Start With the Interaction Menu, Then Fix Your Targeting Mode
Two things unlock everything else in GTA Online's controls. First, the Interaction Menu: hold the touchpad on PlayStation, hold the View button on Xbox, or press M on PC. That one input opens your inventory, armour, snacks, vehicles, organisations and quick GPS.
Second, your targeting mode. It decides how your aim behaves and which lobbies you are matched into, and it can only be changed from Story Mode — a quirk that confuses players for years. The default is Assisted Aim – Partial.
Everything else in this guide builds on those two: the default layouts on controller and keyboard, the first-person toggles, and the camera and sensitivity options worth adjusting for how you play.
Key Takeaways
- Interaction Menu: hold the touchpad (PlayStation), hold the View button (Xbox), or press M (PC).
- Targeting mode has four options — Assisted Aim Full and Partial, Free Aim Assisted, and Free Aim — and it can only be changed in Story Mode, under Settings and then Controls.
- Your targeting mode also decides your lobbies: assisted-aim and free-aim players are matched separately.
- PC controls are fully remappable under Settings and then Key Bindings; console players get control presets and adjustable sliders instead.
- First-person play has its own toggles worth knowing, including head bobbing, combat rolls and third-person cover.
- Settings advice here is framed as options: the right choice depends on whether you play missions, races or PvP.
1. The Controls That Matter Most
Beyond the Interaction Menu, a handful of inputs do most of the work in every session. On a controller, the left stick moves and the right stick works the camera; sprinting is done by repeatedly tapping Cross on PlayStation or A on Xbox.
The phone is on D-pad Up, and holding D-pad Down opens the character wheel. In a vehicle, the triggers handle acceleration and braking, and clicking the left stick sounds the horn.
These defaults are shared with Story Mode, so anything you learned in the campaign carries straight over. Where the layouts change is in vehicles, aircraft and other specialised situations, each of which has its own layout page in the controls menu.
2. Default Layout on Controller
On foot, the standard PlayStation and Xbox layout is built around the triggers and bumpers. L2 or LT aims, R2 or RT fires, and holding L1 or LB opens the weapon wheel. R1 or RB takes cover against a nearby surface.
Square or X jumps, Triangle or Y enters a vehicle, and Circle or B reloads. Clicking the left stick toggles stealth movement, and the right stick click switches your aim over the shoulder or zooms, depending on context.
To change camera view, tap the touchpad on PlayStation or the View button on Xbox — tapping cycles the camera, while holding the same input opens the Interaction Menu instead. That tap-versus-hold distinction is the single most common controls confusion for new console players, and our beginner guide covers it alongside the other first-session essentials.
3. Default Keys on PC
The keyboard layout maps the same actions onto familiar PC keys. WASD moves, Left Shift sprints, and Space jumps — and doubles as the handbrake in a vehicle.
F enters and exits vehicles, E is the general context and interaction key, Q takes cover, and R reloads. Tab, held, opens the weapon wheel, while V cycles the camera between third-person distances and first person.
Online adds its own keys on top: M for the Interaction Menu, T for text chat to everyone, Y for team chat, and N for push-to-talk voice. Unlike the console layouts, every one of these can be reassigned, which Part 7 covers.
4. Targeting Mode: The Setting That Changes Your Lobbies
Targeting mode is found under Settings, then Controls — but in GTA Online the option is greyed out. To change it, return to Story Mode, set it there, and it will carry into Online when you switch back.
The four modes form a ladder. Assisted Aim – Full gives a full lock-on that sticks to targets and can flick between them with the right stick. Assisted Aim – Partial, the default, locks on with a narrower hold and more manual correction. Free Aim – Assisted offers only a brief snap towards a target, and Free Aim removes assistance entirely.
The choice is not only about feel. Matchmaking keeps the aim styles apart, so assisted-aim players and free-aim players populate different lobbies. Mission players often prefer the reliability of assisted aim; competitive players often accept slower kills in free aim for the cleaner fights. Your weapon choice interacts with this too, as our best weapons guide discusses for each class.
5. First-Person Settings Worth Knowing
Press the camera input until the view switches and you are in first person, a perspective with its own family of settings. Rockstar's own guidance highlights the motion toggles first: turning off First Person Head Bobbing, First Person Combat Rolls and First Person Ragdoll all reduce the violent camera movement that makes some players queasy.
