfer to my lite and not be able to play on tv at home anymore:(
@@emilynichols220 it sucks sooooo much 😫
This really helped tysm, new sub!
Yayy so glad it helped for real! Maybe share this video with someone else you know could use the help? And feel free to join our Discord in the description to make new ACNH friends!
Nice video, shibby!
I usually have questions about stuff like this but this was so thorough and clear that i have nothing left to ask
Yeah I’m very thorough that’s why it takes me so long to make videos hahaha. Glad it helped!!!! Maybe share this with someone else it might be helpful to? 🙌
Thank you so much for the clear instructions! I transfered my island safely to my normal switch. My question is: I might want to transfer it back again to my lite in the future when I'm done with my island. Do you recommend it or should I keep it on the normal switch to be safe? Thank you again for doing so much for the Nintendo community!
Awesome thank you for the compliments! Well in the making of this video I probably transferred my island about five times or more and it was fine. Super quick! But you know, with any type of data with technology you risk corruption or loss. Just make sure you are backed up to the cloud though and you should be just fine!
@@switchunboxing thanks for the comment and tip! I turned my cloud save on so I hope I can use the transfer data in the future again! Hope you have an amazing day!
@@kagomemihata6299 Thanks you as well! Maybe share this video to someone else you think it could help
I’m getting the regular switch and I have the lite I still want it to be on the lite and on the new switch does it have to be deleted after I transfer everything to the new switch? I’d like to keep both animal crossing data on the new one and the lite I also want to transfer everything to the new switch from my lite
Thank you so much!! This video was so helpful
You are welcome thank you so much I’m SOO glad it could help people out! I want to do more tutorials now. 🙌
Thank you, i had no idea this was out yet
Happy to help! Maybe share it with someone else you know it might help? Cool feature kind of overdue. And still overly complicated lol but hopefully I helped with that.
My question is, I have 3 houses on my island, so do I have to transfer the user data from each user over individually or is it all at once, moving their profiles over as well? Because My kids don't have Nintendo accounts, they just have a house on my island.
The island transfer tool just moves over the entire game save. On the new Switch, when opening up the game from a user, it’ll ask you which character you want to link with the profile. You could move the user profiles over, or just start with new user profiles on the new Switch.
do you need nintendo switch online on BOTH switches to get the tool/island transer tool
No way you don’t need NSO subscription to download apps. You do need internet connection to download the app though and a Nintendo account.
Amazing video, so glad I subscribed! Great to know I can transfer Islands back and forth to switch my save data between profiles.
Yup! I did it about 6 times making this video lol. I actually mentioned that in the video and then cut it out. Also said that I don't recommend it though because you never know, save data CAN become corrupt. I wouldn't quite wanna test its limits. But it didn't stop me haha.
@@switchunboxing Dude you’re the patron saint of New Horizons for this info 😂 I got to the end and you kind of mentioned it, appreciate your hard work. I’ll be back to check out more of your content
@@TheMnimatt Did someone say Patreon? Well, now that you mention it, I..bahaaha jk don't have one. Hey thank you for that title! I'll take it. Upcoming content is: Upcoming Switch games, and related unboxings. Plus random things like this that distract me. If that's your thing, I'll see you there!
@@switchunboxing I’m here for it 👀
Very clear instructions and easy to understand, transferring my wife's residency to the other switch will be a whole lot easier and quicker, thanks for explaining this in depth.
Yayyy you’re welcome! Really glad the video was not useless haha. That’s great. Please share with anyone else you think it could help!
So my son has a switch that I started playing acnh on. I got my own switch now and a copy
Of the game. I’m the resident rep. My understanding is that I move the entire island to my new switch and then my son can move to his own island with all his stuff and his house? I hope that’s right haha. I’m too scared to do anything to mess it up
Yup that's correct! Move the island first, then you can move his resident to his Switch to an existing island if there is one, or if he has no island, he will become resident rep of a new island and will keep his stuff over either way. Keep in mind moving a single resident from one Switch to another requires 2 copies of the game, one opened on each Switch.
I came here to ask this exact same thing. Good to know!!
Where was this when my sister made me redo my entire island when she finally got her own switch
Omg 😭😭😭
You've gained a new subscriber from this video. Thank you! 😊😊
You are welcome! Glad to have you aboard. Did you get it working?
@@switchunboxing Not tried it yet. I have preparations to do first 🤓
Nice. My sibling went to college with their Switch back in June so I haven’t been able to get onto my island. I just got the Animal Crossing Switch for Christmas so we are working through the process together. Thanks!
Aww well you might just wanna get your own game and start a new island!
so if I moved my player (secondary) to a new switch /island, would I still keep all of my diys?? I've been worrying about this for a couple days!! also, can you change the name of your character/ player on the new switch, or will it remain as the old one?? this is so so helpful, thank you so much 😊💗
Yeah you’ll keep it and no since you are moving the character, you’re not changing their name or anything.
