Choosing a microSD card for your Nintendo Switch (2024)

FAQs

Choosing a microSD card for your Nintendo Switch? ›

In order to improve your gameplay experience, using a microSD card with a higher transfer speed is recommended. High-speed microSD card guidelines: UHS-I (Ultra High Speed Phase I) compatible. Transfer speed 60 - 95 MB/sec (the higher the transfer speed, the better gameplay experience on Nintendo Switch)

Worldwide availability and guaranteed compatibility make the SanDisk microSDXC the best SD card for Switch. The Kingston Canvas Go Plus SD card is twice the speed that Nintendo recommends. While they cost more than your average model, they are a good premium alternative.

If you're planning on downloading many games, you probably want a high-capacity card like a 128GB, 256GB, or 512GB microSD card. You'll be able to store more than enough games and they'll load faster since they're higher performance cards.

Nintendo Switch memory cards: FAQ

We'd recommend a 128GB SD card for most users; this will give you enough room for about 15-18 Nintendo Switch games on your console, but it's worth noting that smaller indie titles will take up far less space.

512GB is the the better value per GB the moment vs 1TB. The size really depends on how much you plan on spending on digital. I'm using a 200GB card from 2018 and I have enough for my 54 games (60% physical). I don't have too many big games.

The Nintendo Switch only takes microSD cards

You can't use a regular SD card, or even a miniSD card. You'll specifically need a microSD card. But don't worry — microSD cards have been around for years, and can fit plenty of games.

It's a trivial difference if any. You won't notice much of a difference (1-2 seconds) and even slower SD cards seem to be similar to better SD cards. Internal storage is best but you will never notice the shorter loading time nor the better game performance due to read speeds.

A San Disk Ultra card has a max write speed of 80MB/s, while the SanDisk Extreme cards reach up to 90MB/s. This refers to how fast a photo or video is saved to your memory card. So, the SanDisk Extreme will have shorter buffering times. The read speed of the SanDisk Extreme is up to 160MB/s.

Do faster SD cards make a difference on Switch? ›

For example, the Nintendo Switch is only capable of transfer speeds up to around 95 MB/s, so faster SD cards will be useless on it. Besides, you'll get more use out of additional storage at that speed anyway.

Nintendo Switch™ - OLED Model

Users can easily expand storage space using microSDHC or microSDXC cards up to 2TB (sold separately). Used for charging or for connecting to the Nintendo Switch dock.

128 gigs is ideal for Switch owners and the read/write speeds are fast as they can be.

MicroSDHC cards are microSD cards with at most 32GB, while microSDXC card have more than 32GB storage capacity. You can mainly use a microSDHC card to store media in Full HD quality and a microSDXC card for 4K images or large bulks. There's not much difference in terms of read and write speeds.

If you're planning on downloading many games, you'll probably want a high-capacity card like a 128GB, 256GB or 512GB microSD card. You'll be able to store more than enough games and they'll load faster since they're higher-performance cards. For moderate use, a 32GB or 64GB microSD card will work.