What Size microSD Express Card Do You Need for Switch 2?

Get a 256GB microSD Express card if you buy a handful of digital games a year. Get 512GB if most of your library is digital or you play big ports like Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (91.5GB). If you mostly buy physical Nintendo games, you can skip the card for now, because Switch 2 has about 232GB free out of the box. Whichever size you choose, it has to be microSD Express, with the “EX” logo on the label. Nintendo says older microSD cards can only import Switch 1 screenshots and videos.

Researched across 11 reviews, spec sheets and owner reports. Game sizes come from Nintendo eShop listings, checked Oct 24, 2026.

Find your size

Add the games you play or plan to buy. The calculator adds room for updates and captures, takes off the space your console already has, and tells you which card covers the rest.

Sizes assume about 232GB free on the console itself (Tom’s Hardware) and include a 20% buffer for updates and DLC.

Quick answer by player type

Sizes from Nintendo eShop listings, checked Oct 24, 2026. Each row allows about 20% extra for updates and DLC, 5GB for screenshots and video, and 20GB kept free on the console.

How much space Switch 2 games take

Switch 2 games run from small to very large. Mario Kart World is 22.2GB and Donkey Kong Bananza is 9GB. Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment is 43.5GB. The third-party ports are the big ones. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is 91.5GB, NBA 2K27 is 82.6GB, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 is about 84.9GB, per Nintendo Life’s estimate. Two releases this fall are worth planning for. Ocarina of Time (Nov 5) is listed at an estimated 27GB, and Minecraft for Switch 2 (Oct 27) at an estimated 1.2GB.

Older Switch games take up more space on Switch 2 when they get an upgrade. The eShop lists No Man’s Sky at 30.2GB on Switch 2 against 7GB on the original Switch, and Hades II at 13.1GB against 7GB. Paid Switch 2 Edition packs can add more. The Breath of the Wild pack is 9.6GB on top of the 14.5GB game.

Card sizes and console sizes use different math. The eShop and the console count a gigabyte as 1,024³ bytes. Card makers count it as 1,000³. So a card sold as 512GB shows between 456GB and 477GB on Switch 2 after formatting, depending on the brand, according to memorywolf’s measurements. Nothing is missing. The calculator already accounts for it.

What goes on the card, and what stays on the console

From Nintendo’s microSD Express FAQ, here’s what a card holds and what it doesn’t.

• Games, updates, DLC, screenshots and video can go on the card. Once a card is in, new downloads go to it by default, and you can move games between it and the console.
• Saves never leave the console. Nintendo stores save data in system memory and won’t copy it to a card, so keep some internal space free.
• One card is the plan. Nintendo recommends a single card. Games spread across two cards can’t be merged onto one later, so buying the right size the first time saves a reshuffle.
• The first time you insert a card, the console needs a system update. Do it over Wi-Fi before a trip (Nintendo).
• Game-key cards still need the space. A game-key card is a key, and the full game downloads. A full game card plays from the cartridge and only installs updates.

Capacity matters more than speed

Every microSD Express card plays games at close to the same speed. Tom’s Hardware measured Diablo IV, a 71.4GB game, loading within about 1% of the console’s own storage on the fastest cards and about 3% on the slowest. Engadget timed seven cards across Mario Kart World, Cyberpunk 2077 and Breath of the Wild. Its advice was to get whichever one is in stock in the capacity you want. Its tests also found the built-in storage was a bit faster than any card.

Where cards differ is copying. Moving a 20GB game to or from the console takes a few minutes, and some cards take noticeably longer. That only matters on the day you reorganize. Pick the size first, then the brand.

The picks

Best for most: SanDisk microSD Express 256GB

A 256GB card more than doubles the space most people have, and this card is among the fastest 256GB cards at copying games. SanDisk rates it at up to 880MB/s read and 650MB/s write, with a 210MB/s minimum sustained write and a lifetime limited warranty.

The reviews line up with the spec sheet. Tom’s Hardware names it the alternative pick for best 256GB card. In its testing it wrote at 81MB/s against 74MB/s for Samsung’s 256GB cards, and it loaded Mario Kart World in the same 20.5 seconds. Engadget recommends the SanDisk card for anyone who wants the best one available, because it “had no outliers” across its game-loading tests and was near the top when moving games to and from the console.

