Thanks for making this video. I got Tears of the Kingdom today and forgot that I'm out of space on my SD card. This helped a ton. Happy playing to all my fellow Zelda fans out there on this 5/12/23! The past 2 years since the initial announcement felt like an eternity and it's awesome to see today finally come
So this method worked flawlessly for me the first time I upgraded from a 256 to a 512. However my second time I tried to do this from 512 to 1TB I did it on a Macbook Pro, and the Switch would always say either it couldn't read the Micro SD or that it was corrupted. I re-tried formatting and copy pasting the folder about 4 times before I decided to try on a Windows 10 PC. NOW, it actually worked via doing it from a Windows 10 PC HOWEVER the switch would NOT READ ANY OF MY PICTURES OF VIDEOS. So I re-tried the method over and over and still the same result. So I tried deleting the Album folder from the microSD card and then copy pasting the Album folder from my PC and that actually worked...for some reason. Hope this helps someone with this issue.
I just found this out after using my Mac Mini. The Nintendo website mentions that doing this transfer method on an OS outside of Windows would not be guaranteed to work, so I had to spend hours throughout the afternoon to do that and it worked no problem! This will be difficult for users within the Apple/Mac Ecosystem who mainly use any Mac computer without a Windows PC as a secondary option, unless Boot Camp within Mac or any Virtual Desktop software is possible, but not too sure since I haven’t tried it yet. Some answers from anyone would be appreciated, but for now, Windows would be the way to go for this method.
thanks for this. this has been happening to me for the past month and i thought im the only person experiencing this as i cant find any video about this online. i only have a mac and no windows option. now i know my sd card is not the problems. thanks
@@Aperez i think some repair shops or places that repair switches can do this for you. just tell them you dont have a windows option to transfer your data.
I prefer physical games but I have still almost maxed my current card, 128gb I think, so Im looking to upgrade to 512gb soon. This is a relief to not have re-download everything.
Just ordered myself a TOTK Edition Switch OLED and was wondering how you do this, turns out it was just as easy, if not easier, than I thought it was gonna be, cheers for the tutorial!
Thank you for this. Can you still use your old micro sd card on a second switch with all the same files on it as long as the nintendo user id are linked and play the same digital games off that?
Thank you! My SD Card is completely ful and I need more space for the new Zelda game coming in two weeks. But I still have one question: for the 1st step: do you have to shut down the Switch completely?
1:37 Um, excuse me @128KB, but Nintendo actually recommends that if you’re upgrading to a new SD card, that you use the SD associations SD Card Formatter program to format your new microSD card before you copy your Nintendo folder onto it. And I agree, that’s the best course of action, as you don’t really wanna insert a new empty unformatted microSD card there before it has the last card’s data on it. They even warn about using multiple SD cards on one system, and so the best course of action is probably to stick to their guide on this, which is to just not touch your switch until the new card is ready to go into the slot, and to just do the rest on the computer.
Their warning about multiple cards is regarding regularly using multiple cards (having 2 or 3 smaller capacity ones and swapping them in/out Vs having one larger one and keeping it in at all times) SD formatter is the official formatter for all SD as it's the most tested and is of course always the best way for formatting SD cards. Especially old, fragmented, SDs. That is the best way to format but I've never had an issue with any SD card I've ever used via the method in the video. I show this in the video for those that are not tech savvy, like parents, who won't have an issue following this. For those that are more tech savvy use the SD formatter instead.
@@128KB Alright then, I was mainly just pointing out that it would cause a lot of confusion for those who aren’t tech savvy if your guide deviated from the official guide Nintendo posted, as parents for example, wouldn’t really know who to follow. It’s all good.
Hi mate!! I’m not too bothered about games being re-downloaded, it happens. But will I lose my save data on the games? Or is that linked to my switch system itself?
I went and read on Nintendo’s Support pages to see if that would be an issue, and fortunately the save data saves to the System memory, so if a games being wonky or has some problems you could check for corrupt files in (data management IIRC), or you could redownload the software. Your saves should be fine if you followed the steps and made sure your Switch’s power was turned Off by holding the power button and doing the menu prompt before switching your microSD cards out.
I'm having a bit of a problem with transferring gallery data. I've followed all steps from your video and even went to the nintendo website to do their method. The Switch recognises that the storage is being used but isn't loading any of the gallery photos or videos, only showing system data. Is there something I might be doing wrong? Edit: I've figured it out after a lot of trial and error. Thanks for the video by the way! Been a big help
@@minematzhd6526 my problem was around a onedrive issue and my desktop automatically syncing files to the cloud. For some reason, putting the files into the cloud messes with them in a way that causes nintendo to not read it right, so I made a folder in a separate drive that doesn't sync to cloud and did the process there
Please answer me. I have tons of games on my Switch. I'm using 128gb im planning to upgrade into 512gb so my games and save progress will not lose if i upgrade my storage?
