Pokémon Bank will shut down in February 2027, with players advised to transfer data to Pokémon Home
The 3DS app was delisted in 2023 but has continued to run as a free service
Pokémon Bank will shut down early next year, The Pokémon Company has announced.
The storage app was originally released on the Nintendo 3DS back in 2013, and offered a cloud storage solution for Pokémon players which let them store up to 3,000 Pokémon.
Players were able to transfer their Pokémon from the Black & White, Black & White 2, X & Y, Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire and Sun & Moon games to Pokemon Bank, enabling players to store and transfer their collection.
When Nintendo shut down the 3DS eShop in March 2023, the Pokémon Bank app was delisted as a result, but The Pokémon Company has continued to run it since then as a free service, even after Nintendo ended support for online connectivity in April 2024.
It has now been announced, however, that Pokémon Bank will officially shut down its servers on February 25, 2027 at 7pm PT / 10pm ET.
In 2020, The Pokémon Company released Pokémon Home, a new app for Switch, iOS and Android that was designed to replace Pokémon Bank. Players can transfer their Pokémon from Bank to Home, but can’t transfer them back.
The Pokémon Company has therefore advised players to transfer any Pokémon left in their Pokémon Bank account over to Pokémon Home, otherwise they’ll be gone forever after February 25, 2027.
“Pokémon Bank, a Nintendo 3DS application that lets players deposit or withdraw Pokémon they have befriended in Pokémon titles on that system from online Boxes, will be ending service on Thursday, February 25, 2027, at 7:00 p.m. PST,” the official statement from The Pokémon Company reads.
“As a result, transferring Pokémon from Pokémon Bank to Pokémon HOME will also no longer be possible. If you have Pokémon stored in Pokémon Bank that you wish to carry over, please move them to Pokémon HOME prior to Pokémon Bank’s end of service. Please note Pokémon Bank is not currently available for download.”
The Pokémon Company also announced today that, as of October 2026, Pokémon Home will be able to link with the Switch re-releases of Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen.
Players will be able to transfer Pokémon caught in FireRed and LeafGreen to Pokémon Home, then bring them to other games in the Pokémon series. They won’t then be able to be sent back to FireRed or LeafGreen, however.
