Zelda Tears of the Kingdom Duplication Glitch Tips and Game Impact

Guides

Players are bending Hyrule’s rules to their advantage, turning rare treasures into endless supplies and trivial battles into effortless victories. Duplication glitches in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom don’t just break the game-they make you unstoppable.

But if you’re desperate for materials or money in Tears of the Kingdom, the duplication glitches are easy and seemingly relatively safe to pull off. You just need a bow, arrows – or a paraglider – and some patience, and hope that Nintendo won’t punish you for exploiting it at some point.


How to duplicate materials in Tears of the Kingdom

Paraglide from a height and pause mid-air with the Plus button. Hold up to five units of the desired material, then press B and Y together to drop them below while unpausing. Resume gliding, land, and collect the originals from the ground as the dropped copies remain duplicated in inventory.โ€‹

1. You’ll need to have a bow, melee weapon, and shield equipped.

2. Tap the ZR button to have Link switch to his bow, but don’t aim or nock an arrow.

3. Press up on the D-pad to Fuse the material you want to duplicate onto an arrow.

4. Press the plus button to pause, move to the “Bows and Arrows” tab, and drop your equipped bow.

5. While the pause menu is still open, equip a different bow.

6. Hit the plus button twice (very quickly) to close and re-open the pause menu.

7. You should see the fused material on the bow and arrow you have equipped.

8. Drop the currently equipped bow, and exit the pause menu.

9. Both bows (each with Fused materials) should be on the ground.

This glitch can be helpful for duplicating rare or expensive materials, like diamonds, which can be sold for 500 rupees each.

The same duplication glitch is explained in the video below, which also details how to duplicate weapons, shields, and bows. (This is a slightly more involved process, as it requires saving and reloading the game every time you want to duplicate something.)


How to duplicate weapons and shields in Tears of the Kingdom

Players exploit a precise menu glitch to copy weapons and shields in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Equip the desired item, then rapidly press + to pause twice before the dropped gear touches the ground, exiting the menu as inventory shifts create a duplicate. This technique demands quick timing on a Pro Controller and carries a save risk, but yields endless copies of rare finds like the Hylian Shield.โ€‹

1. Open the pause menu with the plus button.

2. Equip the weapon, shield, or bow you want to duplicate.

3. Open the System menu and create a manual save.

4. From the inventory screen, drop the item you want to duplicate.

5. Select and equip another item of the same type (if you’re duplicating a melee weapon, select another melee weapon).

6. Hit the plus button twice (very quickly) to close and re-open the pause menu.

7. Drop the equipped weapon.

8. Go to the System menu and reload the manual save.

9. The duplicated weapon should be on the ground.

As with the materials duplication glitch using a bow and arrow, the most difficult thing to nail is the timing of the closing and reopening of the pause menu. Players looking to duplicate melee weapons, shields, and bows may want to practice their timing using the materials duplication glitch before trying the method that exploits game saves.


How to do the new ‘fast’ duplication glitch in Tears of the Kingdom

Players pull off the new fast duplication glitch in Tears of the Kingdom through a precise sequence exploiting fuse mechanics and menu timing. Equip a plain shield near a wall to reveal the control stick, then spam ZL while closing inventory to fuse the stick before it vanishes. Drop onto a desynced stick platform, hold one egg alongside four target items like diamonds, exit the menu to spawn a bundle on the ground, and repeat by removing then adding one item to generate four more each cycle. Jump while holding ZL, spam R and D-pad up mid-air to scoop up stacks without losing them.โ€‹

Over the weekend of May 20 to 21, a new duplication glitch was undiscovered – useful if the above is patched out, or if you’re struggling to make it work. Even better, this glitch works on any inventory item (but not weapons or other gear).

Thanks to USBdongle6727 on reddit for the method, which you can watch with the above video. That said, though this dupe glitch is technically faster and easier, it has its own restrictions, which we’ll outline below.

For one, there is a limit to how many items can drop in a single location. If more than 20(ish) of anything is on the ground too close together, items will start despawning. This means there’s a limit to how much duplicating you can do at once and you’ll have to be a little careful.

Also, you need to be careful about the items you drop, as if they might break when released from a certain height, or if they legs can run away, as then they will no longer be able to collected when you touch down. The obvious contender for duplication, diamonds, doesn’t have either problem, which is a relief.

  1. This glitch exploits how the game handles your inventory, so you need to do a little prep. First, you’ll need at least one (but preferably multiple) item with less than four in your inventory. This is just an item to trigger the exploit – you’ll get it back, but it won’t be duplicated. The key is being able to empty an inventory slot.
  2. Next, you need the item you want duplicated in the last slot of your inventory. The fastest way to move an item to the last slot is to drop all of them, and then pick them up – the last item you picked up (that wasn’t already in your inventory) will go into the last slot.
  3. Climb onto a nearby ledge (or roof or tree) and jump off. Deploy your paraglider.
  4. Hit to open you inventory.
  5. Select an item (or items) to empty an inventory slop and hold it. This item won’t duplicate, but you will get it back.
  6. Select the item in your last inventory slot – the item you want to duplicate. You can hold as many of these as you want.
  7. Hit to exit your inventory and then immediately – as fast as you can – hit again. In the last slot, you should still see the same number of items in your inventory as you started with.
  8. Repeat this process a couple times as you float down, but no more than three or four – see our note about despawning items above.
  9. When you land, you’ll pick up your duplicated items and repeat the process above.

