On this page
Read this first. This page lists only inputs that appear on screen in official footage or that named previewers reported. Any complete "GTA 6 controls" chart online before November 19 is a guess based on GTA V. We will publish the full map for both consoles on launch day.
Quick facts
- Official control map
- Not published not announced
- Footage captured on
- PlayStation 5 official
- Xbox buttons
- None shown not announced
- Sprint
- L3, not tapping X reported
- Default aiming
- Freer aim with slight stickiness; auto-aim off reported
- First-person mode
- None shown; a GTABase claim that first person is used only when aiming some weapons is unconfirmed rumor
- Button remapping
- Not announced not announced
Every GTA 6 input reported so far
All inputs are PS5 buttons, because the Extended Look and the July preview sessions ran on a PS5. Rockstar has not confirmed any of them as final.
| Action | PS5 input | Source | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sprint | Press L3 (left stick) | MikeShowSha via Push Square; Vice* | reported |
| Take cover | R1 | Vice (TGG and TroisCouleurs previews) | reported |
| Handbrake | X | Vice (TGG and TroisCouleurs previews) | reported |
| Shoot while driving | L1 and R1 | Vice (TGG and TroisCouleurs previews) | reported |
| Refuel at a gas station | Hold R2 for about 10 seconds | Vice (TGG and TroisCouleurs previews) | reported |
| Hold hands with your partner | Right trigger (R2 on PS5) | GTABase (a fan database) only; Postmode saw a "Hold Hands" option in the Extended Look but named no button | rumor |
| Two quick slots for restoring health | Square and Triangle, on the weapon wheel | On screen; Postmode's reading | official |
| Slim jim a car door | Triangle, then the right stick from 3 to 9 o'clock | Postmode; Engadget describes the right-stick timing meter | reported |
| Show a livestream feed during a chase | Click R3 (right stick) | Engadget, which reads the feed as a nod to Lifeinvader | reported |
*Vice's roundup of the TGG and TroisCouleurs previews says sprint moved to "L2 (left joystick)". The left stick press is L3, which is what Push Square reports, so we read Vice's L2 as a typo.
What changed from GTA V
Where a reported GTA 6 input lines up with a GTA V one, here is the comparison. GTA V's inputs are its PlayStation defaults.
| Action | GTA V | GTA 6 (reported) |
|---|---|---|
| Sprint | Tap X | L3 |
| Handbrake | R1 | X, because L1 and R1 now shoot while driving |
| Cover | R1 | R1, unchanged |
| Switch character | Hold d-pad Down, pick a portrait | Not shown; Beebom guesses GTA V's scheme carries over |
| Default aiming | Traditional auto-aim, per Vice's comparison | Freer aim with a little stickiness |
| First person | Full first-person mode (added 2014) | Not shown; GTABase, a fan database, says only when aiming certain weapons |
The sprint change is the one players have waited for. Push Square notes that GTA V and Red Dead Redemption 2 kept sprint on repeated X taps long after most games moved it to the stick. For the character wheel on both consoles, see how to switch characters in GTA 6, and for everything beyond the buttons, the full GTA 6 vs GTA 5 comparison.
Movement and settings reported
These come from preview reports rather than on-screen prompts. reported
- Aiming. Traditional auto-aim is not on by default; aiming is freer with a small amount of stickiness (Vice).
- Crouch. Separate from cover, and lets you strafe in a fight (Vice). The button has not been reported.
- Shoulder switching. Returns from Red Dead Redemption 2 (Vice). The button has not been reported.
- Prone. Not shown in the preview (Vice).
- Options. Push Square says preview attendees heard a lot about customization, including different run speeds, and expects a setting to put sprint back on X.
- Streamer Mode and Photo Mode. Both reported by Vice; Streamer Mode turns off copyrighted music.
Not shown yet
No official footage or preview report gives the button for any of these: not announced
- Aim and fire on foot, melee, reload, jump and climb.
- Opening the weapon wheel, the phone and the map.
- Changing the radio station, the horn and the camera.
- Crouch and shoulder swap.
- Switching between Jason and Lucia. The wheel is on screen in the Extended Look, but not the button that opens it.
- The pedestrian menu (greet, antagonize, defuse and so on). Recaps describe the options, and their names vary; no source we could check names the button.
- Any DualSense touchpad, haptics or adaptive trigger use.
- Every input on Xbox Series X|S.
Expect GTA V's layout to be the starting point for most of these, but that is our expectation, and the moves already reported show Rockstar was willing to change things. The trophy and achievement lists are not out either; GTA 6 trophies explains when they usually appear.
A note for Xbox players
No Xbox prompt has appeared in anything official. Rockstar normally keeps the same button positions on both consoles, so if that holds, the PS5 inputs above would translate like this. This table is our assumption, not reported information.
| PS5 | Same position on Xbox |
|---|---|
| X / Circle / Square / Triangle | A / B / X / Y |
| L1 / R1 | LB / RB |
| L2 / R2 | LT / RT |
| L3 / R3 (stick clicks) | Left stick / right stick click |
What to do next: the character switch controls guide tracks the wheel's button on PS5 and Xbox. If you are buying a pad for launch, the GTA 6 controller page covers Sony's $84.99 Limited Edition DualSense, out November 19, and GTA 6 on PS5 covers the console side. Every system is on the GTA 6 gameplay hub.
Controllers for GTA VI
Sony's Grand Theft Auto VI Limited Edition DualSense comes out with the game on November 19. For Xbox, the Elite Series 2 Core is Microsoft's pro controller.
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Frequently asked questions
How do you sprint in GTA 6?
Press L3, the left stick, on PS5, according to previewer MikeShowSha via Push Square. Vice's roundup of the TGG and TroisCouleurs previews calls it "L2 (left joystick)", which we read as the same stick press. Either way it replaces tapping X, which GTA V and Red Dead Redemption 2 used. The Xbox equivalent has not been shown.
What are the GTA 6 controls on Xbox?
Not shown. The Extended Look and every preview session ran on PS5, so every reported input is a PlayStation button. Rockstar usually mirrors the layout across consoles, but we will not list Xbox buttons until they appear on screen or at launch.
Can you change the controls in GTA 6?
Not announced. Push Square notes that preview attendees kept hearing about options and ways to customize the experience, including different run speeds, but no remapping or control-scheme menu has been shown.
Does GTA 6 have a first-person mode?
None has been shown. GTABase, a fan database, says in its preview recap that play is built around third person and first person is used only when aiming certain weapons, but no outlet has repeated that, so treat it as rumor. Rockstar has not commented. GTA V added full first person in its 2014 re-release.
How do you switch characters in GTA 6?
You pick Jason or Lucia on a character wheel, but the button has not been shown on either console. Beebom guessed that GTA V's scheme (hold Down on the d-pad, then R1) might carry over; that is a guess, not a reported input. Some missions lock or force the switch.
What changed on this page
- Linked our character switch controls guide, the full GTA 6 vs GTA 5 comparison and the trophy list tracker.
- Credited the cover, handbrake, driving and refuel inputs to Vice's roundup of the TGG and TroisCouleurs previews, since Vice does not say which preview reported each one.
- Removed the character-switch buttons (Beebom's line is a guess based on GTA V), the partner and hurry prompts and the L2 pedestrian input, none of which a source we could open supports, credited the first-person detail to GTABase alone, and gave Vice's L2 wording for sprint instead of crediting Vice with L3; the hold-hands button and the first-person detail rest only on GTABase, a fan database, so both are now tagged rumor. The R3 livestream row no longer calls the feed Lifeinvader, which is Engadget's reading.