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Deadlock · Keybinds lab · Checked 7 October 2026

Deadlock keybinds, starting from the keys you already know.

Pick the game you came from — Overwatch 2, VALORANT, League of Legends or Dota 2 — and see which of your keys Deadlock reuses, which ones now do something else, and a rebind plan with every move listed. Then drill the parry window and fix the bind that will not save.

Every Deadlock default, on your own keyboard.

Valve publishes no controls list; these are the defaults the Deadlock Wiki and Valve’s own forum state. Press any key — or tap one — to see its job.

Press a key, or tap one above. Its Deadlock job and the note that goes with it appear here.

Not stated by any source yet, so not drawn: MapPush to talk (team voice)

Coming from another game? These are the keys that will betray you.

Every key is classed against the game you played: the same job in both, a different job (the trap), Deadlock only, or your old game only. The old layouts are this site’s own verified controls pages.

Esc1234567890
TabQWERTYUIOP
CapsASDFGHJKLEnter
Left ShiftShiftZXCVBNM,.
Left CtrlCtrlLeft AltAltSpace
Mouse 1M1Mouse 2M2Mouse 3M3Mouse 4M4Mouse 5M5
12keys do the same job
7keys do a different job
6keys only Deadlock uses

The traps

Q Ultimate Melee

E Ability 2 Event item (cosmetic slot)

F Interact Parry

Z Ultimate status Active item 1

X Group up Active item 2

C Communication wheel Active item 3

V Quick melee Active item 4

Nothing to relearn on TabWRASDEnterLeft ShiftLeft CtrlSpaceMouse 1Mouse 2

A plan that puts your abilities back under your fingers

3 moves follow your Overwatch 2 habits; 2 re-home what they push off. Change these in Keybinds with Hero-specific keybinds off, so they apply to every hero.

Ability 1 1 E your habit

Ultimate (ability 4) 4 Q your habit

Melee Q V your habit

Active item 4 V 4 pushed off, re-homed

Event item (cosmetic slot) E 1 pushed off, re-homed

A plan, not Valve’s advice: it keeps Deadlock’s dash, jump and parry where they are and only moves what your old game had somewhere else.

Parry on time: three quarters of a second, and a miss costs four and a half.

A parry catches melee hits for the first 0.75 s of a one-second animation. Press too early and the window closes before the blow lands — then the key is locked for 4.5 s. Ten heavy melees: press F, Space or tap Parry as the fist comes in.

Ten heavy melees

The wind-ups vary in length. Press as the fist comes in — inside the last three quarters of a second.

–parried
–too early
–too late or locked
–median ms before impact

  • 0.75 sparry window, of a 1 s animation
  • 4.5 slocked after a miss (2.75 s with Rebuttal)
  • 2.75 sstun on a successful parry
  • +25%damage the parried attacker takes

The parry numbers are the Deadlock Wiki’s. Valve does not publish how long a heavy melee winds up, so the drill’s wind-ups are its own and vary on purpose.

A bind that will not stay put? Pick what you see.

Six problems players have reported on Valve’s own Deadlock forum in 2026, each with what causes it and what fixes it.

“Critical keybind missing” — a hero has an essential action with no key

  1. Open Keybinds and look at the Hero-Specific panel. A hero icon marked red is the one with the missing bind.
  2. Select that hero and find the action shown in red — often one whose key you gave to something else for that hero.
  3. Bind it again, or reset that hero alone with its Reset button.

The warning appeared for many players after the update of 30 September 2026. It can point at a hero you are not playing, which is why the main list looks complete.

Where your binds and your config live

Personal binds, as players found them:

Steam\userdata\<your account number>\1422450\remote\cfg\citadelkeys_personal.lst

Console commands to run at every start go in an autoexec.cfg in this folder, with -exec autoexec in the game’s launch options:

steamapps\common\Deadlock\game\citadel\cfg

Everything this site has on Deadlock

Two pages and neither repeats the other: this keybinds lab and the controls page with every sourced default. Every figure is counted from what the page holds.

21 bindings keyboard21controller0settings3 in 3 Deadlock controls Every default bind on keyboard and pad, dated, with the settings behind them. 4 benches keyboardyescontrollernotouchscreenyes Deadlock input lab You are here
Answers

Straight answers

The keybind questions Deadlock players ask, answered from the wiki and from Valve’s own forum.

What are the best Deadlock keybinds for Overwatch players?

Keep Left Shift on dash — it was your mobility key in Overwatch too — and move three things: ability 1 onto E, the ultimate onto Q and melee onto V, where Overwatch had them. That pushes the event item and item 4 off E and V; the lab’s plan puts them on 1 and 4, which the moved abilities left free, and lists every move so you can undo any of them.

What are good Deadlock keybinds for League of Legends players?

League moves with the mouse and Deadlock moves on W, A, S and D, so Q, W, E and R cannot all follow you: W is forward. Keep 1 to 4 for the abilities to start with — they sit where League kept your items — and watch the keys the lab marks as traps: Q is melee, F is parry and E is the event item.

How do I fix Critical keybind missing in Deadlock?

Open Keybinds and look under Hero-Specific for a hero icon marked red: that hero has an essential action left without a key, often after a rebind that took its old key away. Bind that action again for that hero. The warning can point at a hero you are not playing, which is why the main list looks complete.

Why do my Deadlock keybinds not save?

Most often they did, for one hero: with Hero-specific keybinds on, a change goes to the hero selected at the top of the menu. The City Never Sleeps update also made the alternate cast mode per hero and reset it for players who had changed it. If binds vanish for every hero, check that Steam Cloud is on for Deadlock.

How long is the parry window in Deadlock?

A parry animation lasts one second and catches melee hits during its first 0.75 seconds. A parry that catches nothing locks the key for 4.5 seconds, or 2.75 with Rebuttal. A successful parry stuns the attacker for 2.75 seconds and makes them take 25% more damage from every source.

Where is the Deadlock keybinds file?

Players on Valve’s forum found personal binds in Steam\userdata\<your account number>\1422450\remote\cfg\citadelkeys_personal.lst, a file Steam Cloud keeps in step. Valve has not documented it, so copy it before editing. Console commands you want at every start go in an autoexec.cfg in steamapps\common\Deadlock\game\citadel\cfg.

Tools for the same hands

BindIQ keybind optimizer Test a rebind for reach and conflicts before you play forty matches on it. Keyboard ghosting test Deadlock asks for W, Shift, Space and an ability at once; check your keyboard reports all of them together. Reaction time test The parry window is three quarters of a second; know your own reaction before you blame the timing. Other game labs The same treatment for the rest of the library.

Unofficial. Keymap Labs is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Valve. Deadlock is a trademark of Valve Corporation. The defaults are taken from the Deadlock Wiki and Valve’s forum; the old games’ keys are this site’s own verified controls pages; the parry numbers are the wiki’s and the drill’s wind-ups are this page’s own. Key presses stay in this browser. Last checked 7 October 2026.

Main source: Deadlock Wiki