ACNH Save Editor 🍃

The first 100% native Switch save editor for Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

🍃 Milestone: 1,000+ downloads across GitHub & GameBanana.

🛡️ Safety Record: 1,000+ installs, zero lost saves. Byte-verified backups + automatic hash healing.

Note: This is an educational project. Always keep backups of your save files. Modifying save data always carries a risk. The author is not responsible for corrupted islands or banned consoles. Use offline and at your own risk. Not affiliated with Nintendo.

Responsible Use: This app edits only items and values that exist in the base game. Please do not trade or use unreleased/internal items in online play, as they can ruin the experience for other players and are not easily removable on non-CFW consoles.

🎯 What This App Is

ACNH Save Editor IS:	ACNH Save Editor IS NOT:
A safe, offline save editor with automatic backups and hash healing	A RAM editor, live spawner, or online mod
100% on-console (no PC, phone, or sysmodules required)	A companion app or web tool
Clamped to in-game maximums (no impossible values)	A way to spawn unreleased/internal items

🆕 What's New in v1.4.0

Paginated Favorites Menu: Browse 22 curated high-value items with smooth auto-scrolling and A-Z sorting.
Applet Mode Guard: Hard-blocks Album launches to prevent permission-based crashes, with on-screen instructions to relaunch correctly.
Embedded Homebrew Icon: The .nro now includes the custom leaf icon for the Homebrew Menu.
Search & UI Polish: Fixed search footer overlaps, corrected pagination jumps, and added DBI/MTP drag-and-drop installation support.

⚠️ CRITICAL LAUNCH INSTRUCTIONS

For full memory and SD card access, you MUST launch this app via Title Override (hold [R] while launching a game like Animal Crossing) OR install it as a forwarder.

Do NOT launch it from the Album / Applet mode — the app will refuse to run and show you exactly how to relaunch correctly, preventing save-access crashes!

✨ Features (v1.4.0)

Dual-File Engine: Edits both personal.dat (Wallet, Bank, Pockets, Nook Miles) and main.dat (House Loan) simultaneously.
Forensically Clean Save Engine & Auto-Repair: Safely updates EncryptedInt32 checksums without overwriting untouched memory. Includes a permanent heal loop that automatically repairs saves corrupted by older versions the next time you save.
Native Item Search: Press Plus (+) to open the native Switch keyboard and instantly search the 13,000+ item database by name, with smooth paginated results. No more guessing hex codes!
Graphical UI: Built with SDL2, featuring a clean, highlight-bar navigation system with an expanded, perfectly centered layout (900x480 panel) to prevent text overflow.
Favorites Menu: Press X to browse an alphabetically sorted, paginated list of 22 curated high-value items (NMTs, Bell bags, 99,000 Bells, gold roses, cherry-blossom petals, pearls, gold bars, all 6 golden tools, and both crowns). Favorites resolve by name at boot, so they always stay in sync with your items.txt.
Visual Slot Picker: Choose exactly which pocket slot to inject items into without guessing.
Pocket Loadouts: Press Y to save and load up to 5 custom pocket setups (Mining, Fishing, Terraforming) to your SD card.
Bulletproof Safety Net: Automatic SD card backups before every single write, byte-verified after creation. Press ZL on the main menu to instantly rollback to your last backup.
Applet Mode Guard: The app hard-blocks Album/Applet launches and shows on-screen instructions for relaunching correctly.
Embedded Homebrew Icon: The .nro now includes the custom icon.

