How to Delete Games on Nintendo Switch

Since Nintendo Switch comes with limited storage, users will have to delete games often to make sure they have enough space to download new ones.

Thankfully, deleting games is fairly straightforward, and users can re-download them at any time later.

To delete games on the Nintendo Switch, press the ‘+’ symbol on the console, then ‘Data Management,’ and then ‘Delete Software.’

In this guide, I will explain how to delete games on the Nintendo Switch, how to delete saved data, how to redownload deleted games, and how to cancel a Nintendo Online subscription.

Table of Contents:

1. How to Delete Games on Nintendo Switch
2. Archive vs. Delete Software
3. How to Redownload Deleted Games on Nintendo Switch
4. How to Delete Save Data on Nintendo Switch
5. How to Cancel Nintendo Online on Nintendo Switch
6. Wrapping up

How to Delete Games on Nintendo Switch

To delete any game or software on Nintendo Switch, follow these steps:

1. Locate the game or app: Find the game or app you want to delete at the main menu and hover over it (so that it has a blue overlay around it).
2. Press the ‘+’ or ‘-’ buttons: These are at the top side of the Nintendo Switch Console and open the settings for the game or app.
3. Select ‘Data Management’: This opens the game’s or app’s data settings.
4. Select ‘Delete Software’: This will delete the software as well as the icon from the main menu. However, it will not remove or delete your save data.

And that’s it. However, deleting isn’t the only option. Instead, by following the same process until Step 4, you’ll notice another option to ‘Archive Software.’ So, what’s the difference between archiving and deleting?

Archive vs. Delete Software

Archiving and deleting software on the Nintendo Switch console have one thing in common: they want to help you save space on your console.

However, they offer slightly different approaches to doing so. If you choose to delete software, the software’s files and its icon on the main menu will disappear.

Instead, if you choose to archive a game, only the software’s files will be deleted, while the main menu icon will remain.

Thus, if you want to keep the app’s icon on the main menu but open up space, you should archive the app. If you want to remove the icon, then you should delete it.

But the major benefit of archiving is the ease-of-download if you want to download it again later on. We'll explain how to do that in the next section

How to Re-Download Deleted Games on Nintendo Switch

If you archived the game, redownloading will be extremely easy. Simply find the icon on the main menu and select ‘Download’ from there.

However, if you chose to delete the game, redownloading it will require a few extra steps.

Here’s everything you need to do to re-download a deleted game on Nintendo Switch:

1. Open the Nintendo Shop.
2. Select the Nintendo Account that purchased the game.
3. Go to the game’s story page.
4. Select ‘Redownload.’

With that, the game’s icon will appear again on the main menu, and the download will begin. When the download is finished, you’ll have access to the game, and any save data you had before deleting it.

How to Delete Save Data on Nintendo Switch

Since neither deleting nor archiving a game removes the game’s save data, players have been wondering if there’s a way to delete them.

Thankfully, there is such a way, and it’s extremely easy.

To delete save data on Nintendo Switch, follow these steps:

1. From the main menu, go to System Settings (bottom row, second to last icon).
2. Navigate to the Data Management tab.
3. Select Delete Saved Data.
4. Select the game or software whose data you want to delete.
5. Insert Parental Control PIN if requested.

If you have more than one account in your Nintendo Switch, you’ll be asked whether you want to remove data from one account or all of them.

Deleting save data is a great way to make sure your Nintendo Switch’s storage capacity doesn’t get full. This is because save data is always stored in the console’s storage, regardless if you have an SD card or not.

How to Cancel Nintendo Online on Nintendo Switch

Since you’re deleting a game and its saved data, you may also want to cancel your Nintendo Online subscription that you had for that game.

The only time you’ll need to cancel your Nintendo Online subscription is when you have auto-renewal set to on. If you don’t have it, the subscription will cancel automatically when the subscription period ends.

To check the details of your current subscription and to remove auto-renewal, follow these steps:

1. From the main menu, launch Nintendo Shop.
2. Use the left arrow to open the menu on the left side.
3. Go all the way down to “Nintendo Switch Online”
4. From there, select “View/Change Membership.”

From the menu there, you can see if you have an active membership, how long until it ends or renews, and if you have auto-renewal on.

To cancel your current Nintendo Online membership, simply make sure to set auto-renewal to off. This way, your membership will end when the paid period is over, and you won’t be charged anything else.

Keep in mind that when you cancel your subscription, you won’t lose your benefits right away. Instead, you’ll lose them when the subscription period expires.

Wrapping up

To summarize, users can delete games on the Nintendo Switch by pressing the ‘+’ button while hovering over the game, selecting “Data Management,” and then “Delete Software.”

Additionally, users can also choose to “Archive Software,” with the only difference being that archiving a game will leave its icon on the main menu while deleting that game removes it. In either of the two options, save data is maintained and will be restored when users decide to redownload the game.

Lastly, users can also opt to delete their save data or even cancel their Nintendo Online subscription after deleting a game.

What made you decide to delete a game? Are you trying to download something else? Let us know in the comments below.

Also, now that you’ve made some space to download more games, consider checking out our list of the best Nintendo Switch games of all time.