Is Tagmo or Powersaves Right for You?
This is a frequently-updated list of all the ways to make or emulate amiibo, and lists of the basic information and pros/cons of each method.
- Tagmo installation guide: installing Tagmo (if not using the Google Play install).
- Powersaves for Amiibo installation guide: install Powersaves for Amiibo.
- iPhone alternative: Tagmiibo for iPhone bin files
What Are Amiibo Bin Files?
Amiibo figures are actually just a $0.30 chip inside of a plastic figure, and the rest of the computing is performed by the game itself. The chip itself is an “NTAG215” chip, and you can order them from China by the dozen for a few bucks so long as supplies are available. These chips are incredibly lightweight and don’t have much storage space on them. Thanks to that fact, most NFC readers can read these chips and edit the data on them if need be.
The data on an amiibo is referred to as a .bin file. We use .bin files to make amiibo cards and mimic amiibo with Tagmo and Powersaves. Without a .bin file, it’s just a plain ol’ chip with no data.
NTAG215 chips are all pretty much the same and come from the same factory, so we took the time to find sellers that consistently charge less for the chips. Amiibo Doctor recommends this Amazon seller for NTAG215 chips. Amiibo Doctor gets a commission from the Amazon Affiliates program, so thank you for keeping us alive!
Which Tool Is Right?
If you’re going to make amiibo cards or otherwise emulate amiibo, you’re going to need to choose your tools. There are a lot of popular tools to do that, but for the purposes of this post we’re only concerned with Tagmo and Powersaves.
- Android with NFC equipment and Tagmo: pretty much every Android phone that can read NFC in some form can read a physical amiibo. Using the Tagmo app you can also save the amiibo as files on your phone, which you can then send to an amiibo tournament organizer using a file manager.
- Datel Powersaves for Amiibo: this sucker plugs in to your PC (I believe a Mac update was recently pushed out as well) and manipulates your amiibo in much the same way as Tagmo. Unlike Tagmo, you have to get sneaky with your files to move them: going to your folder named “Powersaves for AMIIBO” will show you all your bin files that you’ve previously saved. These are generally only $25, but you’re buying them from Europe so exchange rates may vary.
There is an iPhone alternative with fewer features than Tagmo. It’s available here, but we have a workaround if Tagmiibo doesn’t work here.
If you’d rather see a video tutorial of Powersaves and Tagmo, watch this video:
Step 1: Getting Started
Tagmo download (the .apk file that needs to be installed unless using Google Play)
You need the unfixed-info and locked-secret files for all versions of Tagmo. You only need the Tagmo APK if you don’t install it through Google Play.
These files are hosted by someone else – you’ll need them to run Tagmo, but I do not own these files and I am not hosting them. These are anonymously hosted, and could probably be withdrawn without warning.
Unfixed-info and locked-secret files are at the bottom of this Google Drive listing.
If you’re using Tagmo but don’t use Google Play, you’ll need to download the .apk file and install it using a generic APK Installer app. Simply take your APK Installer app of choice, locate the .apk file for Tagmo, and install that file. Tagmo will then function on your phone the same as any other app, because it is any other app.
Tagmo is completely safe. I have used it for several years on several different phones and have never had a single issue with security or damaging my phone, and I’m in contact with the dev team via Reddit.
Step 2: How to add Locked-Secret and Unfixed-Info Keys to Tagmo
The unfixed-info and locked-secret files are basically program instructions for using amiibo, and need to be loaded into the app before you can use the rest of Tagmo’s features.
Once you install Tagmo, go to the gear in the top-right corner. That’s your settings menu. Press Load keys, and find your unfixed-info and locked secret files (probably in your Downloads folder) and tap them, and they’ll be added to Tagmo from now on. After this point, you can scan an amiibo and save them freely.
Please understand that Tagmo is in active development and the user interface changes frequently.
If it gives you a “key file signature does not match” message, place the unfixed-info and locked-secret files on your internal storage. Tagmo doesn’t play nice with SD cards sometimes.
