The Sims 3 PC Keyboard Shortcuts & Hotkeys

by Falagar / Articles, Misc. Guides / 16 Mar 2019

Discover all the essential keyboard shortcuts and hotkeys to enhance your gameplay experience in The Sims 3 on PC.

All PC Settings

Camera Controls

Rotate Left/Right: [<] / [>] (for QWERTY keyboard); [,] / [.] (for AZERTY keyboard)

*[.] or [;] as these 2 signs share the same button of the AZERTY keyboard. (Not the [.] under the numeric panel.)

Tile Camera: [Control] + Right Click or Middle Click (hold)

Zoom In/Out: [+] / [-] or [Z] / [X] or Mouse Wheel (up and down)

Move Camera: Right Click (Hold and Drag)

Save Camera Positions 0-5: [Control] + [4] through [Control] + [9]

Scroll To Camera Positions 0 through 5: [4] through [9]

Switch To Camera Positions 0 through 5: [Shift] + [4] through [Shift] + [9]

Toggle Cameraman Mode: [Tab] – (An essential way to get a good screenshot from your game. Hides all the blue panels for the bottom of the screen.)

Lower/Raise Camera Height: [Q] / [E]

Move Left/Right: Left Arrow / Right Arrow or [A] / [D] (Adding [Shift] it moves faster)

Move Forward/Back: Up Arrow / Down Arrow or [W] / [S] (Adding [Shift] it moves faster)

Universal Control Panel

Hide UCP (User Control Panel): [F10] – Hides the user control panel. Hint: When you are in the Cameraman mode (by pressing [Tab]), while your game is paused, you can notice a red line at the borders of your screen and also a red button at the right corner of the top of your screen (that’s how your game shows you that it’s in pause) and you may not like to see it. Press then [F10] button to remove it, then you can enjoy the Cameraman Mode without seeing this undesired red line. Don’t forget to press again the [F10] button when you leave the Cameraman mode, otherwise you won’t see your UCP, as it remains hidden.

Quit Game: [Q] – Shows you the proposition to quit your game, choose Quit to really quit it.

Hand Tool (Buy/Build Mode): [H]

Eyedropper tool (Buy/Build Mode): [E] – Object cloner tool. Used to copy objects or textures to use or place these somewhere else.

Design Tool (Buy/Build Mode): [R] – Also called Create a Style tool. Opens the create a style panel. Use it to customize objects, walls, and floors with patterns or to recolor these. Some of the game objects, however, are not customizable.

Sledgehammer tool (Buy/Build mode): [K] – Switch to use the sledgehammer tool to delete an object or foundation/tile when something is on it (deletes mostly all kinds of things, except some things unable to delete, like sims). To delete simultaneously a group of objects on your lot, click on an item from this group and hold down across all that you wish to delete to highlight.

Toggle Day/Night (Buy/Build Mode): [L] – This tool does just what it implies, toggles between light and dark on a lot. Handy if trying to place lights strategically outside.

Indoor Grid Placement (Buy/Build Mode): [G] – Use it to remove the placement grid inside the house, press it again to make the grid reappear.

(Buy/Build Mode) Undo [C] and Redo [Z]: Press it one time to undo or redo your last action when you are in buy or build mode on your lot. You can then use undo or redo options on a list of actions (always in chronological order), but when there are too many things to undo, keep in mind that the number of actions memorized by your game is limited.

Top Down View (Buy/Build Mode): [T]

Cancel: [Esc] – Use to cancel something when there is a cancel option.

Remove (Buy/Build Mode): [Control] (hold) + Left Click (hold and drag) – To delete a wall, foundation, fence, a floor tile, or a wall panel or a terrain paint (only usable when you are using a corresponding placement tool, for example, when using a wall placement tool, hold Ctrl to delete a wall that you don’t want to see on your lot, but to remove a floor tile then, use a tile placement tool). It is also an eraser tool for terrain paint: to use it – go to terrain paint panel, then press Ctrl to remove all types of terrain paint from your lot, that will then show the default ground of your neighborhood instead of what you’ve deleted. Note: the eraser size depends on the size of your currently used terrain paint brush.

