Set up Nintendo Switch: Important tips and first steps

NINTENDO SWITCH

December 24, 2022 at 7:00 p.m

Setting up the Nintendo Switch is very easy. We’ll help you get started with the console, but we’ll also introduce you to games, accessories, and the online service.

1. Set up Nintendo Switch

2. Create profiles for family

3. Use the quick menu

4. Save battery – this is how you increase the battery life

5. The best games and Nintendo Switch Online

6. Nintendo Labo

7. Other accessories

There are different models of the Nintendo Switch that we present to you. While you only use the cheaper Nintendo Switch Lite as a handheld, you can use the old or the new standard model of Nintendo Switch with all its functions.

This means that you can not only use the switch as a handheld, but also connect it to your television thanks to the docking station and use the Nintendo console in tabletop mode.

Nintendo Switch: Connect the controller

These screenshots show you how to connect your controller to a Nintendo Switch.

In the latter case, you separate the included Joy-Con from the device and you can even play with the two pads when you are sitting in a café.

Set up Nintendo Switch

This is the concept that sets the Switch apart from other consoles and has won over millions of buyers. Now you are one of them. But first you have to unpack and set up the console. Nintendo provides simple instructions for this:

• Connect the power supply
• Connects the Joy-Con to the console (see image gallery above)
• Turn on the console
• Follow the on-screen instructions
• The fun can begin

When you unpack the console, you plug the Joy-Con controllers into the Nintendo Switch. You switch the device on with the on/off button on the top left. Just follow the on-screen instructions to set up Nintendo Switch. After you have created your profile, you can get started.

We will also tell you again in detail at a separate point how you can connect a controller to the switch and how you can charge the batteries of the switch controller.

Create profiles for family

You can create up to eight different user profiles on the Nintendo Switch. So everyone in the family has their own avatar and game saves. When you start a title, you then select your profile. Learn how to create multiple user profiles for Nintendo Switch.

If you’re having trouble setting up or later playing, check out our overview of common Nintendo Switch issues. Maybe a suggested solution will help you.

However, everything is not yet ideal. You can get a little more out of your Nintendo Switch. We have put together a few tips for you so that you can enjoy your new console even more.

A video game console of this era also includes a quick menu. You activate this by holding down the home button on the right Joy-Con for a little longer. This gives you quick access to different functions.

So you set the brightness here, switch the console to standby or airplane mode. So if you’re on a plane to Europe with a Nintendo Switch, you can quickly switch to safe mode via the quick menu and play Zelda: Breath of the Wild high above the clouds.

Save battery – this is how you increase the battery life

If you’re going to buy a Nintendo Switch, you’ll also want to be able to use the console in handheld mode, and you’d appreciate a little longer battery life. That way you can play longer on the go.

You could increase your battery life by making a few simple adjustments. Go to the system settings and lower the “screen brightness”. Then go to “Notifications” and turn them all off. Continue to the “Standby mode” menu item. There you can set the time to up to one minute under “Automatic activation in handheld mode”.

The best Nintendo Switch games: highlights and new releases at a glance

If you put the console aside for a while, it doesn’t use up battery unnecessarily. You could also play without music and sound and increase your battery life a bit.

Buy a suitable power bank, if you want to recharge the Switch on the go. This can be particularly useful for longer trips.

The best games and Nintendo Switch Online

Because that’s the only way you can enjoy all the games for a long time. If you are a bit overwhelmed by the selection, we present you the best Nintendo Switch games. A few recommendations in advance: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Super Mario Odyssey and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.

If you don’t want to spend any money, we’ll tell you in another article how to get free games for the Nintendo Switch.

You can also expand your gaming experience by subscribing to the Nintendo Switch Online service. One month costs four dollars. For three months you pay eight and for twelve months you pay 20 dollars. You can see an overview of the advantages you enjoy for the money below:

• Online game
• NES and SNES games for free
• Cloud for game data
• Smartphone-App
• Exclusive offers for members

Nintendo Labo

Nintendo also wants to get you excited about Nintendo Labo. It is a cardboard box craft concept for Nintendo Switch. The publisher offers various handicraft sets from which you can create models and connect them to your console.

This results in a type of interaction that is unusual for game consoles. Nintendo even offers cardboard VR glasses for the Switch.

Other accessories

But there are many more accessories that you can buy. We can recommend you this accessory for Nintendo Switch.

Be sure to check this article again at a later date, because the text will be expanded to include more tips. Until then, feel free to read our review of the Nintendo Switch.