Tagmo Usage Guide
Tagmo’s menu options are confusing at first. They all relate to scanning, writing, updating or saving an amiibo in some way. Below are the steps for each of the common uses of Tagmo’s features, broken down by menu item.
Step 3: How to Make Amiibo Bin File Backups with Tagmo
“Scan“ – if your phone’s NFC is turned on, hold an amiibo figure or card or NTAG chip and it will bring up the data on that amiibo card or chip. After using Scan, you’ll simply Save your amiibo to your phone.
“Save“ – this makes a file of the active amiibo on your phone. If you’ve scanned a Mario amiibo with Scan Tag, this option will now save its files to your phone’s base storage, in the “Tagmo” folder. Once you’ve saved the file, you can then email it to a tournament from your phone. It’s a file all on its own, and exists outside of Tagmo now.
Step 4: How to Write Amiibo Bin Files to an NTAG215 chip
Start here if you’re using amiibo bin files that aren’t currently in your Tagmo folder. Otherwise, move to the “Write” paragraph.
First, you need to put your amiibo bin files in the Tagmo app. Use your phone’s file system (Android devices all have different names for its file function, so just use whichever built-in file management app is on your phone) to place your desired amiibo bin files in the “Tagmo” folder. The Tagmo folder is written to the Internal Storage folder on your phone. Locate the folder that has your phone’s storage on it, and find the Tagmo folder inside it.
Now that you’ve located the Tagmo folder, you’ll want to locate your own amiibo bin files (typically in your phone’s Downloads folder) and copy-paste them to the Tagmo folder. This is typically done by just long-pressing on a bin file, selecting all of them, and locating the “copy” function in the app. A “Paste” option may appear. Then you navigate to the Tagmo folder and press Paste, and the files will be available for use in Tagmo.
“Write“ – Now we write the files to an NTAG215 chip. If you have an unwritten NTAG215 chip that has never had amiibo data on it, the “Write” option will write your active amiibo file to that chip. Keep in mind that amiibo are not rewriteable, nor are their NTAG215 chips rewriteable. Once you make a chip a Mario, it stays as Mario. Everything else can change, but not its character and series identifiers. The only rewriteable amiibo hardware that I know of is the Powertag, which comes with the Powersaves when you buy it.
To write an amiibo to an NTAG215 chip, tap on an amiibo you’ve already saved to the Tagmo folder. The depicted menu will drop down. Then press “Write”. The next screen will prompt you to hold up your NTAG215 chip to your phone’s NFC point. You’ll do so, and Tagmo will write that bin file to the chip.
Other Menu Options You Might Use
Main Menu
Folder Arrow Thingy – if you already have an amiibo file on your phone, you use this option to find that file with the built-in file explorer for your device. This option used to be called “Load” on older versions of Tagmo.
“Flask” – For functionality with the upcoming device the Amiibo Flask. If you get your hands on one (they’re rather expensive), Tagmo can function like its normal Amiibo Flask client. I’d recommend buying an Amiibo Flask when they come out. They’re fantastic!
Bin File menus
“Update“ – This option takes a bin file on your phone and writes it back to the NTAG215 chip or amiibo figure/card. Suppose I had a Mario amiibo with data from Smash Bros, and I’ve already made a backup of that Mario amiibo with Tagmo. Now I want to write that backup back to the figure to use. I’d tap on the Update option and scan the amiibo like any other, and Tagmo will overwrite the data on the chip.
Please note that you can only write amiibo bin files back to amiibo chips of the same character and series. Your Smash Bros series Mario may only be written to Smash Bros series Mario amiibo. There is technically an option to get around this titled “Ignore Tag ID #” at the bottom of the menu, but this option has no practical purpose.
“Edit Properties“ – this is the biggest, coolest addition to the newest versions of Tagmo. This lets you change a lot of information about your amiibo, including its serial number. If you want your amiibo to fight itself in Smash Ultimate, you’ll need to change its serial number between scans. There’s a lot more to this menu that is very helpful for amiibo nerds, but most of it won’t help the typical user.
“View Hex Code“ – most people won’t get any functionality out of this. This just breaks down the hexadecimal code of your amiibo. Ignore this unless you’re intimately familiar with amiibo editing… but if you’re reading this, you probably aren’t.