How much space do you need on your computer to do this on say, 64gb card? Cuz my computer doesn't seem to have enough space even though I have over 64gb free....
I'm lost. I'm using a Mac. I copy the data from the old sd card to my mac, then I copy that data to the new sd card. Because I formatted the sd card, there's already an existing file called "Nintendo" when I transfer my data over I'm given an option of merging or replacing. Neither of these seem to work. If I merge then the data on the sd card simply isn't recognised by the Switch, it acts as if there's nothing on it despite telling me that 50gb are already used up. The data is on their but the console doesn't accept it. If i were to press "replace" then I get an error message saying the Switch couldn't access the sd card as soon as I turn it on. Regardless of what I do, the console won't accept this card and it's the same brand as the previous one, so I know it's not the cards fault.
Hi! I would like to know if there‘s a limit of capacity that the switch oled can handle? Or can I use like 2TB as long as reading speed is correct? Thanks beforehand!
I need help! I did the steps accordingly to the video. But when I booted my switch with the new SD card, I received a message telling me that the files in the SD card belongs to another SD card (which is my old one) and instantly wipe out all the files that I had transferred. How do I fix this?
I've tried this about 3 times and for some reason it keeps saying that my sd card needs to be reinserted, even though I can see all my album photos on the switch with the new card. All the games and stuff didn't transfer though.
I just bought a 2nd switch that I’ve made my primary. I put my old SD (128gb) into my PC, copied all the folders onto my desktop. Inserted the new card (256gb) and copied all the files over. When I put the new card into the switch, the card reads 100gbs, BUT I still have to redownload the software, which means an add 100gbs. My new 256gb card now has 20gbs available. How does this happen?
So just so im sure i don't delete or anything with the saves that is not in the Nintendos own memory at all? It wont crash or destroy the memories of them?
This is my first time doing this and followed this to a T, thank you for the easy explanation! Question though, I did this and majority of my games are from the e-store, none of the downloads stayed so I essentially have to download each one again; does this mean my saves didn’t transfer properly and I need to try the process 100% again from what you said or do I need to just download all my games again but the save files will be there? I was little confused, any help is appreciated :)
You're welcome! Nope, sounds like you've done everything right. You just need to redownload the games themselves from the eshop and your saves should be ready to go :)
@@128KB by the way is there anything wrong with swapping out sd cards once in a while? For say if you just kept a new sd card with new games and then putting in your old sd card to play older saves/games. I always wondered if this ruins anything with the switch or that sd card port by chance or if people do that normally. Thank you!
I tried it last night. When I put the new SD card into my switch, it said it had to delete some data then restart. When it did that l, I could see the card was still quite full, but if I selected any game that I downloaded, it had the cloud over it to re download. I have loads of games and I don't want to download them all. Did I do something wrong?
I'm planning on getting a new micro SD card and i alreaday have a usb that supports micro sd for my 3d printer and because i only have 15 gb on my one i use for the 3d printer i can give the 3d printer 135 and ill have more on my switch thanks man
What do we do about the folders we put on our desktops for copying it to the sd card? Do we delete them once we transfer everything over since we still have the data from the first sd card?
O vídeo não ficou muito claro no começo, então tenho uma dúvida: o microSD velho (256 GB) pode ser removido com o Switch ligado ou colocar no modo de descanso ou desligar por completo antes? Ou dá pra fazer tudo isso com o Switch ligado???
I tried this and I failed miserably. When I copied my desktop folder to the new SD card it went from 200g to 63g, then after trying to do it more manually by transferring between system and SD over and over, the new SD became unable to have anything added to it, even tho it had 410g of space left
Hello! I tried this but halfway through the downloading of my files to desktop it said there was an error. It said that 002 or something like that was still in use. Do you know why that is?
Hello! I have a question. I want to use the SD Card (that is currently in my OLD switch) into my new OLED switch. How do I delete the data on my SD card before using it on my new switch? Or does just simply taking out the SD card and putting it in the new switch do that for me already as I know the new switch will ask to reformat it?
I having a bit of problems with transferring my photo from my old sd card to my new card, when I copy the old album to new it doesn’t show the sd photo only the system memory, so can anyone reply since it been doing this for 3 hour
@@128KB thanks I've been searching for this answer far and wide on the internet! Got mixed answers. I assume this is also the case for the latest Switch OLED too? (My card is a brand new SanDisk Ultra 512gb btw)
I don't have a PC and I don't mind downloading all my games again. But is it safe to just pullout the old SD card, insert the new one and download all the games?
