# i got an orange screen of death temporarily



## Sloom (May 17, 2020)

im seriously so anxious right now

I just left my switch on my bed to charge, and when I came back I found it on a bright orange screen,
panicked, had a heart attack

I switched it off and on again and luckily it fixed the issue. my heart was still pounding.
then, after I just started relaxing again, I looked up a reddit post saying that they had the same issue, turning it off and on again only worked temporarily.

what do I do? :( has anyone else experienced this issue? please calm me down, I'm terrified of losing my island and my switch. I don't even think I'll be able to get it repaired. does anyone even know how it was caused? I haven't been using any third party hardware
save me :(


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## LuchaSloth (May 17, 2020)

Never had it.

But...from what I just read, it seems like the orange screen is never really a big issue. Hold the power button to force a power-down, then turn it back on, and it should be fine (as you did). BUT...I guess it would be a problem if you keep a game running in the background...which is exactly the reason why I never do that. I feel like it's a good idea to quit to the home screen every time, regardless of what game it is. I've just got in the habit of doing that on all of my systems. Switch, Xbox, Playstation, whatever. No need to take extra risks. Can't remember which game it was...but there was some game on Xbox that people were getting corrupt data from leaving run and then trying to resume play...and I just decided then to always do it for all the games I played. It's certainly easy enough. And you never know when your system might have a problem like this.


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## Lady Timpani (May 17, 2020)

I’m really sorry this happened.  Can you describe what exactly was going on when you had it happen? I assume you were playing ACNH? Or another game, or were you on the home screen, or was it even off since you said you left it on your bed? Hopefully someone else can help better than I can, but for now try not to panic!


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## cheezu (May 17, 2020)

Did it maybe just freeze?
I mean it happens to computers and phones so I'd think a device such as a Switch could encounter it, too.
I wouldn't panic for now. It would only be an issue if it started happening repeatedly.
Also, it's always a good idea to quit the game after you're done playing. That way you don't risk ruining your save data.


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## Lady Timpani (May 17, 2020)

LuchaSloth said:


> Never had it.
> 
> But...from what I just read, it seems like the orange screen is never really a big issue. Hold the power button to force a power-down, then turn it back on, and it should be fine (as you did). BUT...I guess it would be a problem if you keep a game running in the background...which is exactly the reason why I never do that. I feel like it's a good idea to quit to the home screen every time, regardless of what game it is. I've just got in the habit of doing that on all of my systems. Switch, Xbox, Playstation, whatever. No need to take extra risks.


Yeah I’ve started closing completely out of my games when I’m done with a play session instead of just going to the home screen and putting the console on standby. I’ve heard people mention that leaving NH on can cause things to get funky (idk how? I’m not sure if these people just typically don’t save) so that was a motivator for me.


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## voltairenism (May 17, 2020)

Did the person who said that they had the orange screen eventually had bigger problems? Like, their switch stopped working, etc. If not, maybe it's just a graphical glitch that happens sometimes.


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## LuchaSloth (May 17, 2020)

voltairenism said:


> Did the person who said that they had the orange screen eventually had bigger problems? Like, their switch stopped working, etc. If not, maybe it's just a graphical glitch that happens sometimes.




Basically, the orange screen seems to be nothing more than a freezing error, based on what I read about it. Sometimes the system just gets stuck on that screen, and you need to force a reboot to get it un-stuck. Doesn't seem to be anything inherently detrimental or destructive...(unless you have a game running in the background, maybe). Certainly shouldn't be any indicator that your system is failing or anything like that.


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## JackABee (May 17, 2020)

A similar experience happened to me. The Switch was stuck on the title screen and wouldn't go further. The power button didn't work either (even holding it down to soft restart). Just let it charge down, power it up, and turn it on again. That's what I did, and it was terrifying! I hope the issue doesn't happen again to you.​


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## Sloom (May 17, 2020)

LuchaSloth said:


> Never had it.
> 
> But...from what I just read, it seems like the orange screen is never really a big issue. Hold the power button to force a power-down, then turn it back on, and it should be fine (as you did). BUT...I guess it would be a problem if you keep a game running in the background...which is exactly the reason why I never do that. I feel like it's a good idea to quit to the home screen every time, regardless of what game it is. I've just got in the habit of doing that on all of my systems. Switch, Xbox, Playstation, whatever. No need to take extra risks.



thank you for this!
crap... I've almost never _not _left ACNH suspended since I got it, and I've played nothing but it since it came out so that's a long time of leaving it suspended. I just pick it up and put it down way too often. as soon as I read your comment I turned it off though, so thank you for that advice and the reassurance.



Lady Timpani said:


> I’m really sorry this happened.  Can you describe what exactly was going on when you had it happen? I assume you were playing ACNH? Or another game, or were you on the home screen, or was it even off since you said you left it on your bed? Hopefully someone else can help better than I can, but for now try not to panic!



I had it charging, went to the toilet (lol) and came back to a bright orange screen on my switch. I nearly died. it's the exact same colour as the "loading up eshop" colour, but I haven't even opened the eshop in a few days. but I did have ACNH suspended (as I mentioned above)



voltairenism said:


> Did the person who said that they had the orange screen eventually had bigger problems? Like, their switch stopped working, etc. If not, maybe it's just a graphical glitch that happens sometimes.



they said they had it fixed by nintendo, so I suppose they didn't exactly disclose exactly what happened or if it could have been refixed by turning it off and on again

edit: here's the comment they left


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## Cosmic-chan (May 17, 2020)

This has never happened to me,, at most I get an error like the wii would d


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## voltairenism (May 17, 2020)

LuchaSloth said:


> Basically, the orange screen seems to be nothing more than a freezing error, based on what I read about it. Sometimes the system just gets stuck on that screen, and you need to force a reboot to get it un-stuck. Doesn't seem to be anything inherently detrimental or destructive...(unless you have a game running in the background, maybe). Certainly shouldn't be any indicator that your system is failing or anything like that.





