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Save data from the Nintendo Switch versions of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom can be moved to their corresponding Nintendo Switch 2 Editions. If you still have the old console, use Nintendo’s nearby-console Save Data Transfer. If the old console is unavailable, restore a Nintendo Switch Online cloud backup that was created before the console disappeared. If you are replacing the entire console, use System Transfer instead of moving one game.
The most important warning is about the second save slot in each Switch 2 Edition: a save created in that second slot cannot be transferred back to the original Nintendo Switch version. Keep your transferred adventure in the original save slot if you might return to the older version.
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Which Zelda saves can move to Switch 2?
Nintendo supports a one-way upgrade path for the matching versions of its two modern open-world Zelda games:
| Original software | Destination software | Supported direction | Important restriction |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild for Nintendo Switch | The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Nintendo Switch 2 Edition | Switch to the corresponding Switch 2 Edition | The second save created in the Switch 2 Edition cannot be sent back to the original Switch version. |
| The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom for Nintendo Switch | The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Nintendo Switch 2 Edition | Switch to the corresponding Switch 2 Edition | The second save created in the Switch 2 Edition cannot be sent back to the original Switch version. |
This is a transfer between versions of the same game. It does not merge Breath of the Wild with Tears of the Kingdom, and it does not move a save into an unrelated new game. Select the edition that matches the title you already play.
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Nintendo describes each Switch 2 Edition as having two save files. That gives you room to continue an existing adventure and begin a separate one, but the second file has a one-way limitation that matters if you keep both console versions in use.
Choose the right transfer method
| Method | Use it when | What you need | What it moves | Effect on the original console |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nearby-console Save Data Transfer | Both consoles are available and you want to move Zelda rather than the entire system. | Both consoles online; a user linked to the same Nintendo Account on each console. | The selected Zelda save. | Treat the operation as a move, not as a permanent backup. Verify the destination before resetting or selling the old console. |
| Nintendo Switch Online Save Data Cloud | The old Switch cannot be used, but the Zelda save was backed up before it became unavailable. | The same Nintendo Account and an active Nintendo Switch Online membership. | The cloud-backed version of the save. | The old console is not required, but unbacked progress cannot be restored. |
| System Transfer | You are replacing the whole Switch and want compatible games, saves and settings moved together. | Both consoles and the transfer procedure on each system. | A broader set of console information, not just one Zelda file. | Nintendo warns that information transferred by a full system transfer is deleted from the original console. |
For a single Zelda game, nearby transfer is usually the most direct route. Cloud restoration is the fallback when the source console is gone. System Transfer is appropriate when the new Switch 2 is becoming your primary console and you want more than one save file moved.
Prepare both consoles before moving a save
Do these checks before opening the transfer tool:
- Update both systems so they are running current system software available to them.
- Connect both consoles to the internet. Nearby transfer requires both systems to be online while the move is performed.
- Open the Zelda game on the old Switch and note which user owns the save. The destination must use a user linked to the same Nintendo Account.
- Keep the old console powered and available until the Switch 2 Edition has opened the transferred file successfully.
- If you are using cloud restoration, confirm that the old Zelda save was backed up. A Nintendo Switch Online membership by itself does not recreate a save that was never uploaded.
- Decide whether you need one game or a complete console migration. Choosing System Transfer for a one-game move can move considerably more information than intended.
A game card, a physical copy and an amiibo do not perform this operation. The transfer is a console and account function. You need access to the matching game on the destination, but inserting media or scanning an amiibo is not a substitute for transferring save data.
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Transfer Zelda when both consoles are nearby
Nintendo’s nearby-console method does not require a Nintendo Switch Online membership. It does require the source and destination systems to be online and the relevant users to be linked to the same Nintendo Account.
- Update and connect. Install available system updates on both consoles and connect each one to the internet. Keep the consoles close enough to operate without interrupting either system.
- Match the account. On both consoles, select or create the user linked to the same Nintendo Account that owns the Zelda save. Save data cannot be transferred between users tied to different Nintendo Accounts.
- Open the save-data transfer function. In System Settings on the source and destination, open the system’s save-data transfer tool. Use the option for sending on the old Switch and the option for receiving on Switch 2.
- Choose the Zelda title. On the source console, select the relevant Breath of the Wild or Tears of the Kingdom save. Do not select the other Zelda game by mistake; each save belongs to its own matching title.
- Confirm the destination. Follow the prompts on Switch 2 to receive the file. Keep both systems active until the transfer reports completion.
- Open the Switch 2 Edition. Launch the corresponding Zelda Switch 2 Edition with the same user and inspect the save-selection screen. Load the transferred adventure and check that it is the progress you expected.
- Only then retire the old console. Do not factory-reset, sell or give away the original Switch until the destination file opens correctly. Nearby transfer should be treated as moving the working save rather than creating an archival duplicate.
If the transfer tool does not show the game, close the Zelda software on both systems and check the user selected on each console. A title may be absent because the wrong user is active, the consoles are not online, or the save belongs to a different Nintendo Account.
Restore a Zelda save when the old Switch is unavailable
Cloud restoration works only for a save that had already been uploaded through Nintendo Switch Online Save Data Cloud. Nintendo confirms that both Zelda Switch 2 Editions support cloud saves. The membership must still be active, and the Switch 2 user must sign in with the Nintendo Account associated with the backup.
- Sign in to the original account. On Switch 2, use the same Nintendo Account that was used for the Zelda save and its cloud backup.
- Confirm membership. Make sure the Nintendo Switch Online membership used for the backup has not expired. Without an active membership, the cloud restoration route is unavailable.
- Open the cloud-save controls. In System Settings, open the save-data cloud area for the relevant user and select the Zelda title.