Question, can this be done with just the original sd card with the games on it. Can you copy the games onto a PC. Then pop It into the new switch, format the sd card. Then transfers the PC files back onto the card? Are 2 separate sd cards 100% needed. Thanks for the help BTW.
Heyo! Just a quick question, would this work for games that don't keep save data if transferred? A.K.A all the mainline pokemon games or animal crossing?
Hello ! I bought the 512 sd card from Nintendo for My switch and I installed while The switch was off and I turned on and it required a system update and I did that but it did not Required me to Reformat is that normal?
I have a 500GB SD Card that i previously used on my original day one Switch, backed up on my PC and then formatted the same SD Card (I don’t have a second one), then put the backup back onto the SD Card and inserted it into my new OLED Switch… but it doesn’t seem to work and asks to Delete the files instead, do you know of a solution for this? I was hoping it’d be a lot easier as it looks unless I’ve messed up 😅
Oh you need to put the files back on the PC, put the SD in the Switch OLED and let it delete anything, then put the files back on the SD and back into the OLED lol
While transferring files to new sd card, i get that pop up that says the destination has files with the same name. Do i skip these files or do i replace? Thanks
I tried this and got a message saying that the new card was recently formatted on this switch and the data needs to be deleted. Any idea on what caused this?
What if you keep getting this message after formatting? I’ve tried this several times and get the same message as above. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated….
I’m on Mac and none of my pictures and videos appears on the new card. They take storage places but I can’t see them. Nintendo made it hard for Mac users.
@@128KB Just following up - after many painless hours and waiting overnight for Attempt #2 - this does NOT work... I believe because I am on a Mac. From Googling around, looking at various reddit threads, Nintendo Support, etc., it seems the Mac treats this process differently, and so even Nintendo doesn't have sensible instructions to make this simple process work. It's mind boggling in 2022 that I have to have a Windows PC for this. Right now I am trying one last attempt, having exposed the "hidden" files and folders on my Mac's Finder, so I copy all the folders over to the new card including the hidden ones, but I'm not super hopeful. If this doesn't work I'm just gonna redownload. Transferring 500GB of data back and forth just to see if it works, is ridiculously time consuming. :(
@@sonictonic_ Good god i´m trying to move from 200Gb to 1TB and still having problems. I think i'm just going to erase all the games, kept the save data in the switch and redownload every game into the micro sd.
@@yul2033 Please allow me to share what actually worked for me - on my Mac! Use the “show hidden files” function I think it’s Shift+Command+period. You’ll see a couple of extra folders/files now with the Nintendo folder. Move it ALL over to the new card, and it SHOULD work. Forgive me I did this over a week ago so now forget every exact part, but this did work for me. Good luck! Lmk!
I tried it and everything was able to transfer over except my photo gallery and videos. To you have any tips tor trying to figure that out? (For reference, I'm transferring from a Nintendo brand 128 GB micro sd to a non-Nintendo brand 1 TB micro sd.)
Are you referring to the overall data, or the general data? (By general data, I mean software and saves)(overall is the general plus the screenshots and videos taken with the switch)
I see the video is about 1 year old, so not sure if I’ll get an answer, and I will try to make my question clear but english is not my first language, and things sometimes gets lost in translation; I usually have physical copies of games, and not e-shop downloads. If I tried this transfer and somehow I can’t do it, I delete all the stuff on my current card = something goes wrong. What then? Is all my saved data lost? Can I just insert the game and install it on the new SD card, and have the save data still there? I have read somewhere that the games saved data is stored on the Nintendo Switch internal storage. So can I just get a new SD card, insert it into the Switch, insert a game I want to install. And when the game is installed, will the game data still be there? Even if the game was originally played using a different SD card? A second question would be; say if I upgraded my Switch to an Oled. And I put a 512 GB card in that Oled, brand new and empty. I have a 65gb card on my current Switch. If I click the «transfer your save data (to a nerby console), will it be able to transfer everything, even off of the SD card, to the new game console. Both internat memory and SD card, over on the new internal memory and SD card?
Save data is saved to the system not the SD card so you won't lose save data by doing this. Any DLC or updates for the physical cart will need to be redownloaded. We've got a separate video on how to transfer between system here: ua-cam.com/video/eU4Amy_n71A/v-deo.html
I did this, but all my games pop a message saying the game is not currently on the console. Seems to be reading the card as the amount of memory is correct.
