What actually happens when you report a villager in ACNH?

Our beloved Isabelle continues her helpful role in ACNH and even offers the option to report a villager. But many players are confused about what this feature actually does!

Let’s take a look at what you can expect to happen when you report a villager, and whether it’s a function you’d even want to use.

What does reporting a villager to Isabelle in ACNH do?

Animal Crossing: New Horizons gameplay screenshot of Isabelle conversation with player with "Discuss a resident" option highlighted

If you go to Resident Services and speak to Isabelle, you’ll see the option to “Discuss a resident”. Players originally thought this was a straightforward path to kicking villagers off their island, but the report function isn’t the silver bullet many thought it to be.

Reporting a villager is used for two reasons:

  • If an islander has picked up a phrase that’s offensive, hurtful, or annoying and you want them to stop
  • If an islander is wearing custom-design clothing that is offensive, hurtful, or you hate the sight of and you want them to change

Once reported, the villager in question will revert back to their default greeting, catchphrase, and nickname for you if you report how they talk and clothing if you report how they dress.

If you’ve gifted clothing to your islander, reporting them won’t remove or delete those items.

Players have noted that, if you report an islander for wearing clothing that isn’t a custom design, it may not have any impact.

So even if they are reported, you could still see your villager strolling around in that outfit you hate the next day.

For players that paid for the Happy Home Academy update, you can also report a villager’s interior decor to reset it. This is especially useful if they’ve been continuously asking for fish and bugs, which then somehow become part of their interior design efforts!

Other than that, reporting a villager doesn’t have any impact on island life.

How to get your islander to change outfits?

Animal Crossing: New Horizons gameplay screenshot of Frett thanking player for a birthday gift

If reporting hasn’t stopped one of your islanders from wearing a less-than-flattering outfit (this includes accessories), the only real way to get them to change is by being over-generous.

Consistently gifting outfits and accessories to your villager will, at some point, mean they’ll change.

There’s no set time frame for this, but the more wearable gifts you give the closer you’ll be to seeing them have an ACNH-style glow-up with your presents.

If you’re not sure what your islander will look good in, you can invite them to Harv’s island and give them clothes to try on to see what suits them!

Does reporting villagers make them leave?

Animal Crossing: New Horizons gameplay screenshot of Isabelle asking the player what they don't like about a resident

Unfortunately not, reporting villagers has no impact on their likelihood to ask to leave.

In ACNH, getting rid of a villager is harder than you might think. Hitting them with a net doesn’t do much, and not playing for ages won’t impact villagers leaving either.

So if you thought you could spam the discuss a resident feature to get them to leave, unfortunately not. You’ll only be wasting your valuable time with no promise of results!

Reporting villagers to Isabelle in Animal Crossing

Animal Crossing: New Horizons gameplay screenshot of Isabelle dialog about reporting residents to her

The reporting function simply resets villagers to their default state; it has no impact on whether they ask to leave your island or not.

If you report how an islander talks, it’ll change the nickname they have for you, greeting, and catchphrase. If you report how an islander dresses, it’ll revert them to their default clothing.

But be warned: many players have commented that the “discuss a resident” functionality doesn’t work well, so you may find you report them to no avail.

In any case, reporting a villager does no harm to your friendship with them or their love of your island. It’s simply there to stop users from being exposed to insulting, rude, or harmful language and custom designs.