Dear Nintendo experts far and wide, I need your help please.
We sent our Switch to Nintendo for repair. Long story short, it's lost. Whilst they sort out whatever it is they are going to do, I have bought a new one.
So the question is this:
I have the SD card from our original device. I have the new device connected to our Nintendo account now. BUT I can't restore the game progress data. It is just telling me (as are Nintendo) to erase the SD data and start again.
Has anyone ever found a way to do this please?
My son is beside himself, he's been playing his favourite games for a year and has lost everything.
Any help will be so very welcome...
thank you
As for the data on the SD card: you'll need an SD card reader, so provided you have one or know where to get one, we'll continue on from there. First, copy all of the contents of the SD card to your PC or an external Hard Drive connected to your PC, then put the card back in the Switch, agree with and proceed to format the card, take it out again, connect it to your PC, and then from your PC/external Hard Drive find the "Contents" folder and copy that back to the SD card in the same place/folder as on the backup. (when asked if you want to replace the same folder on the SD card, click on yes and select the option to do the same for any and all instances)
You should then be done and can put the SD card back into the Switch. If you've never used cloud backup, there's no guarantee that all your data will be back, though, but it should take care of most of your previous stuff. If you have any on your backup data, you could also look for save folders and copy these to the SD card.
If you're not sure, react to my post by clicking the "reply" option next to my user name, and then in that comment, tell me what folders you see on the SD card, so I can try and help you from that point on.
@BirdInTheHand Don't forget nintendo uk support has a chat messenger and a phone line. I've used it here in the US at least three times, and been very pleased.
If your data isn't backed up in the cloud then I'm afraid you're out of luck. Save data for games is stored on the console itself, not the SD card, so having the SD card or not won't make a difference. If you've been using the cloud backup then you can follow the instructions posted above to download the saves, otherwise you can only really wait until Nintendo have finished repairing your old Switch.
Thanks @WoomyNNYes I did try online chat first. They told me this:
João S.: Once a memory card is used on a console, the new device will ask you to format the memory card as the information is not compatible.
João S.: However, the saved data is not stored in the memory card.
João S.: The games are also not stored in there.
Kate: oh gosh - does that mean he'll lose everything? what do I do please?
João S.: Games are not lost as they are saved to the Nintendo Account, all you need to do is re-link the Nintendo Account to the console, however the saved data, as in the progress in games is lost.
Kate: aggghhhhhhh :(
Weirdly online chat didn't think to mention the cloud to me...
Luckily @ThanosReXXX nailed it. We did do cloud backups! Thankfully, all is now being restored. I have ordered an SD reader and got a new SD card today so that we can back up to that and hopefully get any leftover data off the old SD.
@BirdInTheHand That's a shame if the rep you got at Nintendo UK's support didn't match @ThanosRexxx's quality. If Nintendo emails you a satisfaction survey, let them know they failed with respect to the cloud save system, as they didn't mention it. That's a pretty big blunder. The help I've gotten here in the US has been very professional, thorough, and pleasant.
Surprisingly, Nintendo of America (Seattle, Washington) doesn't outsource their customer support(like some companies obsessed with cutting corners). If it Nintendo of America support isn't region locked, and you can access it from the UK, try using their chat messenger next time (if needed) https://en-americas-support.nintendo.com/app/contact
@BirdInTheHand You're very welcome. Glad I could be of help and that your issue is resolved. Be sure that cloud backup is activated now as well, just in case of any future mishaps. I think it should be switched on by default, but better make sure that it is.
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Topic: Does anyone know how to restore a new Switch from backup?
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