How To Do A Hard Reset On A Malfunctioning Nintendo Switch

Once upon a time all it took to reset a Nintendo console was a push of the dedicated Reset button, but that was decades ago and Nintendo's electronics have gotten a fair bit more complex in the intervening years. Despite the substantial progress of time and technology, video game consoles can and do still occasionally lock up or otherwise start acting up, which usually requires a forced reset.

Maybe you were playing a game and everything froze unexpectedly or something was in the middle of downloading and everything stopped moving. Heck, even a malfunctioning controller can sometimes be remedied by turning the Switch off and back on again. But what do you do if you can't access the regular reset option via the Home button?

While your Switch may not have a protruding rectangle to jam a finger at every time it runs into problems (ditto when it comes to blowing into the game carts or the slot you put them in), it is still possible to perform a hard reset, which is basically just forcing the console to turn off and back on again; it is not the same thing as the extreme data-deleting measure that is a factory reset.

Frozen or not, as long as you can physically reach your Switch you should be able to force it to restart when it starts acting up. Whether it's in handheld mode (or is a Switch Lite that only functions in handheld mode) or is docked, here's what to do.

1. Find the Power button on the top edge of the Switch, toward the left side if you're looking at the front of the console hardware. It's slightly recessed and sits between the edge of the Switch where the left Joy-Con connects, and the volume buttons.
2. Press and hold the Power button for at least 10 seconds, but if the frozen screen persists you can hold it down for longer.
3. Once the Switch turns off, remove your finger from the Power button and wait for the console to restart.

In most cases, a hard reset should get your Switch back up and running. If it freezes again when you attempt to perform the same action, that could indicate an issue with the eShop or your internet connection (for downloads) or a problem with the software itself (for freezing games and apps). If your Switch immediately freezes again after a hard reset or won't turn back on at all, you may need to reach out to the Nintendo Repair Center for assistance.