Zelda Notes App: Is It Free, All 9 Features and Setup

Zelda Notes is the feature that turned the Switch 2 Editions of Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom into more than a resolution bump. It lives in the Nintendo Switch App on your phone, not in the game menu, which is why so many players ask how to open it. This guide covers setup, all nine features as Nintendo names them, the features added for Ocarina of Time, and the first-playthrough question.

What do I need to use Zelda Notes?

You need four things: the Nintendo Switch 2 Edition of either game, the free Nintendo Switch App on a compatible smart device, a Nintendo Account, and an internet connection while you play. Nintendo is explicit that a Nintendo Switch Online membership is not required. Zelda Notes does not work with the original Switch versions — if you have not upgraded yet, see what the Switch 2 Edition changes.

What are the nine Zelda Notes features?

Nintendo’s official page lists them in this order. Names in the Hong Kong Chinese version are given where Nintendo published them.

How does Navigation work?

Navigation is the feature people mean when they say Zelda Notes “solves” the game. Pick a target type — Korok seeds or shrines — and the app gives voice directions relative to your position, while showing completion rates for every category of collectible. It is built for the endgame: if you are stuck at 151 of 152 shrines, this is the fastest way to find the last one. Pair it with our shrine location list when you want to know what a shrine contains before you go, and with the Korok seed guide for the puzzle types.

How many Voice Memories are there in each region?

Voice Memories are short, fully voiced stories that Zelda Notes collects when Link reaches certain places. Nintendo describes them as episodes the main game never tells. Breath of the Wild has 125, all told by Princess Zelda. Tears of the Kingdom has 240 from three narrators: Rauru in the sky (35), Princess Zelda on the surface (150) and Master Kohga in the Depths (55). If a guide tells you Tears of the Kingdom has 150, it is counting only Zelda’s set, which the app tracks separately from the other two.

How do you unlock a Voice Memory?

Connect the game to Zelda Notes in the Nintendo Switch App, then go to the spot in the game. When Link gets there, the memory is added to the list and plays on your phone, so keep the phone’s sound on. Reaching the spot is the trigger. Entries you have not found yet show as ”???” with their number.

How do you see Voice Memories on the map?

Open Navigation, tap Categories and scroll down to Voice Memories. In Tears of the Kingdom this category has three tiles, Rauru, Princess Zelda and Master Kohga, and the map has buttons for the sky, the surface and the Depths. Memories you have already found stay hidden while the “Hide discovered destinations” switch is on; turn it off to see every one. Pick a memory and Navigation guides you to it by voice.

The Voice Memories list in the app is split by region. The numbers follow Zelda’s route, so a region can come up more than once as you scroll. The tables below add each region up. Two memories in each game sit close to a region border, and we could not confirm which region the app files them under, so they have their own row.

Breath of the Wild (Princess Zelda, 125)

Every Breath of the Wild location has been checked, but only one record splits them by region, so treat the per-region counts below as approximate.

Tears of the Kingdom (240)

Hyrule Castle and Central Hyrule hold the most surface memories between them in both games, so a trip around the castle and the castle town ruins clears a large share. In Tears of the Kingdom, Rauru’s first 13 are all on the Great Sky Island, which makes them the easiest set to finish early. For the Depths, the Depths guide covers getting around down there.

How do Autobuild Sharing and Item Sharing work?

Both use QR codes generated by the app. For Autobuild, you send a design from Tears of the Kingdom to Zelda Notes, which produces a code; anyone who scans it imports the design. This is Tears of the Kingdom only. Item Sharing works in both games; Nintendo notes that certain Tears of the Kingdom items are converted into different items when received in Breath of the Wild.

How does the amiibo feature work?

Zelda Notes lets you use amiibo through the app once a day. After you have scanned five times through Zelda Notes, you are granted one additional scan for that day. The Sage amiibo (Sidon, Tulin, Yunobo, Riju) were added in Ver. 1.4.0, and Mineru’s Construct arrives on September 17, 2026.

What does Zelda Notes add for Ocarina of Time?

Nintendo announced Zelda Notes support for the Switch 2 remake of Ocarina of Time in the Zelda 40th Anniversary Direct on September 8, 2026. The game launched on November 5, 2026 (see the release date and price guide), and the version 1.1.1 update released the day before added Zelda Notes; after updating, follow the setup prompts at the start of the game. Nintendo named four headline features:

Nintendo says these are highlights and that Zelda Notes will have more features for the game. The menu in Nintendo’s announcement image also shows tiles named Map, Hall of Fallen Foes, My Play Data, Global Play Data, Photo Studio, Threads of Time and amiibo. Two of them share their names with in-game features: Hall of Fallen Foes is the statue hall that opens after the Forest Temple, where you can fight defeated bosses again, and Threads of Time is the in-game story tracker. Nintendo has not said what these tiles show on the phone. For how the features work in the game, see how to fight bosses again and every confirmed new feature.

The announcement’s footnote lists a Nintendo Account, a persistent internet connection and a compatible smart device as requirements. It does not mention a Nintendo Switch Online membership.

Not announced yet:

• How many Gossip Quest locations and ocarina scores there are, and how many points a score costs
• What existing Zelda amiibo give in Ocarina of Time (Nintendo only says “in-game items” that help your adventure), and whether the Zelda Notes amiibo scan works with this game
• The exact masks the Young Link and Young Zelda amiibo unlock, beyond “special masks” in a retro graphical style, and their release date in 2027
• The price and release date of Nintendo’s own playable ocarina, which Nintendo says arrives “later this year”. It works with the game through the Switch 2 microphone, not through Zelda Notes

Should I use Zelda Notes on a first playthrough?

It depends on which feature. Voice Memories, the Daily Bonus, Photo Studio and amiibo change nothing about exploration. Navigation does: it removes the “where is the last shrine” search that is a large part of the game’s structure. The most common advice on r/TOTK and r/zelda is to play the first run without Navigation and switch it on for the 100% cleanup. Players who bought the upgrade pack only for Zelda Notes generally say it was worth the price on its own.

What Nintendo has not published

• Chinese names for My Play Data, Global Play Data and Daily Bonus (the Hong Kong page shows them as images).
• Any update roadmap beyond the Ocarina of Time support announced on September 8, 2026.

We will fill these in from official sources as they appear.