- Restore the backed-up file. Choose the option to download or restore the cloud save to the Switch 2 system, then wait for the operation to finish.
- Launch the matching Switch 2 Edition. Start the game with the same user and confirm that the restored adventure appears and loads.
Cloud storage cannot recover progress that was never backed up. If the old console is gone, the membership is inactive and no Zelda cloud backup exists, Nintendo’s documented methods provide no way to reconstruct that local save from the game card, physical copy or amiibo.
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If you own two consoles, be careful about which copy is newer before downloading a cloud save. Restoring an older cloud copy can replace more recent local progress on the destination. Check the available save information and choose deliberately rather than accepting a replacement prompt without reading it.
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Use System Transfer for a complete move
Nintendo’s Switch 2 transfer guide supports moving compatible digital games, save data and settings from a Nintendo Switch to Nintendo Switch 2. This is broader than a Zelda-only save transfer and is useful when the new console is replacing the old one for most of your library.
- Prepare both consoles and connect them to the internet.
- Start the System Transfer process from the system settings on the old Switch and follow the receiving instructions on Switch 2.
- Review the categories of information selected for transfer and let the consoles complete the process without powering either one off.
- Afterward, open the Zelda Switch 2 Edition and verify the relevant save with the appropriate user.
Read the confirmation screens carefully. Nintendo warns that a full system transfer deletes information from the original console. That makes it unsuitable when you want the old Switch to retain its complete setup or when you have not yet verified the destination. Back up anything you are entitled to keep and finish checking the new console before disposing of the old one.
Understand the two-save-file limitation
The Switch 2 Editions advertise two save files so a player can continue an existing adventure and also start another. The files are not interchangeable in both directions.
Your original Switch save can move forward to the matching Switch 2 Edition. However, Nintendo explicitly warns that the second save file created in the Switch 2 Edition cannot be transferred back to the original Nintendo Switch version. This applies to both Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom.
Safe arrangement if you may return to Switch
- Transfer your existing adventure into the Switch 2 Edition.
- Keep that transferred adventure as the working file if you expect to use the original Switch version again.
- Use the Edition’s second file for a separate new adventure only when you accept that it is not a round-trip file.
Do not start a new playthrough in the second slot assuming it can later be sent to an older console. The limitation is about direction: it prevents the second Switch 2 Edition save from returning to the original Switch software.
What the transfer does not do
- It does not combine games. A Breath of the Wild save remains a Breath of the Wild save, and a Tears of the Kingdom save remains a Tears of the Kingdom save.
- It does not move a save between accounts. The source and destination users must be linked to the same Nintendo Account.
- It does not depend on physical media. A cartridge or physical edition supplies access to the game; it does not carry the console save through the transfer process.
- It does not require an amiibo. Nintendo lists amiibo support for Zelda products, but an amiibo is not part of save-data transfer.
- It does not guarantee recovery of an unbacked-up local file. Cloud restoration needs an existing cloud copy, while nearby transfer needs the source console.
Troubleshoot common transfer problems
The Zelda title is missing from the transfer list
Close the game, select the user who actually played it, and check the Nintendo Account on that user. A save belongs to a user profile, so looking under a different profile can make a working save appear absent. Also verify that the source and destination are online and that you are selecting the matching title rather than the other Zelda game.
The consoles cannot find each other
Reconnect both systems to the internet, install pending system updates and restart the transfer tool. Keep both consoles powered on while the send and receive screens are open. If one system has returned to the home screen or is using a different account, cancel and start the pairing steps again.
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Check the active user first. Then inspect both save slots in the Switch 2 Edition. The transferred file should be the existing adventure; a newly created second file is a separate playthrough and is subject to the one-way restriction described above.
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Cloud restoration shows no Zelda backup
Confirm that Switch 2 is signed in to the same Nintendo Account used on the old console and that the Nintendo Switch Online membership is active. If the title still has no cloud entry, the old save may never have been uploaded. A physical game card cannot supply the missing cloud data.
You want to keep the old console unchanged
Do not choose full System Transfer. Use the game-specific nearby method only after deciding that moving the working save is acceptable, and verify the Switch 2 Edition before resetting anything. If retaining an independent copy is essential, check your backup situation first; the documented transfer workflow is not a general-purpose save duplication tool.
You no longer have the old Switch and never used cloud backup
There is no source console for nearby transfer and no cloud file to restore. Nintendo’s documented options cannot recreate a local Zelda save under those conditions. You can still start a new adventure in the Switch 2 Edition, but it will not contain the missing progress.
Practical scenarios
Both consoles are on your desk
Use nearby Save Data Transfer. It is the narrowest operation, requires no Nintendo Switch Online membership and lets you select the Zelda file rather than migrating unrelated console data. Leave the old Switch untouched until the Switch 2 Edition loads the expected adventure.
The old Switch was lost, but cloud backup was enabled
Use cloud restoration with the same Nintendo Account and an active membership. Only the backed-up state returns, so any play made after the last upload may be absent.
You are handing the old Switch to someone else
Use System Transfer if you want compatible games, settings and saves moved together, but read the deletion warning and verify the destination before the old console is reset. If only one Zelda save matters, the nearby game-specific transfer avoids moving the entire system.
You want a fresh second playthrough
First place the adventure you may want to use on the original Switch in the transferred file. Then use the second Switch 2 Edition slot for the new playthrough, accepting that this new file cannot return to the original version.
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Final verification checklist
- The destination uses the same Nintendo Account-linked user as the source.
- The correct Zelda title and corresponding Switch 2 Edition are installed or accessible.
- The transferred or restored save appears in the expected slot.
- The game loads into the expected area and progress.
- You have not created important new progress in the second slot that you expect to send back to the original Switch.
- You have verified the new console before resetting, selling or giving away the old one.
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