@@128KB Just as a test I redownloaded a game and then it used more memory. So my old 128 card was full, new card 256 said 129 GB available which made sense. But after downloading the game again I was all the way down to 110 available. Like the games was downloaded twice. Trying to redo now, but confused. Seems like if I redownloaded everything I'd be back at 0 memory with the new card.
Thanks for making this video. I got Tears of the Kingdom today and forgot that I'm out of space on my SD card. This helped a ton. Happy playing to all my fellow Zelda fans out there on this 5/12/23! The past 2 years since the initial announcement felt like an eternity and it's awesome to see today finally come
omg thats why im watching this video. exact same reason. 😂
So this method worked flawlessly for me the first time I upgraded from a 256 to a 512. However my second time I tried to do this from 512 to 1TB I did it on a Macbook Pro, and the Switch would always say either it couldn't read the Micro SD or that it was corrupted. I re-tried formatting and copy pasting the folder about 4 times before I decided to try on a Windows 10 PC. NOW, it actually worked via doing it from a Windows 10 PC HOWEVER the switch would NOT READ ANY OF MY PICTURES OF VIDEOS. So I re-tried the method over and over and still the same result. So I tried deleting the Album folder from the microSD card and then copy pasting the Album folder from my PC and that actually worked...for some reason.
Hope this helps someone with this issue.
I just found this out after using my Mac Mini. The Nintendo website mentions that doing this transfer method on an OS outside of Windows would not be guaranteed to work, so I had to spend hours throughout the afternoon to do that and it worked no problem! This will be difficult for users within the Apple/Mac Ecosystem who mainly use any Mac computer without a Windows PC as a secondary option, unless Boot Camp within Mac or any Virtual Desktop software is possible, but not too sure since I haven’t tried it yet. Some answers from anyone would be appreciated, but for now, Windows would be the way to go for this method.
Thanks for the information. Glad it all worked out for you
thanks for this. this has been happening to me for the past month and i thought im the only person experiencing this as i cant find any video about this online. i only have a mac and no windows option. now i know my sd card is not the problems. thanks
@@Aperez i think some repair shops or places that repair switches can do this for you. just tell them you dont have a windows option to transfer your data.
I prefer physical games but I have still almost maxed my current card, 128gb I think, so Im looking to upgrade to 512gb soon. This is a relief to not have re-download everything.
Yeah same hahha
Just did this today with new pny 256gig micro and worked like a charm. Thank you for the video!
Awesome! You're welcome
thanks for this simple and informative video. you solved my lack of knowledge on how to upgrade my switch memory.
Wow that's so unbelievably simple, thanks for the info!
You're welcome
So there's no need to re-download 200gb of games anymore!! Yes!!
Wahoooo :D
@@128KB I tried this twice both times it didn’t work
Same here. I’ll have all the data from my old SD card onto my new one, and it’s not reading it. I followed all the steps in order twice.
I have a question if you don't have a computer and u just format it does it keep the nintendo e shop games?
@@ekko_the_gekko7452did you format the card?
You really deserve more subs my man.
Thank you! Make sure to stick around, loads of content going up regularly 😉
Just ordered myself a TOTK Edition Switch OLED and was wondering how you do this, turns out it was just as easy, if not easier, than I thought it was gonna be, cheers for the tutorial!
Maybe the most straight forward video on UA-cam
Thank you for this. Can you still use your old micro sd card on a second switch with all the same files on it as long as the nintendo user id are linked and play the same digital games off that?
Thank you! My SD Card is completely ful and I need more space for the new Zelda game coming in two weeks. But I still have one question: for the 1st step: do you have to shut down the Switch completely?
1:37 Um, excuse me @128KB, but Nintendo actually recommends that if you’re upgrading to a new SD card, that you use the SD associations SD Card Formatter program to format your new microSD card before you copy your Nintendo folder onto it. And I agree, that’s the best course of action, as you don’t really wanna insert a new empty unformatted microSD card there before it has the last card’s data on it. They even warn about using multiple SD cards on one system, and so the best course of action is probably to stick to their guide on this, which is to just not touch your switch until the new card is ready to go into the slot, and to just do the rest on the computer.
Their warning about multiple cards is regarding regularly using multiple cards (having 2 or 3 smaller capacity ones and swapping them in/out Vs having one larger one and keeping it in at all times)
SD formatter is the official formatter for all SD as it's the most tested and is of course always the best way for formatting SD cards. Especially old, fragmented, SDs. That is the best way to format but I've never had an issue with any SD card I've ever used via the method in the video. I show this in the video for those that are not tech savvy, like parents, who won't have an issue following this. For those that are more tech savvy use the SD formatter instead.
