Your Switch Probably Doesn’t Have Enough Space for “Tears of the Kingdom”
The Nintendo Switch is a fantastic little device that lets you run a massive library of your own and third-party games at home or on the go. Sure, this thing is getting a little old in 2023, but my PS5 can’t run The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom , so specs matter a lot. But specs matter , and I’m not talking about processing power. I’d love to play Zelda in 4K 60fps, but that’s not what’s bothering me today. The only spec that really matters is storage space, and your switch is definitely missing that.
Nintendo Never Gives You Enough Storage Space
As much as I support Nintendo, the company is making some questionable decisions. Back in 2012, Nintendo released two versions of the Wii U , one with 8GB of storage and the other with 32GB (for real gamers, you know). Even in 2012, 32 GB of storage was n’t all that great, and everyone who decides to buy their games digitally will soon find out. So naturally, when Nintendo released the Switch back in 2017, they decided to equip their new console with a lot more space, right? Hahaha.
No, again they gave 32 GB. It’s too limited for a smartphone, let alone a gaming console, and most Switch players know this. That internal storage fills up quickly even if you stick to buying physical games, which leaves you with two options: buy external storage or delete data permanently. These two tactics have never been more needed by Switch fans than they are now , especially if you’re planning on downloading the latest Zelda game.
Tears of the Kingdom is a big game
At the time of this writing, Nintendo says that a digital copy of Tears of the Kingdom will take up a whopping 16GB of storage on your Switch , which is slightly less than the previously advertised 18.2GB , but that’s still exactly half of the advertised system space. Of course, you have less useful storage space , so in fact Tears of the Kingdom uses more than half of it.
If you’re like me (actually using your Switch for video games), you don’t have space on the Switch for this game right now. In fact, I’ve exhausted all my internal and external storage options, which means I have a limited amount of time to free up space.
However, you don’t have to clean your house to make room for your digital copy of Tears of the Kingdom . The simplest removal may seem painful at first, but it makes sense given the situation: Breath of the Wild . We all love it and I can hardly imagine the Switch without it, but this is another massive game weighing in at 15.7GB including DLC . Removing it will take you to nearly 16 GB of Tears of the Kingdom . Problem solved. Since you’ll be busy with the newest version of Hyrule, it makes sense to sacrifice the old one, at least for now.
The good news is that you don’t have to delete game save data to delete these large files. Your Switch separates them so you can delete GB of game data without affecting your MB of save data. You can safely delete your copy of Breath of the Wild and then re-download it later and pick up where you left off. For those who prefer to be able to switch between both Switch-era Zelda games, you’ll need to select other games to play through. To remove any game from the Switch, go to Settings > Data Management . You can use the Quick Archive tool to archive games immediately, or the Software Management tool to be able to delete them instead. In any case, you will be able to archive or delete any game data you want. (You remove the same amount of storage when you archive or delete, but archiving a game allows you to quickly redownload it from the home screen tile instead of going to the online store.)
Other options to quickly free up space on the Switch
However, one “easy” solution, if you haven’t already, is to buy expandable storage for your Switch . A microSDXC card is best , as you can expand storage up to 2TB . The bigger the map, the more expensive they cost, but you’ll reduce the need for data gymnastics the next time you start a game like Tears of the Kingdom .
Another answer is to simply buy the game physically. While physical Switch games take up a fraction of your storage, that’s only a fraction of the space of their digital counterparts. You need space for your saved game data, update data, and any DLC you purchase, but other than that, the rest of the game is stored in the cart itself.
We don’t know how much data this latest Zelda game will take as a cartridge, but if you’re not completely depleted (like me), you might have enough space on your Switch to play a physical copy of Tears of the Kingdom. . You just won’t be able to play it right at midnight like we digital gamers. (Of course you can play it right now .)