How to restart Pokemon Scarlet & Violet and make new save file

Pokemon Scarlet & Violet players who have finished exploring the Paldea region on their current save may want to start the game over. Here is everything to know about starting a new save file in Gen 9.

Exploring the Paldea region in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet is diverse and exciting, offering fans plenty of ways to take the games at their own pace. However, once the Pokedex is filled and all the Gym Leaders, Titans, and Team Star bases are taken care of, many may consider starting over and experiencing it again.

Starting a new save file in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet isn’t as simple as creating a new save from the game’s opening menu. Only one save file can exist on a single Nintendo Switch profile. To protect the saved data, players will need to take a few additional steps to start a new adventure.

Below is everything Pokemon Scarlet & Violet players need to know about restarting their save files on the Nintendo Switch.

How do you restart a Pokemon Scarlet & Violet save file?

To restart the save file for either game, players must delete their saved data or make a new Nintendo Switch Profile.

Players wanting to delete their saved data can follow the steps below:

• Close Pokemon Scarlet & Violet
• Navigate to the Home Screen of the Nintendo Switch
• Open “System Settings”
• Select “Data Management”
• Choose the “Delete Save Data” option from the menu
• Select Pokemon Scarlet & Violet
• Choose the desired Nintendo Switch Profile
• Close the Settings Menu and restart Pokemon Scarlet & Violet
• Select “start a new game”

It is important to note that there is no way to recover a save file once it has been deleted. Because of this, players will want to transfer and desired Pokemon to Pokemon HOME, as they will also be deleted alongside the save data.

How to make a new Nintendo Switch Profile

Pokemon fans who need to create a second profile on their Nintendo Switch can follow the directions below:

• Close Pokemon Scarlet & Violet
• Navigate to the home screen of the Nintendo Switch
• Open “System Settings”
• Select “Users”
• Navigate to “Add User”
• Create the profile using the information from the new user’s Nintendo Switch account
• Once made, close out of System Settings and change to the desired profile
• Open Pokemon Scarlet & Violet
• Select “start a new game”

This method is perfect for those sharing a Nintendo Switch with others or Pokemon fans who have two Nintendo Switch accounts. This allows players to have multiple save files on the Switch console without losing any data, though the save files are not linked together in any way.

And that’s it! Those looking to find out more about Pokemon Scarlet & Violet can check out our other guides below:

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