First-person shooter · PC

Left 4 Dead 2 controls & keybinds

Left 4 Dead 2’s default keyboard controls: W, A, S and D move, Space jumps, Ctrl crouches and Shift walks. The left mouse button fires, the right mouse button shoves and the middle mouse button zooms a sniper scope; R reloads and Q swaps back to your last weapon. The number keys 1 to 5 pick your primary weapon, pistol or melee weapon, throwable, first aid kit and pills. E uses and picks things up, F is the flashlight, T sprays, C is voice chat and Z and X open the vocalize menus.

The keys people look up first

Left 4 Dead 2 controls at a glance

Default bindings for the actions searched for most. The full lists, the settings that change how they feel and the printable layout are below.

Action	PC
Crouch	`Ctrl`
Jump	`Space`
Reload	`R`
Aim / ADS	`Mouse 3`
Grenade	`3`
Switch weapon	`Mouse wheel down`
Interact	`E`
Scoreboard	`Tab`

LMBFireRMBShove (push away enemies)MMBHunting / sniper rifle scopeM4unboundM5unboundScroll ↑Previous weaponScroll ↓Next weapon

Highlighted keys carry a default action; hover or tap a key for every action bound to it.

Action	Default key
Movement
Move	`W / A / S / D`
Walk (move slowly)	`Shift`
Jump	`Space`
Crouch (duck)	`Ctrl`
Combat
Fire	`Mouse 1`
Shove (push away enemies)	`Mouse 2`
Hunting / sniper rifle scopeOnly the hunting and sniper rifles have a scope.	`Mouse 3`
Reload	`R`
Previous weapon	`Mouse wheel up`
Next weapon	`Mouse wheel down`
Last weapon used	`Q`
Item slots
Primary weapon	`1`
Secondary weapon (pistols, axe, katana…)	`2`
Throwable (pipe bomb, Molotov, bile jar)Select it with 3, then throw it with Mouse 1.	`3`
First aid kit (heal), defibrillator or upgrade packHold Mouse 1 to heal yourself, or Mouse 2 while looking at a teammate to heal them.	`4`
Pain pills or adrenaline	`5`
Interaction
Use / pick up (doors, buttons, items)Hold it on a downed teammate to help them up.	`E`
Flashlight	`F`
Spray logo	`T`
Communication
Voice chat (push to talk)	`C`
Orders (vocalize menu)	`Z`
Questions and answers (vocalize menu)	`X`
Chat message (everyone)	`Y`
Team message	`U`
Vote yes	`F1`
Vote no	`F2`
Menus
Scoreboard (multiplayer scores)	`Tab`
Select team	`M`
Message of the day	`H`
Take a screenshot	`F5`
Main menu	`Esc`

Reach check · your keyboard, this game

Can your board actually play Left 4 Dead 2?

Every default bind, re-scored against the keyboard you own. Distance is measured from the left hand resting on WASD, because that is where it stays while you play.

On a 60% board Left 4 Dead 2 loses 3 keys. F1, F2 and F5 are not on that board at all — so vote yes, vote no and take a screenshot have nowhere to live until you rebind them. Do that before the first match rather than during it. How that compares with every other game.

W / A / S / D Move
Shift Walk (move slowly)
Space Jump
Ctrl Crouch (duck)
Mouse 1 Fire
Mouse 2 Shove (push away enemies)
Mouse 3 Hunting / sniper rifle scope
R Reload
Mouse wheel up Previous weapon
Mouse wheel down Next weapon
Q Last weapon used
1 Primary weapon
2 Secondary weapon (pistols, axe, katana…)
3 Throwable (pipe bomb, Molotov, bile jar)
4 First aid kit (heal), defibrillator or upgrade pack
5 Pain pills or adrenaline
E Use / pick up (doors, buttons, items)
F Flashlight
T Spray logo
C Voice chat (push to talk)
Z Orders (vocalize menu)
X Questions and answers (vocalize menu)
Y Chat message (everyone)
U Team message
F1 Vote yes
F2 Vote no
Tab Scoreboard (multiplayer scores)
M Select team
H Message of the day
F5 Take a screenshot
Esc Main menu

On the keys: your hand is already there
Comfortable: a finger moves, the hand does not
Stretch: the hand lifts, movement wobbles
Off movement: you let go of A and D to press it
Not on this board: the key does not physically exist

Reach uses the same key geometry as BindIQ, which can rebuild the whole layout for you once you know what is out of reach. Mouse buttons always count as reachable — your right hand is already there.

