Best Keybinds for Apex Legends (2023 Update)

Apex Legends is a fast-paced shooter where every millisecond matters to gain an edge over opponents. The ability to perform tasks quickly and precisely separates a casual player from an elite player.

The keybind setup you choose determines how fast and precise your actions can be; an inefficient keybind layout can significantly hinder your potential. Luckily, we’ve analyzed keybinds from pro Apex Legends players to understand how the best in the world set up their keybinds. This article covers the best Apex Legends keybinds, how to change them, and keybind settings the pros use.

Best Apex Legends keybinds

The following keybinds were chosen using data from pro Apex Legends players, keeping in mind what will work best for the average player. Our goal is to create a keybind setup with the least amount of finger travel, where every finger performs a different task, and no two keys need to be hit simultaneously with the same finger. Here are our picks for the best Apex Legends keybinds:

Movement

• Move Forward: W, Scroll Wheel Up
• Move Back: S
• Move Left: A
• Move Right: D
• Sprint/Toggle Zoom: L-Shift
• Jump: Space
• Crouch (Toggle): C
• Crouch (Hold): L-Ctrl

The Move keybinds we chose are standard across most games, and WASD will be the foundation for the rest of our layout. The best Apex Legends keybinds keep the necessary inputs as close to WASD as possible so that our fingers can easily reach every key. Maintaining directional movement while performing specific actions is vital, so we want to bind those critical inputs to a finger other than the three controlling WASD.

You might notice that we bound Scroll Wheel Up as a secondary keybind for Move Forward. This will help us tap-strafe, a movement technique for quickly changing directions that will be covered in detail in a later guide.

The Sprint/Toggle Zoom input is bound to L-Shift, easily accessible with the pinky finger while maintaining directional movement on the WASD keys. Apex requires players to use the Sprint key often, so we bound it to one of the most accessible keys to press.

There are two methods to Crouch in Apex Legends, Toggle, and Hold. We bound each method to different keys because each is used situationally. Crouch (Toggle) is used to crouch longer, usually outside combat.

Crouch (Hold) is the preferred crouching method because it only requires one key actuation to make the player model go down and up. Apex Legends players have learned you can abuse this mechanic to repeatedly spam the Crouch (Hold) key during gunfights to improve accuracy and become harder to hit.

Weapons & Abilities

• Tactical Ability: Mouse Button 4
• Ultimate Ability: Mouse Button 5
• Interact/Pickup: E
• Alternate Interact: X

The Tactical and Ultimate Abilities vary from legend to legend, but you generally want to be able to perform each ability while maintaining movement and aim. Many players like to bind their abilities to the E and Q keys, but the proximity to WASD makes it easy to press them on accident.

We bound the Tactical and Ultimate Abilities to Mouse Button 4 and 5, two of the easiest buttons to press. We highly recommend using a gaming mouse with at least two side buttons; our guide detailing the best mouse for Apex Legends has a selection of side-button gaming mice at various price points.

The key you choose for Interact/Pickup must be pressed often, so pick something easy to access. We chose E for its proximity to WASD.

The Alternate Interact key is pressed less than Interact and usually outside combat. The X key works fine, but you can bind this further away from WASD if you want to prioritize another bind for X.

• Attack: Left Click
• Toggle Fire Mode: B
• Aim Down Sight (Toggle): Not Bound
• Aim Down Sight (Hold): Right Click
• Melee: V
• Reload: R

Most players prefer Aim Down Sight (Hold) over Aim Down Sight (Toggle), but some professional Apex Legends players use Toggle and claim it’s better for aiming. Go with whatever aiming style feels most natural for you.

Melee is a key that you won’t need to press during every fight, but it’s vital to be able to hit at the right time. We chose V; pick a key that can easily be pressed in a pinch.

• Cycle Weapon: Not Bound
• Equip Weapon 1: 1
• Equip Weapon 2: 2
• Holster Weapons: 3
• Equip Grenade: G
• Equip Survival Item: L-Alt

The Cycle Weapon input is Not Bound since many pro Apex Legends players prefer the precision of binding each weapon to a specific key. If you choose to bind Cycle Weapons, the mouse scroll wheel is the best place.

The Equip and Holster Weapon Inputs are bound to 1-3 on the numbers above WASD. It’s crucial to master hitting the 1-3 number keys without taking more than one finger off of WASD to maintain directional control of your character.

• Use Selected Health Item: 4
• Use Syringe: 5
• Use Med Kit: 6
• Use Shield Cell: 7
• Use Shield Battery: 8
• Use Phoenix Kit: 9
• Character Utility Action: H

The next set of binds are the ‘Use’ keybinds that are all bound in order 4-9 on the numbers above WASD. Every number past 4 becomes increasingly difficult to reach, and you might have to completely take your fingers off of WASD to press 7-9.

Luckily, most healing items are selected by holding the 4 key (Use Selected Health Item) and then aiming the mouse in the direction of the item you want to use. If you like pressing individual keys for each healing item, the T, Caps, and Z keys are unbound in our layout and closer to WASD than 7-9.

Miscellaneous/Communication

• Inventory (Toggle): Tab
• Map (Toggle): M
• Inspect Weapon: Scroll Wheel Down
• Open Emote Wheel/Thank You: Y
• Ping: Scroll Wheel Press
• Ping (Enemy Here): F

Above are notable miscellaneous and communication keybinds in Apex Legends.

The Inventory (Toggle) input is bound to Tab because it’s an easy key to hit with the pinky finger while maintaining directional control on WASD. Moving and jumping can help dodge bullets while looting on MnK, making Tab the perfect choice to bind to Inventory.

The Inspect Weapon input is optional for gameplay, but many players like to be able to move around the map while inspecting their Heirloom items. We bound Inspect to Scroll Wheel Down for easy weapon inspection while on the move.

Scroll Wheel Press is an excellent key for Ping in almost any game because it can be actuated while aiming and moving. Using Scroll Wheel Press for Ping will cover nearly all other communication options; hold the key down to bring up a menu of specific ping commands.

The Ping command we want to be bound separately is Ping (Enemy Here) because we need to press it quickly while fighting or in a downed state. Many players bind Ping (Enemy Here) to F for quick pings while fighting or from a downed state.

How to change keybinds in Apex Legends

Here are the steps to create a custom keybind layout for Apex Legends:

• Launch Apex Legends, navigate to the main menu, and find the settings icon in the bottom right corner of the screen. Additionally, press the ESC key in-game to bring up the settings menu.
• Once the settings menu is open, navigate to the Mouse/Keyboard options tab, where the keybind settings are located.
• Click on the input you want to bind and press the corresponding key you want it bound to. Once satisfied with your choices, hit Apply to save your new settings.

The best place to adjust settings in Apex Legends is the Firing Range, a sandbox environment where players can practice new keybinds against an array of stationary and moving targets. The Firing Range is a great place to warm up or build muscle memory with new settings before diving into a real game of battle royale.

Keybind settings used by Apex Legends pros

Let’s take a look at keybind settings for Apex Legends pros. This is how three of the game’s top MnK players layout their keyboards:

Here are some observations from looking at the keybinds above.

• HisWattson uses Mouse Wheel Down as a secondary bind for Move Forward to perform the tap-strafing technique.
• iiTzTimmy binds his F key to the Use Selected Health Item input, a wise choice due to the F key’s close proximity to WASD.
• ImperialHal’s binds showcased above are all default keybinds, proving it’s possible to excel at Apex Legends using default keybinds.