Nintendo Switch Guide: How to Turn Off or Put into Sleep Mode

The Nintendo Switch is out and should be in the hands of a few millions gamers. With any console launch, there is a period where people are simply learning the basic functionality of the console. The Switch is no different, but its hybrid handheld/console nature adds some complexity. Some things that should be simple to understand are actually a bit confusing, so we put together a couple of short guides. Here’s how to turn off Nintendo Switch, or put it into Sleep Mode.

You can put the console into two power modes, either turning it off completely, or putting it into Sleep mode. The latter allows the game to be preserved, jumping right back in with the push of a button. So, we’ll start with that and move to completely turning off later on.

To put Nintendo Switch to sleep you can either press the power button on the tablet, if you’reusing it in handheld mode, or press and hold the Home Button to access a quick menu. Alternatively you can go back to the Home Menu and select the System Settings, but the Quick Menu is much easier. Once the Quick Menu loads you can just hit the Sleep option, or change settings like Brightness and Airplane Mode.

To turn off Nintendo Switch completely you do need to have physical access to the tablet, pressing and holding the power button for a few seconds. Doing this will bring up a special Power Menu where you can decide to put it to Sleep or just shut down completely. This will end whatever game you’re playing, so make sure you’ve saved.

And that’s how to turn Nintendo Switch off or put into Sleep Mode. It’s a new console, so we’ll all be discovering new things about it as we get more hands-on time. Check back for more soon.