Age of Empires IV - Controls Guide
The fourth Age of Empires game, the newest installment in the series, lets players take control of eight different civilizations, including the English, Chinese, Mongols, Delhi Sultanate, French, Abbasid Dynasty, Holy Roman Empire, and Rus. Age of Empires IV is a real-time strategy video game developed by Relic Entertainment.
In this guide, you’ll find all the controls needed to play Age of Empires IV.
Top Controls
| Action | Keys | Description |
| Rotate Camera (Hold) | Alt | Press Alt to rotate the camera (hold) |
| Select all units on the screen | Ctrl + A | Press Ctrl + A to select all units on the screen |
| Access secondary UI panel | Y | Press Y to access the secondary UI panel |
| Reset camera | Backspace | Press Backspace to reset the camera |
| Cycle through idle economic units | . | Press . to cycle through idle economic units |
| Focus on the last event | Space | Press Space to focus on the last event |
| Cycle through idle military units | , | Press , to cycle through idle military units |
| Focus on Capital Town Center | Ctrl + H | Press Ctrl + H to focus on the Capital Town Center |
Selection
| Action | Keys | Description |
| Select all units on the screen | Ctrl + A | Press Ctrl + A to select all units on the screen |
| Select all units | Shift | Press Shift to select all units |
| Access secondary UI panel | Y | Press Y to access the secondary UI panel |
Camera
| Action | Keys | Description |
| Rotate camera (Hold) | Alt | Press Alt to rotate the camera (hold) |
| Rotate camera 45 degrees counter-clockwise | [ | Press [ to rotate the camera 45 degrees counter-clockwise |
| Rotate camera 45 degrees clockwise | ] | Press ] to rotate the camera 45 degrees clockwise |
| Pan camera up | Arrow Up | Press Arrow Up to pan the camera up |
| Reset camera | Backspace | Press Backspace to reset the camera |
| Pan camera down | Arrow Down | Press Arrow Down to pan the camera down |
| Pan camera left | Arrow Left | Press Arrow Left to pan the camera left |
| Pan camera right | Arrow Right | Press Arrow Right to pan the camera right |
Unit Management
| Action | Keys | Description |
| Cycle through selected unit types (forward) | Tab | Press Tab to cycle through selected unit types (forward) |
| Cycle through selected unit types (reverse) | Ctrl + Tab | Press Ctrl + Tab to cycle through selected unit types (reverse) |
| Focus on the selected unit(s) | F5 | Press F5 to focus on the selected unit(s) |
| Follow selected unit | Home | Press Home to follow the selected unit |
| Cycle through idle economic units | . | Press . to cycle through idle economic units |
| Select all idle Villagers | Ctrl + . | Press Ctrl + . to select all idle Villagers |
| Select all Villagers | Ctrl + Shift + V | Press Ctrl + Shift + V to select all Villagers |
| Cycle through idle military units | , | Press , to cycle through idle military units |
| Select all idle military units | Ctrl + , | Press Ctrl + , to select all idle military units |
| Select all military units | Ctrl + Shift + C | Press Ctrl + Shift + C to select all military units |
| Cycle through individual Scout units | / | Press / to cycle through individual Scout units |
| Cycle through individual religious units | ' | Press ' to cycle through individual religious units |
| Cycle through Town Centers | H | Press H to cycle through Town Centers |
| Focus on Capital Town Center | Ctrl + H | Press Ctrl + H to focus on the Capital Town Center |
| Select all military production buildings | F1 | Press F1 to select all military production buildings |
| Select all economy buildings | F2 | Press F2 to select all economy buildings |
| Select all technology buildings | F3 | Press F3 to select all technology buildings |
| Cycle through Villagers gathering Food | Ctrl + F | Press Ctrl + F to cycle through Villagers gathering food |
| Select all Landmarks, Wonders, and Capital Town Centers | F4 | Press F4 to select all Landmarks, Wonders, and Capital Town Centers |
| Cycle through Villagers gathering Wood | Ctrl + W | Press Ctrl + W to cycle through Villagers gathering wood |
| Cycle through Villagers gathering Gold | Ctrl + G | Press Ctrl + G to cycle through Villagers gathering gold |
| Cycle through Villagers gathering Stone | Ctrl + S | Press Ctrl + S to cycle through Villagers gathering stone |
| Return all Villagers to work (from Seek Shelter) | Ctrl + Shift + R | Press Ctrl + Shift + R to return all Villagers to work |
Communication
| Action | Keys | Description |
| Global chat | Shift + Enter | Press Shift + Enter to open global chat |
| Scroll chat messages (older) | Page Up | Press Page Up to scroll older chat messages |
| Scroll chat messages (newer) | Page Down | Press Page Down to scroll newer chat messages |
| Focus on the last event | Space | Press Space to focus on the last event |
| Attack Ping | Ctrl + R | Press Ctrl + R to send an attack ping |
| Defend Ping | Ctrl + T | Press Ctrl + T to send a defend ping |
| Notify Ping | Ctrl + E | Press Ctrl + E to send a notify ping |
Game
| Action | Keys | Description |
| Toggle Players and Tribute panel | F6 | Press F6 to toggle the Players and Tribute panel |
| Game Menu | F10 | Press F10 to open the game menu |
| Toggle game time display | F11 | Press F11 to toggle the game time display |
| Toggle team-based or unique player colors | Insert | Press Insert to toggle team-based or unique player colors |
Single Player
| Action | Keys | Description |
| Quick Save | F8 | Press F8 to quick save |
| Quick Load | F9 | Press F9 to quick load |
Replay HUD
| Action | Keys | Description |
| Toggle cinematic mode | Ctrl + U | Press Ctrl + U to toggle cinematic mode |
| Toggle free camera | Ctrl + C | Press Ctrl + C to toggle the free camera |
| Toggle Fog of War | Ctrl + F | Press Ctrl + F to toggle Fog of War |
| Slower | - | Press - to slow down playback |
| Faster | = | Press = to speed up playback |
| View next player | Ctrl + ] | Press Ctrl + ] to view the next player |
| View previous player | Ctrl + [ | Press Ctrl + [ to view the previous player |