Skyrim:Controls

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 Controls

Control	PC	Xbox 360	PS3	PS4	PS Vita	Switch	Notes
Movement
Look/Turn	Mouse	Right Stick	Right Stick	Right Stick	Right Stick		Also used to navigate menus.
Move	W, A, S, D	Left Stick	Left Stick	Left Stick		Left Stick
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						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 On Xbox, PlayStation and Switch you click down on the left stick
Combat
Ready Weapon/ Sheath Weapon	R						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.
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.
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 Gameplay
Activate / Use	E						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.
Character Menu	TAB						Opens the main menu, to access Skills, Items, Map, and Magic submenus.
Open Journal	J or ESC	Start	Start	Options	Start	,	Open Journal to access Quests, Stats, and System submenus.
Wait	T	Back	Select	Touch Pad	D-Pad Left	,
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. On PS Vita, it is possible to hotkey Favorite 1 by tapping the bottom left of the front touchscreen, and Favorite 2 by tapping the bottom right.
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)
Other
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 RidingDB
Lock Target	Space				(?)		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				(?)		Commands the dragon to land.

Notes

• 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.