Civilization V Hotkeys & Keyboard Shortcuts Guide

In our Civilization V Hotkeys & Keyboard Shortcuts List Guide, we have detailed all the keyboard shortcuts and hotkeys for the game.

This Civilization V Hotkey Guide has been carefully crafted to help you find every key used in the game on the PC platform. Hotkeys/Keyboard Shortcuts can make a big difference in strategy games, especially in multiplayer, when you are short on time. 

The same goes for the case of this game. You obviously can save time using the shortcuts rather than dragging your mouse for each move, which ultimately slows you down. Do note that you may be able to change your keybinds by going into the Settings menu. Following is a list of Hotkeys/Shortcuts that can be used in Civilization V on PC.

General Hotkeys 

Hotkey Action Performed 
F1 Civilopedia 
F2 Economic info 
F3 Military info 
F4 Diplomacy info 
F5 Social Policies Screen 
F6 Tech Screen 
F7 Notification Log 
F8 Victory Progress 
F9 Demographics 
F10 Strategic View 
F11 Quick Save 
F12 Quick Load 
G Hex Grid 
Esc Menu 
Enter End Turn 
Period Next Unit 
Comma Previous Unit 
– Zoom Out 
+ Zoom in 
Insert Capital City View 
Home Capital City View 
End Capital City View 
Page up Zoom in 
Page Down Zoom Out 
Ctrl+R Show Resources Icons 
Ctrl+Y Yield Icons 
Ctrl+O Game Options 
Ctrl+S Save 
Ctrl+L Load 
Ctrl+Spcae End Turn 

General Unit Hotkeys 

Used to control General units in the game. 

Hotkey Action Performed 
M Move Mode 
E Explore (Automated) 
A Alert 
F Sleep 
Space Do Nothing 

Action Hotkeys 

Used to perform actions on, or from any units in the game. 

Hotkey Action Performed 
Delete Delete Unit 
Ctrl+A Attack 
Ctrl+B Ranged 
S Set up Artillery 
H Fortify Until Healed 
TIP

You cannot change the Shortcut keys through the in-game menu, however, you can edit the CivVControls.XML control file found in the game’s install directory to manually set custom controls.

Air Unit Hotkeys 

Control units that fly/levitate in the air. 

Hotkey Action Performed 
Alt+R Rebase Mode 
S Air Strike Mode 
Alt+S Air Sweep 
I Intercept 
N Nuke Mode 

Civilian Unit Hotkeys 

Control units that are the fundamental of Civilization: Civilians. 

Hotkey Action Performed 
B Found City 
A Build Improvements (automated) 
R Construct a Railroad 
R Construct a Road 
Alt+R Route to Mode 
Alt+C Remove a Jungle 
Alt+C Clear a Marsh 
T Construct a Trading Post 
H Construct a Camp 
I Construct a Farm 
N Construct a Mine 
P Construct a Plantation 
Q Construct a Quarry 
P Construct a Pasture 
F Construct a Fort 
O Create a Well 
F Create Fishing Boats 
O Create Offshore Platform 
Alt+C Remove Forest 
Backspace Cancel Last Mission 
L Construct a Lumber Mill 
C Citadel 

Ali Hasan is writer at SegmentNext.com with a deep love for immersive action role-playing games and well-crafted narratives. His weapons of choice include controllers and keyboards.