{"id":97229,"date":"2026-11-03T05:57:04","date_gmt":"2026-11-02T21:57:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=97229"},"modified":"2026-11-03T05:57:04","modified_gmt":"2026-11-02T21:57:04","slug":"why-its-important-to-use-a-microsd-express-card-with-your-nintendo-switch-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=97229","title":{"rendered":"Why It&#8217;s Important To Use A microSD Express Card With Your Nintendo Switch 2"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"subtitle\">The Switch 2 has a lot more space than the original Switch, but that won&#8217;t go as far in today&#8217;s world.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"slide-key image-holder gallery-image-holder credit-image-wrap  lead-image-holder\" data-post-url=\"https:\/\/www.engadget.com\/2300346\/nintendo-switch-2-microsd-card-why-its-important-to-use\/\" data-post-title=\"Why it's important to use a microSD Express card with your Nintendo Switch 2\" data-slide-num=\"0\" data-post-id=\"2300346\">\n<picture id=\"pf85c42d0fdf78d4b76a7231cb2ef01fa\">&#13;<source media=\"(min-width: 429px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.engadget.com\/img\/gallery\/why-its-important-to-use-a-microsd-card-with-your-nintendo-switch-2\/intro-1791815329.webp\" type=\"image\/webp\">&#13;<source media=\"(max-width: 428px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.engadget.com\/img\/gallery\/why-its-important-to-use-a-microsd-card-with-your-nintendo-switch-2\/intro-1791815329.sm.webp\" type=\"image\/webp\">&#13;<br \/>\n                        <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"gallery-image \" src=\"https:\/\/www.engadget.com\/img\/gallery\/why-its-important-to-use-a-microsd-card-with-your-nintendo-switch-2\/intro-1791815329.jpg\" data-slide-url=\"https:\/\/www.engadget.com\/2300346\/nintendo-switch-2-microsd-card-why-its-important-to-use\/\" data-post-id=\"2300346\" data-slide-num=\"0\" data-slide-title=\"Why it's important to use a microSD Express card with your Nintendo Switch 2: \" width=\"780\" height=\"438\" alt=\"A Nintendo Switch 2 situated in its dock, with several blurry physical games in the background.\"\/>&#13;<br \/>\n                    <\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n                    <span class=\"gallery-image-credit\">laur2321\/Shutterstock<\/span>\n                    <\/div>\n<div class=\"columns-holder \">\n<p>The Nintendo Switch 2 comes with 256GB of storage, where ~249GB is usable after accounting for system software. That&#8217;s more than enough to start playing games immediately, but considering today&#8217;s standards, 256GB is pretty slim. Physical Switch 2 games now cost more than digital releases for first-party games, a frustrating foil to their benefit of not using as much internal space.<\/p>\n<p>Updates and downloadable content also take up space, while some Switch 2 releases use Game-Key Cards, which require downloading the game to the console instead of running it from the cartridge.\u00a0Most indie games are relatively small, and Nintendo-made games are generally well-optimized, but AAA games are a different story.\u00a0For instance,\u00a0<em>Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade<\/em> comes in at 90.4GB, while <em>Resident Evil Requiem<\/em> is nearly 29GB and\u00a0<em>Assassin&#8217;s Creed Shadows<\/em> needs 69GB.<\/p>\n<p>Tossing a microSD Express card into the mix gives the console some relief, especially for those who are all-in on digital games and don&#8217;t want to juggle their storage constantly. Expanding the system&#8217;s space isn&#8217;t necessary for everybody, however. If you primarily stick with indie games or a small handful of titles, you&#8217;re probably fine without the extra storage (at least for a while).<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<h2 class=\"\">Choose a capacity for your library, instead of the largest number<\/h2>\n<div class=\"columns-holder \">\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The size you should choose for your microSD Express card depends on what you play, since that&#8217;s the main element that gobbles up storage. Say you order a 128GB card and then purchase <em>Split Fiction<\/em> (69.2GB). That&#8217;s more than half of your shiny new microSD card\u00a0gone from one title. It&#8217;s no fun (and not cost-efficient) to purchase another one down the road and move everything over, so you should start with more storage than you&#8217;ll need for a while.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">If you opt for a 256GB card, you get another Switch 2 console&#8217;s worth of storage, which is a good middle ground for most people. You can go higher for more breathing room; while 2TB is the maximum card size for the Switch 2, 1TB is the highest size of microSD Express card you&#8217;ll currently see on sale.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The purchase can get pretty expensive, especially during the RAM shortage. Expect to pay around $60 for a 256GB card and several hundred for 1TB. Thankfully, the best Switch 2 memory cards from\u00a0SanDisk, Lexar, Samsung and other brands show very little difference in performance.