Download files straight onto your Nintendo 3DS, from a link, a QR code or your phone.
Website · Download · Guide · Roadmap
3dsDL downloads files onto the SD card while the console stays on, with no card reader and no computer. Scan a QR code, type a link or send one from your phone, and it saves the file, installs it if it's a CIA, and lets you manage what's on the card. It's built to replace FBI, which is no longer maintained, and it looks and feels like the console's own system software.
- Downloads over verified HTTPS, split across up to four connections when the server allows it (fewer if you set a lower limit in Settings), with resume after a dropped connection.
- Installs CIAs with their seeds, or streams them straight into the install service when the SD card is too full.
- Receives links from a phone on the same Wi-Fi, and from FBI's
servefiles.py,sendurls.pyand Boop. - Manages the SD card from a phone or computer's browser: upload, download, edit, move and delete files, and install uploaded CIAs, with no FTP app. Also answers at
http://3ds.local/. - A queue for scanning many QR codes in a row and downloading them together.
- Files: a file manager with a picture viewer, a text editor, ZIP extraction, a hex view and SHA-256 checks.
- Titles: launch and delete installed software, manage tickets and seeds, and clear stuck installs.
- Save data and extra data backup, restore and browsing, compatible with Checkpoint's backups.
- Updates itself from GitHub releases, checking each download against its SHA-256 checksum.
See the guide for how each part works, the controls and the settings.
You need a 3DS with custom firmware (3ds.hacks.guide) and Wi-Fi.
In FBI, choose Remote Install → Scan QR Code and scan this.
- CIA: scan the code above in FBI, or install
3dsDL.ciafrom the latest release. - 3DSX: copy
3dsDL.3dsxtosdmc:/3ds/3dsDL/and open it from the Homebrew Launcher.
You only install 3dsDL once. It checks GitHub for a new version when it opens and shows a notification when there is one. Settings → Updates downloads the right build, checks it against the release's SHA-256 checksum and installs it, without FBI or a computer. The one exception is the 0.7.0 CIA, which crashes at start-up: install the latest release with FBI once.
Note
3dsDL is in development. Version 0.8.2 runs on real consoles, and its Files over Wi-Fi page was tested on one from a Mac: uploads, downloads, installs and 3ds.local. Save and extra data restore and ticket export are the least tested parts, so keep a Checkpoint backup of anything important for now. The full console test plan is in docs/HARDWARE.md.
git clone https://github.com/ankushKun/3dsDL.git
cd 3dsDL
./scripts/build.sh # Docker build; results in dist/
make -C tests check # host testsBuild options, building without Docker and the project layout are in the guide.
- Multidownload by hax0kartik, which 3dsDL grew out of.
- FBI by Steveice10, whose install sequence, seed handling and remote install protocol 3dsDL follows.
- Checkpoint by Bernardo Giordano, whose backup format and restore steps 3dsDL matches.
- Colby Shores, for the socket buffer and TLS randomness findings.
- libcurl, Mbed TLS, the Mozilla CA bundle, quirc (license), QR Code generator, stb_image, libjpeg-turbo, and devkitPro with libctru and Citro2D.
GPLv3. Bundled components keep their own licenses.
![]()
Made by ankushKun






