This page documents the controls available while playing Skyrim and their default settings on each platform. You can re-map these controls to other keys to suit your preferences.
Default ControlsEdit
| Control | PC | Xbox 360 | PS3 | PS4 | PS Vita | Switch | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
MovementEdit |
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| Look/Turn | Mouse | Right Stick |
Right Stick |
Right Stick |
Right Stick |
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Also used to navigate menus. | |
| Move | W, A, S, D | Left Stick |
Left Stick |
Left Stick |
Left Stick |
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| Automove | C | - | - | - | - | - | Starts the character moving automatically. Also zooms in on objects in the inventory. | |
| Sprint | Alt |  |
L2 | L1 | D-Pad Down |  |
Sprinting rapidly depletes your Stamina. When on horseback, this control causes your horse to gallop. | |
| Toggle Walk/Run | Caps Lock | - | - | - | - | - | Toggles between walking and running. Walking will allow you to move at a slower pace. | |
| Walk/Run | Shift | - | - | - | - | - | When toggled to running, you will walk when this button is pressed. When toggled to walking, you will run when this button is pressed. | |
| Jump | Space |  |
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This makes your character jump. This does not deplete your stamina, unlike previous Elder Scrolls games. Also, while on horseback, it will cause your horse to jump if you are moving forward, or rear back if you are stopped. | |
| Sneak Mode | Ctrl | Left Stick (click) |
L3 | L3 | D-Pad Right |  |
Toggle crouch/sneak mode
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CombatEdit |
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| Ready Weapon/ Sheath Weapon |
R |  |
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Toggles weapon between ready and sheathed. Sheathing your weapon while in combat indicates that you are yielding. Not all opponents will accept your yield; others may accept the yield but immediately resume fighting. Creatures and normally hostile NPCs (such as bandits) never accept a yield. If used while drawing a bow or holding a charged spell, this control cancels the attack. |
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| Attack / Right Hand | Left Click |  |
R1 | R2 | R |  |
Attack with the weapon in your right hand or cast the spell assigned to your right hand. | |
| Power Attack | Left Click (hold) | (hold) |
R1 (hold) | R2 (hold) | R (hold) | (hold) |
For melee weapons, use a Power Attack, which is a more powerful attack that uses up stamina. When using a bow, draw the bow; the longer you hold, the more damage you will do. The maximum damage and range is reached in about 1 sec. Releasing the control will fire the arrow. Sideways power attacks are initiated by moving to the left or right while holding attack. Similarly, backwards power attacks are initiated by moving backwards while holding attack. |
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| Block / Left Hand | Right Click |  |
L1 | L2 | L |  |
If you are using a one-handed weapon with an empty left hand or a shield, or you are using a two-handed weapon, you will block. However, if you have a weapon or spell assigned to your left hand, you will attack with that hand. | |
| Dual Cast | Left Click+Right Click | + |
L1+R1 | L2+R2 | L+R | + |
Attack with both hands simultaneously. If the same spell is assigned to both hands and you have unlocked the appropriate Dual Casting perk, a more powerful version of the spell is cast. If your mouse doesn't support left click + right click--some don't--remap right click to an unused modifier key, for example the Applications Key (or on a Macintosh running bootcamp, the cmd key) and use that instead. | |
| Power / Dragon Shout |
Z |  |
R2 | R1 | Front Touchscreen (Top Left/Right) |  |
Use the currently equipped power or dragon shout. Holding the control down for longer causes a higher-level shout to be used (if available). | |
| Favorites | Q | D-Pad Up/Down | D-Pad Up/Down | D-Pad Up/Down | D-Pad Up |  / , |
Brings up a quick menu on the lower left of the screen, showing only items / spells / powers / shouts marked as favorites. | |
General GameplayEdit |
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| Activate / Use |
E |  |
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Activate (doors, triggers) or pick up (places object in your inventory). If the button is held down, you can grab and manipulate physical objects. | |
| Change View | F (or mouse wheel) | Right Stick (click) |
R3 | R3 | Front Touchscreen (Center) |  |
Switches camera mode between first- and third-person views. Also marks items in inventory or spells / powers / shouts in the magic menu as favourites. Holding the button down in third person view and moving the mouse/left stick rotates the camera. |
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| Character Menu | TAB |  |
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Opens the main menu, to access Skills, Items, Map, and Magic submenus. | |
| Open Journal | J or ESC | Start | Start | Options | Start |  ,.png){kind=icon} |
Open Journal to access Quests, Stats, and System submenus. | |
| Wait | T | Back | Select | Touch Pad | D-Pad Left |  ,.png){kind=icon} |
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| Hotkeys | 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 | D-Pad | D-Pad | D-Pad | Front Touchscreen (Bottom Left/Right) |  / , , , |
 Used to mark the items/spells/shouts in the quick [favorites] menu (hotkey Q) you may later equip ingame by pressing the respective hotkey.
