How to Restart Your Game | How to Reset Your Island

Sometimes you just need a fresh start! Learn how to restart your game or reset your island in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. You can also save items from your when you move to a new island with our guide below.

How to Restart Animal Crossing: New Horizons

There is no in-game option to restart your game. However, you can delete all save data on your Nintendo Switch to start fresh.

1. Go to the Nintendo Switch Home Screen

First, press the Home Button on the Switch to go Home. The Home Button is the small round button found underneath the right joystick.

2. Select System Settings

From the Home Screen, find the Settings Icon from the bottom right side of the screen.

3. Go to Data Management

From Settings, scroll down on the left-hand column until you find Data Management, then select it.

4. Choose Delete Save Data

After selecting Data Management, scroll down on the right-hand colum. Find Delete Save Data from the bottom of this list.

5. Select Animal Crossing: New Horizons

After choosing Delete Save Data, select Animal Crossing: New Horizons from the list of games.

6. Select Delete All Save Data for this Software

Select Delete All Save Data for this Software to wipe all the save data for Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

7. Start the Game

Once you have successfully cleared all save data, start the game again to see Timmy and Tommy.

Restart your character name and appearance, as well as the island layout and name.

Beginner's Guide to Animal Crossing New Horizons

Tips and Tricks to Restart Without Losing Items and DIY Recipes

If you've really made up your mind about restarting your game to create a new island, we have a couple of tips and tricks that'll help you save some time by keeping some of your items!

Drop Items on a Friend's Island First

If there are any special furniture or DIY items you want to keep, you might want to leave them on a friend's island first by visiting them online.

This allows you to carry 40 items at most, if you have the last pocket upgrade. You can get the items back once you've restarted your game.

So it's probably better to drop rare or valuable items first and then come back for them later on to add to your island to save you some time!

List of Items and Furniture

Don't Learn DIY Recipes Yet

Similar to the above method, if you have any DIY Recipes that you want to learn, you can drop them on a friend's island.

Once you have restarted the game, you can visit your friend's island again to get them back.
List of DIY Recipes | How to Get DIY Crafting Recipes

Related Guides

All Tips & Tricks

System Info

System Info
Server Maintenance | How to Fix Errors	Island Backup and Restoration | How to Recover Save Data
How to Delete and Transfer Save Data	How to Add or Delete Players
How to Restart Your Game	Can You Transfer Data From Pocket Camp?
NookLink Features	List of amiibos and Compatibility
List of Controls	The Language Setting
System Requirements	Do You Need Nintendo Switch Online?
Island Transfer Tool Guide