🛡️ Safety First: Zero Lost Saves

Modding your island can be scary, which is why ACNH Save Editor was built from the ground up with a defensive architecture. Across 1,000+ installs, we have maintained a perfect safety record. Here is how your data is protected:

Timestamped SD Backups: Before every single write operation to the NAND, the app automatically creates a full, byte-verified backup of your save file to a dedicated folder on your SD card:

sdmc:/switch/acnh_editor/backup_personal.dat
sdmc:/switch/acnh_editor/backup_main.dat

One-Tap ZL Rollback: Made a mistake? Injected the wrong item? Simply press ZL on the editor's main menu to instantly roll your save back to the exact state it was in before your last edit.
Automatic Hash Healing: Animal Crossing uses strict Murmur3 checksums to prevent tampering. The editor automatically recalculates and heals these hashes after every modification, ensuring your edited save passes the game's integrity checks on boot.
In-Memory AES Handling: Encrypted economy values (Wallet Bells, Bank Bells, Nook Miles) are safely decrypted, modified, and re-encrypted in RAM before ever touching the disk.
Bulletproof Guards: All edits are clamped to in-game maximums (no impossible values), and the app hard-blocks Album/Applet launches to prevent save-access crashes.

Honest Note: The backup is a single rolling slot (your last known-good state). For long-term archiving, occasionally copy these two files to your PC. Your island, your redundancy.

✅ Compatibility

Game	Tested Version	Save Format	Edited Files
Animal Crossing: New Horizons	3.0.3	Dual-file (`personal.dat` + `main.dat`)	Wallet, Bank, Miles, Loan, Pockets

Tested by the author on FW 22.5.0 (Atmosphère 1.11.2 E). When Nintendo ships an ACNH update, compatibility is re-verified and noted in the changelog.

🎨 Coming in v1.5: Room Decorations Injector

Based on your feedback! Inject furniture, wallpapers, and flooring directly into your rooms.

🗳️ Help Decide v1.6.0! We're choosing between Turnip Price Trends and DIY Recipe Unlocks for the next major update. Cast your vote here: 👉 Vote in the Community Poll

📥 Installation

Ensure your Switch is running Custom Firmware (Atmosphere).

Standard Installation (SD Card)

Download the latest acnh_editor_v1.4.0.zip from the Releases page.
Extract the switch folder to the root of your SD card.
Verify your folder structure matches this exactly:

SD:/
  switch/
    ┗ acnh_editor/
       ├ acnh_editor.nro
       ├ font.ttf
       ├ icon.png
       └ items.txt

Fully close Animal Crossing: New Horizons (do not leave it suspended).
Hold [R] and launch ACNH from the Home Menu to open the Homebrew Menu.
Select "ACNH Save Editor" to launch (do not run ACNH at the same time!).

Alternative Installation (DBI via MTP)

For users with DBI installed on their Switch, you can install via USB MTP:

Download ACNH-Save-Editor-DBI-v1.4.0.zip from the Releases page.
Connect your Switch to PC via USB.
Launch DBI on your Switch and select MTP responder.
On your PC, open the DBI MTP drive and navigate to NAND Titles or SD Card.
Drag and drop the acnh_editor.nro file from the zip into the drive. (Note: The v1.4.0 DBI zip only includes the .nro. If you get a blank green screen, use the Standard zip instead, or manually copy font.ttf and items.txt into the folder. This is fully resolved in v1.5.0!)
Launch via Title Override (hold [R] on ACNH from Home Menu).

🎮 Usage & Controls

Button	Action
Up / Down	Navigate menus / Select items
Left / Right	Step values (+/- 1) or navigate columns
L / R	Big step values (+/- 10 or 100,000)
A	Backup to SD & Save changes to NAND (or select "Quit App")
X	Open Favorites Menu
Y	Open Loadout Manager
Minus (-)	Clear the currently selected pocket slot
ZL	Restore from last SD backup (Emergency Rollback)
Plus (+)	Open Native Item Search

🗺️ Roadmap & Known Gaps

See ROADMAP.md for the full list of shipped and planned features.

Known Gaps (v1.4.0):

Single resident only (edits /Villager0/); multi-resident selector planned for v1.6
No map editing yet (weed/rock cleanup planned for v1.6)
No turnip price preview yet (under consideration for v1.6)
No design pattern preview yet (planned for v1.7)

🩺 Troubleshooting: "My edits didn't stick / counts reverted"

If your changes vanish after jumping back into the game, work this checklist top to bottom — it resolves the vast majority of cases.