But you could always instead create a new character to make the new island with, and then transfer your other player. Then you could just trade items and stuff.
that's perfect, thank you so much 😊😊😊
@@beepboop1389 So glad to help!
is it possible to transfer an island from one switch to another if they are both set up on different Nintendo accounts?
Yup!
OMG TY! I made a new Nintendo account on my new switch so I thought I couldn't keep my main island representative. Thanks for making it clear how it works
You are welcome thanks for watching!!
Thank you you saved my life
Welcome I’m glad!
i wanna trade my first switch to the animal crosssing with out losing my whole island is there a way i could do this with only one
Do the island back and restore feature by making sure it’s backed up and then calling Nintendo to restore it once you get the new Switch
Ok tysm
So it transfers everything everything? Your bells, items and has everything how it was? :0
When you move the island, yes. It’s just moving the save file so it’s just moving your game save from one system to another. If you move the resident only, that’s a little different.
Thank uuu 😭
Welcome, thanks for watching!
thanks for the help mate
You’re welcome happy to help! Maybe share the video with someone else you think could use it!
When moving a resident to a brand new island will the resident’s storage come w/ them as well?
Yup
Thank for the help
Glad to be of service! Maybe share this video with someone you know could use the help?
Thank you so much. This has been a real pain. Everything else transferred via the cloud. My son was not happy. But now he is.
Actually not so great. He lost all his nook miles and money
@@christopherlawes9286 Happy to help! Did you move the entire island or did you move a resident off your island? Two different things happening in the video!
@@switchunboxing moved the island
On the new switch do you have to re buy New Horizons in order to transfer your island from your old switch to the new one?
Nope you don’t even need a copy of the game to transfer the island, just the island transfer tool. Only time you need the game is if you’re just moving a single resident, as this requires the game to be open on both systems.
@@switchunboxing ok! Thank you so much!
Happy to help!
Wait, so do you delete data on the new "target" switch before starting the process???
You can only have one island save per Nintendo switch, so yes if you want to move your island over to a switch that already has an island on it, you must first delete that island or move it somewhere else. You cannot move one island to a switch that already has an island on it.
If your new Switch does not have an island on it and you just got the switch, no you don’t need to delete anything because there’s nothing on there to delete. I had to delete mine because, for demonstration purposes, before I showed you how to move over an island, I showed you how to move over a character and create a new island. So the first thing I did in this video is I moved over one character from my island over to another switch. This requires another copy of the game. So I did that I move that character over to my new switch and created a new island with a new game. At that point, the new switch had an island on it. Then whenever I wanted to demonstrate how to move my old island over to the new switch, I had to first delete the new island because you can only have one island per switch.
@@switchunboxing oh thank you so much. That really helped. Thank you for this video. I'm also going to get the animal crossing switch. But I have another question though.
@@switchunboxing But can't you transfer your island from one switch to another through a microsd card?
@@briak3846 No you cannot move your island using any other method outside of the cloud backup and restore, or the Island Transfer Tool app on the Switch.
Thorough!
Thank you so much for this! It was sooo easy! Now that I have my island transferred over, how do I go about starting over on my old switch with a new island?
Hey thanks for watching! All you should have to do is open up the game I believe.
Can I transfer the whole island from a Switch to another with a single game cartridge?
Yup! All you need is the transfer app downloaded on both systems. It uses a separate app for this reason! 🙌
@@switchunboxing thx!
Mateo9001 asked the question I was going to ask. But one thing confuses me (because I'm not very bright, lol), during the actual transfer, which switch should the game cartridge be loaded into? The old switch, new switch, or does it matter?
@@Wineoclockbookworm You don’t need the game pulled up at all whatsoever. All it’s doing is moving the save file.
omg thanks soooo much for explaining the whole "you get to choose a new island representative" bloody nientendo didn't mention that. And is the main problem i'm stressed about cuz I'm currently playing on my bf's switch profile.
Well you can’t change who the island representative but you can move out your resident (can’t be the main resident representative) and create your own island and be the resident representative of that island, which requires another Switch!
@@switchunboxing sorrry I meant you get to relink a switch profile to the existing island representative, which was the problem I need a solution to. So we're all goooddddd.
Super helpful video thanks! I had my partner hijack my switch and my island so I wanted to get a new switch for myself but keep my island. Problem was I was the primary resident and I wanted to keep all my crap lol. So I gotta transfer my island and him, let him start a new island on my old switch and moving him back. Long process lol
Yeah if he’s got your old Switch with old island, and you have a new switch, you’d just move the island to your new switch. You can then just have him move to your old switch to start a new island. Shouldn’t be a very long process really!!! Thanks for watching and I’m glad it was helpful. : D
amazing video, super informative tysm. i have one question tho, do i have to sign in to the same Nintendo account that was on the ‘source’ switch on the ‘target’ switch as well or do i have to make a whole new account for the ‘target’ switch
i also head about transferring my user from the first switch to the second switch but i’m not sure if that would mess up the transfer, can you clarify?
