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Animal Crossing New Horizons: How to Restart Your Island

Animal Crossing: New Horizons has finally arrived on the Nintendo Switch. While you’re busy creating your character, choosing your island layout, and starting out with your new life, you may look back with regret. Perhaps the island layout isn’t perfect. Or maybe you just wound up with two terrible neighbors and you’re just not down to deal with ’em. Here’s how to restart Animal Crossing: New Horizons to start a new island.

Restarting Your Island in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Now, the problem is, if you’re looking to completely start the game over, you’ll have to dive into your Nintendo Switch’s system settings.

Select this from your home screen, and then select ‘Data Management.’ Here, at the bottom of the options here, you’ll find ‘Delete Save Data.’

Press A on this and then select Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Doing so will then delete all save data for the game from your Nintendo Switch. You’ll now be able to restart your island from scratch, just as you did the first time you booted up the game.

Keep in mind, however, that doing this will delete your island forever. There will be no way of going back once you do it.

Deleting a Player

If you’re just wanting to remove a single player from your island, you can do so by pressing – when you’re at the main menu screen. This will then give you the option to delete a player, but the first person who created the island can never be deleted.

Time needed: 5 minutes.

So, to recap:

  • Go to your Nintendo Switch System Setting menu.

  • Select Data Management, then press Delete Save Data.

  • Select Animal Crossing: New Horizons to delete all of your save data for the game.

  • Start the game back up and your island will be reset.

    • There you have everything you need to know about restarting Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Check out our wiki, search for Twinfinite, or browse more of our coverage on the game below.

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