Hotkey

Hotkeys are a quick way to select or build buildings and to train units in Age of Empires series. If used properly, they can save the player valuable seconds of game time, especially at the start of a game. The default hotkeys can be modified for most games in the series.

Age of Empires

Villager hotkeys

With a Villager selected, press B to open the buildings menu then a hotkey to lay the foundation for the corresponding building:

Purpose	Hotkey		Purpose	Hotkey		Purpose	Hotkey
Buildings menu	B		Archery Range	A		Temple	P
Repair	R		Stable	L		Town Center	N
House	E		Farm	F		Siege Workshop	K
Barracks	B		Tower	T		Academy	Y
Granary	G		Wall	W		Wonder	O
Storage Pit	S		Market	M
Dock	D		Government Center	C

Go to hotkeys

Press the hotkey combinations below to cycle through particular building types:

Purpose	Hotkey
Academy	Ctrl + Y
Temple	Ctrl + P
Archery Range	Ctrl + A
Dock	Ctrl + D
Town Center	H Ctrl + H Ctrl + N
Stable	Ctrl + L
Barracks	Ctrl + B

Return of Rome

In Return of Rome, just like Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, the default hotkey layout for selected objects is a grid layout/QWERTY layout, and looks similar to the layout of a standard keyboard.

Go to hotkeys

Press the denoted hotkey to cycle through the building type. Note that cycling through Town Centers does not require pressing Ctrl, only H. Press Ctrl + Shift + Letter hotkey to select all buildings of a particular type.

Building	Hotkey		Building	Hotkey		Building	Hotkey
Academy	Ctrl + S		Government Center	Ctrl + U		Stable	Ctrl + L
Archery Range	Ctrl + A		Granary	Ctrl + I		Storage Pit	Ctrl + Z
Barracks	Ctrl + B		Market	Ctrl + M		Temple	Ctrl + Y
Dock	Ctrl + D		Siege Workshop	Ctrl + K		Town Center	H

Build hotkeys

Click on a Villager and then first click on either the economic buildings button (Q) or military buildings button (W) and then press one of the hotkeys below to lay the foundation for the corresponding building.

Building	Hotkey		Building	Hotkey		Building	Hotkey
Academy	A		Government Center	D		Storage Pit	E
Archery Range	W		Granary	W		Temple	F
Barracks	Q		House	Q		Tower	F
Dock	R		Market	S		Town Center	Z
Farm	A		Siege Workshop	R		Wall	S
Gate	D		Stable	E		Wonder	X

Other hotkeys

Building	Hotkey
Go to last notification	Home Mouse button 3
Cycle through idle Villagers	.
Select all idle Villagers	Shift + .
Cycle through idle military units	,
Select all idle land military units Press again for idle warships	Ctrl + ,
Select all land military units Press again for all warships	Shift + ,
Select all military units visible onscreen Press again for visible warships	Alt + ,
Select all military buildings	Ctrl + Shift + Space
Attack ground with selected units	T
Drop off resources	A
Seek shelter	F
Attack move with selected units	R
Set selected units to line formation	Z
Set selected units to flank formation	V
Unload from transport	Q
Garrison with selected Villagers	T
Ungarrison	B
More items / next build screen	G
Delete one of selected units	Delete
Delete all selected units	Shift + Delete
Stop all tasks	G
Cycle various modes of time display	F11
See previous chat messages	Page up
See newer chat messages	Page down

Age of Empires II

Hotkeys Prior to the HD Edition

Buildings

To build one of the following buildings, select a Villager, then press B or V and then one of the following shortcuts:

• Town Center: N
• House: E
• Mill: I
• Farm: F
• Lumber Camp: Z
• Mining Camp: G
• Dock: D
• Barracks: B
• Market: M
• Blacksmith: S
• Archery Range : A
• Stable: L
• Monastery: Y
• University: U
• Siege Workshop: K
• Castle: V
• Outpost: Q
• Palisade Wall: P
• Palisade Gate: X
• Stone Wall / Fortified Wall: W
• Gate: /
• Watch Tower / Guard Tower / Keep: T
• Bombard Tower: J
• Wonder: O
• Feitoria: B

To select one of the buildings above, use the shortcut, but press Ctrl at the same time, e.g. to go to a Castle, press Ctrl+V. To select a Town Center, just press H (without the Crtl-button). To view (put in the middle of the screen) a selected building or unit that the player has currently selected, hit Space.