Two structural options matter as much. Allow Independent Camera Modes lets the game remember different views for different situations — first person on foot, third person in a car, for example — rather than forcing one view everywhere.
First Person Third Person Cover does what its name suggests: it pops you into third person when you take cover, restoring the wider view the cover system was designed around, then returns you to first person when you leave the wall. Whether any of this beats plain third person is a taste question — the same debate the next game is already having, covered in our look at whether GTA 6 has a first-person mode.
6. Camera, Sensitivity and Driving Settings
The controls menu also carries the sliders and types that shape moment-to-moment feel. Look and aim sensitivity are set separately for first-person and third-person views, alongside deadzone and acceleration sliders that decide how sharply the camera responds to small stick movements.
Control types change behaviour rather than speed. Sprint Mode can be set so sprinting is tapped or held, and the Drive-By Control Type decides how aiming and firing from a vehicle is handled — options that matter if you spend your sessions racing or fighting from cars, as the drivers comparing the fastest cars in GTA Online tend to.
Vehicle Camera Height is the quiet favourite: raising it gives a wider view of traffic and corners when driving. None of these settings is objectively correct — a higher camera and faster sensitivity suit some players and ruin others. Change one at a time and play a session before judging it.
7. Changing Controls and Resetting to Default
Customisation depth differs by platform. PC players get the fullest control: Settings, then Key Bindings, allows individual keys to be reassigned for on-foot, vehicle and aircraft layouts separately.
Console players work with presets and sliders rather than per-button remapping: third-person and first-person control types, the sensitivity and deadzone sliders from Part 6, and settings like Allow Movement When Zoomed, which lets you keep moving while scoped with a sniper rifle instead of standing frozen.
If experiments make a mess, every platform offers a reset back to the default controls. That reset is the safety net that makes trying a different targeting mode or control type a low-risk experiment rather than a commitment.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I open the Interaction Menu in GTA Online?
Hold the touchpad on PlayStation, hold the View button on Xbox, or press M on PC. Note the hold: on console, tapping the same input changes the camera view instead.
Why is my targeting mode greyed out in GTA Online?
Targeting mode cannot be changed from inside an online session. Go back to Story Mode, open Settings and then Controls, change the targeting mode there, and it applies when you return to GTA Online.
What is the default targeting mode?
Assisted Aim – Partial. It provides lock-on aiming with a medium lock angle, sitting between the full lock-on of Assisted Aim – Full and the snap-only help of Free Aim – Assisted.
Do assisted-aim and free-aim players share lobbies?
No. Matchmaking groups players by aim style, so choosing Free Aim places you in free-aim lobbies, while assisted-aim players are matched together. It is one reason to pick your mode deliberately rather than drift with the default.
Does aim assist work on PC?
With a mouse and keyboard there is no lock-on; aiming is fully manual. If you play on PC with a controller, aim assist options become available for the gamepad, following the same targeting mode ladder as console.
How do I switch to first person?
Cycle the camera with the view input: tap the touchpad on PlayStation, tap the View button on Xbox, or press V on PC, until the camera reaches first person. Setting Allow Independent Camera Modes lets different situations keep different views.
What is the sprint key on PC, and the sprint button on console?
Left Shift on PC. On a controller, sprinting is done by repeatedly tapping Cross on PlayStation or A on Xbox; a Sprint Mode setting can change how sprint input is handled.
Can I change the controls on console?
Partly. Console offers control type presets, targeting mode, and a set of sensitivity, deadzone and behaviour options, but not free per-button remapping. Full key-by-key customisation is a PC feature, under Settings and then Key Bindings.
How do I get my controls back to how they were?
Use the reset-to-default option in the controls settings on any platform. It restores the standard layout and default option values, so it is safe to experiment first and reset later if a change does not suit you.
Are aircraft and vehicle controls different from on-foot controls?
Yes. The game keeps separate layouts for on foot, vehicles, aircraft, bicycles and other situations, and the controls menu displays each one. On PC, key bindings for those layouts can be edited independently of the on-foot keys.
Wrapping Up
GTA Online's controls reward ten minutes of setup. Learn the Interaction Menu input, set your targeting mode in Story Mode knowing it also picks your lobbies, and then adjust camera height, sensitivity and first-person toggles one at a time.
There is no single best configuration — there is the configuration that fits how you play. The defaults are a sensible start, the options above are the ones that genuinely change the game, and the reset button means none of your experiments can hurt you.
