where is the sd card slot on my 3ds

(original 3ds left side, uses full size sd) (3ds xl right side, uses full size sd) (old 2ds, probably on the bottom, uses full size sd) (new 3ds, under backplate? micro sd) (new 3ds xl under backplate micro sd) (new 2ds inside door on the front, next to cart slot micro sd)

a flashcart will not work as a microsd or sd adapter. you must insert it into the system

picking your sd card

size: the 3ds can handle up to 2TB in size, but may run into issues with screen wrapping and themes above 128GB. cards above 32GB must be formatted to fat32

speed: the speed class does not matter for the 3ds, as it is bottlenecked by the system itself. it may still be useful when shopping for use with your pc

chart of common sd cards brands

brands to avoid

smart card

unbranded

micro sd card

kodak does not make sd cards anymore and most are third party

verifying your sd card

follow this page to check your sd card for issues

requires a computer

validrive is a quicker test, if you are suspicious of your sd card

windows only

print quality

SD:2gb or less SDHC: 2gb-32gb

SDXC:64gb-2tb

rename nintendo 3ds to backup 3ds
insert the sd card into your 3ds and power it on
- your installed games will have dissapeared. this is normal
wait for the system to say creating home menu management data
power off the system and remove the sd card.
go into Nintendo 3ds/<id0> and write down the last 8 digits of the <id1>
- <id0> and <id1> are 32 character long folders

compare the 8 digits you wrote down to the following chart.

sd card readers