Folders, or Groups as they’re now known, have finally arrived as part of a new Nintendo Switch update.
Nintendo Switch owners have been practically begging for folders ever since the console's release. They let you organize software into easy-to-access groups instead of scrolling through every game you own. The feature was available on Wii U and Nintendo 3DS but has taken five years to come to Switch.
It's been a long time coming, then, but you can now create up to 100 groups (thanks, SuperNintendad), which is rather impressive, and each group can contain up to 200 games. However, unlike the Wii U and 3DS – which showed your perfectly organized folders on the home screen – any groups you create on Switch are somewhat hidden away in the ‘All Software’ section.
That may defeat the point for some, but it’s still nice being able to organize what games you’re currently playing into one easy-to-find folder so you can finally tackle that ever-growing backlog. Remember, you’ll need to install the latest system update, 14.0.0 before you’ll see the option to create Nintendo Switch folders.
How to create Nintendo Switch folders
Creating a Group on Nintendo Switch is easy. From the Nintendo Switch HOME Menu, scroll to the far right and select ‘All Software’. You’ll then need to press the L Button to view your software groups.
If this is the first time you’re creating a group, you’ll be prompted to ‘Create New Group’. Select all the software that you’d like to add to your group, then press ‘Next’.
You can re-arrange your chosen software in any order you desire – the first three games will be used as the folder preview – but once you’ve got things how you like it, hit ‘Next’ again.
The final step is to name your group. You’re restricted to 32 characters, but once you’ve settled on a name, press ‘OK’ or the + Button to confirm.
And that’s it! You’ll now see your newly-created Nintendo Switch folder. You can edit your group if you’d like to add more games or change the group’s name.
Analysis: will we finally get Nintendo Switch themes?
It was beginning to look like we’d never get folders on Nintendo Switch, but what update could we see next? The Nintendo Switch has notoriously only had two themes since launch: Basic Black and Basic White. At the time, many people believed that Nintendo would offer a range of custom themes down the line, similar to those on the Nintendo 3DS.
Five years later, though, we’re still stuck with the same black or white themes, which seems like a missed opportunity for Nintendo to cash in on gamers’ desire to customize their Switch home screens. Imagine being able to have a Tears of the Kingdom background, or transform your icons and menus to reflect the pink puffball, Kirby? It seems like a no-brainer.
It’s great to see folders arrive, but they still fail to fix one of the Switch’s biggest problems. The Nintendo Switch’s home screen cycles through the latest games you’ve played, which can lead to titles you haven’t touched in a while disappearing from view, and subsequently, being forgotten about. Folders can usually serve as a handy way to pin multiple games on the home screen, but unfortunately, that isn’t the case with how Nintendo has chosen to implement the feature here.
Still, it will save us time from scrolling through a growing list of games in search of something new to play, so folders are certainly a welcome addition, though not quite what we hoped.
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