0. First: breathe, your save is probably fine

Both editors write a byte-verified backup before every change. If anything looks wrong, restore the backup - ACNH: ZL on the ready screen and start over. Nothing below is worth risking a save over.

1. Fully close the game before editing — the #1 cause

A suspended game keeps its save state in memory. Edit while it's suspended (or resume a suspended session after editing) and the game writes its in-memory state back over your changes on the next autosave. It looks exactly like "my edits didn't stick." Fix: Home menu → highlight the game → X → Close → then edit → then relaunch. Never edit into a suspended session.

2. Make sure you actually committed

Edits live in the editor's memory until you run the step that writes them to the save file.

ACNH Save Editor: use the on-screen Save/Quit step (A). Exiting any other way discards your changes.

Not sure you committed? Reopen the editor: if the edited values aren't there, they were never written.

3. On the DBI path? Make sure you re-imported

The DBI workflow is export → edit the SD dump → import back. Editing the dump and launching the game without re-importing leaves the console save untouched. (Standard / Title-Override builds write in place and have no such step.)

4. Check you edited the right target

ACNH: v1.4.0 edits the primary resident's wallet only — if you're playing as a different resident, wallet changes won't appear in your game (the resident selector arrives in v1.6). Bank and loan are island-wide, so those always apply.

5. Check your version

ACNH: version shows on the title screen.

Older builds predate commit and safety fixes. Always reproduce on the latest release.

Still stuck?

Open a GitHub Issue (or ask in the GBATemp thread) with these five answers and most problems diagnose themselves in one reply:

Which tool + version (header / title screen)
Standard or DBI install
Exactly what didn't stick (wallet, bank, IVs, items…)
Game error, or silent revert?
Was the game fully closed while editing?

❓ Launch, Display & Other FAQ

Q: The app won't launch, or it shows a black screen/error message.

A: You are likely launching from the Album (Applet Mode). Applet Mode restricts SD card and memory access. You must launch via Title Override: fully close ACNH, then hold [R] while launching the game from the Home Menu to enter the Homebrew Launcher.

Q: The app opens but shows a blank green screen with no text.

A: This usually means the font.ttf file is missing or in the wrong place. The graphical UI requires this specific font file to render text. Ensure font.ttf is located directly inside the acnh_editor/ folder alongside the .nro. If you renamed the folder to acnh-editor (hyphen) or just ACNH, the app may also fail to find its assets. Rename the folder to exactly acnh_editor (underscore).

Q: Why can't I edit my second player's (Player 2) items or pockets?

A: v1.4.0 currently only edits the primary resident (/Villager0/). Multi-resident support (Player 1–8 selector) is actively being developed and planned for v1.6.0. (See also step 4 of the checklist above — this is the most common "my edits didn't stick" cause.)

Q: My game crashed when I tried to save.

A: Ensure Animal Crossing is fully closed (not just suspended in the background) before launching the editor. Also, never run the editor and the game at the exact same time. (Suspended sessions cause both crashes and silent reverts — this is step 1 of the checklist above.)

🛠️ Building from Source

Requires devkitPro with switch-dev installed.

pacman -S switch-sdl2 switch-sdl2_ttf switch-sdl2_image
git clone https://github.com/cbreezy210/ACNH-Save-Editor.git
cd ACNH-Save-Editor
make

After building, copy acnh_editor.nro and icon.png from the repo root, along with items.txt and font.ttf from the assets/ folder, to your SD card at sdmc:/switch/acnh_editor/ before running.

🔗 Explore the Native Switch Ecosystem

🏠 cbreezy210 Main Profile – See my AI projects, developer tools, and community updates.
🔴⚪️ PKHeX-NX – Native Pokémon SV (Gen 9) Save Editor. No PC required.
💩 TimeStranger-NX – Native Digimon Story: Time Stranger Save Editor (In Development).

