Charge your Nintendo Switch every six months or you might damage it – here's why

Charge your Nintendo Switch
(Image credit: Future)

When was the last time you charged your Nintendo Switch? If it’s been longer than a few months, you might want to give it some juice as soon as possible.

Nintendo of Japan’s customer service Twitter account has urged owners of its hybrid console to “please charge [your battery] every six months.” This is to prevent the battery from becoming “unchargeable if it has not been charged or used for too long”, and will hopefully prevent issues such as battery swell and other issues that can arise after a prolonged lack of use.

This problem isn’t solely isolated to the Nintendo Switch, of course. Any device that has a built-in or rechargeable battery can degrade if it hasn’t been used for a prolonged period of time. We saw a similar issue occur with Sony PSP models that were left unused for many months (if not years).

There’s no need to panic if you use your Switch regularly or always leave it in the dock, then. However, Nintendo Switch Lite owners who may have stashed the handheld-only model away somewhere should take note to not neglect their device for too long.

Game on

If you haven't dusted off your Switch for a while, there are plenty of good reasons to turn it on. Animal Crossing: New Horizons Halloween event is well underway, and Super Mario 3D All-Stars lets you play Super Mario Galaxy anytime, anywhere.

Nintendo recently announced Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, too, a hack 'n slash prequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. There's still no further news on Breath of the Wild 2 (AKA Tears of the Kingdom), however.

Via Destructoid

Adam Vjestica

Adam was formerly TRG's Hardware Editor. A law graduate with an exceptional track record in content creation and online engagement, Adam has penned scintillating copy for various technology sites and also established his very own award-nominated video games website. He’s previously worked at Nintendo of Europe as a Content Marketing Editor and once played Halo 5: Guardians for over 51 hours for charity. He is now an editor at The Shortcut.