Here's a comprehensive documentation and guide of everything I learned during the process of making a Japanese 3DS into the ultimate gaming machine, specifically for the type of people who have never modded anything before and wish to transfer the data from a functioning 3DS to a Japanese 3DS - start to finish. Yes, it will be very long, but it will also tell you everything you need to know in one place.

If you're considering whether to change the region of your console, that will be explained later. This guide will also work with a system from your own region, and/or if you have no data to migrate from another console - you can just ignore steps 3 and 4.

Table of Contents

• Step 1: Prepare Your Materials
• Step 2: Hack your 3DS
• Step 3: To Region Change or Not?
• Step 4: Migrating Your Saves, Games, and Themes from One 3DS to Another
• Homebrew Apps Explained + Recommendations
• Extra Tips

Step 1: Prepare Your Materials

1. Your Japanese 3DS, which I'll call the "target console".
2. One SD card (for the old 3ds systems) or micro SD card (for the New 3ds systems). All 3DS's come with a small one to store extra data, but to store a comfortable amount of digital games, buying a larger one of 16gb - 128gb capacity is typical.
   1. 3DS games tend to be large (~1gb), and all other types of games are so small that storage will practically never be an issue with them, so plan accordingly. Pick whatever size you want, but in practice, 32gb is more than enough for the casual gamer. Very large SD cards may lead to slightly slower boot-up times by a few seconds.
   2. If your SD card capacity is above 32gb, you will need to change it to "FAT32" using a separate tool or it will not work. Refer to this guide to do this.
   3. From the official 3DS hacks guide: "It is highly recommended to only use one SD card with a console at any given time, as you cannot merge the contents of two SD cards later on. So, if your console already has an SD card, you should use that SD card to mod your console, or copy everything to a larger SD card before or after you mod it."
3. SD card reader (some laptops come with one installed)
4. Computer
5. (If you have a New 3DS XL or 3DS XL) One Phillips head size #0 (PH0) screwdriver, to access the SD card

Step 2: Hack your 3DS

Go to https://3ds.hacks.guide/ and follow the instructions there.

Yes, it's very safe and just as easy as everybody says; it'll probably take 10-30 minutes. Just follow the instructions and you'll be fine.

No, do not look up a video guide instead of the website. They become very quickly outdated. The website will always be the most up-to-date version of the guide, and I wouldn't take any risks with the expensive console you just paid an arm and a leg for.

No, it will not erase your save data or wipe your 3DS.

Once you finish, copy the contents of your SD card onto your larger SD card if you didn't do it before hacking your console.

Step 3: To Region Change or Not?

Here's everything you need to know to help you decide:

Read the wiki page to consider your options. I'll sum them up:

1. Keep your 3DS in its original region. (This is what I chose.)
2. Region change and disable some features.
3. Region change and conduct a special procedure to keep those features.

What is region lock?

Basically, if you own a Japanese 3DS, Nintendo only wants you to play Japanese game copies on it. If you try to play a game from another region on your Japanese 3DS, the game will crash - imagine it as an embargo on foreign goods coming in. By installing CFW, you will have the tools to bypass this and will be able to play your English games, no matter if your system is Japanese or not.

What is region change?

You may have noticed that everything on your 3DS's system UI is in Japanese. This language setting, and that of your Mii Plaza Streetpass games, is tied to your console's region. Changing it has various pros and cons:

• Your system UI will be in English.
• Your games will stay in the language of their original region - so a Japanese game will still be in Japanese.
• Local play and online multiplayer will work.
• Your NNID will not work anymore, meaning you will NOT be able to use these eShop-related features:
  • Pokemon Bank.
  • Official online game updates/downloading games you purchased on eShop before it went down.
  • The official System Transfer feature your 3DS has to migrate the data on your console to a new one. Keep in mind that System Transfer only works if the eShop is working, so you won't be able to use it anyways.
  • Safe Mode, a 3DS feature to help repair your system if it's having software issues.
• There is a way to restore eShop functionality even after a region change using something called a SOAP transfer - you will have to join a Discord server that offers it and ask for people to help you, and it will take 1 week at minimum. Refer to the wiki page above for more details.

Even if you don't region-change, you won't need to worry about region locks.

Whether you region change or not, you will still have to somehow migrate all your data from your old console. The 3DS's official System Transfer function only works between two 3DS's from the same region, and only if you haven't broken the eShop, so we'll be unable to use that.

Knowing all this, if you want to do the region change, follow the guide at https://3ds.hacks.guide/region-changing.html If not, just proceed to step 4. If you have no data to migrate over, skip step 4 (you're done!).

