5 tips to prepare your island before the Animal Crossing: New Horizons 3.0 update

On 15 January 2026, Animal Crossing: New Horizons Version 3.0 will arrive, packed with new features and accompanied by a Nintendo Switch 2 Edition of the game that increases the resolution and the maximum number of online players, among other new features.

Whether you're going to continue playing the Nintendo Switch version or make the leap to 4K with Nintendo Switch 2, take advantage of these pre-update tips to ensure your island is ready to start enjoying the new content.

1. Clean your home, reorganise your mail, and tidy your pockets

Many players haven't visited their island in quite some time, so when you restart the game, several events will occur. For starters, your house will most likely be full of cockroaches, which you'll have to get rid of. Simply move the furniture to make them come out and "gently" run your foot over them. Don't worry, they're not like the ones in Fallout.

On the other hand, since you haven't played in a while, you won't remember what items you have on you. Take a look at what's in your pockets and store any items that take up space in your inventory. It's a pain to want to get a new item and not have room to carry it...

Finally, and closely related to the above, you'll need to check your mail to collect the gifts and letters that were sent to you during your absence. It's important to have space in your pockets to be able to pick up the gifts!

2. Clear the harbour area

Version 3.0 of Animal Crossing: New Horizons sees the debut of the hotel run by the Kapp'n's family in our island's harbour, so it's important to store any items and furniture we've used to decorate that area, just in case. Although any items that obstruct the new building will most likely be stored automatically, it doesn't hurt to take extra precautions.

3. Order furniture and items from the catalogue

With each new update, we are always overcome with the urge to renovate our house, modify our island, or help our islanders decorate their homes. However, we always forget that many items depend on the Nook Stop catalogue (for example, the new Lego items!), so they arrive the day after we order them. It's therefore best to speed up the process so that we have everything we need on the day of the update.

4. Finance your construction

If you think your island needs a new bridge or you want to move one of the ones you've already placed, as well as ramps and stairs... It's best to pay for the work before the update, as it takes a day to complete after collecting all the money.

5. Remove weeds, greet all your neighbours (and kick out the ones you don't like)

Weeds and flowers grow uncontrollably, so when you return to your island after a while, you'll see that there are flowers where you didn't leave them and that the ground is covered with weeds. Take advantage of the weed-killing route to reacquaint yourself with your island's map and say hello to all the islanders. They're sure to miss you! Plus, since this update includes new islanders based on The Legend of Zelda and Splatoon (unlockable via compatible amiibo figures), it might be time to say goodbye to some of your old neighbours to make room for new friends...

Will you be making changes to your island with Version 3.0 of Animal Crossing: New Horizons, or would you rather focus solely on the new content? Can you think of any recommendations that we haven't included in this guide?