\u00a0The outcome you&#8217;re looking for is keeping more games installed, not necessarily making them load faster than internal storage.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<h2 class=\"\">Can I use any microSD card in my Nintendo Switch 2?<\/h2>\n<div class=\"slide-key image-holder gallery-image-holder credit-image-wrap \" data-post-url=\"https:\/\/www.engadget.com\/2300346\/nintendo-switch-2-microsd-card-why-its-important-to-use\/\" data-post-title=\"Why it's important to use a microSD Express card with your Nintendo Switch 2\" data-slide-num=\"2\" data-post-id=\"2300346\">\n<picture id=\"p6f07541dd7ec335f4c228a5e0ac3111b\">&#13;<source media=\"(min-width: 429px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.engadget.com\/img\/gallery\/why-its-important-to-use-a-microsd-card-with-your-nintendo-switch-2\/can-i-use-any-microsd-card-in-my-nintendo-switch-2-1791815331.webp\" type=\"image\/webp\">&#13;<source media=\"(max-width: 428px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.engadget.com\/img\/gallery\/why-its-important-to-use-a-microsd-card-with-your-nintendo-switch-2\/can-i-use-any-microsd-card-in-my-nintendo-switch-2-1791815331.sm.webp\" type=\"image\/webp\">&#13;<br \/>\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"gallery-image \" src=\"https:\/\/www.engadget.com\/img\/gallery\/why-its-important-to-use-a-microsd-card-with-your-nintendo-switch-2\/can-i-use-any-microsd-card-in-my-nintendo-switch-2-1791815331.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" data-slide-url=\"https:\/\/www.engadget.com\/2300346\/nintendo-switch-2-microsd-card-why-its-important-to-use\/\" data-post-id=\"2300346\" data-slide-num=\"2\" data-slide-title=\"Why it's important to use a microSD Express card with your Nintendo Switch 2: Can I use any microSD card in my Nintendo Switch 2?\" width=\"780\" height=\"438\" alt=\"A Nintendo Switch 2 showing the Mario Kart World title screen, with the original console box and separate Joy-Con 2 box in the background.\"\/>&#13;<br \/>\n                    <\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n                    <span class=\"gallery-image-credit\">Matthieu Tuffet\/Shutterstock<\/span>\n                    <\/div>\n<div class=\"columns-holder \">\n<p>Unfortunately, no. While you might have thought to pull the microSD card out of your original Switch, your Nintendo Switch 2 won&#8217;t work with it. What you need is a microSD Express card.\u00a0Look for the word &#8220;Express&#8221; and\/or the &#8220;EX&#8221; logo on the card. Don&#8217;t confuse this with SanDisk&#8217;s &#8220;Extreme&#8221; branding, as it&#8217;s not the same.<\/p>\n<p>The only use for your old Switch microSD card is importing screenshots and video clips recorded on the original system to the Switch 2&#8217;s internal memory. You can&#8217;t do anything else with it, including storing games or save data.<\/p>\n<p>Note that game save data stays in the Switch 2&#8217;s internal memory and can&#8217;t be copied or saved to a microSD Express card. Nintendo also recommends using one card, because software stored on several cards can&#8217;t be combined on a single one later. You can move all data from one card to a larger one in the future, but Nintendo doesn&#8217;t intend for you to swap memory cards around regularly.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<center><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.engadget.com\/2300346\/nintendo-switch-2-microsd-card-why-its-important-to-use\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article At Source <\/a><br \/>\n<center\/><br \/>\n<center><script>\n  atOptions = {\n    'key' : 'ab8cc34fbebd96e6c135978b4baca540',\n    'format' : 'iframe',\n    'height' : 90,\n    'width' : 728,\n    'params' : {}\n  };\n<\/script><br \/>\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highrevenueformat.com\/ab8cc34fbebd96e6c135978b4baca540\/invoke.js\"><\/script><\/center><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Switch 2 has a lot more space than the original Switch, but that won&#8217;t go as far in today&#8217;s world. &#13;&#13;&#13; &#13; laur2321\/Shutterstock The&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":97230,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[2880,4552,1703,10230,2830,255],"class_list":["post-97229","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tech-gadgets-reviews","tag-card","tag-express","tag-important","tag-microsd","tag-nintendo","tag-switch","wpcat-32-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97229","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=97229"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97229\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/97230"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=97229"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=97229"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=97229"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}