How can I keep a separate profile from a kid?

Question

I want to keep some games which may not be kid friendly (like Red Dead Redemption) away from a kid, without using parental controls. If I buy a separate SD card, will the Switch remember the games I played and show it on the Home Screen?

Ideally I’d like to be able to take the switch, swap SD cards, put in my game cartridge if the game is not on the SD card, play and once I’m done, eject the SD card and put the kid’s SD card back in and the system goes back to exactly how it was before I played my game. My SD card would store all my save game data and history and everything and the kid’s SD card would store his kiddy games and all that.

Is this possible? I don’t mind deleting history of the game as long as my save game data and game download remain on my SD card for the next time I want to play.

in Switchby HippityHoppityBoop

67%

Desperate_Cucumber_9

I could be wrong, but I think the Switch’s internal memory will keep the game on the games’ list, regardless of if its on the SD Card you have inserted. Also nothing will keep your kid from downloading the game, I don’t think.

HippityHoppityBoop

I don’t mind logging out of my Switch online account every time and removing the wifi password. Isn’t it possible to delete the history of the game being there every time?

Desperate_Cucumber_9

Mm, I guess you could delete all traces of it, but keep the game data on the SD Card. I haven’t tried it though, so results may vary.

Seems like a pain, and I would suggest just turning on Parental Controls when the kid is around.

viral-infection-

I feel like you're kinda doing way too much here. I just tell my kids "that's dad's game, it's not for kids" and they whined about it at first but when they realized after a few days that I wasn't going to budge on that they just stopped asking all together.

kgb17

Why does it feel like we aren’t talking about red dead redemption? Why are you so worried about that game being on the Home Screen? Did you download Bubble Beach Babes Story Adventure? And now it won’t leave your Home Screen.

HippityHoppityBoop

😅 no the kid is just very naggy and the parents don’t want him exposed to guns and stuff.

LazyJuan193

You can create a new profile, you can only load the game saved from your profile.

I did it when I lend my switch to my niece. She did not overwritten my saved files.

HippityHoppityBoop

Sorry to be a bother but could you ELI5 how to do this? I currently have my own profile on the switch but the kid can access it. I have not yet played a mature game on the device and for simplicity, let’s say it’s a physical game that I’ll take out of the switch. So the kid cannot play the game but the cover art will still show up on every Home Screen?

LazyJuan193

System > User > Add User

There, the kid has their own profile. You can delete the game for the mean time, select the option which it will NOT delete your saved file. Just redownload it after the kid played. Kind of hustle but it was kind of a work around.

angelalj8607

Doesn’t a SD card reconfigure every time you remove it and put it back in?

joe-is-cool

I would hope not, otherwise how would you transfer any data from one Switch to another

angelalj8607

The cloud saves data from your games. There are certain games that don’t allow that though

joe-is-cool

Isn't that a Nintendo Switch Online feature though?

viral-infection-

Dont think so, you can back up your save data at any time as far as I'm aware.

joe-is-cool

This is literally what the Switch parental controls are for..

HippityHoppityBoop

-5

I know but I specified in the question I don’t want to use them. It’s not my device

joe-is-cool

Well im really not sure how the SD card thing works but I’m not sure you’re going to be able to do that with a digital game.

Luckily it seems you have the physical copy so they’d have no way to access the game without that cartridge. Save yourself the trouble and keep that away.

HippityHoppityBoop

Yah I prefer physical games so usually get those but some games are digital only so just want to be prepared in case I go digital here and there.

If I download a game through my switch online profile, on to my SD card, then log out of the switch profile and remove the SD card, will the game still show up in the Home Screen or be available to download even though I’m no longer logged in?

Legal-Philosophy-135

I don’t think the switch works like that. And I’m almost positive that the sd card in a switch doesn’t work like that. The game data doesn’t save to the sd card in a way where you can just swap them around like a cd.

HippityHoppityBoop

Damn it. Lol

Big_Carpet6692

If you remove your sd card everytime a kid wants to play I don’t think it’ll be an issue as long as everything that you want to play is on the SD card that way when you plop it in everything will be there for you to play

Legal-Philosophy-135

That’s not how switches work though unfortunately

Big_Carpet6692

Really cuz if you just download everything on the sd card and whenever they just want to play they should just pop it and and then take it out when finished