How do I find all my Switch games?

As an avid Nintendo Switch gamer with over 200 digital games purchased, I‘ve had moments of frustration when I couldn‘t seem to find a specific game to play. With so many great titles accessible from that small game card slot, keeping track of what you actually own can get confusing quick.

Luckily, the Switch offers several easy methods to view your full game catalog so you can access all of your purchases. In this guide, I‘ll take you through how to find your entire digital AND physical Switch game library using the eShop, home screen, download history, microSD card, and more.

1. View All Purchased Games in Nintendo eShop

The Nintendo eShop stores your full download history and is the best place to find your purchased game list.

Here‘s how to view your Switch game downloads:

1. Launch Nintendo eShop from your Switch‘s home screen
2. Tap on your profile icon in the upper right corner
3. Select "Your Downloads" from the dropdown menu

From Your Downloads, you can view and manually redownload any previously purchased games tied to your Nintendo Account. An average Switch owner has around 16 digital titles, adding up to nearly 200GB in their eShop library history.

With this eShop download list, you get complete game ownership details in one place. However, it doesn‘t show physical cartridge games or display inactive titles installed on external storage devices.

2. Check Your Switch‘s Home Screen

The Switch home screen features game icon shortcuts for all titles currently installed on your console‘s internal 32GB storage or microSD card. Any inserted game cartridges will also display here.

While simple, the home screen only shows active games rather than your full library. Just 12 game icons fit on the main home screen too.

But for quick day-to-day access, you can‘t beat having your current favorite go-to games ready to launch.

3. View Redownloadable Software History

For a master list of every game tied to your system – digital, physical, active installs, archived – check your Switch‘s full download history.

To see your redownloadable software:

1. Go to System Settings on the home screen
2. Select Data Management > Redownloadable Software
3. View download details sorted by recent, title, etc.

This extensive list includes your entire eShop purchase background, temporary free downloads, game cartridges registered, and any games deleted or archived to external storage.

While comprehensive, the default download history view lacks visuals and organizational tools. Using filters helps narrow things down when searching for a specific game.

4. Check microSD Card File Storage

If you install downloaded or physical Switch games onto a microSD card, removing the external storage device also removes access to those inactive titles.

Popping your memory card back into your console will display associated game data. On average, Switch physical releases take up 10GBs, while popular digital titles like NBA 2K23 require over 30GB free.

To gauge needed capacity for current & future libraries, calculate:

Bumping up to a 256GB or 400GB+ microSD card lets you store your whole collection externally as cold storage.

Digital vs Physical Games – Which Is Easier To Find?

In this streaming era, going all-digital provides convenience through instantly accessible libraries connected to player accounts. However, physical cartridge collectors can simply scan a game shelf vs scroll through hundreds of titles.

Here‘s how the two formats compare for tracking down purchased games:

With large 100+ game libraries becoming common, I recommend balancing both formats instead of limiting to an all-digital or physical-only approach. Mixing physical favorites you return to often with digital access to older purchases keeps things fresh and organized.