Hop into your city center, queue for a quick chat with your team, and find this damn idle villager hanging out and taking up space right now. Today we’re excited to take a first look at some of the hotkeys you will have in your arsenal to build your village, manage your army on the battlefield, and help you become a better player Age of Empires IV.
See the full list below, as well as a detailed picture above for a quick reference. Save them in memory, keep these instructions open in your web browser, or print and stick them on your wall for easy reference. Also note that you can remap many of these hotkeys and create multiple profiles to experiment with your optimal setup.
| Hotkey standard | Secondary hotkey | Description of the hotkey action |
|---|---|---|
| Left click on a unit | N / A | Select unit |
| Double-click a unit with the left mouse button | Control and [ Left Click ] one unity | Select all visible units of the same type |
| Toggle and [ left click ] one unity | N / A | Add / remove unit to selection |
| Left click on the floor and drag the mouse | N / A | Bandbox selects groups of units |
| Left click floor | N / A | Confirm building or ability placement |
| Toggle and [ left click ] floor | N / A | Queuing or Skill Placement |
| Right click on Ground or Unit with Units Selected. | N / A | Give the selected units a contextual order (e.g. move, attack, etc.) |
| Right click on the ground and drag the mouse with units selected. | N / A | Turn order problem |
| ESC | N / A | Cancel / deselect device / game menu / skip NIS. Cannot be assigned by the user. |
| Controls | ||
| Ctrl + A | Ctrl + K | “Select all units on the screen” |
| Ctrl + Shift + A | Ctrl + Shift + K | “[Shift]: Select All Units “- Appears as a shift message on the Ctrl-A binding |
| Y with a selected unit | Ctrl + Y | Access to the secondary UI panel |
| camera | ||
| ALT and move the mouse | caps Lock | “Rotate (hold) camera” |
| [ | Num 6 | “Rotate camera 45 degrees counter-clockwise” |
| ] | Number 4 | “Rotate the camera 45 degrees clockwise” |
| Backspace | Number 0 | “Reset camera” – 1st press resets the camera rotation, 2nd press resets the zoom |
| F5 | N / A | “Focus on selected unit (s)” |
| home | N / A | “Follow selected unit” |
| < | ALT + A | “Pan camera left” – Standard binding on non-English keyboards reassigned to the key at this point |
| > | ALT + D | “Pan camera to the right” – Standard binding on non-English keyboards reassigned to the key at this point |
| / (Up arrow) | ALT + W | “Pan camera up” – Standard binding on non-English keyboards reassigned to the key at this point |
| / (Down arrow) | ALT + S | “Pan camera down” – Standard binding on non-English keyboards reassigned to the key at this point |
| Unit management | ||
| tab | Right arrow | “Go through selected units (forward)” “Switch selected device types through (forward)” Make sure multiple types of units are selected and tab with selected units |
| Ctrl + Tab | Left arrow | “Run through selected units (vice versa)” Cycle through selected unit types (vice versa) Make sure multiple unit types are selected and Control + Tab with selected units NB: Shift-Tab cannot be performed because it is the Steam overlay; ( |
| 0-9 | On one [x1] | “Select control group X” 1x selects a group, 2x selects and centers the camera on a group (or, depending on the user setting, follow “Focus on selected device (s)”) |
| Control and 0-9 [ range above ] | Number X [x1] | “Set control group X to selected device (s)” Assign group to selected units note: Setting a control group when no units are selected effectively removes that control group |
| Shift and 0-9[ range above ] | N / A | “[Shift]: Add group to selection “ Change this to “[Shift]: Add selected units to the group “ Add selected units to the group Appears as a shift message with 0-9 binding |
| F1 | m | “Select all military production buildings” Select the most central building of the selection with the FindAndCyclePickType setting for the pick type (since Mongolian buildings can move, so consequences actually have a meaning) |
| F2 | K | “Select all economy buildings” as above |
| F3 | Ö | “Select all research buildings” as above |
| F4 | P. | “Select all sights, wonders and capitals” |
| F5 | J | Focus on selected unit (s) |
| H | L. | “Cycle through the city centers” |
| Control + H | CTRL + L | “Focus on the center of the capital” Select and center camera on Capital Town Center |
| ‘(Apostrophe) | ] | “Go through individual monk units” (FindAndCyclePickType) Standard binding on non-English keyboards remapped to the key at this point |
| / | [ | “Cycle through individual Scout units” (FindAndCyclePickType) Default binding remapped on non-English keyboards to the key at that location |
| . (Period) | N | “Cycle through Idle Economy” (idle economy include villagers, trade carts, fishing ships, and trade ships, officials (chinese civ)) (IdleVillagerPickType) Default binding remapped on non-English keyboards to the key at that location |
| Control + . (Period) | CTRL + Up arrow | “Select all idle Villagers” Pick all idle villagers (IdleVillagerPickType) Default binding remapped on non-English keyboards to the key at that location (if all idle villagers are selected and made un-idle, Ctrl-. will not change the current selection – as designed) |
