Information on bans & how to avoid getting banned

Read about which things will or can cause a ban. Keeping the console unbanned is very simple.
Getting your Switch console banned will lead to you not being able to:

Access the eShop.
Access Nintendo Switch Online.
Getting updates to games from the eShop.

Note: 📝 Your Switch getting banned will not cause your Nintendo account to get banned. But when the console is banned you won't be able to move any saves the normal way.
If you cheat or mod in a game while playing online and get a ban, it will be a game ban. Not the console getting banned from all of Nintendo's online features.

Q: Is it possible to unban a Switch?
A: No. A banned Switch is permanently banned.

What will get a console banned (or likely)

Installing a file using homebrew (nsp/nsz/xci/xcz files) and not installing your game, update, or DLC from the eShop
- It doesn't matter what the file is or where it's from. Installing a homebrew forwarder and game backups gives the same bad logs, which will get you banned. Using a title manager to install a file like this will lead to bad logs and getting the console banned if those logs are sent to Nintendo. This is the main way people get their console banned.
Using homebrew to modify your system storage. Like Tinfoil Installer which is a basic installer that only installs Tinfoil, just as if a title installer was used to install an .nsp.
- Using a custom profile picture.
Sketchy eShop behavior. This is not something that you would accidentally do and mainly affects developers.

📝 If you use emuMMC and you accidentally boot into your sysMMC while using CFW, you will not get banned. sysMMC and emuMMC are separate, and one cannot access the system storage of one while using the other.
Atmosphère by itself does not cause a ban. And simply booting into sysMMC with CFW will not get you banned.

What might get you banned

Modifying Online Games. This depends on many things, and you should avoid editing/cheating in games while using an online feature.
- Cheating in online games. Some games check for cheats and mods. You should check with others that know about the game you're wanting to mod or cheat in specifically or avoid using either when playing online.
- Using layeredFS mods with online games. Can be tagged as cheating.
- Editing save files for online games. Can be tagged as cheating.
Mismatched logs (extremely rare)
- Downgrading and going online, and upgrading (repeatedly)
- Going online with both sysMMC and emuMMC, and having different things installed or different FW versions.

How to avoid getting banned

Understand the previously mentioned things that causes a ban, and keep the dirty logs on emuMMC.
Having an emuMMC with Nintendo blocked is an easy way of having one setup for forwarders and game backups. And a clean sysMMC to use as before for the eShop, online gaming and with all NSO features. There are four methods that you may use in order to avoid getting banned:

emuMMC - Keep bad logs separate and keep sysMMC clean
Exosphere - Blank prodinfo (unique console identifier) on boot
DNS.mitm - Block Nintendo with a hosts file
Incognito - Blank prodinfo (unique console identifier) permanently. Now redundant, as the previously mentioned options are easy and safe.

Using the DNS.mitm hosts file to block Nintendo is the best way of avoiding the Switch communicating with the Nintendo servers and sending logs.
It is recommended that you blank serial info (Exosphere or Incognito; they function the same) alongside emuMMC and DNS.mitm.

Once you are following the above, you will be protected against getting your Switch banned.

📝 Even if you are already banned, it is still recommended that you use these protection measures.
While being banned won't allow you to get eShop updates or go online, you'll still receive firmware updates.
So in order to prevent accidental updates and prevent the update nag, please use the mentioned protection measures in this guide.

DNS.mitm works from Atmosphère 0.18.1 and up. If you use an older Atmosphère version, [then update](Update CFW) and set up DNS.mitm.

DO NOT USE 90DNS ⚠️

Why you should not use 90DNS:

Relies on an external server
- You have no control over what gets blocked.
- 90DNS can affect your download speeds because of extreme ping
Protection is not retained when switching networks
- If you switch to a different WIFI network, your DNS settings will need to be set again

Why DNS.mitm is better than 90DNS: