Animal Crossinghow-tocommunity

How to Preserve Your Animal Crossing Island Before Nintendo Deletes It

ggamings

2026-02-02 12:00:00

10 min read

Practical steps to archive your Animal Crossing island: screenshots, 4K video, Creator/Design IDs, pattern exports and community-sharing tips.

Don't Lose Years of Work: How to Preserve Your Animal Crossing Island Before Nintendo Deletes It

Hook: You poured months — maybe years — into terraforming, villager layouts, and pixel-perfect custom designs. Then Nintendo removes an island for policy reasons or your console dies. What do you do? This guide gives a prioritized, practical plan to archive and share your Animal Crossing: New Horizons island so your work survives even if Nintendo deletes the in-game listing.

Why this matters right now (2026 context)

In late 2025 Nintendo increased enforcement of community standards for player-created islands — a high-profile removal of a long-running Japanese adults-only island made headlines and reminded creators that a public Dream or featured listing can be taken down. At the same time, crossovers, Amiibo unlocks and the 3.0-era content wave have driven an uptick in community sharing. That means more visitors — and more attention from moderation teams. The smart move in 2026 is to actively archive your island outside Nintendo's systems.

Inverted-pyramid checklist: What to do first (emergency preservation)

If you suspect your island might be removed or you're about to make a risky upload, act fast. These are immediate actions you can complete in 15–60 minutes that preserve the essence of your island.

Take high-res screenshots — Capture your island's key areas: town plaza, home exterior/interior, custom museum displays, bridges/paths, cliffs, key resident houses, and the Able Sisters shop. Use the Switch capture button for screenshots; prioritize wide landscape shots and tight detail shots of designs.
Record walk-through videos — If your Switch supports 30-second clips, record those; otherwise dock your console and use an external capture card (Elgato/AVerMedia) or smartphone to film a full 4–10 minute flythrough. Narrate key design choices and terraforming steps as you go.
Save Creator & Design IDs — Visit the Able Sisters kiosk and publish every custom design you want to keep. Copy the Creator ID (MA-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx) and individual design codes (MO-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx). Screenshot the kiosk screen so you have a copy off-console.
Export your Dream — If your island is uploaded to the Dream Suite, note the Dream Address and screenshot it. Dreams are a convenient visitor route, but not infallible — still archive locally.
Backup save data — If you have Nintendo Switch Online, ensure cloud save for New Horizons is enabled. As of 2026 Nintendo's cloud saves are stable for ACNH, but always keep an external record too (screenshots/videos).

How to make high-quality screenshots and videos

Not all captures are created equal. Here are practical steps to produce archives you (and future rebuilders) will love.

Screenshots — settings and framing

Use docked mode when possible — the Switch outputs sharper images on a TV and screenshot clarity improves.
Frame with intention — take panoramas of your island center, then close-ups of custom designs on clothing, flags, and terrain.
Capture the Able Sisters grid and pattern preview — this helps anyone trying to recreate or convert the design later.
Keep a consistent naming system: YYYYMMDD_IslandSection_Name (for example 20260117_Plaza_South.jpg).

Video — walkthroughs that teach as well as show

Record a timed flythrough: 0:00–0:30 intro (island name/creator), 0:30–2:30 north-to-south walk, 2:30–4:00 show houses and interiors, 4:00–end highlight custom patterns and unique builds.
Use a capture card for 60fps/4K archival quality if you plan to repurpose the footage. Smartphone capture is fine for emergency backups.
Add voiceover or text overlays explaining terraforming order, water/river cut points, and custom design locations — details someone rebuilding will need.
When distributing walkthroughs publicly, consider format and platform best practices — for vertical or short-form re-shares look at an AI vertical video playbook adapted for game creators.

Exporting and archiving custom patterns and designs

Custom designs are some of the most precious and fragile parts of your island. Losing them can make a rebuild impossible. Here’s how to make your patterns future-proof.

Use Able Sisters to publish and save codes

Visit the Able Sisters kiosk and publish every design you want to preserve. Once published you get:

Creator ID (MA-...) — saves the account that made your designs.
Design ID (MO-...) — unique code for each published pattern.

Save both sets of IDs in a text file and screenshot the kiosk page. Then distribute the codes across multiple platforms (Google Drive, a pinned Tweet/X thread, and a public folder on Imgur or a website) — think about distribution and discoverability like a seller in a weekend market who needs multiple channels to reach buyers.

Export pattern images (pixel-by-pixel backups)

The game doesn't produce PNG downloads, but you can create pixel-perfect archives:

Open the pattern in the custom design editor and use the Switch capture to screenshot the full grid.
If you want a true image file with transparent background, import that screenshot into a simple image editor and crop to the grid. Optionally redraw or vectorize it in desktop tools.
Use community tools and converters (ACNH pattern editors and those available in 2026) to recreate patterns as shareable PNGs. Note: third-party tools change over time; pick well-known projects and check GitHub or community reputation.

Create an annotated design log

For each pattern, store a small metadata file with:

Design name
Design ID and Creator ID
Where it’s used (e.g., plaza path, mayor's house exterior)
Color palette notes (important for later remakes)

Archiving island layout, terraforming and layouts

Buildings, cliff cuts, and river routes are the backbone of any island. Recreating those from memory is painful — so document them precisely.

Map & blueprint capture

Open the island map and screenshot the full map. Then take zoomed screenshots of each quadrant. Add text notes about beach direction, cliff heights, and known spawn points.
Use a grid overlay: in an image editor, place a numbered grid over your map images to reference exact coordinates for fences, trees, and custom paths.

Terraforming log

Record step-by-step videos when you terraform major changes. For example:

Cut river slot 2 tiles from the north cliff at grid B4.
Create a 2-tile waterfall at C3, then add stairs at D3.