This is the standard SanDisk card, not the Nintendo-licensed version. Performance-wise it’s the same card, and Switch 2 accepts any microSD Express card up to 2TB.

Official-licensed pick: Samsung microSD Express 256GB for Nintendo Switch 2

If you’re buying for someone else, or want the card Nintendo officially licenses, this is the one. Samsung’s spec page lists up to 800MB/s read and calls it “officially certified by Nintendo.”

In Tom’s Hardware’s testing, this Super Mario Edition card wrote at 74MB/s and loaded Diablo IV, Indiana Jones and Final Fantasy VII Remake within a fraction of a second of the SanDisk card. Its Mario Kart World load was about a second slower. Engadget includes it in the seven cards it timed and found real-world load differences hard to spot without a stopwatch. Expect slower game copies than the SanDisk and the same experience in play.

Big-library pick: SanDisk 512GB microSD Express for Nintendo Switch 2

If you play a few 60 to 90GB games, a 256GB card fills quickly. This 512GB card shows about 456GB of usable space on Switch 2. That’s enough for the whole “sports and shooters” library in the table above, with room for updates. SanDisk lists up to 880MB/s read, 650MB/s write and a lifetime limited warranty for this exact model, the officially licensed SDSQXFN-512G-GR6ZN.

Tom’s Hardware benchmarked that part number at 88.5MB/s writing to the card and 111.5MB/s reading from it. That’s the third-fastest write speed in its 512GB table, and its 12.7-second Final Fantasy VII Remake load trails only the standard SanDisk card. memorywolf found SanDisk’s 512GB card the fastest writer of the five it compared, copying Mario Kart World to the card in four minutes. It also loaded the game in 19.08 seconds against 16.19 on internal storage. IGN rates the licensed 512GB card 8 out of 10, calling it one of the best you can buy. IGN’s one reservation is cost, so check the price against the 256GB first if your library is on the line.

There’s one trade-off. memorywolf measured 456GB usable, the least of the five 512GB cards it compared, against 477GB for the most. The calculator uses that lower figure for every 512GB card, so its answer holds for this one.

If you need 1TB or more

Switch 2 supports cards up to 2TB, according to Nintendo, but 1TB is the largest size on sale right now. Tom’s Hardware’s top 1TB cards are the TeamGroup Apex SD7.1 and the Lexar Play Pro, and both load games about as fast as the 512GB cards in its tests. Before you pay for 1TB, check what you actually play. Archived games stay in your library and download again whenever you want them, so many people get by on 512GB by keeping a rotation installed.

Quick answers

Will my microSD card from the original Switch work? Only to bring over Switch 1 screenshots and videos. Games need microSD Express (Nintendo).

Does a microSD Express card work in the original Switch? Yes, at regular microSD speed, per the same Nintendo page.

Should I buy now or wait? Fill the console’s own storage first. When a download won’t fit, use the calculator above and buy the size it shows.

Sources

Game sizes come from Nintendo eShop listings, checked Oct 24, 2026, and are linked where they’re cited. The full list of 66 titles is in the calculator.

1. Nintendo, Switch 2 tech specs: 256GB internal storage, microSD Express up to 2TB.
2. Nintendo Support, microSD Express Card FAQ: what the card stores, saves, one card.
3. Nintendo Support, microSD and microSD Express compatibility: old cards, first-use update, Switch 1 use.
4. Tom’s Hardware, Best microSD Express cards for Nintendo Switch 2, updated Oct 21, 2026: transfer and load benchmarks, usable internal space.
5. Engadget, The best microSD cards for the Nintendo Switch 2: load and copy timings across seven cards.
6. memorywolf, SanDisk 512GB microSD Express review: load times, copy speeds, usable capacity.
7. IGN, SanDisk microSD Express review.
8. SanDisk, microSD Express Card spec sheet (SDSQXFN-256G-GN4NN).
9. SanDisk, microSD Express Card for Nintendo Switch 2 spec sheet (SDSQXFN-512G-GR6ZN).
10. Samsung, microSD Express Card for Nintendo Switch 2 spec sheet.
11. Owner reports. The r/NintendoSwitch thread on free internal space (232GB shown in Data Management), read Oct 24, 2026.