@@128KB Alright then, I was mainly just pointing out that it would cause a lot of confusion for those who aren’t tech savvy if your guide deviated from the official guide Nintendo posted, as parents for example, wouldn’t really know who to follow. It’s all good.
Hi mate!! I’m not too bothered about games being re-downloaded, it happens. But will I lose my save data on the games? Or is that linked to my switch system itself?
Save data is linked to the system :)
Thanks for the demo and info, have a great day
Thank you so much this helped a lot 😊
Tysm man you earned a sub this helped so much
You're very welcome and thank you!
Is there a way to only add pictures and videos from the old microsd card onto a new one that has more memory? Or you have to transfer everything?
thx for the info. il go save this video for later if i get the 1TB (1000GB) SD card for my birthday.
Question: if you switch the sd card to the other one, will you still have all of your stuff saved?
I went and read on Nintendo’s Support pages to see if that would be an issue, and fortunately the save data saves to the System memory, so if a games being wonky or has some problems you could check for corrupt files in (data management IIRC), or you could redownload the software.
Your saves should be fine if you followed the steps and made sure your Switch’s power was turned Off by holding the power button and doing the menu prompt before switching your microSD cards out.
Thanks for the guide gonna follow this carefully once I get my card soon
I'm having a bit of a problem with transferring gallery data. I've followed all steps from your video and even went to the nintendo website to do their method. The Switch recognises that the storage is being used but isn't loading any of the gallery photos or videos, only showing system data. Is there something I might be doing wrong?
Edit: I've figured it out after a lot of trial and error. Thanks for the video by the way! Been a big help
So glad you sorted it and you're welcome
How did you solve the problem, because I have to deal with it too.
@@minematzhd6526 my problem was around a onedrive issue and my desktop automatically syncing files to the cloud. For some reason, putting the files into the cloud messes with them in a way that causes nintendo to not read it right, so I made a folder in a separate drive that doesn't sync to cloud and did the process there
@@DanTheOcto oh, how complicated xD
Thanks, I will try it too! :)
@@DanTheOcto Can you elaborate on it please?
my computer has less storage then my sd card so i had to directly copy for each sd card luckily i had 2 sd port adapters
Please answer me. I have tons of games on my Switch. I'm using 128gb im planning to upgrade into 512gb so my games and save progress will not lose if i upgrade my storage?
from my knowledge, save data is saved on the system, not on the micro sd card, so your save progress should be fine
how about the games?
@@cheeszy4696 i followed the process in the video myself recently and all of my games and their save data was still there
*Is it safe to remove sd card from nintendo switch without shutting it down first?*
*Also, is that not going to corrupt my sd card?*
How much space do you need on your computer to do this on say, 64gb card? Cuz my computer doesn't seem to have enough space even though I have over 64gb free....
Very informative video
I'm lost. I'm using a Mac. I copy the data from the old sd card to my mac, then I copy that data to the new sd card. Because I formatted the sd card, there's already an existing file called "Nintendo" when I transfer my data over I'm given an option of merging or replacing. Neither of these seem to work. If I merge then the data on the sd card simply isn't recognised by the Switch, it acts as if there's nothing on it despite telling me that 50gb are already used up. The data is on their but the console doesn't accept it. If i were to press "replace" then I get an error message saying the Switch couldn't access the sd card as soon as I turn it on. Regardless of what I do, the console won't accept this card and it's the same brand as the previous one, so I know it's not the cards fault.
Solved it: It worked perfectly when doing the same thing on my friends PC. For reason it just doesn't work on a mac.
Hi! I would like to know if there‘s a limit of capacity that the switch oled can handle? Or can I use like 2TB as long as reading speed is correct?
Thanks beforehand!
Thank you for being on point ❤
I need help! I did the steps accordingly to the video. But when I booted my switch with the new SD card, I received a message telling me that the files in the SD card belongs to another SD card (which is my old one) and instantly wipe out all the files that I had transferred. How do I fix this?
Nice video. Question. How can I format a new micro sd into 2? Half for sysnand and the other for emmc? Both same amount of memory
You can partition drives on the PC, Google it and it'll pop up, not sure how the switch would use that though
I dont have a laptop or pc can i just re download everything that i had on my ild se card or will the data corrupt?
Great tutorial! worked for me, can i use my old sd card for another switch?
I've tried this about 3 times and for some reason it keeps saying that my sd card needs to be reinserted, even though I can see all my album photos on the switch with the new card. All the games and stuff didn't transfer though.
