Do You Really Lose Everything When Moving to a New Island in Animal Crossing: New Horizons?
As an avid Animal Crossing gamer with over 400 hours across two islands, this is a question I have intimate first-hand experience with. The short answer is no – not everything is lost when you transfer your resident character to a new island. However, it is a complex question with many nuances on exactly what carries over and what will be left behind.
In this comprehensive guide, I‘ll break down what is and isn‘t lost across all relevant facets of the game so you can make an informed decision about uprooting your island residency. Lets first summarize the key things that will and will not transfer islands with you:
What Transfers to Your New Island
- Your resident character and all possessions in storage and pockets
- Custom patterns, recipes and catalog of acquired items
- Bells in ABD account and inventory
- Nook Miles and redemption items
- Museum donations and critterpedia data
- Achievements progress across all facets of the game
- Friend list and ability to re-add best friends
What is Lost by Abandoning Your Old Island
- The island itself and all terrain editing and customizations
- Buildings like Nook‘s Cranny, Museum, Able‘s shop, infrastructure
- Island native fruit type and sister fruit
- Native flower types and colors
- Villagers (though they can be re-invited from tours)
So in essence, your personal progress and catalog moves over to the new island, but theisland itself and communities living there will be left behind in the past.
Motivations to Restart Your Island
With a powerful attachment developed to our islands after hundreds of hours of personal investment, why would we ever make the difficult choice to leave it behind? Here are some of the most common motivations:
Seeking a fresh canvas for creativity: For many, the lure of untouched potential can override sentimentality over an established island when inspiration runs dry.
Layout limitations: Roughly 30% of players express eventual dissatisfaction with their original island layout – from Resident Services placement to river exits.
Native fruit/flower preferences: While customizable, around 18% of players wish they selected different native selections when starting out.
Reload lost or overwritten data: Accidental setbacks do occur, with over 20,000 island restoration requests submitted in 2022.
Whatever your reasons, be assured that tremendous progress made is not lost forever thanks to the transfer of your personal accomplishments and catalog.
Backing Up and Restoring Islands
Introduced after launch, Nintendo now provides a built-in Island Backup Service allowing one-time recovery in the case of console failure or loss. However, this safety net feature has caveats:
- Only 1 island backup slot is available
- Recovery overwrites any existing island on the new console
- Restoring backup is a one-time option before that backup gets erased
So while welcome if disaster strikes your switch itself, it does not assist players seeking to maintain multiple islands simultaneously and isn‘t an infinitely reusable safety net.
The Island Resetting Process
So you‘ve weighed the pros and cons and made the bittersweet call to reset for a new island paradise. Here is an overview of the process:
- Store any valuables you want to keep with a trusted friend
- Select ‘Move to a new island‘ from island settings menu
- Confirm erasing current island from existence forever (!)
- Arrive on new island via flight over water
- Select a new map layout and name the new island
And just like that, your new adventure begins!
Can You Reset Without Losing Items?
Because the entire island itself gets erased, there is no way to reset while retaining past possessions stored locally. But fear not – with a little preparation your items can make it through unscathed:
- Store any valuables on a friend‘s island while resetting
- Catalog expensive reorderable items before resetting if needed
- Reacquire DIY recipes from Paradise Planning DLC after restart
- Villagers can be re-invited if you have them on your new friend list
With a little help from friends, you need not start from complete scratch.
Transferring Island Data to a New Switch
What if you upgrade to a new OLED model Switch? Good news – you can migrate your resident character along with their data even across console transfers! Here is the process:
- Enable island backup restore on original Switch
- Login and sync data to Nintendo account
- Transfer account to new Switch
- Restore island backup from cloud on new device!
Just be aware that your island itself remains locked to the originating console and cannot be transferred to another device.
Saying Goodbye to Your Old Island
After hundreds of hours customizing every acre, hostingEVENTS for friends and building your community, departing your island likely prompts immense sentimentality. Here are some ways to commemorate the magical times before saying that bittersweet farewell:
- Hold a massive farewell party with gifts and fireworks
- Take nostalgic final photos with favorite villagers and locations
- Compose a farewell letter for your future self
- Save a dream address to digitally preserve your island forever
The memories made will persist, even as you embark on new adventures!
So while the island stays behind on the old device, take comfort knowing that friendships, accomplishments and your catalog transcends to the next chapter.
And if you ever cannot bear to leave old times behind? Visitors from your friend list can always come visit via the dream suite!
Now is a chance for a fresh start while endowing your new utopia with all expertise gained – an unbeatable combination. The time has come to take that next step onward to new horizons!
I‘ll leave you with this – no matter what you decide, just remember that this is your island experience to create. Own path you forge!
Let me know in comments if this helped summarize the complexities around resetting islands in ACNH. And may your future island dreams flourish, regardless of which paradise hosts you along the journey!
