How to free up space on Switch 2
By Daniel del Moral Hernández · Updated September 23, 2026
When the Switch 2 runs out of space you have three options: move games to a card, archive games you are not playing, or delete what you no longer need. All of them live in the same menu.
1. Move games to a microSD Express card
If you have a microSD Express card, Nintendo’s steps are:
- Select System Settings from the HOME Menu.
- Scroll down and select Data Management.
- Select Move System / microSD Express Card Data.
- Choose the data you would like to move, then select OK.
Save data and some update data cannot be moved: they always stay in the system memory. And if you keep playing a moved game, new update data may be saved to the other location.
2. Archive games you are not playing
Archiving removes a game’s data but keeps your save data and the game icon. When you want to play again, select the icon and the game downloads again. This is how Nintendo describes archiving for the Switch family, and on Switch 2 you find it under System Settings → Data Management too.
One caution from Nintendo: you may not be able to download again games that have been discontinued or are no longer distributed.
3. Start with the biggest games
A single large game can free more space than ten small ones. Some Switch 2 games need more than 70 GB:
Keep in mind how each game was bought:
- A full-cartridge game runs from the card, so archiving it only frees its updates.
- A Game-Key Card game downloads everything, so it frees as much space as a digital one. You will need an internet connection to download it again.
Plan ahead
The storage calculator shows how many of your games fit on the internal 256 GB and on each microSD Express card size.
Sources: Nintendo Support: moving data between the system memory and a microSD Express card, Nintendo: data management and archiving.