| Control + Shift + V | Up arrow | “Select all Villagers” Pick all Villagers (FindAndCyclePickType) |
| Control + Shift + R | Page up | “Return all Villagers to work (from Seek Shelter)” |
| , (Comma) | Down arrow | “Cycle through idle Military units” Default binding remapped on non-English keyboards to the key at that location |
| Control + , (Comma) | CTRL + Down arrow | “Select all idle Military units” Default binding remapped on non-English keyboards to the key at that location |
| Control + Shift + C | CTRL + M | “Select all Military units” |
| Control + F | CTRL + V | “Cycle through Villagers gathering Food” Cycle through groups of villagers gathering Food |
| Control + W | CTRL + B | “Cycle through Villagers gathering Wood” Cycle through groups of villagers gathering Wood |
| Control + G | CTRL + J | “Cycle through Villagers gathering Gold” Cycle through groups of villagers gathering Gold |
| Control + S | CTRL + K | “Cycle through Villagers gathering Stone” Cycle through groups of villagers gathering Stone |
| Shift and [ unit production hotkey ] or click the button | N / A | Queuing production of 5 units of this type |
| Delete (hold) with selected unit | CTRL + = | Delete unit or building |
| insertion | CTRL + – | “Toggle team-based or unique player colors” |
| communication | ||
| Shift + Enter | “[All] Global Chat “ | |
| Enter | / | [Team] Team chat |
| Enter when the chat is open | N / A | Send a chat message |
| Open chat tab | N / A | Switch between [All] Global and [Team] Team chat |
| Side up | Shift +> | “Scroll chat messages (older)” |
| Picture down | Shift + | “Scroll chat messages (newer)” |
| F6 | Ctrl + F | “Toggle Player & Tribute Panel” |
| Space bar | Num Enter | “Focus on the last event” Center camera on last notification |
| Ctrl + E, then left click | Ctrl + P | “Notify ping” |
| Ctrl + R, then left click | “Attack ping” | |
| Ctrl + T, then left click | Ctrl + D | “Defend ping” |
| game | ||
| F10 | ` | “Game menu” |
| F11 | Ctrl + T | “Toggle playing time display” |
| Single player | ||
| ESC | ` | Pause game |
| Break | N / A | “Stop simulation” |
| F8 | Ctrl + Q | “Quick save” |
| F9 | Ctrl + I | “Quick load” |
HUD hotkeys for observer / playback
| Hotkey | Secondary hotkey | description |
|---|---|---|
| Ctrl + U | U | “Switch cinema mode” |
| Ctrl + C | P. | “Switch free camera” |
| Ctrl + F | L. | “Toggle fog of war” |
| – | On one | “Slower” |
| = | Num + | “More quickly” |
| Ctrl +] | Ctrl +. | “Show next player” |
| Ctrl +[[[[ | Ctrl +, | “Show previous player” |
With innovative new ways to expand your empire across vast landscapes in breathtaking 4K, Age of Empires IV aims to bring real-time strategies to a new generation of PC gamers. We hope you join us on October 28th, when a new era dawns with the release of Age of Empires IV on Windows PC, available to purchase from the Microsoft Store and Steam, and included in Xbox Game Pass for PC and Ultimate.
Age of Empires IV pre-order
Xbox Game Studios
Pre-order Age of Empires IV now and receive the Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition expansion “Dawn of the Dukes” as a free bonus in August 2021 *. One of the most popular real-time strategy games returns to fame with Age of Empires IV, putting you at the center of epic historical battles that have shaped the world. Age of Empires IV offers both familiar and innovative new ways to expand your empire in vast landscapes with breathtaking 4K visual fidelity, and brings an evolved real-time strategy game to a new generation. Returning to History – The past is a prologue as you immerse yourself in a rich historical setting of 8 different civilizations around the world, from the English to the Chinese to the Sultanate of Delhi on your quest for victory. Build cities, manage resources and lead your troops into battle in 4 different campaigns with 35 missions on land and sea, spanning over 500 years of history from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance. Choose your path to greatness with historical figures – Relive the adventures of Joan of Arc on her way to defeat the English, or as Genghis Khan command powerful Mongolian troops as he conquered Asia. The choice is yours – and every decision you make will determine the outcome of the story. Customize your game with mods – Available early 2022, play how you want with user-generated content tools for custom games. Challenge the World – Jump online to compete, collaborate or watch with up to 7 of your friends in PVP and PVE multiplayer modes. An Age for All Players – Age of Empires IV is a welcoming experience for new players, with a tutorial system that teaches the essence of real-time strategy and a campaign story mode designed for first-time gamers for easy setup and success to allow challenging enough for experienced players with new game mechanics, advanced strategies and combat techniques. * The expansion bonus requires Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, which is sold separately. Valid for pre-orders through Steam, Microsoft Store and participating retailers. Content requires broadband internet to download. Contact your dealer for details.
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