Animal Crossing New Horizons allows you to backup your data and restore your island incase you lose of damage your switch.
Find out how to back up and restore your island's save data!
The below text is sourced directly from Nintendo's official site and is in their words.
Important
- Island backup is a feature exclusive to Animal Crossing: New Horizons. If you have an active Nintendo Switch Online membership and are looking to restore your save data for games compatible with the Nintendo Switch Online Save Data Cloud service, see our steps on How to Download Save Data Cloud Backups.
- Recovery is only available in situations where a Nintendo Switch console is lost or damaged. A new or repaired Nintendo Switch console is required. An active Nintendo Switch Online membership is also required. In the event of loss or damage, contact Nintendo Customer Support, and a representative can help you restore the island and user save data on your new or repaired Nintendo Switch console (standard charges apply for non-warranty repairs).
- The island backup feature is available after installing the latest software version for the game (1.4.0 or later).
- When the feature is enabled, island backup data is stored periodically when no one is playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons on your Nintendo Switch console and the console is connected to the internet.
Enable Island Back Up
- In order to enable island backup:
- Use a Nintendo Account with an active Nintendo Switch Online membership.
- Use a Nintendo Account that has a resident on the island. Each user on a Nintendo Switch console can create a resident and move to the island soon after starting the game.
- Your Nintendo Switch console must have a stable connection to the internet.
- Your game must be updated to the latest software version (1.4.0 or later).
- Island backup cannot already be enabled. If any other resident on the island has already enabled island backup, you will not be able to enable it as a different resident. The original resident can disable island backup if you wish to enable it using a different account.
- If island backup cannot be enabled, it may be because your Nintendo Switch console is not currently connected to the internet or your Nintendo Account does not currently have an active Nintendo Switch Online membership.
Restore Island Data
Important: Island data can only be restored if your Nintendo Switch console has been lost or damaged and you had enabled island backup in Animal Crossing: New Horizons on that console. It is not possible to remotely enable island backup without access to the console. If your console was lost, you will also need a replacement console to restore the island data.
Disable Island Backup
- In order to disable island backup:
- Your Nintendo Switch console must have a stable connection to the internet.
- Your game must be updated to the latest software version (1.4.0 or later).
- If island backup cannot be disabled, it may be because your Nintendo Switch console is not currently connected to the internet or you are not using the same Nintendo Account that was used to enable island backup.