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Home»Gaming»How To Restart Animal Crossing: New Horizons

How To Restart Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Here’s how to have a fresh start in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

James CarrBy James CarrNovember 22, 20232 Mins Read
This article is over 2 years old and may contain outdated information.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is all about building up your island across real-life days and weeks, but at some point, you might want a fresh restart. This means completely resetting your island and starting the game from scratch again. Of course, it’s important to note that since Animal Crossing: New Horizons takes a long time to play, due to the real-world clock, you will want to be sure. If you are positive you want a clean start, here’s how to completely restart in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

How To Delete Your Animal Crossing: New Horizons Save Data

Animal Crossing Restart
Image Source: Nintendo via The Nerd Stash

Restarting your island in Animal Crossing: New Horizons cannot be done in the game itself. Instead, you will need to delete your save at a system level on your Nintendo Switch. This can be done in the Data Management section of the settings. Again it’s important to know that this process cannot be undone. Please note that this will delete everything and you will not be able to recover your save after this.

Related:

How to Farm Iron Nuggets in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

How to Restart in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

  1. Go to the Nintendo Switch settings

    This must be done from the main home page.

  2. Go to Data Management

    Select Delete Save Data

  3. Select Animal Crossing: New Horizons

    Mission complete.

Now, if you are only looking to delete a character, that can be done in-game. The only restriction is that the Mayor cannot be deleted. This deletion does not restart or impact the state of your island. On the main menu of Animal Crossing: New Horizons, press the minus button twice, which will take you to the resident deletion menu. If you are the mayor, meaning you created the first character on the island–or the only one–you have to follow the above steps for to completely delete your save.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is available on Nintendo Switch.

Related Topics
Animal Crossing: New Horizons Guide
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James Carr
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James Carr is a freelance writer for The Nerd Stash. He loves farming simulators and FPS titles. Favorite game of all time is Super Mario Sunshine.

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