Step 4: Migrating Your Saves, Games, and Themes from One 3DS to Another

First, both of your consoles have to be modded so you can access and move the files. After that, you can either use a tool like 3DS Movable Moveover to have it done automatically, or you can do it manually, like I did. Doing it manually is easier and simpler, but it will require you to pay close attention to your file directory. To perform a manual transfer, you'll need to understand a few things:

• To "manually transfer" your data means you are inserting your source SD card into the computer and copy-pasting the relevant files to your computer, then to your target SD card. It really is that simple. Note: you cannot simply copy-paste the entire contents of the SD card from one 3DS to another, because each 3DS's system data is encrypted to that 3DS.
• Because folders for app data are only created when you use the corresponding app, and you probably haven't used your new 3DS at all yet, some folders might not exist on your target SD card yet. Thus, your target SD card might be missing some (empty) folders for your data if you compare it to the source one. That's ok - you can just create it yourself or copy it over from the source SD card, provided it's in the exact same file location and has the exact same name.
• NDS roms and saves can be directly copy-pasted. But 3DS games are annoying to locate on your SD card, so you can either redownload the games after the transfer (what I did) or use GodMode9 to turn your game into a .cia file for transfer. And 3DS game saves can only exclusively be read by the console they're on, so we'll be using one of those homebrew apps you installed during the hacking process: Checkpoint.

Checkpoint does the following things:

• Turns your save files into a version that another 3DS can read. For copy/pasting to the target SD card.
• Allows you to reinstate those save files on your target console.
• Lets you transfer the save data from a physical cartridge to your SD card (this is called "dumping"/"ripping"). I didn't have anything I wanted to dump, but it should be easy to do with Checkpoint if you do.

Let's begin, shall we?

1. Open Checkpoint on your source console. Create backups of all the game saves you want backed up (including extdata! Some games use this to store some or all of your save data).
2. Insert your source SD card into the computer and make a copy of all of its contents into a folder on there. You can name the folder something like "source_console".
3. Insert your target SD card into the computer.
4. To migrate NDS roms/saves: copy the "roms" folder to the root of your target SD card.
5. To migrate Anemone themes: copy the "Themes" folder to the root of your target SD card.
6. To migrate 3DS saves: go to 3ds > Checkpoint and copy/paste the saves folder into the exact same file location on the target SD card.
7. Because I'm paranoid, I made backups of the SD cards of both my source console and target console before and after data transfer and stored them on my computer. It's recommended for you to at least back up the contents of your target SD card after transfer and make multiple copies so you're never in danger of losing your saves.
8. Insert your target SD card back into your target console.
9. Your NDS games will work automatically. To restore a 3DS game's save, make sure you have the game installed, then open Checkpoint and restore that save. Just to make sure, open that game up and see if it worked.
10. If everything works, you're done!

Homebrew Programs Explained + Recommendations

GodMode9: Full-access file browser for your 3DS.

• Creates backups of your 3DS's base operating system, dump cartridge games onto your SD card, convert .3ds files to .cia files, among other things.

Rosalina Menu: Gives you lots of QOL features.

• Lets you take screenshots from anywhere, change screen brightness and volume, adjust color balance, check battery, activate cheats... it's pretty intuitive, so just poke around and read the settings.

FBI: Easy-access file explorer for your 3DS.

• Lets you install .cia game files and scan game QR codes to download remotely. Do not delete anything you don't have to delete using FBI, because you may just end up deleting vital system programs! If you want to delete a game, do it from your 3DS's Settings app and select Data Management.

Anemone: Lets you download and install custom 3DS themes from https://themeplaza.art/themes

• You can even download multiple themes and have the 3DS randomly shuffle between them - just press B to select all the themes you want, press A to open the installation menu, and then select Shuffle Install.

FTPD: Allows you to transfer files between your 3DS and computer through wifi - no need to remove the SD card!

• It's still faster to do large transfers (like backing up your SD card) on your laptop, because your laptop is a much more powerful machine than a 3DS, but the convenience cannot be beat. To use FTPD, follow this guide. Here's what it looks like if you're on Windows:
  • Open up the FTPD app on your 3DS.
  • Go to your computer, open up File Explorer, and click on the address bar at the top of the window. Enter in ftp://192.168.XX.YY:5000 (replacing XX and YY with the numbers in your IP address at the top of the top screen on your 3DS) and press Enter.
  • You should now be able to see and modify your 3DS's file directory from your computer.

Checkpoint: Game save file manager.

