How to enable island backup for Animal Crossing: New Horizons

For Animal Crossing: New Horizons players, their island is basically the One Ring to Rule them all; It’s their precious, to be protected at all cost. Thankfully, Nintendo has just added an Island Backup and Restoration feature which can keep your island safe in the event of loss or damage to your Nintendo Switch. It isn’t on by default though, so in this guide we’ll talk you through how to enable island backup for Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Follow the steps below and you can rest easy knowing your island is safe.

How to enable island backup for Animal Crossing: New Horizons

To enable island backup for Animal Crossing: New Horizons, you need to open the Settings from the game’s main menu. If you’re in game, hit the minus button to end your session and return to the main menu. Here you can see whether or not island backup is enabled by looking in the bottom left of the screen.

Island backups will be disabled by default, so hit the minus button again to enter the settings menu, operated by Tom Nook. He’ll ask you what you’re after, so pick “Island Backup.” Tom Nook will then explain the basics of the system, including the fact that it’s only available to Nintendo Switch Online members. Read through the details, then choose to enable island backups. Remember, you won’t ever need to use this unless you lose or damage your original Nintendo Switch. 

Related: How to use a Dream Address in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

When enabled, island backup will periodically upload data about your Animal Crossing: New Horizons island to Nintendo’s servers, only doing so while you’re not playing the game. This means you can restore your island to the last state it saved to the servers. It also means you should make sure to close the game every now and again just to make sure it creates a backup.

That’s all we can tell you about how to enable island backup for Animal Crossing: New Horizons. It’s pretty simple and will keep your home safe. For more Animal Crossing: New Horizons tips and tricks, click here to head over to our game hub.

Henry Stenhouse

Associate Editor

Henry Stenhouse serves an eternal punishment as the Associate Editor of AllGamers. He spent his younger life studying the laws of physics, even going so far as to complete a PhD in the subject before video games stole his soul. Confess your love of Super Smash Bros. via email at henry@moonrock.biz, or catch him on Twitter.