Nintendo Switch 2 consoles are reportedly starting to overheat and crash, here’s what you need to know

Overheating/Switch 2

Reports are surfacing all over the internet about what could very well be a detrimental flaw in the Nintendo Switch 2 design with regards to overheating issues. Yesterday we detailed some Joy-Con connection issues, likely due to faulty or lower-quality HDMI cable use, but the overheating issue might not have a work around at all. 

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Fortunately it does appear as though the Switch 2 overheating issues are not quite as widespread as it first appeared. Reports largely came out of Japan, but it has hit Reddit now and it looks as though the cooling, or lack thereof, problems are effecting some users intermittently all over the place. 

According to these reports, Switch 2 owners are experiencing game freezes and even full on crashes with both more intensive titles like Cyberpunk 2077 and less demanding titles alike. It also does not appear to be tied to only handheld or docked use – reports suggest it is happening in either case, but more typically while docked. 

There are no specific technical professionals weighing in just yet, rather gamers who appear to be experiencing overheating issues with game crashes occurring while it sounds like the dock’s fans are running at full tilt. This user experienced an overheating message while playing Tears of the Kingdom Switch 2 Edition docked:

I’ve had my Switch 2 display a message saying that the system was overheating and entering sleep mode twice now, both times while playing Tears of the Kingdom Switch 2 Edition docked. I was also running at 2k resolution which probably wasn’t helping but this is still worrying. Anybody else experienced this? Wondering if I could have a faulty system or maybe TotK is just that intensive.

Here’s the screen one Reddit user’s Switch 2 displayed:

Now the Switch 2 Dock’s fans aren’t specifically designed to cool the console, and some gamers are speculating it is actually hindering the console’s ability to cool itself down while in docked mode – it might be blocking the console’s ventilation system to some degree, in other words. 

Others report that downloading files via the dock’s Ethernet port is causing its fans to kick into overdrive. With others still are suggesting the overheating was only happening when downloading in the background – apparently removing the Ethernet connection and switching to Wi-Fi helped the cause. 

At this point it’s hard to say what the exact problem is, as it does not appear to be an issue all gamers are experiencing and might just be a product of faulty units. Nintendo doesn’t really have an answer for anything on this via its support pages either. 

Here are some factors and potential fixes, as obvious as they may seem, to consider before sending your unit in – but you might have to if the problem continues:

• Not all, but most users seem to be experiencing the issue in docked mode – this gameplay mode does push the limits of the machine to its max. 
• Several users are only experiencing the issue when downloading data in the background.
  • Unplug the dock from the AC power to let it cool down.
  • Remove the Ethernet connection and switch to Wi-Fi.
  • Turn off “keep wired connections active in sleep mode.”
  • Keep the dock in a well ventilated and cool space. 

If none of this stuff works, you’re either going to have to deal with it, pray Nintendo comes up with some sort of fix (not overly likely by the sounds of it), or start to consider sending your unit in for repair/replacement. 

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