Strange, not sure about that may have to contact Nintendo
Very helpful, Thank you
You're welcome!
I just bought a 2nd switch that I’ve made my primary. I put my old SD (128gb) into my PC, copied all the folders onto my desktop.
Inserted the new card (256gb) and copied all the files over.
When I put the new card into the switch, the card reads 100gbs, BUT I still have to redownload the software, which means an add 100gbs.
My new 256gb card now has 20gbs available. How does this happen?
Thank you for this great tutorial
You're welcome
So just so im sure i don't delete or anything with the saves that is not in the Nintendos own memory at all? It wont crash or destroy the memories of them?
Thanks for your help. 😊
You're welcome
For a smaller library, could you also just transfer data from (old) SD card to system to (new) SD card?
Yeah don't see why not
Hi I can't find the card that you're talkin about on Amazon is there another alternative
This is the one I talk about in the video: geni.us/H0aHX8
Good video. Very helpful
I can't copy paste it to my desktop cos my laptop is almost full. Can you copy paste it to a hard drive instead then do it back on the new sd card?
Yeah that will work
Thanks for the tip
Do i have to switch my old data to a new one if i dont want my old data? Because im going to buy a switch in a few weeks.
Does this work on the oled model?
Yes
Thank you!
You're welcome
I did it and it keeps saying unable to read disk turn on and put in again. I have done this many times and it still doesn’t work
try formatting the card and retransferring
Would this still work with a external hard drive since my PCs drives can't fit what I currently have on my first microSD card?
This is my first time doing this and followed this to a T, thank you for the easy explanation! Question though, I did this and majority of my games are from the e-store, none of the downloads stayed so I essentially have to download each one again; does this mean my saves didn’t transfer properly and I need to try the process 100% again from what you said or do I need to just download all my games again but the save files will be there? I was little confused, any help is appreciated :)
You're welcome! Nope, sounds like you've done everything right. You just need to redownload the games themselves from the eshop and your saves should be ready to go :)
@@128KB by the way is there anything wrong with swapping out sd cards once in a while? For say if you just kept a new sd card with new games and then putting in your old sd card to play older saves/games. I always wondered if this ruins anything with the switch or that sd card port by chance or if people do that normally.
Thank you!
Is it possible to transfer games from SD card to another SD card to play it on switch?
I tried it last night. When I put the new SD card into my switch, it said it had to delete some data then restart. When it did that l, I could see the card was still quite full, but if I selected any game that I downloaded, it had the cloud over it to re download. I have loads of games and I don't want to download them all. Did I do something wrong?
Can I also use any hard drive that can read my SD card for this method?
When upgrading sd cards could I just redownload the games I have digitally instead of using a computer to transfer files?
Yes you can absolutely :)
Thanks but is Kingston a good ssd card
What if I've archived most games? Can I still reinstall them on the new card?
It's easier to just buy two micro sd card USB adapters and transfer it directly from card to card without having to paste/copy from the desktop.
I'm planning on getting a new micro SD card and i alreaday have a usb that supports micro sd for my 3d printer and because i only have 15 gb on my one i use for the 3d printer i can give the 3d printer 135 and ill have more on my switch thanks man
Awesome
What do we do about the folders we put on our desktops for copying it to the sd card? Do we delete them once we transfer everything over since we still have the data from the first sd card?
O vídeo não ficou muito claro no começo, então tenho uma dúvida: o microSD velho (256 GB) pode ser removido com o Switch ligado ou colocar no modo de descanso ou desligar por completo antes? Ou dá pra fazer tudo isso com o Switch ligado???
Don't understand, I'm sorry :(
Não, convém fazê-lo com a consola desligada
Is it the same way with a Mac ?
I tried this and I failed miserably. When I copied my desktop folder to the new SD card it went from 200g to 63g, then after trying to do it more manually by transferring between system and SD over and over, the new SD became unable to have anything added to it, even tho it had 410g of space left
That's really strange, maybe try to format the SD card in the Switch again then try transferring the files back over.
Hello! I tried this but halfway through the downloading of my files to desktop it said there was an error. It said that 002 or something like that was still in use. Do you know why that is?
Try restarting your PC and trying it again
@@128KB I’ll try that. But now my micro ad isnt reading on my switch or computer? do you know how to fix that?
Can I format the new one and just redownload everything
Yeah
Hello! I have a question. I want to use the SD Card (that is currently in my OLD switch) into my new OLED switch. How do I delete the data on my SD card before using it on my new switch? Or does just simply taking out the SD card and putting it in the new switch do that for me already as I know the new switch will ask to reformat it?
