How To Game Share On Nintendo Switch

The Nintendo Switch is as outstanding as it is popular. Its biggest strengths are its hybrid nature and its catalog of Nintendo originals. We can add an extra advantage to the list by answering how to game share on Nintendo Switch.

Game sharing can expand your library of games or share your titles with trusted friends and family. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves, as there’re some caveats.

Unlike game sharing on Xbox, Nintendo Switch doesn’t have an official way to share games. We need to jump some hoops to enable the option, share games with others, and reduce game purchase expenses.

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Can You Game Share on Nintendo Switch?

If you have various Nintendo Switch consoles at home, you may be looking for an answer: can you share games between two systems?

Physical games are out of the question. You can pass them from one console to the next without issues. We’re talking about digital content instead.

Digital games are tied to a Nintendo Account and the Switch you used to purchase the game. There’s no official way to share digital games across Nintendo’s consoles (like the Switch or the 3DS). Still, there’s a way to “gameshare,” but it involves some caveats.

In essence, it’s about putting your account on another console or another person putting their account onto your console.

It works ironically, just as the Xbox game share or PlayStation’s game share. However, Nintendo doesn’t say this is “gamesharing” method, so we’re taking it as a neat little trick.

How to Game Share on Nintendo Switch?

You can game-share Nintendo Switch titles by adding an account to another console and making that console the primary platform of your account. That way, the other console could play the games on your account.

Similarly, you can play other people’s games if you do just the opposite.

While the method works, there’re some limitations:

When you game share, one console is marked as the primary and the other as secondary.
Primary consoles may access all of the content online or offline. The secondary console must have internet access to play games because it needs access to the digital library it’s getting through the sharing process.
Both players can’t play the same game simultaneously if they use the same account.
You can’t play multiplayer games if you share them with someone else. Therefore, it would be best to share single-player games only. However, you can share and play a game together if it has local multiplayer.
It would be best if you gave your Switch account credentials to somebody else. So, ensure the other person is someone you trust.
If you don’t have a Nintendo Switch Online membership, you may lose some data when you change games to another console. Otherwise, you will enjoy the benefit of cloud backups.

Let’s check the detailed steps to share games on Nintendo Switch. One word of advice: don’t delete your user profile on your original console.

Initial Preparation

Before we begin, you need some things for the process: an internet connection, a user account, and a digital game to share.

Next, you’ll need to decide which will be the primary console and which will become the secondary console. Presumably, your Nintendo Switch will be the main console, giving it access to online and offline games.

Step 1: Buy a Digital Game from the Nintendo E-Store

If you already have digital games you want to share, you can skip this step. Otherwise, here’s how to buy a game on the shop:

Press the Home button to open the main menu.
Select the Nintendo E-Shop
Select your profile
Select and purchase the game you want. It will download and add itself to your account’s digital library.

Step 2: De-Register Your Account from the Nintendo E-Store

Firstly, you’ll need to deregister your console as the primary console you have. To do this:

The first step is to deregister your account from the Nintendo e-Shop:

Press the controller’s Home button to open the main menu.
On your Nintendo Switch, go to the Nintendo E-Shop
Select your profile icon at the top-right.
Select your profile name under Account Information.
Scroll to the bottom, and select Deregister, where it says Primary Console.
Confirm your selection. You may need to type your password.

Step 3: Add Your Account to a Secondary Nintendo Switch

Now, it’s time to add your profile to a second Nintendo Switch. That way, the secondary console will access your digital game library.

Press the Home button.
On the second Switch, go to System Settings.
Go to User.
Select Add User.
Select Create New User.
Choose the profile Icon and Nickname and select Ok.
Confirm your user.
Select Link a Nintendo Account.
Enter your credentials.
Select Link.
Confirm by selecting Ok.

This will make the secondary Switch your primary console for your user account by default.

So, the second user can play the games on your account, even if they use their own accounts. So, you would only need to download the games you own on the secondary console.

Final Steps

That said, remember that you don’t need to delete your profile from the first Switch system. In fact, you should log back into your account on your original Switch.

Here’s how to log back:

Go to Nintendo eShop once again.
Type, your password.
Click your profile icon on the top-right corner.
Select Redownload at the bottom.
Download the games you want.

Also, remember that the two consoles can’t play the same games simultaneously. You may need to add another account to your console to play all the titles. And so, because you can’t play simultaneously, the Switch will check that these games aren’t open elsewhere. Hence, it always needs an internet connection.

At the same time, you can add another account to your console and gain access to the games on the secondary account.