“Ignore Tag ID #” – this… is interesting. This allows you to write the entirety of an amiibo file’s data to a chip of a different character, including the read/write data. Everything changes except for the character of the chip. This works because the header of amiibo NTAG215 chips are permanent once they’re initially written to (which is why you can’t just buy one chip and change it to whatever character you want). This doesn’t have an effect on many things in the world of amiibo, but it does have an effect in Smash Ultimate amiibo training. If you don’t train in Smash Ultimate, you don’t need this menu option.
Summary: How to Make Amiibo Bin File Backups
Most people want to make backups of their physical amiibo figures. This is very easy, and we’ve actually already done part of it in this guide. Here it is again:
The process is really simple. You just turn on your NFC, scan the amiibo/NTAG215 chip, press Save and name the file whatever you want. Follow the arrows in the guide, and you’ll have your backups in no time.
Powersaves for Amiibo
Necessary Powersaves downloads for PC and Mac
You can buy Powersaves for amiibo from Datel through Amazon. Amiibo Doctor gets a commission as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, and we appreciate your support in keeping amiibo alive!
Powersaves for Amiibo Guide
Powersaves is very easy to set up: I’ve written an installation guide for it here.
Powersaves are basically the same as Tagmo but they’re missing the QR code, Hex code and Restore to Different Tag features. It’s also much harder to make use of your amiibo files. Every time you save an amiibo, it saves and reads from a “hidden” folder that is supposed to be only accessible from the Powersaves menu. You can access the folder by searching your computer for “Powersaves for AMIIBO”, and the folder should come up. It’s usually in the C: drive on Windows computers.
These are the four options for Powersaves for Amiibo, once you’ve got an amiibo or Powertag placed on the Powersaves device. (The red Power Tag option only activates with a Powertag device.) I’ll explain what they mean and how to use them.
- Backup – Makes a digital copy (called a .bin file) of the amiibo or powertag currently placed on the Powersaves device
- Restore – The inverse of Backup. It takes a .bin file and places it onto the amiibo or powertag currently placed on the Powersaves device.
- Apply Cheat – Mostly applies to Wii U and 3DS games, and is amiibo-specific. However, it has an option to scramble the “serial” number, which allows you to scan in two identical amiibo into Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
- Power Tag – Exclusive to Powertags. This takes any amiibo .bin file in the Powersaves for AMIIBO folder and writes it to the Powertag.
Little things to remember/Answers to FAQs
Your physical figures from other series can also function as that character in Smash. If you purchased an Inkling amiibo for Splatoon 1, it works as Inkling in Ultimate. In fact, I have a list of some of these charactershere.This way, you can use amiibo in Ultimate before their Smash set amiibo are released.
You can save money on buying amiibo figures using the information outlined inDoing amiibo on a dime. If you’d rather collect the amiibo figures, there’s useful information for collectors located here.
As of right now, it’s difficult to find amiibo .bin files. We have an often-updated webpage to make it easier to find websites that host .bin files.
Tagmo is required for writing to NTAG chips. If you want to “create” your own amiibo or amiibo cards by adding chips to a figure of some kind, you’ll have to have Tagmo.
If your amiibo is “unknown” by Tagmo, it means that the app hasn’t been updated since that amiibo came out. Many of the newer Smash Ultimate amiibo have that problem. Typically they’ll function normally, but if they don’t, it may mean that you’re using an edited bin file that wasn’t properly re-encrypted.
If Tagmo can’t write to something, it could be a hardware issue with your amiibo, or your phone. Generally the issue arises from using NTAG chips that are faulty, so start checking what you’re writing to before checking your phone.
To restore to a different amiibo, press the “Allow restore to different tag” option. Do note – this can create amiibo that will brick your system if done incorrectly. Do not use this option for amiibo for different games. Restoring an Animal Crossing-formatted amiibo to Smash Ultimate may cause issues, and restoring certain Smash Ultimate amiibo toother Smash Ultimate amiibo can also cause issues.
Tagmo is only available on Android. An iPhone substitute is linked at the top of this page.
