How to Save in Tears of the Kingdom

Aaron Donald July 11, 2023

“The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom” is a long game packed with exploration, adventure, and action. You need to save your progress unless you plan on finishing it in one colossal gaming session. “Tears of the Kingdom” offers an auto-save feature, but that can be a considerable risk. Instead, players should save the game every time they make significant progress, whether battling monsters or gaining new abilities.

This article will show you how to save in “Tears of the Kingdom.”

Saving Manually in Tears of the Kingdom

You’ll want to save manually every chance you get to ensure you won’t lose progress after battling a formidable enemy or solving a time-consuming puzzle.

Here’s how to do a quick manual save in “Tears of the Kingdom”:

Select the plus (+) button. This will open your inventory.
Press the “R” bumper and go to the settings menu.
Navigate to the “save option” and select it.

Loading Your Saved Game in Tears of the Kingdom

You may have saved your game, but that isn’t the only thing you need to continue with recent progress. After starting it, you can always choose to load your progress in-game. Here’s how to do so:

Select the plus (+) option again to access your inventory.
Go to the settings, and underneath your “Save” option, you’ll find the “Load” option too.
Select the latest one.

Loading will take you to your last manual save rather than the last autosave, so select the right one from the options. Otherwise, you might end up completing tasks and fighting monsters you already beat before.

Where and When You Should Save in Tears of the Kingdom

Saving and loading can give you a tactical advantage when playing “Tears of the Kingdom.” Some save points are better than others, so leveraging the right ones will protect precious progress and improve gameplay strategies.

Here are some examples of when you should manually save on “Tears of the Kingdom”:

When you add valuable items to your inventory – Getting new weapons, shields, and other things are great times to save your game, ensuring you’re powerful when you begin again.
After you’re battling weak enemies or not battling at all – This is advantageous because it allows you to collect valuable items and plan. You’ll be less prepared if you manually save in the middle of a giant monster fight.
After passing shrines – Shrines are perfect for saving your game because they frequently give you new items and abilities. You also won’t be in danger in their immediate presence.
Once you’ve completed brutal battles – The last thing you want is to go through a time-consuming battle again. That’s why it’s best to manually save your data after defeating tough monsters.

How to Free Up Space on the Nintendo Switch

Sometimes, you might run into problems manually saving “Tears of the Kingdom” and loading it from your last manual save. You’ll know this from one of two things. Firstly, your Nintendo Switch might give you an error message stating you lack free space. Otherwise, you might save the game only to realize it didn’t work after loading.

In both cases, you must delete extra files so your Switch can save “Tears of the Kingdom” without issue. Here’s how to do so by deleting a game or an app:

After your Switch is on, select the “System Settings” button at the Interface bottom.
Scroll down until you reach the “Data Management” option. It’s located on the left menu.
Select the “Manage Software” option on the right menu.
You’ll see a list of games and apps. Select one you don’t need.
Select the “ok” option and then confirm.

Make sure you delete a game or app you don’t want to use anymore. Once it’s gone, you can only re-download it from the store again. Users also might want to back up their data on a microSD card or Nintendo’s cloud subscription.

How to Move Switch Data to a Memory Card

You may not want to delete games on your Switch in certain instances. Fortunately, that’s not the only way to get more space for saves. Users can always move some data from their device to a memory card. This is relativity a new option, as until 2021, you could only store data on the Switch or the memory card, not transfer between both.

Here’s a simple way to make that transfer:

Go to your home screen on the Switch.
Select the “System Settings” option with a cog on it.
Go to the “Data Management” section located on the left.
Press on the “Move Data Between System/ microSD Card.”
Select the appropriate transfer games and then “Ok.”

It’s as simple as that; you’ll be able to transfer whichever game you want, allowing your Switch more space for game saving. However, remember that you’ll need to buy a memory card separately for this to work. Some of the options include:

A micro SD card – This compatible option allows for 2GB of storage.
A microSDHC card – Users with many games and lots of data will want to use this card for 4GB to 32GB of complete storage.
A microSDXC card – If you need even more space, you can opt for a micro SDXC card which offers an additional 64 GB of storage.

Usually, saving games and loading them doesn’t require a lot of extra data, so any memory card on this list should be sufficient for the process.

FAQs

How much storage do Tears of the Kingdom take?

“Tears of the Kingdom” needs 16.3 GB of storage for you to run it smoothly on your Nintendo Switch.

Is there another way to manually save Tears of the Kingdom, such as keyboard controls?

Unfortunately not, you’ll have to complete manual saves through the inventory and the game’s settings menu.

How reliable is the auto-save feature on the Nintendo Switch?

The auto-save reliability actually depends on the game itself. Some games will automatically save before and after certain battles or meaningful progressions. The “Tears of the Kingdom’s” auto-save feature works, but players might want saves on strategic locations.

Effective Loading and Saving with The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

“Tears of the Kingdom” has done a great job with its auto-save option and is reliable for the most part. However, certain players require more security. You can access the manual save option through the inventory and the settings menu. Under the “Save” option, players can find the “Load” option too. This means you can decide your progress points. If your Switch lacks memory, consider deleting or transferring games to a memory card.

Did you find it easy to save your progress with “Tears of the Kingdom?” Did you run into any storage issues? Let us know in the comment section below.