How to Save Pocket Space in Animal Crossing

Last Updated: September 15, 2021

In Animal Crossing, the size of your inventory remains static throughout the entire game. Although there are no ways to increase the space, there are many tricks you can use to make the most out of every slot in your inventory. In a game that relies so heavily on items, organizing one’s inventory is a crucial skill. Most of the tips below apply to all games in the series, except for grouping fruit together, which is only a feature in New Leaf.

Method 1

Method 1 of 4:

Equipping a Tool

1
Open your inventory. If you find yourself running out of inventory space while outside, you can equip a tool, which will free up a space. To begin, open your inventory (hit the X button for Wild World and New Leaf, and the - button for City Folk).
2
Select a tool. You can select a tool using your stylus. The tool will be highlighted.
- To scroll through tools quickly, use the left and right buttons on the D-Pad.
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3
Equip a tool. Once you have selected a tool to equip, hit the “Equip” option. Your character will then appear holding the tool you selected.
- Note that if you go indoors, your character will appear without a tool and you won’t see it in your inventory. To see the tool again, simply head outside, and your character will automatically equip it.

Method 2

Method 2 of 4:

Adding an Item to Letters

1
Open the letter inventory. Do this by tapping the pink envelope button on the bottom of the screen.
- Letters are given their own inventory slot, which consists of 10 spaces.
2
Pick the item you want to store. When you open the envelop inventory, your item inventory will also be displayed. Select the item to add to the letter with the stylus/wii remote.
3
Drag the item to an empty letter. Once the item is dragged over, it will turn into a present box, so make sure you remember where you put each item.
- Only one item can be put into a letter.
- You cannot drag an item to an empty letter slot. If you need more letters, simply wait for either Nintendo or your mother to send some, or send out letters to villagers in hopes of getting replies

Method 3

Method 3 of 4:

Using Storage Unit Space

1
Get a storage unit. Storage units can be purchased at either Re-Tail or at Nookling’s store, and often come in the form of dressers, wardrobes, cupboards, cabinets, and refrigerators. While only New Leaf has Re-Tail, each Animal Crossing game contains a Nook store, which is where furniture can be purchased.
- To purchase a storage unit, simply head to the store (location varies from game to game), face a dresser, and hit the “A” button to purchase it
2
Place the storage unit at home. Once you’ve bought a storage unit, or if you already have one in your inventory, go home and place it anywhere you want in your house.
3
Store items in the storage unit. To store items in the storage unit, approach it and hit the “A” button. A menu will pop up that displays both your inventory and spaces in the dresser. Select items that you want to move over by dragging them into empty spaces with either your stylus or the Wii remote.
- In total, the storage units offer 180 spaces for players to store their items in.
- Although it is possible to own several storage units, they all share the same storage system. This means something you put in the dresser in your basement can be accessed if you look in the cabinet in an upstairs room.

Method 4

Method 4 of 4:

Creating Bushels

1
Open the inventory. One of the little known tricks in Animal Crossing: New Leaf is the ability to consolidate fruit into large bushels. To get started, press “X” to open the inventory.
2
View your fruit items. To scroll through your items quickly, use the left and right buttons on the D-Pad.
3
Drag one fruit to another matching fruit. To group fruit together, drag one fruit over to another, and continue adding to the pile until you hit maximum (9 pieces).
- For example, drag an apple to another apple. This will make a pile of 2 apples. If you have a third apple, drag that over to the pile to group them.
4
Continue with all your fruits. If you have several types of fruits, group them all together with its own kind (e.g., oranges with oranges, peaches with peaches) to clear more room in your inventory.
- It should be noted that perfect fruit qualifies as its own category; hence, perfect peaches cannot be grouped with regular peaches.
5
Sell fruit. If you don’t need the fruits in your inventory, it would be best to just sell them off. Not only will you clear inventory space, you’ll also earn bells.
- Gather as much fruit as you can and group them together. Visit either the Re-Tail shop or whichever version of Nook’s store you have in your game. Talk to the store owner and say that you want to sell, then simply select all the fruit bushels.

Community Q&A

Question

What days can I get a dresser?

Community Answer

The Nooklings' store sells random furniture each day, so just keep looking every day until you find one.