Even though the Palisade Gate is assigned to the X, it cannot be selected or built using the shortcut, because the X is reserved to switch between civilian and military buildings in the building menu. So in essence, that shortcut is broken.

The Feitoria can only be built with the combination B + B, and not V + B, because the B shortcut is shared with the Barracks.

Units

To create a unit, select the building and then hit the shortcut.

Town Center

• Villager: C

Dock

• Fishing Ship: F
• Transport Ship: P
• Trade Cog: T
• Galley / War Galley / Galleon: A
• Fire Galley / Fire Ship / Fast Fire Ship: R
• Demolition Raft / Demolition Ship / Heavy Demolition Ship: D
• Cannon Galleon / Elite Cannon Galleon: C
• (Elite) Longboat: G
• (Elite) Turtle Ship: S
• (Elite) Caravel: G

Barracks

• Militia / Man-at-Arms / Long Swordsman / Two-Handed Swordsman / Champion: S
• Spearman / Pikeman / Halberdier: E
• Eagle Scout / Eagle Warrior / Elite Eagle Warrior: G
• Condottiero: R

Archery Range

• Archer / Crossbowman / Arbalester: A
• Skirmisher / Elite Skirmisher: R
• Cavalry Archer / Heavy Cavalry Archer: C
• Hand Cannoneer: E
• Slinger: E
• (Elite) Genitour: V

Since the Slinger and the Hand Cannoneer share the same shortcut, it is impossible for the Inca to get Hand Cannoneers, not even with the Full Tech Tree option.

Stable

• Scout Cavalry / Light Cavalry / Hussar: T
• Knight / Cavalier / Paladin: N
• Camel Rider / Heavy Camel Rider / Imperial Camel Rider: C

Market

• Trade Cart: T

Monastery

• Monk: T
• Missionary: S

Siege Workshop

• Battering Ram / Capped Ram / Siege Ram: R
• Mangonel / Onager / Siege Onager: A
• Scorpion / Heavy Scorpion: N
• Bombard Cannon: C
• Siege Tower: V

Castle

• (Elite) Unique unit: T
• Petard: P
• Trebuchet: R

Definitive Edition

In Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, the default hotkey layout for selected objects, called the grid layout or the QWERTY layout, is similar to the layout of a standard keyboard. For example, the hotkey for the top-left action is Q, the hotkey for the action to the right of it is 'W', and so on.

Default Stable Hotkeys in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition

Top Row	Q	W	E	R	T
Middle Row	A	S	D	F	G
Bottom Row	Z	X	C	V	B

Go to hotkeys

The table below contains the default hotkeys for Cycle (also known as Go To) Commands.

For buildings, the shortcut to select a single building of a specific type is Ctrl + Hotkey, except for the Town Center which is selected by pressing solely H. The shortcut to select all buildings of a specific type is Ctrl + Shift + Hotkey.

Building	Hotkey		Building	Hotkey		Building	Hotkey
Archery Range	A		Fortified Church	Y		Mule Cart	Z
Barracks	B		Krepost	T		Siege Workshop	K
Blacksmith	S		Lumber Camp	Z		Stable	L
Castle	V		Market	M		Town Center	H
Dock / Harbor	D		Mill	I		University	U
Donjon	N		Mining Camp	G
Folwark	I		Monastery	Y

Build hotkeys

After selecting a Villager, players first need to click Q to open the economic buildings screen, or W to open the military buildings screen. Then the player can click one of the keys below to lay the foundation for the corresponding building.