No none of that matters and thank you I’m glad it was helpful!
WOW this video and the comment section are really helpful! thank you so much! I do have a question tho, I hope u didn't answer it already, do you have to have the same Nintendo account of the old switch as the new switch in order to transfer the island?
Thank you you are very welcome! Maybe share this with someone else who could use the help? No you don’t have to have the same account.
Shibby120 I’ll try, thanks again!
Thank god for this video! I have been searching for so long on the internet, even contacted Nintendo Support which btw have never replied, and I just wanted to switch my daughter's island from one user profile to another user profile on the same switch (so that she can use the Online subscription on the main profile, to visit other islands).
It's a simple copy-paste, and I have no idea why Nintendo makes it so complicated, and furthermore why it's such an obfuscated method.
Still, I really appreciate you sharing this info in a clear and concise manner. Thanks!
You’re welcome and thanks for watching! What do you mean copy and paste?
@@switchunboxing I meant that, I just wanted to "transfer" the island, from one profile to another one on the same switch, so it's not really a standard transfer to another switch like you show here. The goal was that I wanted my daughter to use the main profile I had created on the switch, since it's the one that has the Online subscription, and as she was using another profile and I don't have the Family plan, she couldn't use the Dodo codes and stuff :)
It seemed awfully complicated to "copy-paste" her island & resident to the main profile, but still, I just finished the process a couple of minutes ago using my sister's switch, and finally I was able to set things the right way.
And now, I can finally boost her Bell stack by selling her turnips at very high prices :D :D :D
Thanks again.
@@jesseliverless9811 How did you get it to work? In my video I show how to unlink a profile the only way I know how!
@@switchunboxing Oh yeah sorry I was a bit unclear. But I just used my sister's Switch (she doesn't have AC so no issue with deleting an exiting island). And I used the method you show to transfer to the other switch, then straight back to mine where I was able to link it to the "right" profile. :)
@@jesseliverless9811 Okay well I’m glad that worked!!!
You explain it so well!!
Thank you so much for letting me know about your video
I have just one last question, both my old and newest switch have my nintendo account, the same one. I want to delete my new island (on newest switch) but is it a problem that they are both linked to the same account? Or is it a matter of "switch" data being deleted, as in it deletes what's on that specific switch device, not my entire nintendo account. I just wanna make sure the old one doesn't get deleted by mistake!
Thanks it took too long to come out because I kept editing to make sure it all made sense because I had so many questions to begin with. I was on a mission to figure it out and then try to relay that message in an understandable way for others!
Island data exists on the Switch itself so that’s where you’re deleting it from! I delete my new island data in this video at 4:23. Thanks for watching!
@@switchunboxing thanks again for specifying, I had still the doubt because of the Nintendo account situation on my Switch-es
Btw the video came out great and I hope to see more!!
thanks for the instruction! by the way, when linking the character with profile. is it possible to change the island representative character on the new switch?
for example, on the old switch character A is the representative, character B is the resident. when moving to the new switch, can character B be the representative?
There’s only one rep per island and it can’t be changed. You’d be able to move onto a new island though and be the rep of that island.
You’re video was awesome and easy explanation. I just have only one question, when transferring, do you NEED to have the switches plugged in while doing the transfer? For context, i have a switch where the charging port isn’t working but i have enough battery to do a transfer to a new switch (which is on the way). Do i have to have both switches constantly charging in order to do the transfer because I know you mentioned in the video it prompts to but i’m not clear if it was required. Hope you can help, thank you
Nope! These were not plugged in during the transfer.
Also thanks for the compliment. I’m glad I could help!
@@switchunboxing thank you so much!
hey i’m not sure if you’re still replying to questions on this video, but i’m curious about something. i just got a switch oled as an upgrade and i want to transfer *only* my island representative to it, but that won’t work.
if i give all my money, things in storage, fully upgrade the house again, etc to a secondary islander on the same island, and then do the single islander transfer to the new switch, would i keep all the stuff?
And if I don’t like the 4 islands I have to choose from at the airport when restarting, would I be able to close the game and cancel the transfer to keep my data on that villager and keep trying? This last part isn’t as important as the first part, I was just curious because I could do that with new leaf. Thanks!
Did you figure it out? Why not just make a new island on the new switch and then go visit your old island to grab any items and bells that you want?
As for the 4 islands I’m not sure honestly I’m sorry! Those are some great questions.
