How to safely swap microSD cards on your Nintendo Switch

Don't just yank out your microSD card, please.

Nintendo has made it very easy to expand the internal storage on the new Switch console, but that removable storage offers a secondary benefit. As soon as a card is inserted, things like screenshots are immediately saved to the new storage instead of the internal system memory. That means those of us who don't want to post screenshots immediately to Facebook or Twitter are able to quickly grab screenshots and other files from the Switch and move them elsewhere by removing the card.

If you're going to quickly swap microSD cards back and forth on the Nintendo Switch, it's important to know there's a right way and a wrong way to do this. Here's the right way.

Looking for the best microSD card to add to your Nintendo Switch? Check out our guide!

While the Switch is perfectly fine with users inserting a microSD card at any time, removing that card is a little different. To prevent the Switch from being interrupted when trying to save something, the software on the console warns it is best to only remove a microSD card when the Switch is completely powered down. When the Switch reboots, the console is ready to go and you can again re-insert the card whenever you choose.

To safely remove your microSD card from a Switch:

Close any open games or apps
Hold down the power button at the top of the console until the screen is black
Open the back flap and remove the microSD card
Restart your Nintendo Switch

While it may seem a little tedious to power the console down if you're quickly grabbing files to and from the console, this is a great deal safer and ensures there's no file corruption. It's also a fairly small delay, given how quickly the Nintendo Switch reboots.