Building	Hotkey		Building	Hotkey		Building	Hotkey
Archery Range	W		Folwark	I		Outpost	A
Barracks	Q		Fortified Church	F		Palisade Gate	X
Blacksmith	S		Gate / Fortified Gate	Z		Palisade Wall	S
Bombard Tower	G		House	Q		Siege Workshop	R
Caravanserai	C		Krepost	T		Stable	E
Castle	C		Lumber Camp	R		Stone Wall / Fortified Wall	D
Dock / Harbor	T		Market	D		Watch Tower / Guard Tower / Keep	F
Donjon	T B (Serjeant)		Mill	W		Town Center	Z
Farm	A		Mining Camp	E		University	G
Feitoria	C		Monastery	F		Wonder	X
Fish Trap	Q (Fishing Ship)		Mule Cart	R

Other hotkeys

Some of the most relevant, important, or commonly used hotkeys are:

Purpose	Hotkey
Cycle through idle Villagers	.
Select all idle Villagers	Shift + .
Drop Off for selected Villagers/Fishing Ships	A
Seek Shelter	F
Send chat message	Enter (Return Carriage)
Attack move with selected military units	R
Change selected units to flank formation	V
Change selected units to line formation	Z
Cycle through idle military units	,
Select all idle military units Press again for idle naval units	Shift + ,
Select all idle military visible on screen Press again for visible idle warships	Alt + ,
Go to King	Ctrl + Alt + ,
Select all idle Trade Carts Press again for idle Trade Cogs	Alt + .
Attack ground with selected units	T
Garrison selected units in a building/transport	T
Change weapon of selected Rathas	B
See next page of selected building	B
Pack selected Trebuchets	W
Unpack selected Trebuchets	Q
Put (only) selected objects in a control group (1-10)	Ctrl + <Number (0-9)>
Put (only) selected objects in a control group (11-20)	Ctrl + Alt + <Number (0-9)>
Select control group (1-10), add Alt for 11-20	<Number>
Select and snap view on group, add Alt for 11-20	Ctrl + Shift + <Number>
Append selected object to a control group	Shift + <Number>
Ungroup selected object from control group	U
Delete one selected unit or building	Delete
Delete all selected units or buildings	Shift + Delete
Stop selected unit or building	G
Toggle through multiple modes of game time display	F11
Display technology tree	F5
Display previous chat messages	Page Up
Display next chat messages	Page Down
Spectate player <Number>, F9 for Gaia	Ctrl + Shift + F<Number>
Ctrl + "+"	Zoom in
Ctrl + "-"	Zoom out

Age of Mythology

Extended Edition

Find/go to hotkeys

The "Find" hotkeys can be used to cycle through the building or unit type:

Purpose	Hotkey		Purpose	Hotkey		Purpose	Hotkey
Hero	Ctrl + I		Dock	Ctrl + D		Sentry Tower / Watch Tower / Guard Tower / Ballista Tower	Ctrl + P
Idle villager	.		Farm	Ctrl + F		Armory	Ctrl + R
Idle military	,		Food drop site Economic Guild Garden	Ctrl + G		Stable Counter Barracks	Ctrl + S
Town Center / Citadel Center	H Ctrl + Z		Mirror Tower	Ctrl + K		Temple	Ctrl + T
Last notification	Mouse button 3		Wonder	Ctrl + J		Monument Sky Passage	Ctrl + U
Archery Range	Ctrl + A		Gold drop site	Ctrl + M		Fortress	Ctrl + V
Barracks	Ctrl + B		Wood drop site	Ctrl + N		Market	Ctrl + X
Siege Works	Ctrl + C		Obelisk	Ctrl + O

Build hotkeys

Select a builder unit and press a hotkey to lay the foundation for the corresponding building.

