How to Turn Off the Nintendo Switch – Not Sleep Mode

Many people just picked up their Nintendo Switch and got in a few hours of play, but now they’re wondering exactly how to turn off the Nintendo Switch. From the home screen the Nintendo Switch only offers sleep mode instead of a traditional off button. This article covers how to power off the Nintendo Switch when sleep mode just won’t do.

If you want to turn off the Nintendo Switch, the best way to do this is by holding down the power button near the upper left corner of the tablet. If you keep holding the power button down a menu will pop up that allows you to select Power Options. From here you can choose Turn Off and the Nintendo Switch will power off completely. Keep in mind, if you power off the Switch completely, you will have to press the power button on the tablet to turn it back on. Just activating the Joy-Cons like you would if the console was in sleep mode won’t be enough to turn it back on.

Unfortunately, if you’re trying to turn off the Nintendo Switch from the home screen with the Joy-Cons and not the tablet (if it’s in TV mode, for example), the only option you’ll have is to place the console in sleep mode. While the system doesn’t drain very much power in sleep mode and keeps everything just like you left it (including a suspended game), it is still using a little bit of power. This isn’t an issue if you have the Switch in the dock, but if you’re on the go and want to conserve as much battery power as possible, you’ll want to power it off completely.

If you’re not on the road and have direct access to charging, don’t worry too much about just leaving the Nintendo Switch in sleep mode. It won’t hurt the console or interrupt your gaming experience. The only time you should really need to turn off the Nintendo Switch is if you don’t have a good way to charge it and want the battery to last as long as possible.

For more on the new console be sure to check out our Nintendo Switch console hub!