Sloom said:


> they said they had it fixed by nintendo, so I suppose they didn't exactly disclose exactly what happened or if it could have been refixed by turning it off and on again
> 
> edit: here's the comment they left
> View attachment 260249


yeah, maybe the person jumped to conclusions and sent it to nintendo as a preventive measure. Try to contact nintendo support? maybe they will give some closure on the problem.


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## MyLifeIsCake (May 17, 2020)

My guess is when you left it on it never went into sleep mode and overheated possibly? I have left my game on sleep mode overnight and woke up to the day changing over but no other weirdness I knew of happened. My game has frozen on the loading screen however, like 5+ minutes of waiting and the logo freezing up as well and I had to force quit. And when I restarted it took an extra long time to load I thought my game was corrupted. ;/

Not sure what happened there.


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## Luxen (May 17, 2020)

Was the console still turned on when you left it charging on your bed and were the vents on the back completely blocked? Because if so, it sounds more like an overheating problem to me. I often leave my Switch charging overnight (or downloading a game/big updates) in the dock when it's in sleep mode and I've never had that issue before.


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## Sloom (May 17, 2020)

Luxen said:


> Was the console still turned on when you left it charging on your bed and were the vents on the back completely blocked? Because if so, it sounds more like an overheating problem to me. I often leave my Switch charging overnight (or downloading a game/big updates) in the dock when it's in sleep mode and I've never had that issue before.



hmm, I think it had just turned on automatically after it completely ran out of charge. so I guess yes it had just turned on lol
also, my switch does seem to have an overheating problem. whenever I accidentally leave AC on it sounds like a gotdamn hairdryer and I have to put it on sleep mode to get it to shut up, even though the top vent is completely out in the open? pretty weird

also thanks for the replies everyone, everything seems to be ok at the moment so I'm really hoping that was just a temporary thing. bit too scared to start playing again though lol


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## Luxen (May 17, 2020)

Sloom said:


> hmm, I think it had just turned on automatically after it completely ran out of charge. so I guess yes it had just turned on lol
> also, my switch does seem to have an overheating problem. whenever I accidentally leave AC on it sounds like a gotdamn hairdryer and I have to put it on sleep mode to get it to shut up, even though the top vent is completely out in the open? pretty weird
> 
> also thanks for the replies everyone, everything seems to be ok at the moment so I'm really hoping that was just a temporary thing. bit too scared to start playing again though lol


The top vent is where the air goes out, meanwhile the two on the back are the intake vents; the console won't be able to cool off if they're blocked and the fan will probably burn out from such a thing eventually. Reminds me of my old laptop when I ran anything on it, haha... (It had the same problem after a couple of years and eventually burned out.)

If you prefer playing and charging your console in handheld mode (or have a Switch Lite), but would like to have it stationary/play with a wireless controller, I would recommend that you buy a stand for it. Most of them keep your console upright without fully blocking the back vents (it varies from one brand to another) and are adjustable, which allows you to use your charger in tabletop mode.


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## Sloom (May 17, 2020)

Luxen said:


> The top vent is where the air goes out, meanwhile the two on the back are the intake vents; the console won't be able to cool off if they're blocked and the fan will probably burn out from such a thing eventually. Reminds me of my old laptop when I ran anything on it, haha... (It had the same problem after a couple of years and eventually burned out.)
> 
> If you prefer playing and charging your console in handheld mode (or have a Switch Lite), but would like to have it stationary/play with a wireless controller, I would recommend that you buy a stand for it. Most of them keep your console upright without fully blocking the back vents (it varies from one brand to another) and are adjustable, which allows you to use your charger in tabletop mode.



this is amazing advice, thank you.
I have a regular switch, but play 99.9% in handheld.
however whenever I do play in handheld I use a pro controller or hold it so the vents can breathe. the problem arises when I put it down while I wait for a loading screen or something lol, thanks for the tip, I honestly completely forgot about the back vents. I'll be sure to put it in tabletop mode when I wait for things from here on out

edit: should also mention that yes, the orange screen of death happened while the vents were facing down on the bed. I think that must've been the issue


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## Uffe (May 17, 2020)

That sounds scary. I really wish we could have a cloud save of this game already. I'm not sure why Animal Crossing has always been a series in which you could only have one save of the game, and that when something was lost, it was lost for good. Ever since the GameCube days. I hope it's nothing serious.


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## kojuuro (May 17, 2020)

Wow that's terrifying.  I hope Nintendo does the cloud save sooner rather than later too.  If I lost all my hours and stuff because of an orange screen, idk what I'd do.


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## cultofyanan (Jul 3, 2022)

Sloom said:


> im seriously so anxious right now
> 
> I just left my switch on my bed to charge, and when I came back I found it on a bright orange screen,
> panicked, had a heart attack
> ...


something similar is happening to me currently but i’m not sure how to fix it  my switch was gifted to me used and it’s been fine but recently started getting errors,, when i turn on sleep mode using the power button it won’t turn back on then the screen turns orange and i have to restart it, but i tested it and turned on sleep mode by clicking it on the screen and it hasn’t turned into an orange screen,, 
saw a reply say to let it charge down then turn it back on so that’s what i’m doing,,, i’m hoping it’s able to fix itself i don’t have the funds to send it in to be checked and worked on  this is the only forum i’ve been able to find any good advice on


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