• Turns your save files into a format another 3DS can read. You can copy/paste the files it generates to another 3DS's SD card.
• Allows you to reinstate those save files on another console.
• Lets you transfer save data from a physical cartridge to your SD card (this is called "dumping"/"ripping").

Universal Updater: Free eShop, basically, where you can download community-made programs. (The name is a little misleading.)

• It will give you the option to download files in either the .3dsx or .cia format. .3dsx will not appear on your home menu and requires Homebrew Launcher to run it, while .cia will appear on your home menu, like any other game.

Homebrew Launcher: Use this to access and launch your homebrew programs.

Great Apps from Universal Updater

• hShop: Lets you browse and download 3DS games (but not any other type of game) from the internet. (Ok, this one's not actually on UU - you'll have to use FBI to scan the QR code on the website https://hshop.erista.me/ )
  • Try poking around the different categories of downloads - it has 3DS ports and undubs of fan-favorite games, a DLC that unlocks every Mii Plaza game, fan translations, rom hacks, and more.
  • Once you start downloading a game, it will keep downloading even if you close the lid.
• LumaLocaleSwitcher: Lets you change the language and region of games to bypass region locks. A must if you don't do the region change.
• ndsForwarder: Turns your NDS roms into icons on your home menu. Perfect if you like seeing all your games on the home menu.
• TWiLightMenu++: Launches your NDS roms without needing an icon on the home menu. Perfect if you like to keep your home menu clean.
• Netpass: Streetpass over the internet.
  • Netpass seeks to simulate a real-life Streetpass walk by allowing you to basically turn it on for 10 hours at a time, during which you'll slowly receive passes. Read more on its website! https://netpass.cafe/
• Nimbus (AKA Pretendo): Restores online play for certain games.
  • From the website https://pretendo.network/ : "Pretendo is a free and open source replacement for Nintendo's servers for both the 3DS and Wii U, allowing online connectivity for all, even after the original servers are discontinued." Not all games are restored, but the team is actively working on new ones!
  • Yes, you can visit other people's Animal Crossing: New Leaf towns again!
  • To use after installation:
    • Open up the app and select the Pretendo icon instead of the Nintendo one and press A. The app should restart.
    • Your friend code will be replaced with a new Pretendo one, so make sure to use that instead and re-register your friends.
    • Launch Pretendo again, press Y to start the plugin, and then go back to the home menu and launch whatever game you want to use it for. It will not work if you skip this step, and you'll need to repeat this every time you launch a game that you want online connectivity for.
• DSES (Dead Simple EULA Set): Enables Streetpass/online connection for region-locked games.
  • This solves a problem exclusive to foreign-region consoles - to turn on Streetpass for a game outside the system's region, even if you used LumaLocaleSwitcher, the game will tell you to agree to an EULA - but if your system's region is different from the game's, the pop-up for you to click "accept" never appears, so you won't be able to use Streetpass. This program fixes that.
  • Download this, launch it, press A, done. Signing an EULA has never been so easy.
• 3DSParental-Unlock: AKA "I AM AN ADULT, LET ME USE THE CONSOLE I BOUGHT"
  • For some reason, to register friends using your friend code, the 3DS requires you to set a parental lock pin. If you do this, your 3DS will require you to enter this pin every. Single. Time you want to open a homebrew app and even some games. This programs fixes that.
  • Download this, launch it, press A, done. Bypassing parental locks has never been so easy.

Extra Tips

• Where do I get games/roms from?
• My 3DS/CFW isn't working/gave me an error code/crashed.
• How do I turn GBA roms (and more) into icons on the home menu?
• Having issues that a quick Reddit/Google search can't fix?
  • For homebrew/non-piracy-related issues: ask the Nintendo Homebrew Discord!
  • For hShop/piracy-related issues: ask the hShop Discord!
  • For issues with [insert app title here]: they most likely have their own Discord you can find by searching "[name] discord" or in the Nintendo Homebrew Discord!
• The internet browser on the Japanese console is known to not work. To fix it, follow this guide.
• To play NDS/GBA games at their original, pixel-perfect resolution, hold Select as you launch the game. Some prefer to use this; some prefer not to.
• A 3DS, even a New 3DS, will always have slow download speeds compared to what your computer can do. This is a limitation of the hardware and there's nothing you can do about it.
• On that note... modding your 3DS's hardware, especially the top screen, is notoriously difficult and a great way to break stuff if you don't know what you're doing. Take great caution if you decide to do this.
• Did you know that you can create folders for apps on your home menu? Simply select a blank icon slot and select "Create Folder" at the bottom. You can rename it and even decorate it with a badge from Anemone.

And that's all I have for you! If you have any corrections to make for this guide, please point them out and I'll edit it.