Switch EmuNAND Setup - Use CFW and Stock OS without Ban Risk
This guide will show you how to setup EmuNAND on your hacked Nintendo Switch. This means using a portion of your SD card as the internal storage (NAND) for your Switch while its running custom firmware. This will be undetectable from the Switch’s stock firmware and will essentially keep your stock and custom firmware environments physically separated.
If your goal is to play your legit games online with the clean SysNAND and enjoy custom firmware with the EmuNAND, this guide will help you set that up.
discretion. Do not setup any internet connections while using an unclean SysNAND or EmuNAND without setting up Incognito first.
Required Downloads:
Unpatched Nintendo Switch
- Not all Nintendo Switch consoles can be hacked; your Switch must be an earlier model (determined by the serial number) that is vulnerable to the fusee-gelee exploit
- Visit ismyswitchpatched.com and enter your Switch’s serial number (found on the white strip next to the USB port) to check if your Switch is hackable
- The serial number can also be found from the Nintendo Switch Home menu in [System Settings] -> [Settings] -> [Serial Information]
RCM Jig
- A RCM Jig is required to enter your Switch into RCM mode (Recovery Mode)
- They are relatively cheap and easy to acquire online
USB-C to USB-A Cable
- A USB-C to USB-A cable is required to connect your Nintendo Switch to your PC
- USB-C to USB-C cable can also be used if your computer features a USB-C port
MicroSD Card (128GB or Larger Recommended)
- An SD card (and reader) is required to install and launch homebrew on your Nintendo Switch
- Your SD card must be formatted as FAT32 if your Switch does not have the ExFAT driver installed
- If you are unsure, use FAT32 to avoid errors.
- The ExFAT driver can be installed manually without updating firmware after successfully hacking the console
- 128GB or more is recommended for storing games
- 64GB or larger is required to store a full copy your Switch NAND so it is highly recommended as a minimum
Enter RCM and Create EmuNAND Partition
You will now enter Recovery Mode (RCM) and create the EmuMMC partition with TegraExplorer
- Insert your SD card into your PC
- Backup all of the files on your SD card to a safe place
- Install TegraRcmGUI and the APX driver when promptedIf you are not prompted to install the APX driver, go to the [Settings] tab and click [Install Driver]
- Connect your Switch to your PC via USB and ensure it is powered off
- Enter RCM on your Nintendo Switch
- Insert your RCM Jig into the Right Joycon slot, sliding it all the way down
- Hold down the [Vol+] button and press the [Power] button, the Switch will now enter Recovery Mode (RCM) but the screen will stay off
- The icon in TegraRcmGUI should now read [RCM O.K.]
- Select
TegraExplorer.bin
as the payload and click [Inject payload], your Nintendo Switch will boot into TegraExplorer - From the TegraExplorer main menu, select [SD format]
- Select [Format for EMUMMC (FAT32 / RAW)]
- Wait 10 seconds and press [A] to begin
- Once complete, return to the main menu and select [Exit] -> [Reboot to RCM]
- Remove your SD card and insert it into your PC
- Cancel any errors or prompts to format the disk drive, do not format
- Your partition will now appear as a working SD card drive in Windows
Boot into hekate
- Copy your backed up files back to your Switch SD cardIf you wish to create the EmuNAND from a NAND backup, copy your
/backup/
folder to the root of your SD card. - Copy the
bootloader
folder from the hekate.zip
to the root of your SD card - Extract the Atmosphere
.zip
file - Go to the
/atmosphere/
folder from the extracted.zip
- Copy
fusee-secondary.bin
to the/bootloader/payloads/
folder on your SD card - Go to the
/bootloader/
folder on your SD card - Open
hekate_ipl.ini
in Notepad and add the following lines to the file then save[Stock (SYSNAND)] fss0=bootloader/payloads/fusee-secondary.bin stock=1 emummc_force_disable=1 icon=bootloader/res/icon_switch.bmp
- Create a folder called
payloads
on your PC - Copy
hekate_ctcaer.bin
to the/payloads/
folder on your PC - Insert your SD card into your Switch
- Launch TegraRcmGUI and connect your Switch to your PC via USB
- Select the
hekate_ctcaer.bin
file from the/payloads/
folder on your PC and click [Inject payload], your Nintendo Switch should now boot into Hekate
Congratulations on successfully entering RCM and booting into hekate. If you’re new to Switch hacking, consider enabling Auto-RCM to avoid needing the RCM jig in the future.
Setting Up EmuNAND
- From the hekate main menu, select [emuMMC]
- Select [Create emuMMC]
- Select [SD Partition]
- Select [Continue] if an applicable partition is found
- Once complete, select [Close]
- Select [Change emuMMC]
- Select the [SD RAW1] partition
- Your EmuNAND is now [Enabled!]
Boot into EmuNAND CFW
Simply push your custom firmware payload such as Atmosphere’s fusee-primary.bin
with TegraRcmGUI to boot into EmuNAND running CFW.
Follow this guide on installing Atmosphere CFW and Tinfoil / HBG Shop if this is your first time hacking the Nintendo Switch.
The Switch will always boot into the EmuNAND CFW as long the emunand.ini
file is present in the /emuMMC/
folder on your SD card.
Your EmuNAND will use the /emuMMC/
folder as the location for your CFW’s Nintendo folder. This means content normally stored in the /Nintendo/
folder such as installed game backups and Album images will be accessed from /emuMMC/RAW1/Nintendo/
folder while running the EmuNAND.
The Stock SysNAND will use the /Nintendo/
folder on the root of your SD card as normal, this keeps them separated.
If this is your first time hacking your Nintendo Switch and wish to finally set up your custom firmware, follow this guide on installing Atmosphere + Tinfoil / HBG Shop so you can install games directly to your Switch without a PC.
Boot into Stock SysNAND OFW


