Giving a Nintendo Switch 2 This Christmas: Accounts, GameChat and Transfers

Prepare a Nintendo Account for each player

Nintendo's own Switch 2 setup guide starts with preparing a Nintendo Account for each player, which it says gives access to the eShop, friends, Nintendo Switch Online and full Parental Controls settings. Nintendo says a child under 16 can't create their own Nintendo Account: an adult aged 18 or over creates and manages child accounts. Only a family-group admin aged 18 or over can add a Nintendo Account for a child under 16.

• Your account

Give your child their sign-in details

Once the child account exists, you give the child its sign-in ID and password, and it shows up in the family group area of your account settings. Nintendo says accounts created for children aged 15 and under are automatically set up as supervised accounts in the family group.

• Your account

Install the Parental Controls app

The Nintendo Switch Parental Controls app is free on iOS and Android but needs a Nintendo Account held by a user aged 18 or over. Without a smartphone you can still set some restrictions on the Switch 2 itself, but GameChat controls must be set up in the smartphone app for each child. Full step-by-step: see our Nintendo Switch 2 guide.

• Your phone or tablet
• Your account

Decide about moving over an old Switch

Nintendo says a system transfer from an original Switch can only be done during the Switch 2's initial setup, and that it deletes the data from the source console once it is complete (Nintendo says what is deleted varies by transfer type). The transfer carries over Parental Controls and the link to the Parental Controls smartphone app. Nintendo says GameChat settings need to be set up again. Decide before first switch-on, and back up anything you want to keep.

Your smartphone and your Nintendo Account, signed in

You need your own Nintendo Account and the Parental Controls app on your phone, especially if your child will use GameChat.

• Your phone or tablet
• Your account

Wi-Fi and time for the first update

Nintendo says the first-time Switch 2 setup must be started in handheld mode, and a system update can be done once an internet connection has been saved during first-time setup. Nintendo also says game-key cards, a Switch 2 game format, need an internet connection to download extra data before the game can be played. So a game on a game-key card still needs Wi-Fi on the day.

• Wi-Fi
• Software update

A phone number and a Nintendo Switch Online membership, for GameChat

Nintendo says GameChat requires a Nintendo Switch Online membership. It also needs a phone number registered to a Nintendo Account; for under-16s, a parent or guardian must register a phone number to their own Nintendo Account on their child's behalf.

• Payment method
• Your account

You, next to your child, for GameChat setup

For under-16s, Nintendo asks that a parent or guardian join the child during GameChat setup. In Nintendo's parent setup guide, if the child hasn't added any friends yet, the parent can't get past the friend-approval step.

• Your child there

Reset it, then check the PIN

Nintendo says restoring a Switch 2 to factory settings deletes everything in system memory, including software, save data, screenshots, videos and user information. Nintendo's recovery-mode reset, the version that keeps save data, asks for the Parental Controls PIN if one has been set for the console. Nintendo says the PIN is chosen by whoever first set the Parental Controls and is needed for later changes. If no Nintendo Account is linked to the console and the PIN is forgotten, Nintendo says to contact them for help resetting it.

Banned consoles

Nintendo can permanently ban a Switch 2 or Switch console from connecting to the internet, and the console then shows error code 2181-4008. If you buy second-hand, make sure it can go online before you wrap it.

GameChat

For children under 16, Nintendo says GameChat is restricted by default until a parent or guardian helps them set it up. Under-16s and supervised users can't start GameChat until the GameChat parental controls have been set up for them. Nintendo's FAQ says children under 16 who are allowed to use GameChat, or who have Parental Controls set on their console, can only use it with friends approved by their parent or guardian in the app. Approval works both ways: the other player, or their parent, also has to approve your child. Nintendo says the app's other communication restrictions don't apply to GameChat, which must be adjusted separately.

Video chat

Nintendo says a parent's or guardian's permission is required every time a child wants to use video chat. Video chat needs a compatible USB-C camera, which is sold separately. GameChat voice chat uses the Switch 2's built-in microphone.

Spending

Nintendo says eShop spending restrictions are set in the parent's Nintendo Account, not on the console: a tick box disables purchases and automatic renewal on the Switch 2, Switch and Nintendo website. Another option is to add a fixed amount to the child's account so they can only spend that balance. PEGI says its 'In-game purchases' descriptor is always shown when in-game content can be bought.

• Payment method

If you gave the original Switch instead

Nintendo says the Parental Controls app has no settings for the Nintendo Switch App, including its voice chat on the original Switch; those are set in the phone's own settings. The eShop spending restriction applies to the original Switch as well.

Under 16

Nintendo says a child under 16 can't create their own Nintendo Account. A parent can't remove supervised status from a child account until the child is 16 and has registered an email address. GameChat is restricted by default for under-16s until a parent or guardian helps set it up.

Family group

Nintendo says a family group holds the admin plus up to seven additional members. An adult can create and manage up to five child accounts.