It's been five long unorganized years, but Nintendo Switch folders are finally here. This long-awaited/long-overdue/heavily-requested [delete as necessary] feature arrived as part of Update 14.0.0 which, once downloaded, will give you the ability to group your games into custom Switch folders. While the capacity to group games into custom folders is by no means revolutionary, it is one of those occasions where we should be happy with what we've been given.
Historically, Nintendo has worked slowly to roll out key quality-of-life improvements for the Switch. It took over four years for Nintendo to introduce support for Bluetooth audio, which is wild for a modern console that functions predominantly as a handheld. It's because of the glacial speed that updates roll out that changes to the Switch UI had seemed so implausible. While the Nintendo Switch folders aren't a perfect solution to the console's problems with curation and organization, this should be seen as a step in the right direction.
Organized chaos
I don't know about you, but I designated the Nintendo Switch as my platform of choice to play indie games back in 2017 and never looked back. As fantastic as the PlayStation exclusives can be, and as helpful as Xbox Game Pass is for making new discoveries, I've always found the Switch to be the perfect console to try the more artistic and experimental titles that hit the market. It doesn't matter if I'm lounging on my couch, blasting past my bedtime, or whittling away the hours on public transport, the ability to whip out the Switch and steal a few minutes (or hours) with a game is why I'm still using the hybrid – even as Sony and Microsoft push into a new generation.
That's also meant that my Nintendo Switch library has become a little unruly. Ever since the platform launched five years ago, there's been no easy way to organize or curate your collection of owned video games. My home screen has been a disaster for some time now, and the only way that I can realistically find anything when I'm in a rush has been to keep my full Switch library in alphabetical order and start scrolling – an imperfect solution to a problem Nintendo should have gotten ahead of years ago.
That's why Switch folders shouldn't be thought of with a 'too little, too late' mentality, but rather as an imperfect solution for Nintendo's lack of foresight. The new update won't let you clear up your homepage – that, I fear, will forever be a messy reflection of a waning attention span – but the Switch folders will let you bring some degree of continuity to the All Software tab of the system.
You can organize your games into groups, either by groups that you create yourself or as a single grid-based list. You'll be able to create up to 100 groups on the Switch, with each folder reportedly holding 200 games in – I haven't been able to test this myself because while I do have a problem with buying too many indie games on Switch it's not that big of a problem.
There are more details on Switch Folders and how to create them on Nintendo's support website.
So, Switch Folders are an inelegant solution to a long-standing problem. It won't solve the organization problem that is the Nintendo Switch UI, but it will let you dabble in self-curation. It actually reminds me of the system that Apple's iOS platform uses, allowing users to clean up the pages of their iPhone with personalized folders that can hold different types of apps. It isn't perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but I can already see hours of my weekend being eaten away as I attempt to group and collate my Switch library with the same tenacity that I would my vinyl record collection.
Obviously, the Nintendo exclusives will be grouped together. Maybe I'll put the indie games that are kicking my ass in a folder as well – I'll name it: 'Blood pressure warning'. How about those games that I'm still playing five years later; they'll have their own 'like clockwork' folder to reflect how they've become a regular fixture of my routine. Maybe I'll create folders by genre, pulling together personalized 'best of' lists that span the best action games through to the best strategy games… Oh damn, this is going to take me a while.
The arrival of Nintendo Switch folders and some other small fixes in Update 14.0.0 is welcomed, and it does have me wondering what will come next. Bluetooth audio support has been improved with this update – you're now able to adjust the volume of Bluetooth devices from the audio device or the Switch itself, and the max volume has been increased as well. So, what will come next? I don't know about you, but I either want Nintendo to overhaul the eShop (complete with a rad new bossa nova beat to sit behind it) or for the system to finally get some different themes – it's been five years, Nintendo, there have to be options beyond 'Light' and 'Dark' by now.
You'll want to get your Switch folders set up just the way you like them before upcoming Nintendo Switch games like The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Splatoon 3 land in 2022.
