Knowing how to reset Nintendo Switch to sell it comes down to four moves in a fixed order. Back up your saves first, deregister the console as your primary in the Nintendo eShop, unlink your Nintendo Account, and finish with Initialize Console under System Settings, System, Formatting Options. Skip the order and you can lose saves for good or leave your account tied to a console you no longer own. Pull the microSD card if you're keeping it. Sell Your Phone Here, which buys Switch, Switch Lite, Switch OLED and Switch 2 consoles, gives its offer by model and condition.
What you need in hand before you wipe it
Three things decide whether this goes smoothly: the Nintendo Account sign-in for every user on the console, a charged battery, and Wi-Fi that stays up. A missing password is the one that stalls the job halfway, because deregistering and unlinking both need you signed in.
- Your Nintendo Account email and password for each user on the console
- A Nintendo Switch Online membership, if you want cloud save backups
- The console charged, or sitting in its dock
- Wi-Fi that stays on while saves upload
If more than one person plays on it, have each of them check their own saves. A shared family Switch often holds a profile nobody has opened in months, and that is the one that gets wiped by mistake.
Reset a Nintendo Switch to sell it, one step at a time
Take a family console with three user profiles and a microSD card full of screenshots. This is the order that works, with the time each step eats.
- Back up your saves (as long as the uploads take). With a Nintendo Switch Online membership, use Save Data Cloud and confirm each game shows a recent backup. Some games don't support cloud backup, so check those one by one, because the wipe erases every save on the console.
- Move screenshots and videos (a few minutes). Copy them to the microSD card or send them to your phone, since system memory gets cleared.
- Turn off Parental Controls (a minute). If you set them up, switch them off now while you still remember the PIN.
- Deregister the console as your primary (a couple of minutes). Open the Nintendo eShop on the console, go to your account settings and deregister it. Otherwise your account keeps treating it as your primary console.
- Unlink your Nintendo Account (about a minute per user). In System Settings, open Users, pick the profile, and find the Nintendo Account options to unlink it.
- Take out the microSD card (seconds). Pull it if you're keeping what's on it.
- Run Initialize Console (a few minutes). Go to System Settings, System, Formatting Options, and choose Initialize Console, not the option that keeps save data. This erases the users, saves and downloaded software, which is the whole point.
When the console restarts on the first-time setup screen with the language menu, stop there. Don't set it up, and don't sign in to anything.
Got an Xbox in the same drawer? Our notes on selling an Xbox One cover that console.
Deregistering is where most resets go wrong
Most people assume the wipe handles the account side. It doesn't. Initialize Console clears the console, but the record of which console is your primary lives with your Nintendo Account online, so you have to deregister it yourself.
Here's how to tell you got it right. The console should land on the first-time setup screen, not a profile picker, and your account settings online should show no console you've already handed over. The other mistake runs the opposite way: wiping before the cloud upload finishes. If a game doesn't show a backup, you have no copy.
Reset finished? The page to sell your game console lists the consoles we buy and takes you to the one you have.
Where the time goes
Backups take longest, and most of that is waiting, not work.
Upload time depends on how many games you play and how fast your Wi-Fi is, so start it first. Deregistering and unlinking are minutes each. Initialize Console takes a few minutes on its own. Plan one sitting for everything except the cloud upload, and let that run overnight if you have a lot of games.
When to stop and get help
Get help when you can't sign in to the Nintendo Account, when the console won't get past the logo, or when it's already out of your hands and still tied to your account.
Account recovery belongs to Nintendo, so use its sign-in help and support pages instead of a workaround. For a console that won't boot, a maintenance mode wipe (see the FAQ) sometimes gets it going. If it doesn't, a repair shop is the next call.
What Sell Your Phone Here does with a clean Switch
Sell Your Phone Here handles device buyback and trade-in for game consoles, and the Switch family is on the list: Switch, Switch Lite, Switch OLED and Switch 2. Start on the page to sell a Nintendo Switch, pick the model and describe the condition, and the offer comes from the site's own price list.
Three things move that offer: which model you have, its condition, and what's in the box with it. Be straight about the condition when you pick it, because the final condition check is what payment waits on. After that, you're paid within 2 to 4 hours of delivery once the final condition is confirmed.
Selling a phone or tablet in the same batch? The steps to erase your iPhone first and to clear an iPad to sell follow the same logic.
Prefer to hand it over in person? Pick a store from all store locations and bring the console in.
FAQ: resetting a Switch before you sell it
How do I reset my Switch for a new owner?
Back up your saves, deregister the console as your primary, unlink your Nintendo Account, then run Initialize Console from System Settings. The steps above give the order and the time each one takes.
Does a factory reset delete everything on a Nintendo Switch?
Yes. Initialize Console erases the users, save data, downloaded software and settings on the console. Games you bought stay tied to your account, but saves are gone unless you backed them up first.
How do I force a factory reset on a Nintendo Switch?
Power the console off, then hold both volume buttons while you press power to open Maintenance Mode. From there you can choose to initialize the console.
How much is a Nintendo Switch worth to resell?
It moves with the model (Switch, Switch Lite, Switch OLED or Switch 2), the condition and what comes in the box. The instant offer page shows the figure for your exact console, so we won't guess one here.
Can I sell a Switch if I forgot my Nintendo Account password?
Recover the account through Nintendo's sign-in help first. Deregistering the console and unlinking the account both need you signed in.
Do I need to remove the microSD card before I sell my Switch?
Yes, if the card holds games, screenshots or videos you want to keep. Take it out before the console goes anywhere.
Should I include the dock and charger when I sell my Switch?
Yes, if you have them. What comes in the box is one of the things that moves an offer.
Get your Switch offer
With the reset done, get an instant offer by picking your Switch model and describing its condition. The offer comes from the site's own price list.