Sims 4 PC Controls, Keyboard Shortcuts & Hotkeys (Updated) – 2024

When it comes to the game, there are so many gaming controls and hotkeys that it’s difficult to remember them all. However, we’ve compiled all the Sims 4 PC Controls that you should know about, so don’t forget to bookmark this article and refer to it whenever you want to use a shortcut.

It’ll make doing things quicker and more efficient, so you should certainly rely on these controls for it. 

Basic PC Controls Sims 4

So let’s start with the most basic controls that you’d most likely use in the game for some or the other reason. 

• Home – Walls Up
• End – Walls Down
• Page Up – Go Up One Floor
• Page Down – Go Down One Floor
• Shift + Enter – Centres You On Lot
• Click on Sim’s Picture When Controlling – Finds That Sim
• Push Down Mouse Wheel – Adjusts the angle of the camera
• Scroll Mouse Wheel or click Z, X – Zooms in and out
• Esc – Closes Menus
• Space or N – Selects Next Sim in Household
• Ctrl + Shift + C – Opens Cheat Box
• F1 – Enters Live Mode 
• F2 – Enters Build Mode
• Left Click Object or Sim – You can interact with that object or character
• Left Click on Selected Sim – Choose from Go Jogging, Change Outfit, and other options
• Left Click on Ground – Command avatar to go there after selecting Move Here.
• Enter – Locate Active Sim
• ~ (Tilde) or P – Pause 
• 1, 2, 3 – Speed 1 (normal), Speed 2, Speed 3.
• Control + Shift + C – Access Cheat Console

Taking Screenshots and Recording Video

There are times when you can’t help but want to click a picture of your character to keep as a memory, so here’s how to quickly do that. 

• C – Captures a Screenshot
• V – Starts/Ends a Video Recording

You can find these videos and screenshots in Documents/Electronic Arts/The Sims 4/Screenshots and The Sims 4/Recorded Videos. 

Simology Panel Controls 

When playing the game in live mode, there are several menus at the bottom right corner of the screen. Here are the hotkeys to switch between them.

• G – Opens Aspiration Panel
• I – To view the Inventory Panel
• J – To open the Career/School Panel
• L – Opens Skills Panel
• R – For viewing the Relationship Panel
• Y – Opens Simology Panel
• O – To view the Needs Panel

Camera Controls

So one essential thing when playing Sims 4 is to change your camera type to a Sims 3 camera because it works in the same way, but you can easily change the angle and also rotate the camera. You can also enable edge scrolling to move from one neighborhood to another seamlessly, but it’s up to you. To do so, 

• Click Ctrl + Shift + Tab

Or

• Esc > Game Options > Controls and Camera > Sims 3 Camera

Now, other camera controls that are vital are as follows – 

• Hold Right-Click – Go Around the Neighborhood 
• W or Up Arrow – Move View Up
• A or Left Arrow – Shift View Left
• S or Down Arrow – Move View Down
• D or Right Arrow – Move View to the Right
• Left-click Sim Pic – Select that character
• Left-click Sim Pic – Make the Camera Go to
• Right-Click Sim Pic – Let the Camera follow that avatar
• Hold Mouse Wheel – Rotate the View or Tilt the Camera Up/Down to change angles.

First Person Mode Hotkeys

In 2018, the game released a new patch, which allows the players to play the game in first person mode. So here’s a list of its controls. 

• Shift + Tab – You can enter and exit the First Person View.
• Left Click – Players can interact with objects and characters, and it also allows them to move. However, the characters and things must be in their view.
• Shift (Hold) – It enables you to move the mouse while remaining in first person, which lets you click things in the game without disturbing the camera.
• Right Click – It makes the ‘Move Here’ option appear to enable you to go around doors and walls that you are unable to see through.
• Tab – This would remove the interface as it usually does.
• Ctrl – This re-centers the camera to where the avatar’s looking.
• Mouse Wheel – You can see more things on the screen as it adjusts the Field of View (FOV) and also prevents motion sickness. You can scroll down to increase FOV (zoom out on Mac), and it must come on slower if you are afflicted. You can also reduce FOV by zooming in, but only if you require that; otherwise, it’s not recommended. 

Buy and Build Mode

As you might be aware, if you destroy build mode objects using a sledgehammer or the hand tool along with delete, then you’d get your money refunded. Objects, such as walls, patterns, and so on, don’t depreciate in value, so you’ll get your money back.

There’s a design tool as well, which is excellent for color matching a room. All you have to do is press R and select any of the placed objects. You can now choose from the available colors to see which one matches the best. 

