No — not to get started. Nintendo’s own features page says the Nintendo Switch 2 comes with 256GB of internal storage, which it describes as eight times the capacity of the original Switch. A new owner can unwrap the console, put a game card in it and never think about memory at all.
But yes, eventually — and only one kind of card will do. Nintendo is unusually blunt about this: “Nintendo Switch 2 is only compatible with microSD Express cards.” Not microSD. Not microSDXC. microSD Express. The distinction has caught out an enormous number of people, because the cards look identical and sit on the same shelf.
If you are buying a present for somebody who has just upgraded console, that single sentence is the whole reason this page exists.
The card from their old Switch will not work
This is the part worth saying out loud. Nintendo’s compatibility article states that inserting a microSD card previously used on a Nintendo Switch console into a Nintendo Switch 2 will not allow you to save or load digital games or save data.
So the memory card they have been filling for the last six years does not move across. Nintendo does allow one partial rescue: screenshots and videos from the old card can be imported, but game save data cannot. Everything else about their old storage is, for the purposes of the new console, gone.
That makes an Express card one of the few accessories a Switch 2 owner genuinely needs rather than merely enjoys — and one of the few gifts you can buy for a person who already has everything, because the requirement is new.
How to recognise the right card
Nintendo’s own FAQ gives two things to look for, and they are the only two that matter in a shop:
- The microSD EX symbol on the packaging. That mark, or the word Express, is the identifier. Speed-class numbers and “ultra fast” marketing on an ordinary card do not make it an Express card.
- Capacity up to 2TB. Nintendo says any card meeting the microSD Express standard, up to 2TB, can be used.
Nintendo’s stated reason for the requirement is speed rather than capacity: its FAQ says microSD Express cards offer faster access speeds than previous microSD card models, and that this kind of memory card is needed to ensure games will run smoothly.
When does 256GB actually run out?
It depends entirely on one habit: do they buy games on cards, or download them?
A household that buys boxed games barely touches internal storage — the game lives on the card in the slot. A household that downloads everything will fill 256GB within a handful of big releases, because modern games are tens of gigabytes each.
There is also a third case that surprises people. Some Switch 2 boxes contain a Game-Key Card, which Nintendo says stores no game data at all — the card is the key to downloading the full game, so an internet connection and enough free storage are required. A boxed present can therefore still eat storage. We explain that, and the other Switch 2 buying traps, in our Switch 2 compatibility guide.
What this means if you are buying a gift
They just got the console. Don’t bother with a card yet. Buy a game. 256GB is plenty for the first stretch.
They upgraded from an old Switch and download their games. A microSD Express card is the single most useful small thing you can give them, because their old card is no longer doing the job it used to.
You have no idea which. An eShop card covers games and leaves the storage decision to them. Our guide to eShop cards explains how the balance works, and our Switch 2 accessories list covers the other things the console does not come with.