Dope! Just messaged you on ig with a few questions
Cool I got you
Hey! Thanks for the video. Island transferred fine. My wife had a secondary user/resident that did not transfer over. He had his own house and the house is still there but not him. Can I still transfer that resident to the island on the new switch? I tried to import that user but it said I can't because when I tried to link the user to the nintendo account it said the account was already linked to a user. I tried to create a new user and it won't let that user play the game. I'm thinking I don't have the new switch set up as the primary console. Anyway, if you can wade through this mess of a question to figure out what I need to do to get that resident on the new switch (or at least be able to interact with items in his house, which the resident rep cannot do right now) I would really appreciate it. Thanks.
If somebody else doesn’t answer on here, I would say give Nintendo a call if you can’t get things to work with the users! If you transferred the island, you just simply transferred the game save which is what you’re supposed to do. There’s no resident transfer over or anything at that point. You have transferred everything out. Now it’s just a matter of opening the game from a user and choosing that character!
Bro nice vid ! But i wanna ask if im going to spawn onto the island ive transfered in everytime i open the game ? , And will the owner of the island and me can play at the same time ?
Thanks! Well remember there’s only one island per Switch. So whatever Switch you’re playing on, that’s the island you’ll be on. So yes any time you open the game on that Switch as long as that’s where the island is.
To play with multiple residents of the same island at the same time, open the NookPhone by pressing ZL, and selecting “Call Resident”. That should set you up with the multiplayer.
Hello and thank you for this video which is sooo helpful! I've still got a question though and hope you can help me.
I have an old switch with two profiles on it (linked to two different accounts) and my island is on profile A. I've now bought another switch on which I'd like to use the second profile (B) of the first switch. I'd like to transfer the profile A island on my new switch, can I do this if I have the game on both switches but knowing that there's only profile B on the new one?
I hope it's clear...thanks a lot!!!
Yes all this transfer tool does is move the island from one switch to another. It doesn’t care about the game. This just moves the save. Then remember whichever profile you open the game up with first will be the one that’s linked!
Hey, Thanks for the great video!!
Did I understand correctly that, as long as I have saved everything correctly, I can transfer the game from one switch to the other as often as I want? So from A to B and, for example, from B to A again after a year? Thanks in advance! :)
Yup with the Island Transfer Tool, it seems that way! I did about 6 transfers in the making of this video. Only took a couple minutes each time. I would just remember you do risk corrupting data each time you transfer probably so I wouldn’t say to transfer it every month or anything. But do what you have to do! And make sure that backup is turned on just in case.
@@switchunboxing perfect, thank you so much!! 😍
Hi, I have a question about something I’m still a little unsure of. I have the cartridge instead of having the digital version, do I move the cartridge to the new switch before I start the transfer process or after? I don’t need two copies of the game do I? Not sure if it makes a difference but in case it does, I just have the single profile/single resident.
You would need 2 copies of the game for moving a single resident.
Hi just wanting to clarify. So I bought a physical copy of the game when first released. Will I still be able to do the island transfer to a new switch if this is the case?? (I’m wanting to buy the limited edition ACNH switch and move all of my data onto that)
Yup the transfer doesn’t require any copies of the game, just the Island Transfer Tool.
Hello, thanks for the video. I hope this question makes sense, getting a new switch in a few days. 😅 Can I be signed in on both switches with my account when doing the second islander transfer or do I need to make another new account on the new switch? Have you got to have nintendo online membership for this? (Btw I'm on about transferring a second islander to a brand new village). Thankyou. :)
Hello! Well if you’re just moving a resident, you need 2 copies of the game so you wouldn’t be able to have the same digital copy on each switch. But you could have 2 different accounts that each have their own game. Or one digital and one physical, or both physical. Having the same account won’t matter unless you’re trying to have the same digital copy open on each switch. You can’t have a digital game running on 2 switches at once. It won’t allow it!
If you don’t have a second copy, you could borrow one or GameStop used game purchases come with 7-day return policy.
Thank you for taking the time to make this video. However, when I transfer my account and data to my new switch, it won’t allow me to open the island transfer app on my old switch, or vice versa if my account is on my old switch again and not the new one. It tells me I need a Nintendo account, but I only have the one. How am I supposed to transfer if it won’t let me open the app? Do you know of any fixes for this?
Log into your Nintendo account!
Great video. So I have digital version of ac. So would I sign into my new switch with my account and then do this process? Do I have to have 2 copies of the game if I have digital version?
Thank you! Transferring your island doesn’t require any copies of the game. Moving just a single resident requires 2.
I have a BIG question to ask about this. So, I got a new ACNH Switch to replace my old original Switch. My intentions are to trade in my old original Switch after I have transferred everything onto my new ACNH Switch. When transferring my user data from the old Switch to the new Switch, do I have to make sure my user is linked to both switches in order to do the island transfer? If so, is it possible to delete my account off of the old Switch ONLY after I complete the Island Transfer??