Video Capture and Snapshots

Start/End Video Capture: [V] – Starts capturing a video from your game

Pause/Resume Video Capture: [B]

Take Snapshot: [C] – Takes a screenshot of your game screen

Main Toolbar

Open/Close Live Mode Panel: [F1]

Show Buy Mode Panel: [F2]

Show Build Mode Panel: [F3]

Show Story Mode Panel: [F4]

Show Options Mode Panel: [F5]

Select Next Sim: [Spacebar] or [N]

Go Up/Down One Floor: [Page Up] / [Page Down]

Next Wall Mode: [Home]

Previous Wall Mode: [End]

Neighborhood Toolbar

Show/Hide Families Panel: [F1]

Show Lots and Houses Panel: [F2]

Show Decorations Panel: [F3]

Show Neighborhood Story: [F4]

Show Options Panel: [F5]

Object Placement Tools and Platform Rotate

Rotate Object/Sims Clockwise: [>] – You may also rotate the floor tiles with that. Is replaced [,] on some keyboards. (AZERTY keyboards).

Rotate Object/Sims Anti-Clockwise: [<] – Same but in anti-clockwise direction. Is replaced by [.] on some keyboards. (AZERTY keyboards).

Delete Object: [Del] – Deletes a currently selected item.

Toggle between full/quarter tile: [Ctrl]+[F] – (Use when you are placing a tile) For tile placement, switch between a full tile placement or a quarter tile placement. To return to a previous mode, press this shortcut again.

Free object rotation: [Alt] (Hold) – When placing objects, stones, or plants, it lets you freely rotate your object (on 360°, while rotating the object without using this key turns it on a 45 degree angle).

Free object placement: [Alt] (Hold) – While placing objects, stones, or plants lets you place freely without snapping it to the grid.

Create a full room (wall placement tool must be currently used): [Shift] (hold) + drag – As the wall placement tool only allows you to create one wall at a time, by holding [Shift], you will be able to create a whole enclosed piece with four walls, move your mouse to determine your room’s size.

CAS (Create a Sim) Shortcuts

Turn Sim Clockwise: [>] for QWERTY; [,] for AZERTY

Turn Sim Anti-Clockwise: [<] QWERTY; [.] AZERTY

Zoom in / Zoom out: Mouse wheel

Specific Sims (or pets) Shortcuts

Switch to next Sim in household: [SPACE] or [N] – Switch to your next sim – goes from bottom to top. That also centers the screen view on the currently selected sim.

Switch to (specific) Sim: Click Sim portrait.

Lock camera to Sim: Right-click Sim portrait.

Center on active Sim: [ENTER] – Centers your camera on the active sim.

Center on Active Sim: [Return]

Access Skill Journal: [J] – Opens the skill journal for your selected sim.

Access Celebrity Journal (Late Night Ep’s shortcut): [L] – For only a celebrity sim, to see details on their celebrity status by opening the Celebrity Journal found on the Simology tab for your selected sim.

Access Adventure Journal (World Adventures Ep’s shortcut): [K] – Open your selected sim’s adventures journal.

Access inventory: [I] – Shows you the inventory of your selected sim.

Time Control

Pause game: [P], [0], or [`] – To pause your game.

Regular/fast/ultra speed: [1]/[2]/[3] (or corresponding keys on Num Pad) – Press [1] to play with normal game time speed, [2] makes the time go x2 faster. [3] means getting to the 3rd, fastest speed.

Fast forward to end of interaction: [4] – To speed your time for a current selected sim interaction, is faster than the 3rd time’s speed, but the time returns to its regular running speed when this current interaction ends.

Other

Toggle cheat entry window: [CTRL] + [SHIFT] + [C] – Brings you the cheat entry command line to enter your cheats in.

Falagar

He is the founder and editor of Magic Game World. He loved gaming from the moment he got a PlayStation 1 with Gran Turismo on his 7th birthday.
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