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Launching CFW

Now that the preparation work is out of the way, we're finally ready to launch custom firmware on the Switch.

Unlike systems such as the DSi, Wii, or 3DS, Switch CFW is currently volatile. It will only work as long as your Switch is on. As soon as your Switch completely loses power for any reason (shutting down, battery dying, etc.), CFW will no longer be active and you will need to follow these instructions again.

Keep emuMMC offline at all times

Your emuMMC (emuNAND) should never connect to Nintendo. For online play, eShop browsing, or any other Nintendo online activity, use your sysNAND. Using both emuMMC and sysNAND online will likely result in a ban.

Instructions:

  1. From Hekate's Home menu, navigate to the Launch menu.
  2. Find Atmosphere FSS0 emuMMC and launch it.

Hekate is now booting into your emuMMC. To verify that your emuMMC launched properly, open System Settings and navigate to System. You should see AMS next to the version number (AMS indicating that you're booted into Atmosphere), as well as an E at the end (indicating you are booted into emuMMC).

If you wish to set up an extra method of blocking Nintendo's servers on your emuMMC, visit this page to set up 90DNS.

Atmosphere version string

Instructions:

  1. From Hekate's Home menu, navigate to the Launch menu.
  2. Find Atmosphere FSS0 sysMMC and launch it.

Hekate is now booting into sysCFW. To verify that sysCFW launched properly, open System Settings and navigate to System. You should see AMS next to the version number (AMS indicating that you're booted into Atmosphere), as well as an S at the end (indicating you are booted into sysCFW).

  • Note: You will also have the Atmosphere FSS0 EmuMMC launch option in Hekate, launching it will just result in an error and is expected because you don't have an emuMMC.

Atmosphere version string

Rebooting to Hekate

Once booted into CFW, you can easily get back to Hekate by holding the power button, and selecting Restart in the power menu or by using the "reboot to payload" homebrew app in the homebrew menu. (Note that while the Reboot to Payload app app does not work on modchipped Switch consoles, those already automatically run payloads upon reboot in the first place by default.)

Launching the Homebrew Menu

You will now be able to launch the Homebrew Menu by opening the album or by holding the R button while launching any game (including demos/cartridges), or application (e.g. YouTube/Hulu). If R is not held, the game or application will launch like normal.

A note about using the album for the Homebrew Menu

  • Using Album for the Homebrew Menu instead of a game or application has several limitations, including but not limited to: a smaller amount of available memory (RAM), as well as being unable to launch a full-featured web browser. It is strongly recommended to launch homebrew through applications or games instead.

About the included Homebrew apps

See the Homebrew tab for information about what the included Homebrew apps do and if you want to check out more Homebrew apps and read about sysmodules like MissionControl, ldn_mitm, sys-con and more.

If you wish to install more homebrew apps, place them (.nro files) in the switch folder on your microSD card.

Installing Android/Linux

If you've partitioned your microSD card for preparation of Android/Linux earlier, you can continue with the installation of Android/Linux here with the guides below:

Android installation guide Linux installation guide

Frequently Asked Questions about this page
  • Q: How can you verify that sysCFW / emuMMC launched properly?
    A: Once you boot into the Switch's HOME Menu, navigate to Settings > System. The system version should be prefixed with an S or E, standing for SysMMC or EmuMMC respectively. Seeing either of these confirms which environment you are using.
  • Q: What options do you have for rebooting to Hekate while booted into CFW?
    A: If you use a modchip, your console will automatically boot into whatever payload that your modchip would normally boot into via a coldboot, after clicking the restart button in the power-off menu. This can be any payload, but ideally is Hekate. If you use no modchip (and you're using a V1 console), your console will "reboot-to-payload" by default, triggering whatever fusee payload is located in atmosphere/reboot_to_payload.bin. This can be any payload, but ideally is Hekate.
  • Q: Where can I find additional homebrew apps?
    A: One of the more convenient sources is the (Homebrew App Store)[https://github.com/fortheusers/hb-appstore/releases], hosted by (4TU)[https://gitlab.com/4TU]. You can also browse the (r/SwitchHacks)[https://www.reddit.com/r/SwitchHacks/] subreddit.