Putting it into the new switch will prompt the new switch to ask you to format :)
I having a bit of problems with transferring my photo from my old sd card to my new card, when I copy the old album to new it doesn’t show the sd photo only the system memory, so can anyone reply since it been doing this for 3 hour
Is it necessary to format your new card on the switch even though it is your first card?
Ideally, yes, that way you know it won't have any issues as it'll be formatted as the Switch wants it
@@128KB thank you my man for tips
@@animegeeko3053 all good!!
@@128KB thanks I've been searching for this answer far and wide on the internet! Got mixed answers.
I assume this is also the case for the latest Switch OLED too?
(My card is a brand new SanDisk Ultra 512gb btw)
Wait so do u have to do the whole proccess if your putting in a micro sd card even if there wasent one in the switch previously?
No, just put the SD card in the switch
I’m at a lost. I’ve tried this several times and it won’t work. The new OLED keeps saying this SD card belongs to another switch. 😞
Can u do this without a computer.
Not this method, without a pc you just redownload all your eShop games from the eShop
@@128KB cool, I just ordered a 256gb micro card yesterday. So I’ll still have all my saved data from my games won’t I.
I don't have a PC and I don't mind downloading all my games again.
But is it safe to just pullout the old SD card, insert the new one and download all the games?
You can just put the old SD into a new switch yeah but it will format the card and you will have to redownload everything from the eshop
so i have a question because i dont have an sd card inside my switch so what do i do
Can I used my cellphone while the memory card inside of it transfer the Nintendo file to the computer or not? I needed an adapter?
No idea about using your phone
My switch lite have no SD card in it but I plan to add one soon what do I do? First time doing this and worried of losing my game data
If you have no card in currently just insert the new card, that's it, nothing you can lose
If I buy the biggest sd card will I have space for more games? I have the new switch and don’t currently have an sd card.
Yes of course :) just make sure it's a decent brand
Question, can this be done with just the original sd card with the games on it. Can you copy the games onto a PC. Then pop It into the new switch, format the sd card. Then transfers the PC files back onto the card? Are 2 separate sd cards 100% needed. Thanks for the help BTW.
Yeah, I show that process in the video :)
Heyo! Just a quick question, would this work for games that don't keep save data if transferred? A.K.A all the mainline pokemon games or animal crossing?
Save data is usually saved onto system storage so best to transfer by going to the old switch, highlighting the game press + then transfer save data
Will my data for fortnite save when I do this tutorial
If I get a new switch to start off with is it OK to just plop a new SD in to or should I still format it?
Should be fine if it's new, you could go into the switch storage settings and format if you'd like but as fresh card should be fine
Hello ! I bought the 512 sd card from
Nintendo for
My switch and I installed while
The switch was off and I turned on and it required a system update and I did that but it did not
Required me to
Reformat is that normal?
Yes that's normal
I have a 500GB SD Card that i previously used on my original day one Switch, backed up on my PC and then formatted the same SD Card (I don’t have a second one), then put the backup back onto the SD Card and inserted it into my new OLED Switch… but it doesn’t seem to work and asks to Delete the files instead, do you know of a solution for this?
I was hoping it’d be a lot easier as it looks unless I’ve messed up 😅
Oh you need to put the files back on the PC, put the SD in the Switch OLED and let it delete anything, then put the files back on the SD and back into the OLED lol
If you dont have a computer and you just format it does it keep your e shop games so you dont have to repurchase?
You can redownload them for free
How do I transfer screenshots/videos?
How do you make sure all of your games are on your old sd card before you do this?
If you go to your switch settings then storage you can move games from the internal storage to the SD card
@@128KB would you mind explaining each step? I’m just so nervous to do it wrong 🤦♀️
Does this work in oled?
While transferring files to new sd card, i get that pop up that says the destination has files with the same name. Do i skip these files or do i replace? Thanks
Replace
Just a quick note: If you try this method with a Windows 11 PC the Switch will not recognise the data on the copied card.
F*ck, for real?
Hello, would you be willing to give more information about this? I’m wondering if this could be my problem.
I tried this and got a message saying that the new card was recently formatted on this switch and the data needs to be deleted. Any idea on what caused this?
Yeah the new unused card will need to be formatted first and then you can transfer your data from the PC back onto it if you follow the guide
What if you keep getting this message after formatting? I’ve tried this several times and get the same message as above. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated….
what if you dont have a computer to do it im havimg problems
I’m on Mac and none of my pictures and videos appears on the new card. They take storage places but I can’t see them. Nintendo made it hard for Mac users.
Oh wow, thanks for the feedback, sadly I don't have a Mac anymore so never thought to check that!