How that compares

3 keys missing 60%3 gone65%3 gonetenkeylessall there 60% keyboard check 24 of the 69 games we score lose a key on a 60%, and this is one of them.

One line per question

How to do the things people search for in Left 4 Dead 2

Generated from the default bindings above, so an action and its key can never disagree.

How to crouch in Left 4 Dead 2 on PC?

To crouch in Left 4 Dead 2, press Ctrl on PC.

How to jump in Left 4 Dead 2 on PC?

To jump in Left 4 Dead 2, press Space on PC.

How to reload in Left 4 Dead 2 on PC?

To reload in Left 4 Dead 2, press R on PC.

How to aim down sights in Left 4 Dead 2 on PC?

To aim down sights in Left 4 Dead 2, press Mouse 3 on PC. Only the hunting and sniper rifles have a scope.

How to throw a grenade in Left 4 Dead 2 on PC?

To throw a grenade in Left 4 Dead 2, press 3 on PC. Select it with 3, then throw it with Mouse 1.

How to switch weapons in Left 4 Dead 2 on PC?

To switch weapons in Left 4 Dead 2, press Mouse wheel down on PC.

How to interact or pick things up in Left 4 Dead 2 on PC?

To interact or pick things up in Left 4 Dead 2, press E on PC. Hold it on a downed teammate to help them up.

How to open the scoreboard in Left 4 Dead 2 on PC?

To open the scoreboard in Left 4 Dead 2, press Tab on PC.

Quick answers

What are the default controls in Left 4 Dead 2?

W, A, S and D move, Space jumps, Ctrl crouches and Shift walks. The left mouse button fires, the right mouse button shoves, the middle mouse button zooms a sniper scope, R reloads, the mouse wheel cycles weapons and Q swaps to the last one. 1 to 5 are the item slots: primary weapon, pistol or melee weapon, throwable, first aid kit and pills. E uses and picks up, F is the flashlight, T sprays, C is voice chat, Z and X open the vocalize menus, Y and U are text chat and Tab shows the scores.

How do you heal in Left 4 Dead 2?

Press 4 to take out the first aid kit, then hold the left mouse button to heal yourself, or look at a teammate and hold the right mouse button to heal them. Pain pills and adrenaline sit on 5: the left mouse button takes them and the right mouse button hands them to the teammate you are looking at. A defibrillator in slot 4 brings back a dead teammate when you hold the left mouse button over the body.

How do you shove in Left 4 Dead 2?

Press the right mouse button. A shove knocks back whatever is in front of you, which makes it the quickest way to clear common infected off your face and to knock a Hunter or a Jockey off a teammate.

How do you throw a pipe bomb or Molotov in Left 4 Dead 2?

Press 3 to take out the throwable — a pipe bomb, a Molotov or a bile jar — then aim and press the left mouse button to throw it.

How do you use voice chat in Left 4 Dead 2?

Hold C to talk. Without a microphone, Z opens the Orders menu and X the Questions and answers menu, so your survivor calls things out for you. Y sends a text message to everyone and U to your team only.

How do you change key bindings in Left 4 Dead 2?

Open Options, choose Keyboard/Mouse and select Edit Keys/Buttons. Pick an action, choose Edit Key and press the new key; Clear Key unbinds it and Use Defaults puts every key back. The developer console, which the same menu can switch on, also takes bind commands.

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Next steps for Left 4 Dead 2

Mouse DPI analyzer Measure the DPI your mouse really delivers before you change anything in game. Keyboard ghosting test Check the combinations L4D2 holds down at once actually reach the game.