Age of Empires 4: All Keyboard Shortcuts and Hotkeys

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The beginnings of a coastal empire in Age of Empires 4.
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There is a wealth of keyboard shortcuts, hotkeys, controls, and keybinds available to use in Age of Empires 4. Getting to know them and using them throughout gameplay will improve reaction times and increase a players actions-per-minute in the real-time strategy game. Ultimately, efficient use of your keys and micromanagement skills will help you to secure success.

Without further ado, this guide explains all the keyboard shortcuts, hotkeys, rebinds, and controls available to use in Age of Empires 4.

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Read More: Age of Empires 4: Which Civilisation Should You Pick

The tables below describe the primary hotkey, secondary hotkey and an explanation of what they do. Where '-' is shown on its own, this means there is no secondary hotkey applicable to that action.

Gameplay

F10 ' Game Menu
F11Ctrl + TToggle game time display
ESC'Pause Game
Pause-Pause Simulation
F8Ctrl + QQuick Save
F9Ctrl + IQuick Load

Controls

Left Click a unit - Select unit
Double Left Click a unitCtrl + Left Click a unitSelect all visible units of the same type
Shift + Left Click a unit-Add/Remove unit from selection
Left Click ground and drag-Band a select group of units together
Left Click ground-Confirm placement of building or ability
Shift + Left Click ground-Queue placement of building or ability
Right Click ground with units selected-Issue a contextual order to selected units (Move, Attack, etc)
Right Click ground and drag selected units-Issue facing move order
Esc-Cancel action/deselect unit/game menu/skip cutscene
Ctrl + ACtrl + KSelect all visible units
Ctrl + Shift + ACtrl + Shift + KSelect all units
Y with unit selectedCtrl + YAccess secondary UI panel

Camera

Alt and move mouse Caps Lock Rotate camera (hold)
[6Rotate camera 45 degrees counter-clockwise
]4Rotate camera 45 degrees clockwise
Backspace0Reset camera - 1st press resets rotation, 2nd press resets zoom
F5-Focus on selected units
Home-Follow selected unit
<Alt + APan camera left
>Alt + DPan camera right
Up arrowAlt + WPan camera up
Down arrow Alt + SPan camera down

Unit Management

Tab Right arrow Forward cycle through selected units
Ctrl + TabLeft arrowReverse cycle through selected units
0-9Num (x1)Select control group X
Ctrl + 0-9Num X (x1)Set control group X to selected units
Shift + 0-9-Add group to selection
F1MSelect all military production buiildings
F2KSelect all economy buildings
F3OSelect all research buildings
F4PSelect all landmarks, wonders, and capital town centers
F5JFocus on selected units
HLCycle through town centers
']Cycle through individual monk units
/[Cycle through individual scout units
.NCycle from idle economy
Ctrl + .Ctrl + Up arrowSelect all idle villagers
Ctrl + Shift + VUp arrowSelect all Villagers
Ctrl + Shift + RPage upReturn all villagers to work
,Down arrowCycle through idle military units
Ctrl + ,Ctrl + Down arrowSelect all idle military units
Ctrl + Shift + CCtrl + MSelect all military units
Ctrl + FCtrl + VCycle through villagers gathering food
Ctrl + WCtrl + BCycle through villagers gathering wood
Ctrl + GCtrl + JCycle through villagers gathering gold
Ctrl + SCtrl + KCycle through villagers gathering stone
Shift + unit production hotkey (or click button)-Queue production of 5 units of that type
Del (hold) with uni selectedCtrl + =Delete unit or building
InsertCtrl + -Toggle team based or unique player colours

Communications

Shift + Enter \ All global chat
Enter/ Team chat
Enter with chat already open-Send chat message
Tab with chat already open-Swap between global and team chat
Page upShift + >Scroll older chat messages
Page downShift + <Scroll newer chat messages
F6Ctrl + FToggle players and tribute panel
SpacebarNum EnterFocus on last event
Ctrl + E then Left ClickCtrl + PNotify Ping
Ctrl + R then Left Click-Attack Ping
Ctrl + T then Left ClickCtrl + DDefend Ping

Observer and Replay

Ctrl + U U Toggle cinematic mode
Ctrl + CPToggle free camera
Ctrl + FLToggle fog of war
- (Dash)Num-Slower
=Num+Faster
Ctrl + ]Ctrl + .View next player
Ctrl + [Ctrl + .View previous player

There we have it. Players can now try to get the most out of their gameplay by utilising the above hotkeys! Please note, however, that these shortcuts sadly aren't customisable. For those who are new to the game, we have a useful guide of beginners tips here, and some guidance on how to tackle the first portion of the campaign, The Normans.