Might wanna update the title (for windows)
if you have an intel mac you can set up bootcamp
Thank you for making this a concise process! Upgrading to a massive 1TB card now, I’m so excited!
You're welcome!
@@128KB Just following up - after many painless hours and waiting overnight for Attempt #2 - this does NOT work... I believe because I am on a Mac. From Googling around, looking at various reddit threads, Nintendo Support, etc., it seems the Mac treats this process differently, and so even Nintendo doesn't have sensible instructions to make this simple process work. It's mind boggling in 2022 that I have to have a Windows PC for this. Right now I am trying one last attempt, having exposed the "hidden" files and folders on my Mac's Finder, so I copy all the folders over to the new card including the hidden ones, but I'm not super hopeful. If this doesn't work I'm just gonna redownload. Transferring 500GB of data back and forth just to see if it works, is ridiculously time consuming. :(
@@sonictonic_ Good god i´m trying to move from 200Gb to 1TB and still having problems. I think i'm just going to erase all the games, kept the save data in the switch and redownload every game into the micro sd.
@@yul2033 Please allow me to share what actually worked for me - on my Mac! Use the “show hidden files” function I think it’s Shift+Command+period. You’ll see a couple of extra folders/files now with the Nintendo folder. Move it ALL over to the new card, and it SHOULD work. Forgive me I did this over a week ago so now forget every exact part, but this did work for me. Good luck! Lmk!
I can’t even get enough games to fill up 256gb how do you guys fill up 1TB sd cards lmao
I tried it and everything was able to transfer over except my photo gallery and videos. To you have any tips tor trying to figure that out? (For reference, I'm transferring from a Nintendo brand 128 GB micro sd to a non-Nintendo brand 1 TB micro sd.)
Do you know if it transfers your data from pokemon games?
Are you referring to the overall data, or the general data? (By general data, I mean software and saves)(overall is the general plus the screenshots and videos taken with the switch)
@@starwolfproductions1462 the software and save data
@@atomicfox4390 Any progress on the album being accessed from the sd card to the Nintendo Switch?
Currently upgrading too 512gb I used to copy everything from my other SD cards to memory then too my new SD card god damn it was a long process
What do you do when prompted to keep or replace 4 files with the same name?
I hit keep, since those files should be the new ones from new format
I know this video was uploaded a while ago but I've heard somewhere that screenshots can't be transferred and I was wanting to see if this was true
Screenshots get transferred :)
@@128KB Thank you so much for telling me this!!!
Is there a way to do this without needing to mess around on a PC?
The only other way is to put your new SD card in your switch and redownload all games from the eshop again
@@128KB what about archiving the games
I see the video is about 1 year old, so not sure if I’ll get an answer, and I will try to make my question clear but english is not my first language, and things sometimes gets lost in translation; I usually have physical copies of games, and not e-shop downloads. If I tried this transfer and somehow I can’t do it, I delete all the stuff on my current card = something goes wrong. What then? Is all my saved data lost? Can I just insert the game and install it on the new SD card, and have the save data still there? I have read somewhere that the games saved data is stored on the Nintendo Switch internal storage. So can I just get a new SD card, insert it into the Switch, insert a game I want to install. And when the game is installed, will the game data still be there? Even if the game was originally played using a different SD card?
A second question would be; say if I upgraded my Switch to an Oled. And I put a 512 GB card in that Oled, brand new and empty. I have a 65gb card on my current Switch. If I click the «transfer your save data (to a nerby console), will it be able to transfer everything, even off of the SD card, to the new game console. Both internat memory and SD card, over on the new internal memory and SD card?
Save data is saved to the system not the SD card so you won't lose save data by doing this. Any DLC or updates for the physical cart will need to be redownloaded. We've got a separate video on how to transfer between system here: ua-cam.com/video/eU4Amy_n71A/v-deo.html
What about your data from your pokemon games?
This is just transferring game data, not save data. Save data needs to be transferred between consoles using user transfer
I did this, but all my games pop a message saying the game is not currently on the console. Seems to be reading the card as the amount of memory is correct.
Try the method again and make sure you followed each step correctly. You may need to redownload certain games or update files from the eshop
@@128KB Just as a test I redownloaded a game and then it used more memory. So my old 128 card was full, new card 256 said 129 GB available which made sense. But after downloading the game again I was all the way down to 110 available. Like the games was downloaded twice. Trying to redo now, but confused. Seems like if I redownloaded everything I'd be back at 0 memory with the new card.
@@jima6930 same problem here. Except I didnt do it a second time thinking it would take up more space.