• F1, F2, F3 – Live Mode (Standard Gameplay), Buy Mode, Build Mode
• H – You can switch to the Hand tool, which would help you grab objects
• B – It lets you use the Wall tool to build walls
• Ctrl (Hold) – When you’re using the Wall tool, press control and delete walls and rooms. 
• Shift (Hold) – If you’re using the Wall/Room tool simultaneously, then this will switch between the two.
• E – Eyedropper. Players can copy an object quickly.
• K – Sledgehammer – This is to destroy objects by clicking on them
• R – Design Tool. You can recolor objects to create new Color Schemes.
• + (Numpad) – Select an object and press + on the number pad before placing it and it will go through color options for that object, and you can choose the one you see fit. 
• Control + Z – It’ll undo the last action – this mode remembers multiple actions as long as you don’t exit the build/buy mode.
• G – Toggles the Grid
• Shift (Hold) – Hold shift while placing this mode’s objects, and it’ll create duplicates of the same item, so you don’t have to select them again and again.
• Backspace – Press backspace while holding the required object that you want to place in the Household inventory. You can store several things quickly this way.
• , – It rotates the selected item to the left
• . – You can rotate the selected object to the right
• Hold Alt w/ Object – Press Alt while holding an item, and it’d allow you to place it anywhere without the grid restricting you.
• F5 toggle – You can place objects in sync with the grid, but at 1/2 to 1/4 the standard distance, which enables you to be more precise. 
• Control + F – Press these keys when you’re laying the floor. You can do 1/4 of a tile at once (a little triangle) to create unique designs.
• Hold Alt while Painting – This would fill a straight wall with your desired wall pattern.
• Hold Shift: Walls and Floors – Press shift, and the entire room will have the same pattern on the walls as the ones you selected.
• [ – This would make the brush size smaller when painting terrain. You can also choose square/circle brushes.
• ] – It’d make the brush size larger if you’re painting terrain. You can also go through square/circle brushes.
• ; – Your brush would become softer when painting terrain
• ‘– The brush would become harder while painting terrain.
• Ctrl – Hold this key when painting terrain to undo and reset terrain to default.
• Control + Y – This would redo the last action you undid in case you did something accidentally or changed your mind later on.
• Delete – You can use this while the object is selected to delete or sell it.
• T – You can switch to a top-down view and press it again to revert to your previous view
• L – It’d change the lighting from Morning to Afternoon, Evening, and Night to see how things would look. However, the real time remains the same.
• U – Press U, then click on the house to relocate the entire thing on the lot. You might be able to move or rotate it as well.

Gallery 

If you press F4, the gallery will open, where you can look at the creations of other simmers and even add them to your own neighborhood. 

Game Cheats

How can we not cover cheats that are useful in the game to progress? Check out these shortcuts to get a smooth and efficient gaming experience. 

• Help – It lists all the available commands in the game’s command console.
• resetSim {FirstName} {LastName} – If your character’s stuck, then it’d reset them.
• fullscreen – You can switch between the full screen on or off.
• headlineeffects{on/off} – This hides every headline effect, such as plumbobs, thought balloons, etc.
• Death.toggle – This cheat disables death so that your avatar becomes immortal.
• FreeRealEstate {on/off} – You can use it in any neighborhood or world. If on, all the homes in that area would become free.
• motherlode – It provides your character 50,000 Simoleons
• kaching – Your avatar would gain 1000 Simoleons
• rosebud – Provides 1000 Simoleons to your sim
• Shift + ] – It increases the size of objects.
• Enable cheats by typing “testingcheats true”, then enter “cas.fulleditmode,” which enables you to change everything about your character in the CAS.

Here’s what you can do by shift-clicking an object or a character. 

• Shift + Click on objects or characters to interact with them.
• Shift click on a character and select Add to Family. This would add that avatar to your current family.
• Cheat Motive > Make Happy – All your avatar’s motives, such as hunger, social, etc., would become full and make them happy.
• Cheat Motive > Enable Motive Decay – This would change motives dynamically.
• Cheat Motive > Disable Motive Decay – Using this would make all the motives stagnant. 
• Shift click on objects and choose Reset Object – Resets the Object.
• Shift click on dirty items and select ‘Make Dirty” – This would turn the objects dirty.
• Shift click on Clean items and choose “Make Clean” – It makes the objects clean.
• Shift click on a mailbox to reset it.
• Shift click on the ground, and choose the Teleport Me Here option – This would teleport the selected character close to the clicked spot.

Conclusion

These were all the Sims 4 PC controls that you should know while playing the game because they’d make things so much easier for you.

Just a click of a key, and you can expect the desired results; it’s that simple. So you can refer to this guide whenever you want because it’s like a holy grail for the players.

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