[TUTORIAL] YUZU Emulator for SWITCH (2024)

This is a mere quick guide to setting up the Yuzu Emulator, the method is valid at time of this post and may change over time. As such this tutorial might be outdated at some point in the future. Also I've to tell you in advance that;

1. I will not be providing download links to the copyrighted materials/files such as the product key, game rom, etc. (therefore go and rely on Google). If you don't know how to use Google Search or whatever other search engine out there, then just throw your expectation to play NSW games into the incinerator.
2. I might add more info into this topic based on what I think is/are worth mentioning.
3. If the game can run but lags badly, that's because your PC lack the needed min spec. Go check Yuzu's website for further info.
4. If the game doesn't launch or launch but have glitches, that's the emulator issue. Don't bother asking me how to fix it, I'm not the emulator development team member.
5. For info on which game will work on Yuzu, check the emulator's site. They also provide detailed workaround and setup if the game is playable. There might be additional files you need to add into the game rom's folder through your emulator copy, which they will provide in their in depth game compatibility info. E.g. anti-blur file for Zelda Link's Awakening.
6. I'm not going to provide links to each and every additional file a game rom might need to run on Yuzu. As stated earlier, go check the emulator's site to acquire those extra files you might need.
7. Lastly I will not entertain Private Messages (PM) asking for files. Any sent my way will go flying straight to the bin, shredded, and burnt. So don't wonder why it's never responded.

Emulator;

What you need :

1. Yuzu Emulator, get it from their official website : https://yuzu-emu.org/
2. Notepad software (it comes free when you're using Microsoft Windows) - look it up in your START MENU if you've never in your life use your PC for any other purposes than playing games.
3. WINRAR/7ZIP software to extract or unpack or decompress the game rom if it's packed as .rar or .zip or .7z.
4. NSW game rom (.NSP/.XCI) - from extracting the rom package.

Steps:

1. Go search for the NSW's prod.key file online, it should be encoded in base64, go ahead and decode it. Go figure how. It's simple to do. LOL
2. Launch Notepad or whatever text editor you have access to. And copy paste the decoded file. Then save it as "prod.keys", with the extension option as ALL FILES not .txt, and save it wherever you want in your pc. Just make sure you are able to locate where you saved it to. If you want to be double certain, the file type should show as "keys" when you check through your file explorer's detailed list.
3. Download and install latest Yuzu Emulator, just follow the on screen steps.
4. Launch Yuzu (not the Yuzu Maintenance Tool), and press FILE, then choose OPEN YUZU FOLDER
5. Now create a new folder in there, and give the folder named as "keys".
6. Now send/move that prod.keys file you made in step 2 and place it in that folder in step 5.
7. That's it! Done.
8. Now just grab yourself a Switch Rom, and yes not all Switch Rom will run, so go check Yuzu's website to find out which game been supported and how it fair when played, including what hasn't.
9. All you need to do is either point the emulator to the folder where the rom is kept, or drag and drop the rom to the emulator.

Controller;

I'm not going to list to you which keys are used when playing games using the keyboard. You can search the button layout for yourself somehow. If you don't have a game controller for your PC then needless to say you don't need to follow this part of the tutorial.

As for those of you owning a gamepad, I can't say much about it as in which brand will work and how, other than I can use my Logitech wired controller with the emulator. I've not tried using my iPega nor 8BitDo to play, and will not bother giving it a try. What I did to setup the logitech is quite straight forward, there are 3 options you can make (option 2 and 3 are the same therefore mentioned as choice 2);

See Also

The Complete Guide to the Yuzu Emulator: How to Install, Configure, and Play Nintendo Switch Games on Your PCQuickstart Guide · yuzuYuzu Setup Guide: Playing Switch Games on Yuzu EmulatorYuzu Switch Emulator: How to Play Nintendo Switch Games on PC - TechWiser

Note : Needless to say you need the controller plugged in and pc detect its presence.

A. Choice 1

1. Now in Yuzu, click on EMULATION and choose CONFIGURATION, then choose CONTROLS.
2. Choose CUSTOM from the list and choose CONFIGURE
3. Choose under Players - Player 1 : DUAL JOYCONS and choose CONFIGURE
4. So go ahead and assign the gamepad buttons to your liking
5. Under Handheld, tick JOYCONS DOCKED, and set it up the same as no. 4 layout
6. You might also want to tick on MOUSE and TOUCHSCREEN.
7. DONE

By the way, you probably don't need to do step 4 and can go ahead do step 6 instead. But I did both just to make sure the emulator register the controller properly. In your case, if the emulator still fail to detect your controller despite the device's software been installed to your PC, you might need to download a 3rd party software to help bridge the controller so it gets detected by the emulator.

B. Choice 2

See Also

Yuzu Steam Deck Guide: How to Set Up the Switch Emulator

1. Similar to choice 1, except instead of CUSTOM, choose Single Player - Handheld - Undocked / Single Player - Dual Joycons - Docked.
2. Configure the gamepad buttons
3. Press OK 2x
4. Done

Note: You might need to check with Yuzu's compatibility list for each individual game on how to get the game playable with your controller. For example, Pokemon Let's Go require you to setup your controller as Single Player - Handheld to work, while Zelda Link's Awakening requires the controller set as Single Player - Dual Joycons.

Updating game rom;

I'm not familiar with all the details, but you can find the detailed info here: https://github.com/yuzu-emu/yuzu/wiki/How-to-Install-and-Use-Game-Updates

But the method is again straight forward,

1. Get a copy of the relevant update for your game rom region, extract it
2. Run Yuzu, and choose FILE, then choose Install File to NAND
3. Locate the update file you extracted earlier, and then press OK/YES
4. Done.

Adding DLC;

The method is the same as updating game rom. As to will it work or not, I've no idea.

Adding pre-prepared Save File;

There are times where you need a pre-made/pre-dumped save file for a game rom to run on Yuzu, e.g. Zelda Link's Awakening. You can get the file from Yuzu website or Google Search or wherever you are able to get one. To add it to your game rom in Yuzu do this;

1. Prepare the relevant file and make sure it match your rom's ID
2. Run Yuzu
3. Right click on the relevant game rom in Yuzu main screen
4. Choose OPEN SAVE DATA LOCATION
5. Copy and paste the save file to this folder
6. Done

Adding Mod Data File;

There are times where you need to add pre-made separate mod file for a game rom to run properly on Yuzu, e.g. in Zelda Link's Awakening, there's a need to add a blur fixing file. You can grab the file from Yuzu website. To add it is similar to adding save file, just do this:

1. Prepare the file needed
2. Run Yuzu
3. Right click on the relevant game rom in the main screen
4. Choose OPEN MOD DATA LOCATION
5. Copy and paste the file to this folder
6. Done

Adding Transferable Shader Cache;

Like the above 2, you might need a separate shader cache file for a game rom to work properly. I've not encounter a time I need to add one since using latest Yuzu. But should there be a need to do so, do this;

1. Prepare the file
2. Run Yuzu
3. Right click on the relevant game rom
4. Choose OPEN TRANSFERABLE SHADER CACHE
5. Place the file in there
6. Done