The Yuzu Emulator Guide for PC and Linux

This Yuzu emulator guide will show you how to get setup for the PC and Linux. If you are on this page, chances are that you are already somewhat familiar with the Yuzu emulator and are looking for specific information related to it. On the off chance that you aren’t yet familiar, Yuzu is one of the best Nintendo Switch emulators for PC that is actively maintained for both Windows and Linux operating systems.

Yuzu was created by the same team of developers who made Citra (the Nintendo 3DS emulator). It originally only was able to run specific games that were designed for the Yuzu emulator, but now is able to run many different Switch games such as Super Mario Odyssey, Animal Crossing, Pokemon Let’s Go, etc.

How To Setup The Yuzu Emulator

1. Installing Yuzu

PC

Note: Before attempting to install Yuzu on your PC, please first make sure that you have the latest versions of Microsoft Visual C++ installed on your device. If you need to install the latest version, you can do so here.

Go to the Yuzu website’s download page to download the latest mainline build available.

Linux

Yuzu is available as an AppImage in Early Access that you can download from here.

For users of Arch Linux, you can install Yuzu as a binary in the Arch User Repository using the following command:

yay -S yuzu-mainline-bin

2. Keys and Firmware

The first time that you start up Yuzu, you’ll notice an error that mentions there are missing components. In order to play games in XCI or NCA format, you will need have the required keys to decrypt them.

It’s recommended that you dump the keys from an actual physical Nintendo Switch console, but there are ways to use production keys if you don’t have access to a Switch. We won’t be covering those methods here, but a simple Google search should return the production keys if you need them.

How to Dump Keys From Your Switch

• Requirements: You will need access to a hackable Nintendo Switch – you can check whether your Nintendo Switch is hackable or not here.
• A Micro SD card that is at minimum at least 1 GB – I recommend this one here.
• A Micro SD card reader. I recommend this one here (it’s cheap and works well).
• Lockpick: Is included by default in Kosmos CFW if you don’t use that you can download it here.
• The necessary tools (jig or paperclip) needed so that you can boot into RCM and get through the Hekate menu.
• TegraRCMGUI or TegraRCMSmash.

Note: You can skip to Step 3 down below if you already have CFW set-up.

1. Make sure to first go ahead and turn off your Switch and then go ahead and plug your Micro SD card into your PC using the Micro SD card reader.
   
2. Download the latest Kosmos CFW (if you already have Kosmos CFW or use a different CFW software, the go ahead and now download the latest version of Lockpick. Then extract that to your /switch/ folder) and extract the zip file to the root of your Micro SD card.
   
3. Now go ahead and put the SD card back into your Switch, next you’ll want to boot into RCM mode and inject the latest Hekate payload using whichever payload injector method you prefer.
   
4. Now, using the touchscreen, go to Console info.
   
   Select Fuses (don’t get confused with kfuse, make sure its Fuses) and press the Dump fuses button to save the fuses to your Micro SD card.
   
   Now go ahead and go back to Console info and select TSEC Keys and press the Dump Keys button to save your TSEC keys to your Micro SD card.

Note: If you are on firmware 7.x and above you’ll need to run the Lockpick_RCM payload instead.

5. Go back to the hekate menu and go to Payloads and then pick Lockpick_RCM.bin.

6. After it’s done running you may now go ahead and proceed to # 7 down below

For anyone on anything above 7.x

For the title.keys (and prod.keys for those under 7.x)

7. Go ahead and start up whichever CFW you use and then open up the Homebrew Menu (Album application) while pressing down on the R button on your joy-con.

8. Now go to the menu and run Lockpick.

9. After it has completed, you’ll want to then turn off you Nintendo Switch and plug your Micro SD card back into your computer once again.

10. Find the /switch/ folder on your Micro SD card and you’ll see two .keys files named prod.keys and title.keys. Copy both of these and paste them into the &appdata&/yuzu/keys/ folder.

Phew! That was a lot of work, but we made it. You should now be all set – you just dumped your decryption and title keys.

Place it in:

C:/Users/yourusername/AppData/Roaming/yuzu/keys (for Windows)

~/.local/share/yuzu-emu/keys (for macOS and Linux)

Diagram showing the correct location of the decryption keys in yuzu’s User Directory.

If you have any issues related to dumping your keys, please reach out in the comments of this post or in the official Yuzu Discord server if you have any further issues.

Firmware

Firmware isn’t really a requirement for Yuzu, however some games (albeit a small number of them) will crash when starting without it installed. For the sake of completion and to ensure you don’t have this issue, we recommend installing firmware just to be sure.

We won’t be sharing any links to firmware downloads here, but just like before, if you need to download the firmware for any specific ROMs, a quick google search should point you in the right direction for the files.

After you have downloaded the firmware, open up Yuzu and head to the Yuzu folder, then go to nand\system\Contents\registered and paste all the firmware files in there.

Your keys and firmware should now be all set.

3. Games, ROMs, Updates, & DLC

There are a lot of different emulation sites out there. Do keep in mind that downloading ROMs is technically illegal. It’s always recommended that you dump your Nintendo Switch game ROMs from physical copies of the games that you own.

