Animal Crossing New Horizons Save Data

April 25, 2020 8:22 PM

I have a Switch Lite and a mad desire to start my ANCH save over. I don't want to lose my current save, which is stored locally on the Switch itself. If I get a flash card, can I offload my current save data there as a backup, then clear my internal card and start over? If eventually I decide I want to go back to my first save, is that possible, too?
posted by Kitchen Witch to Computers & Internet (5 answers total)

Best answer: No, there is no supported way to move save data to an SD card for any Switch game. For Animal Crossing in particular, there is no way at all to back up or restore save data.

Hacking/rooting/jailbreaking the Switch might make it possible, but this is a very "at your own risk" option.
posted by mbrubeck at 8:51 PM on April 25, 2020 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Why ACNH doesn't allow backups
posted by mbrubeck at 9:19 PM on April 25, 2020 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Well then, guess me buying a second Switch Lite (coral!!) this weekend on a very self indulgent whim is going to pay off. I'll just start fresh on it and leave my current Switch as my backup and a place to play other things.

Thanks all.
posted by Kitchen Witch at 10:54 PM on April 25, 2020

If Animal Crossing is anything like BOTW then this may be as simple as creating a second user profile on the switch. The save data should be tied to the user so a second user should give you a second save.
posted by Television Name at 11:10 AM on April 26, 2020

Unfortunately, Animal Crossing allows only one island per Switch even if you have multiple users. All accounts on the console share the same save file.
posted by mbrubeck at 11:36 AM on April 26, 2020 [1 favorite]