🤝 Contributing

Contributions welcome! The most useful ways to help:

Report issues with the 5-answer checklist from Troubleshooting (tool + version, install type, what didn't stick, error vs. silent revert, game fully closed?).
Save-format research: PRs with verified offsets/checksums - include your diff method and dump tooling.
Docs & accessibility guides: wiki improvements and walkthroughs (micaturtle's accessibility guide set the bar!).

Open an issue before large refactors so we can align on scope.

🙏 Credits

kwsch and the NHSE project — ACNH save-structure research and reference: https://github.com/kwsch/NHSE
devkitPro and libnx communities — Switch homebrew tooling: https://devkitpro.org
SDL2, SDL_ttf and stb_image authors
micaturtle — community testing and documentation contributions
The ACNH homebrew community — for feedback, testing, and feature requests

⚠️ Disclaimer

This is an educational project. Always keep backups of your save files. Modifying save data always carries a risk. I am not responsible for corrupted islands or banned consoles. Use at your own risk!

💬 Community & External Links

GitHub Releases (Download): https://github.com/cbreezy210/ACNH-Save-Editor/releases
GameBrew Wiki: https://www.gamebrew.org/wiki/ACNH_Save_Editor_Switch
GameBanana: https://gamebanana.com/tools/23811
GBATemp: https://gbatemp.net/threads/release-acnh-save-editor-a-new-save-editor-for-animal-crossing-new-horizons.683771/
Reddit — v1.4.0 release thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/SwitchHacks/comments/1vzs3p7/updaterelease_acnh_save_editor_v140_native_switch/

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
assets		assets
source		source
switch/acnh_editor		switch/acnh_editor
.gitignore		.gitignore
LICENSE		LICENSE
Makefile		Makefile
README.md		README.md
ROADMAP.md		ROADMAP.md
banner.png		banner.png
icon.png		icon.png
icon_150.png		icon_150.png

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ACNH Save Editor 🍃

🎯 What This App Is

🆕 What's New in v1.4.0

⚠️ CRITICAL LAUNCH INSTRUCTIONS

✨ Features (v1.4.0)

🛡️ Safety First: Zero Lost Saves

✅ Compatibility

🎨 Coming in v1.5: Room Decorations Injector

📥 Installation

Standard Installation (SD Card)

Alternative Installation (DBI via MTP)

🎮 Usage & Controls

🗺️ Roadmap & Known Gaps

🩺 Troubleshooting: "My edits didn't stick / counts reverted"

0. First: breathe, your save is probably fine

1. Fully close the game before editing — the #1 cause

2. Make sure you actually committed

3. On the DBI path? Make sure you re-imported

4. Check you edited the right target

5. Check your version

Still stuck?

❓ Launch, Display & Other FAQ

🛠️ Building from Source

🔗 Explore the Native Switch Ecosystem

🤝 Contributing

🙏 Credits

⚠️ Disclaimer

💬 Community & External Links

About

Releases

Packages

Contributors

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Repository files navigation

ACNH Save Editor 🍃

🎯 What This App Is

🆕 What's New in v1.4.0

⚠️ CRITICAL LAUNCH INSTRUCTIONS

✨ Features (v1.4.0)

🛡️ Safety First: Zero Lost Saves

✅ Compatibility

🎨 Coming in v1.5: Room Decorations Injector

📥 Installation

Standard Installation (SD Card)

Alternative Installation (DBI via MTP)

🎮 Usage & Controls

🗺️ Roadmap & Known Gaps

🩺 Troubleshooting: "My edits didn't stick / counts reverted"

0. First: breathe, your save is probably fine

1. Fully close the game before editing — the #1 cause

2. Make sure you actually committed

3. On the DBI path? Make sure you re-imported

4. Check you edited the right target

5. Check your version

Still stuck?

❓ Launch, Display & Other FAQ

🛠️ Building from Source

🔗 Explore the Native Switch Ecosystem

🤝 Contributing

🙏 Credits

⚠️ Disclaimer

💬 Community & External Links

About

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