The Nintendo Switch has been around for quite some time. While it is a great handheld console available, it does come with a few issues of its own. Well, all electronic gadgets do have their share of issues. No gadget is 100% perfect, there will always be a few flaws or bugs that plague the device. With the Nintendo Switch, it is a common occurrence for the device to freeze occasionally. To fix such an issue, one has to perform a restart on the Switch. Today’s guide is all about the two ways to restart Nintendo Switch.
There are many reasons why you might want to perform a restart on the Nintendo Switch. It could be that a game is freezing, making the Switch unresponsive or it could also be a software bug that is causing the Switch to be unresponsive on the home screen itself. It could be any other reason also like maybe you are not able to turn the Wi-Fi on the Switch or anything else for that matter. Instead of switching it off and then switching it on, a restart is a better option. Read along to know how to restart Switch.
How to Restart Nintendo Switch
There are two ways to restart the Nintendo Switch. One method can be classified as a normal restart, while the other one can be called a forced restart.
Perform Normal Restart
A normal restart can be done when you just want to restart the Switch may be because you have added a new account or anything similar to that. To perform a normal restart simply do the following:
- Press and hold the power button at the top of the Switch for at least three seconds.
- You will now see a menu on the screen.
- Select Power Options from the list and select restart.
- The Nintendo Switch will now restart itself.
- If you leave the device with the Power Menu on, the device will automatically put itself into sleep mode.
- And this is how you restart a Nintendo Switch.
Force Restart Nintendo Switch
This type of restart comes in very handy when your Nintendo Switch suddenly goes unresponsive or the game freezes and you have no other option but to forcefully restart the Switch. Here is how you can forcefully restart the Nintendo Switch.
- Press the home button on the top of the Switch.
- Hold the button for about 20 seconds or so.
- The screen on the Switch will now go dark.
- Leave the home button and wait for the Switch to reboot.
- You will now see the Nintendo boot logo, following which, it boots up normally.
- And there you have it, proper back to the normal working Switch.
Risks of Forced Restart
Well, forcefully restarting should not bring any harm to the device. But, if you were in the middle of saving a game file, then there are chances that you might lose those saved files for that particular game, there could even be issues with the app data being corrupted, meaning that you will have to probably download the whole game again. Sometimes, a forced restart can even brick the Switch and simply cause the Switch to show a blue screen and nothing else. When such a situation occurs, it is best to send the device to Nintendo to get it fixed.
How to Unfreeze Nintendo Switch
Apart from restarting your Switch, you can also use two other methods that can help to unfreeze your switch.
Press the Home button
Ever got yourself in a situation where you were playing a game and your Switch decides to just get unresponsive? Well, by press the Home button, you can exit the game right away and be back on the home screen. Though you will have to keep mashing the Home button to get out of the game. This method is useful when you just do not want to perform a forced restart and live-in fear of losing some kind of data, be it save data or the app data.
Dock the Switch
Now, this method will work if you have purchased the Switch Dock. Let’s say you were playing a Mario game on your Switch and it just decides to freeze. So, what do you do? Well, you simply put the Switch in its Dock and then un-dock it. Your Switch should return to being normal/ What docking and undocking do is, interrupts almost everything to prepare itself in the dock mode. And as soon as you pull it off the dock, the Switch will be back to normal, and you can continue playing the game that was just unresponsive a minute or two before.
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