How to update your CFW

This page has everything you need for updating your modded Switch's CFW.

Important notes

Old CFW: If you are on Atmosphère 0.20.1 or lower, follow this guide page instead to update your CFW.
Atmosphère 1.10.0 and newer: Homebrew releases prior to this release will experience major issues or not work because of fundamental changes made to support firmware 21.0. Make sure to update your homebrew if a compatible update is available. Hbmenu will show the warning "This application does not support the current ABI" in red text under the name of old homebrew.
System modules: Some system modules require being updated when there's a new Atmosphère version. Update or remove as needed.
- If you rename contents like contents-backup you have an easy backup and all modules disabled at the same time.
- Some common modules like this are Mission Control & ldn_mitm.
- System modules (Sys-modules) are saved on /atmosphere/contents/ along with cheats and mods for games.
- So you didn't do this and have issues. Do it now or check the troubleshooting section.
No card reader: You can access your SD card contents via USB through Hekate to update. See this guide page for instructions.
- You cannot update Atmosphère while using Atmosphère.
Fusee users: Need to have a working sys-patch for signature patching, for forwarders and for game backups to work. Follow the alternative updating guide at the bottom of this page
- When using sys-patch, it only needs to be updated on each firmware update, not each CFW update.
Issues after updating: If you encounter issues after updating, check out the Troubleshooting and FAQ page.

CFW files you need

Everything you need to download. (On GitHub, scroll down and find the file under Assets.)

Hekate - Download hekate_ctcaer_*.*.*_Nyx_*.*.*.zip from the latest release.
Atmosphère - Download atmosphere-*.*.*-master-*********+hbl-*.*.*+hbmenu-*.*.*.zip from the latest release
SigPatches - Download patch-*.*.*-**.*.zip (alternative download)
- Updated for Atmosphère 1.11.2 (5388824be) & OFW 22.5.x
- All previous versions' patches are included

Steps

Download the required files.
Extract the following to the root of your micro SD card:
- atmosphere-*.*.*-xxxxxx-*********+hbl-*.*.*+hbmenu-*.*.*.zip
- bootloader folder from the hekate_ctcaer_*.*.*_Nyx_x.x.x.zip
- patch-*.*.*-**.*.zip
When asked to overwrite any files, click Yes.
Make sure to update or remove any system modules you use. (E.g. Mission Control)
Mac & Linux users:
- Use Hekate's Fix archive bit after updating CFW files.
- From Hekate's main menu press:
  Tools ➔ Arch bit • RCM • Touch • Pkg1/2 ➔ Fix Archive Bit

fusee.bin & sys-patch users

Fusee users need to have a working sys-patch for signature patching for forwarders and game backups to work.

≣ Alternative updating steps for fusee users: (click to expand)

CFW files you need

Everything you need to download. (On GitHub scroll down and find the file under Assets)

Hekate - Download hekate_ctcaer_*.*.*_Nyx_*.*.*.zip from the latest release
Atmosphère & fusee - Download atmosphere-*.*.*-master-*********+hbl-*.*.*+hbmenu-*.*.*.zip & `fusee.bin` from the latest release
sys-patch - Download the latest sys-patch.zip from here
- Updated for FW 22.5.x

Steps

Download required files.
Extract the following to the root of your micro SD card:
- atmosphere-*.*.*-xxxxxx-*********+hbl-*.*.*+hbmenu-*.*.*.zip
- bootloader folder from the hekate_ctcaer_*.*.*_Nyx_x.x.x.zip
- sys-patch.zip
When asked to overwrite any files, click Yes.
Move fusee.bin to /bootloader/payloads/. If you followed an earlier version of "Switch hacking is easy" that made a Atmosphere CFW launch option for Hekate.
- If you inject fusee.bin with a payload injector, then replace the payload on your injector.
Make sure to update or remove any system modules you use. (E.g. Mission Control)
Mac/Linux users:
- Use Hekate's Fix archive bit after updating CFW files.
- From Hekate's main menu press:
  Tools ➔ Arch bit • RCM • Touch • Pkg1/2 ➔ Fix Archive Bit