You’ll have to get a little creative to keep the item you want to duplicate in the last slot of your inventory, but this is a fast way to duplicate any item in the game.

If any of the above gets patched out – or you prefer a more legitimate way to make money in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom – read AELGAMES’s guide on which items and materials to sell to make rupees.


How to quickly duplicate materials using shield hops in Tears of the Kingdom

Hold ZL to raise your shield, then tap X and A to perform a shield hop, pausing with + while Link is in the air. From the inventory, choose the materials you want and have Link hold them, then press Y and B together to exit the menu so they drop while still remaining in your pouch. Pick up the copies on the ground and repeat the sequence, keeping an eye on shield durability or hopping on snow to reduce wear.โ€‹

This great method was discovered by heeissenberg on reddit and all you have to do is shield hop while holding the stuff you want to duplicate. If you don’t like reorganizing your inventory and want to quickly dupe some items, this is the method for you. As mentioned above, you’re not going to want to leave your items on the ground between duplications, as having too much stuff on the ground will just despawn the older stuff.

The trade-off for this method is that this does break your shields, eventually, as shield hopping decreases the durability of your shield. Some players have noted that doing this trick on the snow (like in the Tabantha Tundra or Hebra Mountains) will minimize the damage to your shield, but we haven’t confirmed that.

You can use this method to mix and match duplications as well. If you want to duplicate two diamonds and three rubies, you can do that all in one go.

All you’ll have to do is shield hop and set Link up so he’s holding some items, as detailed below:

  1. Hold down the shield button, ZR, and then quickly press X and then A to do a “shield hop.”
  2. Very quickly open your menu by pressing plus ( ) while Link is in the air.
  3. Select the items you want to duplicate and make Link hold them.
  4. Press Y and B at the same time to close the menu.
  5. The items will drop out of your hands, but also remain in your inventory.
  6. Pick up the items on the ground.
  7. Repeat as necessary.

It might take a couple tries to get the cadence down, but this is by far the quickest way to duplicate items quickly. You can still do this method with a Fused shield, but it’ll add a couple seconds on to the process, since Link might wobble and fall down (depending on the item you have attached).

Which TotK dupes still work in the latest patch

Duplication glitches in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (TotK) persist even in the latest patches, including version 1.4.2 and Switch 2 editions, as community discoveries outpace Nintendo’s fixes.โ€‹โ€‹

Confirmed Working Dupes

Several methods remain functional across recent updates, often relying on mid-air throws, Mineru summons, or menu timing:

  • Mineru-based duplication: Summon Mineru, fuse items to arrows or bows, eat an item like an apple for timing, then unequip/reequip while holding duplicates-works in 1.4.2 and requires Sonapan Shrine setup.โ€‹

  • Mid-air throw duplication: Drop items while airborne (e.g., before shield surfing or paragliding) to clone them; precise on Switch 2 due to 60fps but reliable.โ€‹

  • Bundle item duplication (BID): Manipulates inventory bundles for splitting and cloning; pairs well with storage glitches.โ€‹โ€‹

  • Split item and bow/weapon dupes: Includes Mineru FE (fuse exploit) and memory buffer variants for weapons, shields, and bows.โ€‹

Version Notes

Patches like 1.1.2 and 1.2.0 eliminated early glitches (e.g., frozen meat or Tobio’s Hollow), but later ones from 1.2.1+ endure, with timings adjusted for Switch 2 speed. Videos confirm viability through mid-2025 in 1.4.x.โ€‹โ€‹

Limitations and Tips

These require practice, as Switch 2 doubles timing precision needs, and inventory caps (e.g., ~20 items) apply without storage combos. They’re unofficial and may vanish in future updates, but players report success as of late 2025.โ€‹โ€‹

Can you list dupes patched in the latest TotK update

Early TotK duplication glitches were patched in updates like 1.1.2 and 1.2.0, but no comprehensive list exists for the absolute latest patches (e.g., 1.4.x as of early 2026), as Nintendo rarely details specific exploits publicly.โ€‹โ€‹

Key Patched Dupes

Common methods fixed in major early patches include:

  • Save/Load Duplication: Equip an item, save, drop it, quick-press + menu twice, reload-cloned weapons/shields/bows; patched in 1.1.2.โ€‹

  • Inventory Reorder/Air Dupe: Reorder menu mid-air while dropping/closing to clone Zonai items, fairies, or all inventory; patched in 1.1.2.โ€‹

  • Drop-and-Swap (Early Weapon/Shield): Equip target, quick menu exit/entry, drop weakest item, sort inventory-Y button timing; patched in 1.1.2 and 1.2.0.โ€‹

  • Frozen Meat/Tobio’s Hollow and Prologue Master Sword dupes: Early infinite money exploits via specific locations or timing; patched alongside 400-damage unbreakable sword variants in 1.1.2.โ€‹

Later Patch Impacts

Updates like 1.4.0 focused more on Switch 2 compatibility than new dupe fixes, leaving advanced methods (e.g., Mineru FE, mid-air throws) intact per community reports. No recent patch notes explicitly list further dupes as patched, though vague “additional fixes” often target exploits indirectly.โ€‹โ€‹

Rate
Arslan Shah

As a junior editor for the blog, he brings over a decade of experience and a lifelong passion for video games. His focus is on role-playing games, and he has a particular appreciation for compelling, story-driven narratives.

AELGAMES