How to Favourite Pokémon in Pokémon GO and Prevent Transfers

To favourite Pokémon in Pokémon GO, tap the star on its summary screen; the favourite marker protects that Pokémon from normal transfers until you deliberately remove the star.

How to favourite Pokémon in Pokémon GO

To favourite Pokémon in Pokémon GO, open the Pokémon’s summary screen and tap the star near the top-right corner. The star fills in to show that the Pokémon is protected as a favourite. Tap it again if you deliberately want to remove that protection later.

The main reason to favourite Pokémon in Pokémon GO is transfer protection. A favourited Pokémon cannot be transferred through the normal transfer process until you unfavourite it. That extra step is extremely useful for shinies, hundos, costumes, PvP builds, sentimental catches and anything you do not want to lose by mistake.

Does favouriting stop every type of transfer?

Favouriting blocks normal transfer actions and also prevents the Pokémon being selected for Pokémon HOME transfer while it remains marked. That means using favourite Pokémon in Pokémon GO is one of the easiest safeguards before mass-cleaning storage or sending Pokémon to another service.

It is still important to read confirmation screens. Favouriting is a safety lock, not a replacement for checking what you are doing. If you remove the favourite star, the Pokémon becomes transferable again immediately.

Best Pokémon to favourite

• Perfect 4* Pokémon and important PvP builds.
• Shiny Pokémon and rare costumes.
• Pokémon with Special or Location Backgrounds.
• Pokémon saved for Lucky Trades.
• Rare legacy-move Pokémon.
• Personal favourites or catches with sentimental value.

You do not need to favourite Pokémon in Pokémon GO just because it is strong. The feature works best as a “do not delete” marker. If you have hundreds of routine raid attackers marked as favourites, the protection becomes less useful because important collection pieces are harder to distinguish.

How to find all your favourites

After you favourite Pokémon in Pokémon GO, you can filter the storage view to show favourites and manage them as a group. This is helpful before events when you want to clear space without accidentally touching protected catches.

Tags can work alongside favourites. For example, you can tag a Pokémon as “Great League”, “Trade” or “Mega” while also favouriting it. Tags organise your collection; the favourite star provides the transfer protection. Using both systems together is much safer than relying on nicknames alone.

Why a favourite Pokémon will not transfer

If a transfer button seems unavailable, check whether you previously chose to favourite Pokémon in Pokémon GO. The yellow favourite star must be removed before that Pokémon can be sent to Professor Willow or selected for an eligible Pokémon HOME transfer.

Other restrictions can also prevent transfers. Buddy Pokémon, Gym defenders, certain costume forms, Shadow Pokémon and Mega-Evolved Pokémon may have separate rules depending on the destination. Removing the favourite star does not override those restrictions.

Favourite before mass transferring

The safest habit is to favourite Pokémon in Pokémon GO immediately after catching something you definitely want to keep. Do that before starting a mass transfer session. Then use search filters for low IVs, duplicates or event Pokémon and review the results before confirming.

For large collections, favourite Pokémon in Pokémon GO works particularly well with appraisal filters. Mark important catches first, then search by appraisal, age or species when deciding what can go. This keeps valuable Pokémon protected while still letting you clear storage quickly.

Can favourites be transferred accidentally?

Under the normal transfer flow, no: the whole point of favourite Pokémon in Pokémon GO is to stop a favourited Pokémon from being transferred until you remove the favourite status. It is one of the simplest collection-management features in the game and worth using aggressively for anything irreplaceable.

Favourite first, organise second

A good collection habit is to favourite Pokémon in Pokémon GO before you start sorting with tags. The favourite star is the actual transfer safeguard, while tags are labels for organisation. If you catch something genuinely rare, favourite it immediately, then decide later whether it belongs in a Raid, PvP, Trade or Collection tag. This is especially useful during busy events when you may be clearing hundreds of catches quickly. Protection first means one rushed mass-transfer screen is far less likely to turn into a very annoying mistake.

For current feature changes, event bonuses and game updates, check the official Pokémon GO website.