That being said, we have compiled a list of the best sites for ROMs that you can check.

How To Load ROMs Into Yuzu

Once you have your ROM files, go ahead and put them into a folder where you’ll be keeping all your Switch ROMs (place only the game file in there and not the update or DLC file).

No open up the Yuzu emulator and double click the middle of the window or go ahead and double click Add New Directory if you see it. You’ll next be asked to select a folder, select the folder where you placed your ROMs, the game should now show up in the Yuzu list and you can launch it by double clicking on it.

How To Load Updates & DLC

Open up the Yuzu emulator and go to the top left corner and then click on File > Install Files to NAND. Next you’ll want to choose the Update/DLC files you want to install. After selecting the files, you now can wait for installation to finish.

Note: Installing to NAND will add an extra copy of the installed content to your computer’s C:/ drive. You can safely delete your original update or DLC files after installing them because you’ll no longer need them.

To check if the update or DLC has completed installation, right click the game you installed the update or DLC for and then select Properties and the update or DLC should show up there. If it does, you know that it has been installed correctly.

4. How To Optimize Yuzu Emulator For The Best Performance

To ensure optimal performance on Yuzu, several settings need to be adjusted both inside and outside the emulator. To access Yuzu settings, click on Emulation at the top of the window, then select Configure. Depending on your GPU, the settings will be divided into different sections.

If you’re unsure about which GPU you have, you can find out by opening the start menu on your PC and searching for Task Manager. Then, go to the performance tab at the top and look for GPU on the left-hand side.

All GPU Settings

For all GPUs, it’s recommended to keep the GPU Accuracy setting on normal. Only use high when attempting to fix visual bugs, and avoid extreme as it can lower performance in some cases. To change GPU Accuracy, open Yuzu settings, click the “Graphics” tab on the left, then “Advanced” on the top and configure the GPU Accuracy as you like. Additionally, set CPU accuracy to “Auto” as the unsafe setting can break things and should only be used in specific circumstances. Go to Yuzu settings, “CPU” on the left pane and set Accuracy to Auto.

Change the pagefile to either 10000MB or 20000MB, and install the latest drivers for your GPU. You don’t need to change anything in the General, System, and Audio tabs in Yuzu settings. Configure your controls in the Controllers tab.

Nvidia GPU Settings

For Nvidia GPU settings, open Yuzu settings, go to the “Graphics” tab on the left and make sure the API is set to “Vulkan”. Also, ensure it selects your dedicated/preferred GPU in the Devices option. OpenGL should only be used if a specific game is broken or has issues on Vulkan. If using OpenGL, set Shader Backend to “GLASM” for faster shader building. Once the shaders are built, set it back to “GLSL”. Right-click on your desktop and open the NVIDIA Control Panel. Once it opens, click on “Manage 3D Settings” on the right. Once it opens, go to “Program Settings” and click “Add”. Select Yuzu, then scroll down the list of settings and set the following:

• Vertical Sync – Off
• Threaded Optimization – On
• Power Management Mode – Prefer Maximum Performance
• OpenGL rendering GPU – [Select your GPU]

Then click Apply on the lower right corner. Super Smash Bros. players may want to enable Low Latency in the Nvidia Control Panel.

AMD GPU Settings

For AMD GPU settings, open Yuzu settings, go to the “Graphics” tab on the left and make sure the API is set to “Vulkan”. Also, ensure it selects your dedicated/preferred GPU in the Devices option. Add Yuzu as a profile on Radeon Software, as this will add a driver level cache to Vulkan. Super Smash Bros. players may want to enable Anti-Lag in Radeon Software.

Intel GPU Settings

For Intel GPU settings, open Yuzu settings, go to the “Graphics” tab on the left and make sure the API is set to “Vulkan”. Also, ensure it selects your dedicated/preferred GPU in the Devices option.

Regardless of what GPU you have, setting CPU Accuracy to Unsafe CPU can make certain games crash. If your AMD CPU was released in or after 2012, or your Intel CPU was released in or after 2014, uncheck the “Unfuse FMA” option that appears when you use the Unsafe CPU setting. Note that this only affects CPUs without FMA and can be enabled for improved performance, but should be disabled if any bugs or instability are encountered.

You’re now basically all setup and ready to go, but can continue to the next section if you want to continue. It covers installing saves, mods, shaders, and some fixes for errors – all that are entirely optional and not necessary, but highly recommended!

5. How To Install Mods, Saves, & Shaders

Mods

You can download Yuzu Switch mods from the official Yuzu mods page on their Github.

To install the mods, you’ll just right click on the game that you’re trying to install the mod for, select Open Mod Data Location, and then paste the mod folder in there. Remember that you will need to place the actual mod folder that you downloaded in there and not just the files from it.

Shaders

You can find some shaders for Yuzu on this Github repo here.

To install the shaders you’ll want to start the game you’re trying to install shaders for, close it one time and see the first screen that appears, next right click the game in Yuzu and select Open Transferable Pipeline Cache, and then place the shaders in the folder which opens up.

Saves

To install saves, first go ahead and right click the game you want to install the save for, click Open Save Data Location and put the save file inside.