Shared

Building	Hotkey		Building	Hotkey		Building	Hotkey
Barracks	B		Wonder	J		Fortress Migdol Stronghold Hill Fort Palace Castle	V
Dock	D		Tower	L		Wall	W
House / Manor	E		Armory	R		Market	X
Farm	F		Temple	T		Town Center	Z

Greeks

Building	Hotkey
Archery Range	A
Granary	G
Storehouse	M
Stable	S

Egyptians

Building	Hotkey		Building	Hotkey
Granary	G		Lumber Camp	N
Lighthouse	L		Obelisk	O
Mining Camp	M		Siege Works	C
Monument	U

Norse

Building	Hotkey
Longhouse	B
Armory	R

Atlanteans

Building	Hotkey
Counter Barracks	S
Economic Guild	G
Sky Passage	U

Chinese

Building	Hotkey
Stable	S
Garden	U
Storage Pit	G

Unit training

When training units, hold down Shift to queue multiple units of the type.

Other hotkeys

Other relevant hotkeys are:

Building	Hotkey
Center on selected object	Space
Transform selected Norse Villager to Ulfsark	U
Transform selected Atlantean human unit or Citizen to Hero	U
Toggle strategic map (bigger minimap)	Tab
Select numbered group <Number>	<Number>
Append to group <Number>	Shift + <Number>
Set selected units as group <Number>	Ctrl + <Number>
Look at group <Number> (without changing selection)	Alt + <Number>
Remove selected object from all groups	Ctrl + 0
Eject garrisoned units	N
Attack move with selected units	A
Set units to guard another object	W
Set units to patrol between present and another location	T
Delete selected object	Delete
Set aggressive stance	Alt + A
Set defensive stance	Alt + D
Set passive stance	Alt + S
Set default formation	Alt + L
Set box formation	Alt + B
Set mixed formation	Alt + M
Set spread formation	Alt + X
Stop all tasks	Q
Toggle Friend or Foe colors	Alt + F
Enable/disable camera rotation	Alt + C

Gameplay elements in the Age of Empires series
Age Ability (II · M · III · IV) Architecture set (II · III) Area of Effect (Trample damage) Armor (Melee I & II · Pierce I & II · M · IV) Armor class (I - original · I - Return of Rome · II) Artificial intelligence Attack (IV) Attack ground Aura (IV) Auto Scout Building (I · II · M · III · IV · C · AoE:DS) Civilization (I · II · M · III · IV · C) Civilization bonus Cheat code (I · II · M · III · IV) Conversion Counter Diplomacy Gaia/Mother Nature Game modes Garrison Gather Point Healing Hit points Hotkey Line of Sight Mini map Mobile building Pass-through damage Player Population Range Rate of Fire Regeneration Relic (II · M · IV) Repairing Resists Resource (Renewable resource) Scenario Editor (I · II · M · III · IV) Score Signal Allies/Flare Snare Soundtrack (I · II · M · III · IV) Speed Stealth mode Taunt Technology (I · II · M · III · IV · C · Unique) Technology tree (I · II · IV · C) Terrain (AoE:DS · AoM:DS) Town Bell Trade (IV) Tribute Unit (I · II · M · III · IV · C · AoE:DS · AoM:DS) Unit formation Unit stance (III) Unit type/tag (II · M · III · IV) Upgrade (I · II · III · IV) User interface Victory Villager Priority
Genie Engine-exclusive
Frame delay · Full Tech Tree · Team bonus
Age of Empires	Ruins · Discovery
Age of Empires II	Projectile duplication
Bang Engine-exclusive
Autoqueue · Multiplier
Age of Mythology	God (Major · Minor) · God power · Settlement (Settlement Victory) · Weight class
Age of Empires III	Age-up methods (Politician/Tribal Council/Wonder/Federal State/Alliance) · Banner army · Consulate · Damage Cap · Home City · Home City Card · Inspiring Flag · Minor civilization · Promotion · Revolution · Target Lock · Trade Monopoly · Trade Route · Treasure
Age of Empires IV-exclusive
Generic	Influence · Landmark · Point of Interest · Religion · Sacred Site · Variant civilization
Civilization-unique	Bounty · Dynasty · Golden Age · Imperial Council (Vizier Point) · Commanderie
If a gameplay element has different pages across games, like civilization, the individual pages are linked in brackets.