How to Chop Down a Tree in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

To chop down a tree in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, equip the regular Axe, face the trunk, and press A three times. A Flimsy Axe or Stone Axe will only knock loose wood; neither one fells the tree. If you only need lumber, use one of those weaker tools and leave the tree standing.

The choice matters because the third hit from a regular Axe cuts the tree down and leaves a stump. Decide whether you want wood, an open space, or the tree moved before you swing.

Choose the right tool for the job

Nintendo’s island-life tips confirm that a Flimsy Axe or Stone Axe can harvest wood without cutting the tree down. Keep those tools for routine wood gathering and save the regular Axe for trees you intend to remove.

Get a Flimsy Axe first

If you have not made a Flimsy Axe yet, follow Tom Nook’s early DIY instructions and check your DIY Recipes app. You can also check the shop for the tool once Nook’s Cranny is available. The recipe uses five tree branches and one stone; gather those, then craft the tool at a workbench. The recipe and material list are recorded in Nookipedia’s New Horizons tool-recipe reference.

Collect the materials for the regular Axe

The regular Axe recipe requires one Flimsy Axe, three pieces of wood, and one Iron Nugget. Use your Flimsy Axe to strike trees for wood. The trunk will remain standing, so you can collect materials without sacrificing the tree. Pick up each piece that drops before moving on.

To find an Iron Nugget, strike a resource rock with a shovel or an axe. Leave fruit uneaten before you do this: fruit power lets you break a rock when you hit it, which can interrupt your material gathering. Nintendo explains both the rock materials and the fruit effect in its official gathering tips.

Unlock and craft the regular Axe

1. Pay the initial 5,000 Nook Miles getaway-package fee to Tom Nook. This unlocks the relevant Nook Stop redemption after the early island setup.
2. At the Nook Stop in Resident Services, redeem Pretty Good Tools Recipes for 3,000 Nook Miles, then use the recipe item to learn its DIY recipes.
3. Open a workbench, select Axe, and craft it from one Flimsy Axe, three wood, and one Iron Nugget.

The recipe pack includes both the regular Axe and Stone Axe DIYs. If you already have access to Nook’s Cranny, you can also buy a regular Axe there for 2,500 Bells instead of crafting one. See the Pretty Good Tools Recipes details and Axe recipe and item details for the unlock and material requirements.

Chop down the tree

1. Stand next to the tree you want to remove and face its trunk.
2. Equip the regular Axe from your pockets or Tool Ring.
3. Press A to swing. Repeat until you have hit the trunk three times.
4. Pick up the wood that drops. On the third strike, the tree falls and leaves a stump.

The third hit is the point of no return for that tree. If you want to keep it, stop before that swing or switch to a Flimsy Axe or Stone Axe. A felled tree does not grow back from its stump, so make sure the space is one you want to clear. The New Horizons Axe reference lists the three-hit behavior.

Keep, remove, or move the stump

You can leave the stump in place as a bit of island scenery; villagers may sit on it, and some insects use stumps. To clear the tile, equip a shovel, stand beside the stump, and press A to dig it out. Fill the hole with Y if you want level ground. A stump is separate from a living tree, so digging it up will not make the original tree return. The tree reference explains how trees and stumps work.

If you want to relocate a tree rather than cut it down, eat a piece of fruit and use a shovel on the whole tree to lift it into your pockets, then plant it in a new spot. Nintendo notes that fruit power can uproot entire trees for replanting. For wood, keep the tree and use the weaker axe; for a cleared space, use the regular Axe and decide whether the stump should stay.