The reason I ask is because I am worried that I will not be able to open up the Island Transfer app without my eShop linked account attached?
No I don’t think there’s anything to worry about. You just have to simply open up the island transfer tool on both systems to move over the save data. Just download that app before you do anything.
But also whenever you transfer user data from the Switch menu, not your island, it will ask you if you want to keep using the old switch. Basically this is just asking if you want them to log you out. It’s not a big deal I don’t think. You you want to hit yes you are using both switches.That’s if you want to stay logged in the old switch if you don’t have the transfer tool yet. So you can download it. But if you don’t hit yes, don’t worry, it just logs you out and then you can just go log back in!
Then to erase the switch, just go into the settings and system, and then format options, and initialize the switch.
hi! i did watch this a few times but maybe i missed something because i still have a few questions!!
1. i was wondering if you need a nintendo online membership for this method?
2. do i have to back up the island i want to keep first before doing this transfer?(you would need a membership for that, so that’s what i was wondering haha) because i wasn’t sure if you backed your island up after the transfer or before 😅
and lastly, i was wondering if i have to do the user data transfer first and then the island transfer, because i’m planning on selling my old switch afterwards.
i hope i’m not bothering you!! and thank you for making this video :]
Hey! So there 2 different things there. We’ve had the island backup and restore feature via cloud for awhile. That’s separate. That does require a membership and it saves your island automatically and I recommend it. Nintendo says it’s for emergencies and if your old Switch is broken or lost. You turn on the new Switch and call Nintendo and they restore it with you. They usually help you even if your old switch is NOT lost or destroyed, and they don’t usually ask. So that’s one way to transfer. I recommend using the backup just in case something bad happens to your switch in the future.
My video shows you how to transfer your island if you STILL have your old switch. You download the Island Transfer Tool from the eShop, which does not require Nintendo Online member ship, but does require internet, and a Nintendo Account (that’s separate from Nintendo Online membership).
For moving user data, it doesn’t matter when you move it. These are separate things. Just note that when you move user data, it may ask “do you want to keep using your old switch”. If you want to keep using your old switch for any period of time, you’ll want to say yes. But don’t worry if you say no, all it does is sign you out. You can always just sign back in. It’s really not a big deal like they try to make it seem.
Nice video! I have a scenario, and wanted your take on it. I want to trade in my current Switch and get the ACNH one. If I were to call Nintendo to get them to restore my island, would they? Or, are they still saying that is just if your Switch has been broken or stolen? I really want the ACNH Switch, but not at the cost potentially losing my island. Thank you!
Well they say the cloud is just for if your old switch is damaged but a couple days before this video, I called and they restored mine without even asking any questions. Every time I have heard of somebody doing this process, it sounds like Nintendo did not give them any trouble. You can always just tell them your screen is too dim on the old one or it’s going out or whatever but really you shouldn’t have to tell them anything. Just that you have a new switch and you want to restore the island.
Great video!! Does it work if both switch share the same online account? I bought AC on one of my switches and was able to re download it on my switch lite with no charge. Now I want to move my island on my switch lite to my regular switch so will that work/be the same process?
I believe so! You may have to open up the Island Transfer Tool on a separate profile on the second Switch though. Just try it!
Question: When tranfering with the transfer tool, do I use my main account on both systems or do I have to create a new account somewhere?
Did you get it to work? I think you should be fine with your same account but if it doesn’t work then you might want to make a new one
Great video but I have a question. I bought a Nintendo Switch in November 2020 (a month ago) and played way too long. Game addiction is a terrible disease. Anyway, I installed ACNH with a downloaded copy from the Nintendo e Store. I just bought a second Switch system, the Animal Crossing limited edition. I plan to transfer my island to the new system following your excellent instructions. Now the question: If I give the old system to my best friend, will she be able to play as a new player with a new island? I understand the one island per system rule and I bought a second copy of the game (physical, this time). Will we need to install the second game? If so, which system will need it? Did my old game transfer with the island or did it stay behind on the old system? Thanks very much for any help you can provide.
The digital game will be playable from whatever account purchased it. So if they are going to be using your Nintendo account, they can play your downloaded game. If you play the game on a system that doesn’t have any save data, which would be your old system if you transfer your island out of the system, you start the game brand new and you will be the main island resident representative with a new island starting from the tutorial.
a bit of a weird question, do you need a copy of the game in the source console to do the transfer? I sold the physical copy a while ago and have it digitally on the target console!
You don’t need any copies
Question! I have nintendo switch online on my source console. The new console will not have this. Can I like...bring over my island data, and then bring over my account with the online and play as that before starting up the game or will that mess stuff up
As far as I know, that’s perfectly fine and I don’t see any reason that would mess anything up if you’re using the Island Transfer Tool. If you’re wanting to use the cloud, you may need that Switch Online account active first. But if you’re doing the cloud, you’ll be talking to Nintendo anyway and they can walk you through the best way to have that set up.
