Goldleaf 0.9 adds USB support for NSP installation on the Nintendo Switch!
One of the most populair title managers for the Nintendo Switch has to be Goldleaf. The Homebrew app hasn’t seen much active development in the past few months, but the latest release was worth the wait for many. Goldleaf is most famous for its ability to install .nsp files on a jailbroken Nintendo Switch that runs the Atmosphere CFW, but the latest release adds USB support to the mix! This article will show you how you can use either a USB flash drive or USB HDD to install .nsp files on you hacked Nintendo Switch!
Table of Contents
1. Prerequisites
Before you scroll down to the download link, you need to make sure that you already have a CFW (custom firmware) installed on your Nintendo Switch. Though Goldleaf is also supported on devices running SX OS, most people will want to head over to Atmosphere as their preferred CFW since it’s both free and open source. If you’re unsure how you can install Atmosphere on your Nintendo Switch, you can follow this comprehensive guide.
Also, in case you want to install unsigned .nsp files, you need to download the so-called “signature patches” for the Nintendo Switch so you can actually install and open these files. Simply head over to the download page here and grab the latest release. Next, drag the “atmosphere” folder on your microSD card and replace any existing files if that message pops up.
2. Installing Goldleaf on your Switch
Once you have Atmosphere (or SX OS) installed on your Switch, you should also have access to the Homebrew Menu. Using the Homebrew Menu, we can basically run any (compatible) homebrew app on our Nintendo Switch, in this case Goldleaf.
To install Goldleaf on the Switch, you first need to download the latest release, which you can find over here. You may have to scroll down a bit until you see a header called “assets”, where you need to click on “goldleaf.nro” to download the homebrew app of goldleaf.
After the download has finished, you can drag the “Goldleaf.nro” file to the “Switch” folder on your microSD card, after which you can reboot your Nintendo Switch to either Atmosphere or SX OS.
3. Installing .NSP files
Now that you have Goldleaf installed on your Switch, you want to grab a USB flash drive or USB HDD, format it to FAT32, Exfat or NTFS and place any .NSP file that you have (downloaded) on it. You can either use the Switch in docked mode to connect the USB drive to your Switch, or you can use a USB-C to USB-A adapter to plug the USB drive straight into the Switch.
With the .NSP file copied to the USB drive, connect the USB drive to your Switch and launch the homebrew album. There, you should be able to find the Goldleaf application. Once in Goldleaf, you should see a screen similar to this:
Simply click on “Explore content”, where you can select to access a USB drive. This part should be pretty self-explanatory, but below you can find some screenshots that show how to install an .NSP file located on a USB drive.
After you have successfully installed the .nsp file, you can find the installed application on your homescreen! Simply open it up and enjoy the game 🙂 If you get an error message, make sure that the .nsp file is not corrupted, and if possible, try to install another .nsp file. If that doesn’t work, make sure that your signature patches are up-to-date!
4. Final remarks
Once a feature exclusively available to those that purchased SX OS and a feature long asked for by the community is now available to us: USB support in Atmosphere. I would like to thank the developer XorTroll for all his hard work over the past few weeks and months to bring this feature for us to enjoy. If you like his work, make sure to become a Patreon member of his!
