How to Add Friends to Your Nintendo Switch
One of the most fun aspects of a gaming console is the ability to play with friends. Unfortunately, some large gaming companies make it difficult to find and add friends to the list of potential multiplayer friends. If you’re using Nintendo Switch to interact with your in-game cousins, here’s how to add friends to your Friends List and deal with Nintendo’s dreaded Friend Code system.
Link the Switch to your Nintendo Account
To add friends to your local Switch user account, you’ll need to connect it to your Nintendo Account, the one you’ll use to manage things like purchases, downloads, and friend requests.
From the switch home page, click the System Preferences icon. Then select “Users” and select the profile you want to associate with your account. Select “Link Nintendo Account” and log into your Nintendo Account (or create a new one by selecting “Create Account”).
Find a Friend Code
After you link your Switch user profile to your Nintendo Account, you can add friends. Select your profile in the upper left corner and click Add Friend. There, under the Sent Friend Requests icon, you will see your 12-digit friend code.
Add friends
The Add Friends page will present you with several methods by which you can add friends to your Switch’s friends list.
- Find with Friend Code : The manual Nintendo Find Friend method eliminates email searches in favor of a 12-digit friend code. Of course, you probably won’t remember your own friend code, let alone the dozen numbers associated with a friend’s account, so make sure they send you their friend codes (or write them down) so you can add them manually.
- Local Users : Did your buddy bring his console for a quick ARMS match ? Selecting “Find local users” will allow you to find users nearby and add them that way.
- Suggested Friends : The suggested friends list will show you other potential friends based on your friend list on Wii U, 3DS, or on a smartphone app like Nintendo’s Miitomo (all must already be linked to your Nintendo Account). If you already have friends through these consoles or applications, you can find them there and thus send requests to add friends.
- Users You ‘ve Played With: If you’ve played a multiplayer online match with someone, selecting the “Search for users you’ve played with” option will present you with a recent list of the users you’ve encountered. with.
Save your friend’s code in the contact card
While Nintendo’s Friend Code system is a convoluted method by which you can add friends to the Switch, you will have to use it for the foreseeable future (or until they get together and let you search by email). Until then, you can ease the burden of remembering and sharing this code by saving it somewhere you can always find it: in your contacts.
On your smartphone, select the Contacts app and find your contact card. Click Edit and find the Add Social Profile option. From there, you can add a custom note or custom social network profile (just call it “Nintendo” or something) and save your friend code there. When you need to share it with someone, just send them your saved friend code from your contact list. Want to make it easier for people to find you? Just save this code to your social media bio, such as your Twitter account.