I'm not sure if this question was asked yet, but my question is, can this tool be used to transfer saves back and forth between two systems. I have a switch lite that goes pretty everywhere with me, and I have a switch that stays docked
This tool transfers your island save data from one Switch to another. Seems as though you can use it as often as you like. However, there’s probably a risk of data corruption each time you transfer, so the more you do so, the higher your risk of losing your island. That would be my hypothesis. I’ve heard of island data getting corrupt.
Super helpful video! One question, I have been using my brothers switch for animal crossing but I finally got my own! Is it possible to transfer my main rep and my island to the new switch?
Of course. That’s what this video is about! Congrats on the new Switch. 😊
@@switchunboxing Thank you so much for the quick response, it’s much appreciated!! It felt like a silly question but it’s such a nerve racking process haha
@@elishamiller2243 True especially when you only get one island per Switch and account!
@@switchunboxing Update: IT WORKED!!! Thank you so much for all the help and your amazing video 😊💛
@@elishamiller2243 Awesome I’m glad! And oh thank for very much I’m happy it helped. 😊
Hi, If I do a transfer of an island which has multiple residents (in my case 2, my main resident and another resident which was just storing things), what happens to the other resident. Are they erased? Or do they stay on the island? Do switch profiles need to exist on both consoles for this resident?
Hello! Nothing gets deleted. When you transfer the island, it transfers the entire save data. When you open the game from a switch user, you get to choose which resident you want to link with that user. So you don’t have to move the profiles or anything. You can but it doesn’t matter. You can start with new switch users if you want.
Hi I got some questions do I need to add the my same account on both switch to do the Animal crossing new horizons island transfer tool because I don't want to mess it up?
No you do not
Okay, I love how much thorough this video is, but can you help me figure out my situation? I have a switch light that has my empty back uptown on it, which is a downloaded copy of ACNH not the hard copy. I also have my big switch with my full completed town on it and it’s a hard copy game of ACNH. I want to move my big main town to my lite and also move my lite to my main, is that not possible even if I have the game 2 different ways, and if it’s not possible..can I let’s say delete the back up town on my lite and then transfer my main switch to my lite and then start a new town on my big switch again by using the code that I had for the other one that’s a downloadable copy? I can’t find this information to help me anywhere!
What code are you talking about? Well remember you can only have one island per switch so if you are willing to swap, using the transfer tool, you would need a third switch. Or you can just use the island back up and restore feature. Make sure both are backed up. Then delete both of them. Then call Nintendo and have them restore where you want it.
But yeah if you don’t care about the back up island you can just delete it and then transfer your island over. Then just create a new one after you have done the transfer
I watching your TH-cam video for your game video from Nikki Thomson 😘 😘
question: i got a switch oled and i want to transfer my old switch to the new one, do i transfer my island after the transfer or before the transfer? and do i need another copy of animal crossing or will the data directly save on to the other profile (switch oled) so that way when i reinstall it ill get the existing data screen?
The file is saved to the switch itself, not a profile. I don’t think it matters what what order you transfer it in
You don’t need any copies of the game in order to transfer the data
Thank you for this tutorial!!
Just to be sure, if I move a resident only, does the acquired nook miles and learnt DIY in the nookphone also transfer to the new switch? 🙂
Yes your character keeps their stuff! You'll just lose custom designs, and any items you carried that belonged to other players.
@@switchunboxing thank you so much!! Your video is enlightening, I’m looking forward to moving my resident to my own island 😁
@@crystalblue5860 Yay all that excitement all over again! Glad I could help. : D
@@switchunboxing what do you mean by items you carried that belong to other players? Does that mean anything they had a duplicate of and they gave me will just delete? Or does it go back into their storage?
@@Firefoxy11 Actually I do not know the answer to this. Hopefully somebody else can answer. It’s just what Tom Nook says when you do the transfer. I think it’s in the video.
Thank you SO MUCH for this incredibly helpful video. I just subbed and I'm sending it to several friends whom I know it would also help.
My spouse and I share an island with our kids. Kids have lost interest, spouse and I each want our own new island without losing our characters. I have a new Switch and copy of the game on the way, so I was wondering if this is possible: transfer my character to the new Switch and become resident representative of new island. Then transfer my spouse’s character to my new island, reset the old island on the original Switch, and transfer her back so that she’s the resident representative of a new island on the original Switch.
Would you foresee any issues with that scenario?
Thank you so much again for the great video.
That sounds like a solid plan! Just remember you can’t move a resident if they are the main island resident representative unless you move the entire island with them.