If you ever need to reinstall Yuzu, make sure that you first back up the files or folders below so that you don’t lose all of your hard earned game progress! These can then be used after you reinstall Yuzu to restore your progress.

• The file below stores the user profile of the Switch. Some game saves need this to work: %AppData%\yuzu\nand\system\save\8000000000000010\su\avators\profiles.dat
• The folder below contains saves for all games: %AppData%\yuzu\nand\user\save\0000000000000000

6. Fixing Errors

BKTR Error

You’ll see this error if you accidentally launch a game update instead of the actual game ROM. Go back and launch the ROM instead.

Video Core Error

Your Vulkan drivers are out of date and will need to be updated to resolve this. You can update your Vulkan drivers by doing the following:

• If you have an Nvidia GPU, you can install the file from https://developer.nvidia.com/vulkan-beta-45836-windows-10-dch
• For AMD gamers, just update to the latest available optional drivers available either on the AMD website or through the AMD Software Panel.

NCA Header key could not be found error

 Your Yuzu emulator keys are outdated and you need to replace them with new key values.

Crypto revision error

This is the same issue as above, but just a different error message. Your Yuzu emulator keys are outdated and will need to be replaced with new key values.

Updates or DLC Won’t Install

This is usually caused by outdate Yuzu emulator keys. Noticing a theme here? You’ll need to update your keys to their new key values.

Games Not Showing In Game List

• The most likely reason is that you accidentally put the ROM in a folder inside your game folder. Make sure you put just the game file or you will need to also enable sub folder scanning in Yuzu for it to be detected. The simplest solution is to just place only the game file there.
• Another possible reason for this error is that you might have accidentally have placed a game update instead of the ROM in the game folder. Check this by looking at the file name – make a note if you see either [v0] or [v357534], [v0] is always going to be the actual game file so if the number is different it means you accidentally place the update file instead. Swap the update file out for the actual game file.
• It’s possible that your game may be in a zipped format and not be recognized by Yuzu. Go ahead and extract your game if it is zipped and make sure that the extracted game file is in either an xci or nsp extension format.
• Sometimes game files can be corrupt. If all else fails, try getting a fresh version of the game files to see if this resolves the issue.

The Yuzu Emulator is Funded Through Patreon

The developers of Yuzu for the PC have a Patreon where users pledge donations to help keep the project funded month after month. As of August 28, 2020, Yuzu currently has 4,292 patrons and is bringing in $18,988 a month. The Patreon has four available tiers, ranging from $1 up to $25 per month.

How Does The Yuzu Emulator Work?

This is a complex question and thus will require a somewhat complex answer. The Nintendo Switch natively uses something called a BCAT dynamic content network, which is basically an application that runs on the system and allows for data storage, presentation, communication, etc. Instead of using the same network service, Yuzu instead uses something call Boxcat (which is basically a replacement). The Yuzu emulator also has the option of resolution rescaling, which is useful regarding the Switch’s ability to be played in both handheld and docked mode (with resolutions varying between these two).

Is the Yuzu Emulator Legal to Download?

Yes, Yuzu is legal and as far as we know is not breaking any laws regarding emulation. Emulators are allowed to exist and be available so long as they do not contain copywritten source code from the original console. Most emulators these days are aware of this and as such are created through a process known as “reverse engineering”. Reverse Engineering is simply creating code manually designed to replicate the original copywritten source code.

Additionally, Yuzu does not come with any copywritten ROM games files. How gamers choose to get their ROMs is not something that an emulator like Yuzu can control, although they do explicitly state that players are legally obligated to dump their ROM files directly from their Nintendo Switch console. While many players may indeed do this, it is no surprise that many players also will download ROMs from various sources on the internet without actually owning the game. Our understanding is that it is legal to own and play ROM versions of games on emulators like Yuzu so long as you also own a copy of the game you are attempting to emulate.

When players download game files from the internet instead of dumping them from their Nintendo Switch, this is seen as a form of piracy and is illegal. So the gray area is not the Yuzu emulator, but instead is the method that one uses to obtain games they wish to emulate.

Is The Yuzu Emulator Safe?

Yes, as long as you download the Yuzu emulator from the official Yuzu website it is safe. It has a strong community support and is used by many gamers to play Nintendo Switch games on PC and Linux. Just be sure that you are checking to make sure you follow any rules or regulations for where you are located to ensure you aren’t doing anything illegal.

Is Yuzu Free?

Yes, Yuzu is a free emulator for the Nintendo Switch. While it does have a Patreon that a good number of players donate to monthly, it is not a requirement to use Yuzu. There is no catch or gacha mechanic after installing and setting it up. Yuzu is open source and its source code can be found freely on its Github.

Is Yuzu Emulator Good?

The Yuzu team has consistently been putting out updates for the emulator and has made significant progress since its release in terms of game compatibility. While at first, the emulator was only working for specific projects, many Switch titles are up and running on Yuzu – some very well. If you are looking for a list of all Nintendo Switch games and their current compatibility level with Yuzu, you can check out the list that the Yuzu team has available here.

Hopefully you enjoyed this Yuzu emulator guide. Let us know in the comments below if you have any questions!

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