The Best Nintendo Switch Emulators for Windows (2024)

You can download a Nintendo Switch emulator on your Windows PC and play Switch games with increased resolution and performance. You can even run these emulators on a Windows-powered handheld gaming device. Let's look at the best ones available.

Is It Legal to Use Nintendo Switch Emulators?

The simple answer is yes—downloading and using any emulator is legal. However, downloading and sharing copyrighted ROMs (digital copies of video games) is illegal, even if you own the game digitally or physically. With that said, making a backup of a game you already own can be legal (this is similar to ripping a CD or DVD).

So, if you use a Nintendo Switch emulator and don't have any illegally downloaded games, you won't get into trouble.

System Requirements to Run Nintendo Switch Emulators

Older consoles like the NES or PlayStation One are easy to emulate since they use simpler code. The Nintendo Switch is more modern, making it difficult to emulate.

This is why, aside from choosing the best emulator, you'll also need a PC capable of emulating its hardware. Different games also have different graphics requirements, so that is something else to remember. For instance, something like Akane might be less demanding than The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

However, to run a Nintendo Switch emulator smoothly, your computer will need to meet the following minimum requirements:

• OS: Windows 10 or later
• Processor: At least a 6th generation Intel Core i3 or Ryzen 3 processor
• Memory: 8GB RAM
• Video: Support for OpenGL 4.5/Vulkan 1.2 or higher

For the best experience, aim for the following:

• GPU: NVIDIA GTX 1060 or Radeon RX 470 and newer, higher-end models
• Memory: 16GB RAM

Once you're sure your computer can run the emulators and the games, try any of the emulators below to see which works best for you.

1. Suyu Emulator

Suyu is a Nintendo Switch emulator that supports high-resolution rendering, save states (save progress at any point and pick up where you left off), controllers, local multiplayer, and mods. The Suyu emulator for Nintendo Switch is also available for Linux, macOS, and Android.

Suyu is a replacement for a popular open-source Nintendo Switch emulator called Yuzu, which famously shut down in March 2024 to avoid a legal battle with Nintendo. Suyu is a software fork of the Yuzu codebase on GitHub, and it aims to avoid the legal pitfalls that led to Nintendo coming after it (allegations of supporting the piracy of Switch games on a large scale).

As a result, Suyu requires that you use cryptographic keys (Prod Keys and Title Keys) from your actual Nintendo Switch with the emulator. Furthermore, Suyu has taken a strong anti-piracy stance, is not monetized, and offers no guides on how to play copyrighted games.

Download: Suyu (Free)

2. Ryujinx

Ryujinx is a Nintendo Switch emulator compatible with Windows, Linux, and macOS. So far, the developers and community have tested over 4,000 games on the emulator, with approximately 3,400 running smoothly. You can find a list of the playable games on Ryujinx's GitHub page.

For users who don't want a very technical setup, Ryujinx is the ideal choice. The interface is intuitive and straightforward, and it can run games at 60FPS. Furthermore, the experience resembles the console, even if you're playing it on your desktop.

Rtujinx is completely free to download. This Nintendo Switch emulator is written in C# and is open source. That means if you're familiar with the programming language and things like console architecture and emulation techniques, you can contribute to the emulator's open-source development.

Download: Ryujinx (Free)

3. Torzu

Like Suyu, Torzu is another fork of the Yuzu emulator. It used to have its own GitHub repository, but that also got a DMCA takedown by Nintendo.

To ensure the open-source project is harder to take down this time, the developers have hosted the main repository on the Tor network. This hides critical information that Nintendo would need to track down the physical location of the servers and issue DMCA takedown notices. You will need the Tor browser to access the main repository, but luckily, the developers also have an alternate one on Codeberg.

The biggest downside, especially if you aren't tech-savvy, is that there aren't any builds of Torzu available. You have to download or clone the code and manually build the project using tools like Visual Studio, CMake, Git, and the Vulkan SDK. But once you do, you will have access to Yuzu's best features.

At the time of writing, Torzu is in active development. The repository also has code for building the Torzu emulator for Android and Linux. And since it's open source, you can contribute to the development (it is written in C++).

Download : Torzu (Free)

With emulation, you can play your favorite Nintendo Switch titles while bypassing the hybrid console's hardware limitations. You can even play the games with cheats and mods applied to enhance your experience.

Using Nintendo Switch emulators should be fine if you can avoid breaking copyright laws. And if you're a fan of older Nintendo consoles, you can try out some of the best Nintendo DS emulators.