Glad the video could help and thanks for sharing!
Very clear and helpful! But when I’m trying to transfer my island from my lite to my new Oled, when it supposedly the starting of the transfer, my oled says that the connection has failed and that cannot be found, and in the lite it says that the connection is lost and I haven’t been able to transfer the Island, do you have an idea how to solve this please? Also when opening up the transfer island app it doesn’t let me chose what is the user i’d want to use for the app
Did you figure anything out? Sorry I’m not sure. I’d recommend reaching out to Nintendo support!
@@switchunboxing yes, Thank you! And don’t worry I finally could do it successfully after changing the Micro SD (and i don’t know why haha)
@@vanessamorales6210 Oh interesting! Thanks for letting me know and I’m glad it worked out
So im planning to get a new switch soon, i have a digital copy of ACNH on my switch lite, and ive got some questions regarding the transfer; (1) do i need to have 2 copies of the game to transfer? (2) should i do the user and save data transfer before the island transfer or should it be the other way around? (3) do i need internet to do the transfer?
To transfer the island, you need zero copies of the game and it doesn’t matter what order you go in. You only need internet to download the Island Transfer Tool!
@@switchunboxing thanks! 😊
@@chaosdunk8951 Yup hope it was helpful!
Ive tried all these steps, in order to transfer a resident from an old switch to the new one the ACNH settings say I need to transfer the user data. But ACNH does not pop up in the transfer data settings list to do this step. What am I missing or what can i do?
Well first before I can tell you what you can do, I must first know: What are you trying to do? What do you want to accomplish?
Hi so I’m getting a new switch and I’m the main resident on the island im sharing with my sister. I want to be able to move the island onto the new switch and move all of my data but would my sister still be able to have the same resident but on a different console (living on the same island)? Also, would we have to get a new game cartridge?
The island can only be on one switch. But she could move From the island, to a different switch and create her own island
My switch lites joycon has issues and I ordered a new one which arrives in a few days. Do I have to send my whole user data to the new switch first or do the animal crossing Transfer at first? I dont want to delete something the most important Thing is just the get my Island to the other switch
It doesn’t matter what order you do it in but if you move user data first, select “keep using my old switch” when it asks if you want to keep using your old switch. This just means it doesn’t log you out. If it does log you out, just log back in no problem.
Nothings deleted until you delete it.
So im getting a new switch to swap out my old one (which my mom will instead use), I want to transfer my island from my old switch to my new switch, do I need a ACNH gamecard in each switch? will I have to buy a 2nd game ?
No you don’t need any copies of the game for transferring your island. Just the Island Transfer Tool on both systems.
Thank you for this!! I was all set to call Nintendo next week when I get my new switch! Question for you or anyone who reads this: what about the SD card in my old switch lite? Will I be able to use it in my new ACNH switch? Thanks in advance!
You can use it, but with Nintendo switch, you can’t just take it out of one switch and put it into another. At that point it will ask you to delete everything on the card and it won’t give you another option. You have to hold the power button and turn off the system LOL instead of clicking delete.
So in order to transfer it, you would need a first transfer it to your computer. Move everything to a folder in your Computer. Then put the SD card in the new Nintendo switch. Then it’s going to ask you to delete it. Now you can go ahead and delete it because your stuff is backed up on the computer. Now you have a new switch with a brand new SD card. Now you can follow the process of plugging the SD card into your Computer and just moving the stuff into the card. Once it’s all moved, then you can put it back into the new switch and it should be fine. It’s just that the SD cards have to be formatted for one switch. It can’t be used on multiple switches. You can look up the process for this.
@@switchunboxing thank you, you are a kind soul for replying. Seasons greetings!
@@Liasisws You too! I’m very happy to help. Maybe share this with somebody else who could use the help as well!
How do we transfer a secondary player? So I have to add the player to my new switch and that's it? Thanks to you I easily moved my island, but not the second player. Thanks!
Hey! It’s the first thing I cover in the video. That’s how you move a resident from one island to another. You can move them into a new island or one that already exists. Then when you open up the game, just open it up from the Nintendo profile you want to link to it.
@@switchunboxing But if you've transferred your entire island from your old switch, how would you move a secondary resident? The island is now gone from the source (old) switch, so how could you get to your secondary resident if they don't have an island? Sorry, there's just something I'm not getting here lol
@@jessewomack7564 When you move the island, you were just simply moving the game save data. So it’s the same game just on a different system. Everything has moved to the new system you moved it to. So if you want to move one of those residents, just follow my instructions!
So, if i were to move just my character over to a new island and become the island representative on that one, does it allow me to start fresh other than my character? Like new island name, new island in general, etc?
Yep you start the game new except your house and things you own!