These notes let a future rebuild follow the exact order — critical for achieving the same look.

Organize your archive: folder structure and storage recommendations

A messy archive is almost as bad as no archive. Use this folder structure and replicate it across local, cloud, and long-term storage.

Suggested folder layout

/IslandName_YYYY — top-level folder for this island version
/Screenshots — labeled photos (plaza, houses, cliffs)
/Videos — walkthroughs, terraforming clips
/Designs — PNG exports, grid screenshots, design metadata
/IDs — text file with Creator & Design IDs, Dream Address
/BuildNotes — step-by-step instructions for key builds

Where to store (redundancy is key)

Primary: Google Drive / Dropbox / OneDrive — for quick sharing and link generation.
Secondary: External SSD — for local, fast restore and 4K video storage.
Long-term: Archive.org or IPFS (decentralized) for permanent public records — good for community projects.
Private: Password-protected ZIP for sensitive files and an encrypted backup on cloud (optional).

Sharing is how your island legacy lives on, but it also exposes it to moderation. Use these guidelines to share widely while reducing deletion risk.

Publish responsibly

Review Nintendo's community guidelines before uploading Dream addresses or design codes. Remove explicit content or anything that could breach policy. For marketplace and moderation risks, consult a marketplace safety playbook perspective.
Distribute Creator & Design IDs instead of hosting raw files on Nintendo's services if you want to control availability.

Reddit communities (r/AnimalCrossing, r/ACNH) — great for curated posts and build guides.
Twitter/X threads and pinned posts — keep your Creator ID and a link to the archive in the pinned tweet.
Dedicated design hubs (ACNH.design, ACNHIslandDB-style sites) — these communities are built for cataloging Creator IDs and screenshots.
YouTube/Twitch — upload walk-throughs and time-stamped build tutorials; link to your archive in the description. For creator livestream and vlogging setups see a compact vlogging field review.

Protect your work

Watermark or stamp key screenshots if you’re worried about theft; keep a pristine, unwatermarked master in your private archive.
If you want others to rebuild but not monetize, add a simple license note (e.g., “Free to use for non-commercial personal rebuilds; credit CreatorID MA-xxxx”).

Advanced preservation strategies (for creators who want permanence)

These tactics are for creators with serious archival goals: museums, large community projects, and creators who want their islands to be reconstructable in any future game.

High-fidelity capture

Use a capture card and record 4K/60fps footage of the island — essential for capturing fine details in textures and patterns.
Export raw video and keep a compressed version for YouTube and a lossless master for the archive.

Document construction order

Keep a text log of the exact build order for terraforming and object placement. The order matters for some scenic effects (waterfalls, layered cliffs, stair alignment).

Use external conversion tools and version control

Convert patterns into PNG and store them in a Git or other versioned repository so you can track changes over time. If you host a static archive or a small site, check integrations like Compose.page for JAMstack deployment and adapt version control workflows.

Legal and ethical notes (trust & safety)

Nintendo can and will remove content that violates its Community Guidelines. The 2025 removal of the adults-only island is a reminder: if your island contains copyrighted assets, explicit content, or other policy violations, preserve your work privately but don't expect Nintendo to host it publicly.

Quick legal tip: Archiving your work for personal use, community griefing preservation, or education is generally fine — distributing materials that reproduce copyrighted material or explicit content can result in removal and account action. Always review Nintendo’s current policy before uploading.

Rebuilding your island from an archive: a simple workflow

If deletion happens and you need to rebuild, follow this compact workflow to restore the look and function.

Gather the master folder with screenshots, map grids, and videos.
Open the island map screenshots and overlay the grid in an image editor to mark exact placements.
Import or recreate custom designs using the PNGs and the Able Sisters kiosk (publish and reassign as needed).
Follow the terraforming log exactly — waterfalls and cliffs are order-sensitive.
Place furniture using video timestamps and screenshots as a reference; test lighting in daylight and night to match the vibe.

Case study: What went wrong (and right) with the 2025 removal

The Japanese adults-only island removed in late 2025 had existed since 2020 and attracted millions of views. The creator posted gratitude and apology after the removal. Lesson: even long-lived, beloved creations can be removed when they violate policy. The creator’s public attitude and the community’s archival efforts showed how important local backups and wide distribution are: screenshots and video highlights are all that remain for many visitors now.

Actionable takeaways — 10-minute, 1-hour and weekend plans

10-minute plan

Capture screenshots of the plaza, town hall, and your home interior
Publish one or two top custom designs at the Able Sisters kiosk and screenshot the codes

1-hour plan

Record a 3–5 minute walk-through video (smartphone or Switch)
Organize screenshots into one cloud folder and save the link

Weekend plan

Capture full island 4K footage with a capture card
Create PNG exports of all custom designs and build the annotated design log
Seed your archive to Archive.org or a trusted community hub

Final thoughts — preserve now, enjoy later

In 2026, with Nintendo enforcing policies more actively and the community creating ever more ambitious islands, your best defense is a deliberate archive. Screenshots, high-quality video, Creator and Design IDs, and annotated build notes together form a resilient package that keeps your creative legacy alive — even if Nintendo deletes a public listing.

Call to action: Start a backup today: take those first screenshots, publish your top designs, and upload one walkthrough video to cloud storage. Then share your Creator ID and a link to your archive with your community — because an island remembered is an island that lives on. If you want, drop your Creator ID and a link in the comments on our site so other builders can help preserve and celebrate your work.

gamings

Contributor

Senior editor and content strategist. Writing about technology, design, and the future of digital media. Follow along for deep dives into the industry's moving parts.

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