You get your first shovel in Animal Crossing New Horizons by learning the flimsy shovel DIY recipe from Blathers the owl, then crafting it at a workbench from 5 hardwood. Blathers only comes to your island after you show Tom Nook five different fish or bugs, so the real first step is catching critters. Below we cover the exact unlock sequence, the controls, every shovel upgrade, and what the shovel does once you have it.
This guide reflects version 3.0.3 of Animal Crossing New Horizons, the current build on Nintendo Switch and in the Nintendo Switch 2 Edition. The unlock order and the tool buttons are the same on both consoles.
Step by Step: Unlocking the Flimsy Shovel
The shovel is tied to the museum storyline, and Nook’s Cranny only stocks it once the story has unlocked it, so Blathers is your first source.
- Catch fish and bugs and show them to Tom Nook at the Resident Services tent. Your flimsy axe and flimsy watering can recipes arrive along the way as you hand critters over.
- Reach five different specimens. Tom Nook then calls Blathers and asks you to choose a spot for his museum tent.
- Wait one day. Per the community wiki, Blathers shows up in his tent the day after you place it.
- Talk to Blathers for the first time. He gives you the flimsy shovel DIY recipe so you can dig up fossils for him, and the vaulting pole recipe at the same time.
- Gather 5 hardwood. Hit trees with your flimsy axe. Each tree gives up to three pieces of wood a day, and hardwood is one of the three wood types that drop.
- Craft it at a workbench by pressing A at the bench and choosing the flimsy shovel.
Since version 3.0, crafting pulls materials straight from your home storage and can make up to 10 copies at once, so a stack of hardwood at home is enough to craft a few spares in one go.
Shovel Controls
The Switch 2 Edition adds mouse controls, but only for decorating indoors, custom designs, and bulletin board messages. Tools use the same buttons on both consoles.
| Action | Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 |
|---|---|
| Open the tool ring | Up on the directional buttons |
| Cycle through held tools | Left or Right on the directional buttons |
| Put the tool away | Down on the directional buttons |
| Dig a hole or dig up an item | Face the spot, press A |
| Fill a hole | Face the hole, press A |
| Hit a rock | Face the rock, press A |
What the Shovel Does
The flimsy shovel lasts 40 uses. Per the community wiki, a use is counted each time you dig up a fossil, plant, or buried item, or hit a rock for materials.
- Fossils. The star-shaped cracks in the ground are fossils. Dig them up and take them to Blathers to assess and donate.
- Rocks. Hitting a rock with a shovel works just like an axe and pays out stone, clay, and iron. Our guide to getting iron nuggets explains the trick of digging holes behind you so the recoil cannot push you out of range.
- Buried items. A glowing spot in the ground hides Bells, and other buried items turn up around the island.
- Replanting. Dig up flowers, bushes, and saplings to move them. A fully grown tree can only be dug up after you eat a piece of fruit.
One restriction trips up co-op players: a shovel cannot be used on another player’s island unless they have marked you as a Best Friend.
How to Upgrade Your Shovel
Once the flimsy version is in hand, there are three tiers above it.
| Shovel | How to get it | Materials | Uses |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flimsy shovel | Recipe from Blathers | 5 hardwood | 40 |
| Shovel | Pretty Good Tools Recipes, 3,000 Nook Miles | Flimsy shovel, 1 iron nugget | 100 |
| Colorful, outdoorsy, printed-design shovel | Upgraded Nook’s Cranny, 2,500 Bells | Bought, not crafted | 100 |
| Golden shovel | Recipe from Gulliver after helping him 30 times | Shovel, 1 gold nugget | 200 |
Pretty Good Tools Recipes shows up at the Nook Stop in Resident Services once you pay off the 5,000 Nook Miles you owe for the move, and it also teaches the upgraded axe, net, fishing rod, and watering can. Keep a few spare iron nuggets for it, because iron disappears fast into Nook’s Cranny and tool upgrades.
For the golden shovel, per the community wiki, only Gulliver counts toward the 30 rescues. His pirate counterpart Gullivarrr does not, and the recipe arrives in the mail the day after your thirtieth rescue.
If You Are Not the Resident Representative
Nintendo confirms that only the Resident Representative (the first player to move to the island) can receive and set up Blathers’ museum tent. Everyone else living on the same island gets the shovel another way: once the shovel is unlocked in the story, Nook’s Cranny sells the flimsy shovel for 800 Bells and its DIY recipe for 280 Bells.
If you land on a mystery island and realize you forgot your tools, Wilbur sells flimsy tools for 100 Nook Miles, and Kapp’n does the same on his boat tours.
The dream shovel on the 3.0 update’s Slumber Islands never breaks, but it only exists in that dream world.
Fossil digging for Blathers is a series tradition that goes back well before New Horizons; its 3DS predecessor, New Leaf, sits on our best 3DS games list. If you are returning on new hardware, the Switch 2 Edition earned a spot in our best Switch 2 games of 2026 for its sharper visuals and faster mouse decorating.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why can’t I buy a shovel at Nook’s Cranny? Nook’s Cranny only stocks the flimsy shovel after the shovel has been unlocked in the story through Blathers. Until then, the only route is the recipe he gives you.
How many uses does a flimsy shovel have? Forty. The regular shovel and the colorful variants last 100 uses, and the golden shovel lasts 200.
Where do I get hardwood for the flimsy shovel? Hit trees with an axe. Each tree drops up to three pieces of wood per day in a mix of wood, softwood, and hardwood, so a lap of your island usually covers the five you need.
Why can’t I dig on my friend’s island? Shovels and axes only work on another player’s island if that player has added you as a Best Friend.
How do I dig up a fully grown tree? Eat one piece of fruit first, then dig at the base of the tree with your shovel. Saplings and bushes can be dug up without fruit.
How do I get the golden shovel? Help Gulliver when he washes up on your beach 30 times. He mails you the golden shovel recipe, which combines a regular shovel with one gold nugget.