I am not at all good with this type of thing. Your video was very helpful but I am hoping you can help me transfer my kids animal crossing island to their new switch. We have had to purchase a new switch due to charging port issues. My kids share a switch and an island. My daughter started the game and is the island representative and my son is a resident. If i am understanding your video correctly i would need to transfer my daughter (the island rep). When I do that will my son still have access on the new switch or will there he an additional step to make sure he has access? I just want to make sure I do this right. They have invested so much time. Thanks in advance!
Hmmm just move over the island using the directions and when each profile opens the game on the new switch, it’ll ask you what resident you want to link with the profile you’re using I’m pretty sure. For the switch profile, you can transfer it using the transfer profile option or just make a new one on the new switch. You may reach out to Nintendo for more in-depth details
Very useful, thanks!! I agree with some other comments that it's not easy to follow Nintendo's wording about some stuff, and actually I'm not even sure if what I would like to do is possible. I have a Lite and a regular Switch and 2 physical copies of the game . I have my island in the Lite with 2 characters (the main rep and another one). What I would like to know is if I can transfer my island to the regular Switch so I have my island in both consoles and me and my boyfriend can play at the same time on the island with our characters. Your mentioned the option to move one character to the second console and select the option "move to an existing island", so I wonder if I can copy my island first and then move the character by selecting such option, or maybe that would not be necessary since the whole island was moved first and the character is already there... Not sure if all this is even possible :|
Thanks I’m glad it was useful! Classic Nintendo haha. Unfortunately your island can only exist in one place, and you can only have one island per Switch, but you can transfer your island around as much as you need to as long as there’s not already an island on the target system. In that case you would need to delete the island on the target system like I had to in this vidya.
@@switchunboxing Thank you for clarifying! Yet, I'm not sure I get the meaning of "No, my household will use both consoles" This sentence made me thought that I might be able to have the island in both consoles.
@@ge2sasag Yeah that line is super Duper stupid and that’s exactly what confused me and made me look into everything and create this video. Other people have been confused as well. All that part means is “do you want us to log you out of your old Switch?” So so so stupid. I think they are trying to simplify it for non-technical people, so that someone can just answer that question, and then Nintendo will figure out if they need to log them out or not. You can always log back in.
And no, Animal Crossing is weird. Your island can only be in one place.
So the island can be transferred to a new profile on the new switch and it doesn't have to be the same one that was on the old switch? If so would the custom designs carry over as well to the new profile or is everything regarding custom designs tied to the original online profile?
The island save is the island save no matter what. It’s the game save. It doesn’t get transferred to a profile it just exists on a system. This moves the island save from one system to another. It’s the game save data. The game file as you know it. To play the game, you must be logged into a Switch User as any game. The first time you open the game with a Switch User, it’s going to of course tell you the resident isn’t linked, and will ask if you want to link it. Basically you’re assigning which resident do you play as when you open the game with that Switch User Profile.
But yes all the save data stays the same. Transferring the island doesn’t change your data. Just moves it.
@@switchunboxing thank you! Bought the wife a new Switch and all she plays is ACNH so this seems like the perfect scenario to get her island off our existing Switch and onto her new one. Then I’ll just need to get her her own online account so she can access the design portal but I’m glad all that stuff carries over. Appreciate the fast response, was tough for me to track down info on this process and this video makes it so easy. Cheers!
@@jnosal Thanks glad I made it easy!! When they came out with the transfer ability, I did lots of research and trial and error to make sure I knew how to do it, and lots of editing to make sure the steps were clear and simple and made sense! Sometimes the voice you hear was recorded along with the video you see. Some of it was recorded days later and added in. Or re-recorded etc haha. Lots of work but I’m glad it paid off
If we’re moving to a new island do we get to choose the new island layout and everything and be the primary island representative?
Yup!! It’ll be like starting the game as a brand new player, it’s just you get your house back after the short tutorial.
I know this video is a bit old, but I'm going to get my own switch for Christmas. I'm thinking of transferring my whole island over, along with me, BUT the island doesn't belong to me. It belongs to my sibling. Will anything happen to their island, or will it be fine? I'm asking because you talked about the data being deleted on the old switch after the transfer? Or is that even possible to do? I don't want to lose all the work I did on the island, plus I love all the villagers we have :(
Well when you transfer an island, it moves from one switch to another. It can only be in one place. It moves the entire thing. So if you’re wanting to transfer the whole island over, it goes to the system you transferred it to. Does that answer the question?
@@switchunboxing it does, thanks but I wish it didn't delete it on the main switch :(
@@ChocolateCherry Yeahh
I want to restart my island on my switch. I also have a switch lite. I want to bring bells and items with me. Can I transfer my data to my lite and restart my island then transfer all my items and bells back to my switch? Or is it better just to make a second island, visit it, leave items there, and then retrieve them after I've reset?
Both will work. I’m not sure which ones better! That’s up to you!