To hotkey items for an Xbox, PlayStation, or Switch controller, open the favorites menu by pressing the D-Pad/D-Buttons (not the Favorites category in the Items menu) and hold left or right on the D-Pad until a small 1 or 2 appears. Only 2 items/spells can be hotkeyed. |
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| Map | M | Quick Map | ||||||
| Inventory | I | Quick Inventory (Item List) | ||||||
| Magic | P | Quick Magic (Spells/Shouts/Powers List) | ||||||
| Skill Tree | / | Quick Skill Tree (Skill Progress/Available Perks) | ||||||
OtherEdit |
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| Rotate/Tilt Map | Right Click + Drag with mouse | Right Stick | Right Stick | (?) | |
Allows the in-game map to be rotated, when mouse is dragged left or right, and tilted when dragged up or down. | ||
| Quick Save | F5 | Saves the game in the QUICK slot and overwrites it automatically when pressed again. | ||||||
| Quick Load | F9 | Loads the game in the QUICK slot. | ||||||
| Open Console | Tilde (`) | Opens the in-game console. | ||||||
| Screenshot | Print Screen | Share | Select |  |
Captures a screenshot of the current moment in the game, and saves it in the main Skyrim folder. | |||
| Steam screenshot | F12 | Takes a screenshot that is saved to the Steam screenshots folder. Hotkey can only be configured through Steam settings. | ||||||
| Item count: 1 | Home | Set the item count (trading) to 1. | ||||||
| Item count: MAX | End | Set the item count (trading) to the maximum value. | ||||||
| Item count: step increase | Page Up | |
R1 | R1 | (?) | |
Increases the item count (trading) for a step relative to the maximum value (ceiling(MAX/4)). | |
| Item count: step decrease | Page Down | |
L1 | L1 | (?) | |
Decreases the item count (trading) for a step relative to the maximum value (ceiling(MAX/4)). | |
| Fast forward | Control + Print Screen | Toggle between normal and accelerated gameplay speed. | ||||||
Dragon RidingDBEdit |
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| Lock Target | Space | |
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(?) | |
Locks onto a target. | |
| Switch Target | 1, 2 | D-Pad Left/right |
D-Pad | D-Pad | (?) | / , , , |
Switch your target. | |
| Attack | Ctrl | Left Stick (click) |
L3 | L3 | (?) | |
Attack the target. | |
| Land | E | |
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(?) | |
Commands the dragon to land. | |
NotesEdit
Patch Version 1.2.12.0 does not allow you to assign controls to number pad keys 1-8, returning the error message "That button is reserved". This was fixed in a later version.- Remapping a key will remap it for all uses, but the game interface will continue to show the default control. For example if "Left Strafe" (A) is remapped to (Q), then you must use Q for lockpicking although the interface will continue to direct you to the A key for lockpicking. The "Change POV" key is similarly bound to the in-menu "Favorites" toggle.
When switching the attack buttons (RT and LT) with (RB and LB) you will be unable to block properly and can only use the power or shout currently equipped.
To adjust the distance of the camera in third person mode, right click and hold the right analog stick, then move the left analog stick vertically.
