Fortunately Nintendo makes the whole transfer process pretty easy. Once I had the Switch 2 updated and online and the microSD Express card plugged into the console, all I had to do to log into my Nintendo Account was scan a QR code on the Switch 2’s screen with my smartphone. That immediately gave me a short security code to enter into the Switch 2, at which point the new system was connected to my Nintendo Account and quickly ported all those permissions right over. The next step was grabbing my original Switch (yes, I’m still playing the same day one Switch I’ve had since March 2017) and initiating the full data transfer. To do that I had to make sure both systems were plugged into a power outlet with their AC adapters, and then keep them close to each other; I just sat them both down on a table, side by side. Sorting through the System Settings menu on the Switch brought me to the System tab, which has a new-ish option added during the latest system update: System Transfer to Nintendo Switch 2. I clicked that and was on my way.
Almost everything has transferred over: my user info, my save data, my system settings, and all the screenshots and videos I’ve captured while playing games. The Switch 2 even started downloading all the games I had installed on the older Switch; it’s going to take a while to get all of those on board, but thankfully it can download everything in the background while I play other games.
And that’s it. That’s the whole process. It took less than a half-hour to get everything set up, and now it’s just knocking out those downloads on its own. There is one slight caveat: you can’t pick and choose which installed games to download to the new Switch 2. It’ll just start downloading them all, and if you don’t have a microSD Express card ready to go, there might not be enough memory on the Switch 2 itself to hold ‘em all. It only has 256 GB of internal storage, which is not a lot these days, so you might want to make sure you have one of those cards plugged in before you start the transfer process. Also, when it starts downloading the games you had installed on the Switch it fully intends to download them all; if there are any you don’t want to download onto the new system, you’ll have to manually cancel them out.
Me, I’m just letting ‘em rip: every game on my Switch will live on my Switch 2, as well. Every Arcade Archives shoot ‘em up, every Switch exclusive I haven’t played in six years, the Japanese-only downloads I can only access through a dummy user account set up with a Japanese Nintendo Account: they’re getting sucked down into the Switch 2 even as I type. Is there a chance I’ll want to play Jaleco’s 1989 shmup Saint Dragon again anytime soon? Probably not, but if it does happen I’ll want that goofy space dragon right there waiting for me. The most powerful and intoxicating thing about a new videogame system is the possibilities—including the possibility that I might, at any moment, want to dive back into an obscure mediocrity I haven’t touched in like five years.
