To start a new game in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, delete your existing save from the console’s System Settings (Data Management, then Delete Save Data) or launch the game from a different Switch user profile. There is no New Game option inside the game while a save exists, because each user profile can hold only one save.
Deleting is permanent, so the order matters. Below: what to move out first, the exact deletion steps on Switch and Switch 2, how to keep your old save with a second profile, and why the title-screen button trick from older Pokemon games no longer wipes anything.
Before You Delete: Move Anything You Want to Keep
Nintendo is blunt about it: once save data is deleted, it cannot be recovered. Scarlet and Violet also do not support Nintendo Switch Online’s cloud backup (our guide to saving in Scarlet and Violet explains why), so there is no copy waiting on a server.
Before you wipe the file:
- Move your Pokemon to Pokemon HOME. Anything sitting in HOME survives the deletion and can come back to the new save later. Our Pokemon HOME transfer guide covers how the boxes and plans work.
- Accept what stays behind. Items, money, League Points, clothing, your Pokedex progress and your DLC story progress all live in the save and go with it.
- Check which version you are deleting. Scarlet and Violet are separate pieces of software with separate saves, so wiping one does nothing to the other.
How to Delete Your Save Data on Switch and Switch 2
These are the steps from Nintendo’s support page on deleting save data, which covers both consoles:
- Close Pokemon Scarlet or Violet if it is running.
- From the HOME Menu, select System Settings.
- Scroll down to Data Management, then choose Delete Save Data. Enter your Parental Controls PIN if asked.
- Select Pokemon Scarlet or Pokemon Violet.
- Pick the user whose save you want to delete, or choose Delete All Save Data for This Software to clear every profile.
- Confirm with Delete Save Data.
Launch the game again and it starts from the opening, with a fresh character creator. Deleting the game itself is not a shortcut: removing the software leaves the save data on the console.
Keep Your Old Save: Use a Second User Profile
If you want a fresh run without losing your current one, skip the deletion. Saves are tied to Switch user profiles, so a new profile gets its own blank save:
- Open System Settings and go to Users.
- Choose Add User and create the new profile.
- Start Scarlet or Violet and pick that profile when the console asks who is playing.
The original profile’s save stays exactly where it was. The main limitation is online play: Union Circle sessions, online trades and online Tera Raids need a Nintendo Switch Online membership on the Nintendo Account linked to whichever profile is playing.
The Title Screen Button Combo Is Not a Reset
Veterans remember deleting saves with a button combination on the title screen. Older handheld Pokemon games worked that way, but the in-game delete option was dropped once the series moved to Switch, since the console’s own settings now manage save data.
Scarlet and Violet do still respond to a title-screen combination, just not the one you might expect. Pressing Up on the D-pad, X and B together opens a hidden backup menu that loads the game’s automatic backup of your progress, a feature players found shortly after launch. It restores progress rather than erasing it, so it will never give you a clean start.
What a New Game Changes
A few things are worth planning before you press through the opening again:
- Your look. You choose from preset appearances at the start, and skin tone cannot be changed afterward. Hair, eye color and other details can be adjusted later, so skin tone is the one pick to get right.
- Your first partner. You choose between Sprigatito, Fuecoco and Quaxly again, so a new run is a chance to try a different starter.
- The DLC. The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero stays tied to your Nintendo Account, so you do not buy it twice. The Teal Mask and The Indigo Disk story progress is part of the save, though, and your new file has to progress far enough in the story to open those chapters again.
- Your Pokemon. Anything you parked in HOME can be brought back once your new save is connected to it.
For more on the rest of the series, including Legends Z-A, see our Pokemon guides hub.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you have two saves of Pokemon Scarlet or Violet? Only by using two Switch user profiles. Each profile holds one save per game, so a second profile is the only way to run two files side by side on one console.
Does deleting the game delete my save? No. Uninstalling the software leaves the save data on the console. You have to delete it separately through System Settings, Data Management, Delete Save Data.
Can I recover a deleted save? No. Nintendo states deleted save data cannot be recovered, and Scarlet and Violet have no cloud backup. Move your Pokemon to HOME first.
Will I lose my DLC if I start over? You keep the purchase, since it is tied to your Nintendo Account. You lose your DLC story progress, which lives in the save, and replay those chapters on the new file.
Does the Up, X and B combo delete the save? No. In Scarlet and Violet it opens a backup menu for loading your most recent backup. Deleting only happens through the console’s System Settings.