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How to delete a character in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Sometimes we make mistakes

By Julia Lee@hardykiwis

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Tom Nook talks in a black room under a spotlight asking if you’d like to delete somebody’s character Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo via Polygon
Julia Lee (she/her) is a guides producer, writing guides for games like The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Genshin Impact. She helped launch the Rift Herald in 2016.
Part of Animal Crossing: New Horizons guides

Getting rid of an extra character or starting anew in Animal Crossing: New Horizons is fairly simple.

Open the game on the Nintendo Switch profile that has the character you want to remove, and press the Minus button while you’re on the title screen. This will bring up Tom Nook in an ominous dark room, asking if you really want to delete your character.

Deleting your character will erase all traces of them off the island. Villagers won’t talk about them, and their house (or tent) will be completely removed. We advise you to drop any items or Bells you might need before deleting the character.

To delete your entire island, you’ll have to open the game on the profile of whomever played the game first and follow the same steps.

Keep in mind that you can’t get your character or island back after you delete them, so make sure you’re positive you want to get rid of them before you confirm.

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