Questing for Skyrim console commands to help explore the land of the Nords? You may dream of Bleak Falls Barrow each night, but have you shapechanged into a giant to stomp around Whiterun while screaming townsfolk scurry underfoot? Have you leapt into the skies and flown from Riften to Winterhold just to take in the view of a freshly created aurora? Have you masterfully crafted a personal throne out of thousands of wheels of cheese, or just spread holiday cheer as Skyrim's very own Santa Claus?
Skyrim console commands make all of these shenanigans ready to go at your fingertips. There are also everyday useful cheats for the more practical sort, like invincibility, quick levels for annoying skills, or easy shortcuts into locked treasure chests when you've broken the last of your picks. All good thieves are experienced at bending the rules from time to time, after all.
Recent updates
December 2024: Skyrim celebrated its tenth birthday back in 2021, and with it came the Skyrim Anniversary Edition. It's not free with the 2016 Special Edition, but the 10-year celebration upgrade can be purchased as DLC. It all gets confusing between the billion or so version changes, so we broke it down in a quick explainer on what the Skyrim Anniversary Edition actually changes.
For the purposes of this guide, upgrading your copy of Skyrim shouldn't change how console commands work. Using cheats via the Console menu remains the same in both the Skyrim Special and Anniversary Editions.
For additional ways to change, improve, and break Skyrim, try our list of Skyrim Special Edition mods, best Skyrim mods for the original edition, and mods for playing Skyrim as another character.
Otherwise, here's how to use console commands in Skyrim, along with detailed cheats broken up by their general function (like commands for quests, players, or the ability to toggle).
How to use Skyrim console commands
How to enable Skyrim console commands
To enable the console, just hit the tilde (~) key and enter one of the appropriate codes, which are listed below. You can turn on more than one in a row, so you can become invincible, fly, and teleport all at the same time.
Fallout 4 cheats: Nuclear codes
Minecraft commands: Unblocked
RDR2 cheats: Most wanted
GTA 5 cheats: Phone it in
The Sims 4 cheats: Life hacks
Ark cheats: Expedited evolution
The Skyrim console is pretty straightforward for folks who've played around with similar cheats. It has a few rules to follow, but when typing in commands, you don't have to worry about case sensitivity. You'll mostly just want to understand the types of cheat variables, like the target, numerical value, or if there's an on/off toggle.
Be warned, some of these console commands may cause glitches, problems, or crashes, so it's definitely worth saving your game first. You don't want to make some change and get stuck with it.
Targeting for reference codes in Skyrim
Many of these console commands require specifying an NPC or item or place with a reference number. If you're identifying an item or NPC in front of you, click on them with the console open to get their code immediately. Otherwise, here's a quick cheat sheet of reference pages where you can find those codes. Remember, CTRL+F is your friend!
Most useful Skyrim console commands
Most useful Skyrim console commands
While we've listed the full range of Skyrim's console commands further below, these commands are probably the ones you're looking for if you're in need of some quick Skyrim cheat codes.
| tgm | Enables God Mode, making you invulnerable and giving you infinite stamina and magicka. |
| tcl | Toggles collision, putting you in a no-clip state where you can fly around and move through the environment. |
| unlock | Unlocks selected door or chest. |
| tcai | Toggles NPC combat AI, making all NPCs passive. |
| tdetect | Toggles the ability for NPCs to witness your crimes. They'll still get upset if you fail to pickpocket them. |
| player.additem [Item ID] [#] | Adds item to player inventory. For example: "player.additem 0000000f 1000" adds 1000 gold. |
| player.modav carryweight [#] | Sets your maximum carry weight to specified amount. |
| player.advskill [skill] [#] | Level up skill by adding skill experience. Replace [skill] with the skill you want to advance, and [#] with the amount of experience you want to add. You'll need numbers in the thousands to actually make the score go up. Skills are specified via their in-game names, apart from Archery, which is "Marksman," and Speech, which is "Speechcraft." |
| incpcs [skill] | Level up skill to the next level. Not as fast as using player.advskill and adding 9999 experience at a time, but more fine-grained. |
| player.setcrimegold [#] | Sets your current bounty level. Set to 0 to clear your bounty. |
| player.placeatme [Item/NPC ID] [#] | Spawns desired number of specified NPC or item at your location. |
Toggled Skyrim console commands
Toggled Skyrim console commands
Toggle commands for Skyrim turn various game features off or on. You can turn off the UI for taking great screenshots or turn off detection from NPCs to make yourself the perfect thief.
| Code | Effects |
|---|---|
| tgm | Good ol' God Mode—enables invulnerability to all damage |
| tcl | Enables noclip, which disables collision with the environment so you can move through anything. |
| tm | Toggles all in-game menus; good for screenshots. Note that this also hides the console commands menu, meaning you'll have to type it again without being able to see the console. |
| tmm [0/1] | Followed by 0 or 1 turns all map markers on or off. |
| tfc [1] | Toggle flycam, detaching the camera from the player character. Great for screenshots. Follow it with a 1 to pause. |
| tai | Toggles AI on and off, which means NPCs won't interact with you, or do anything at all. |
| tcai | Turns combat AI on or off, turning dragons into placid beasts who act like you aren't there. |
| tdetect | Disables NPC ability to detect your crimes by sight. They'll still catch you pickpocketing, though. |
| tfow | Turns off the fog of war on your local map, filling it in completely. |
Skyrim player console commands
Skyrim player console commands
Skyrim player cheats can set different values for your Dragonborn. You can change your level, your face, your carry weight, and a bunch of other things. For commands that require an item or NPC ID, check our linked lists above.
| Code | Effects |
|---|---|
| psb | Adds every shout and spell to your spellbook (including developer and placeholder spells, adding a lot of clutter). |
| player.advlevel | Advance one level without gaining a perk. |
| showracemenu | Bring up the character creation menu to adjust the way your character looks. If you alter your race this will reset your level and skills, but any other change is safe. |
| AdvSkill [skill] [#] | Adds skill experience. "skill" is the skill you want to advance, and # is the amount you want to add. Skills are input via their in-game names without spaces, apart from Archery which is "Marksman", and Speech, which is known as "Speechcraft". |
| player.additem [Item ID] [#] | Adds a specified item to your inventory. |
| player.additem f [#] | Adds gold to your inventory. Replace # with desired amount. |
| player.additem 0000000a [#] | Adds lockpicks to inventory. Replace # with desired amount. |
| addshout [Shout ID] | Adds specified shout to player's ability list. |
| player.setcrimegold [#] | Adjust player's bounty level. Set to 0 to remove bounty entirely. |
| player.setlevel [#] | Up or down your player level as you see fit. |
| player.setav speedmult [#] | Set player speed multiplier. Set this number to anything more than 100 to speed up movement. |
| player.modav carryweight [#] | Sets your maximum carry weight to desired amount. |
| player.setav health [#] | Sets your max health level. |
| sexchange | Change your character's gender. |
| player.placeatme [Item/NPC ID] [#] | Use this to spawn NPCs and monsters at your location. Just replace actor/object ID with a Base ID (not a Ref ID). Note that this command spawns new creatures, rather than moving old ones, so if you use it on an NPC, you'll clone them. |
| player.moveto [NPC Ref ID] | Use this to move yourself next to an NPC. Use the Ref ID (not the Base ID), the opposite of placeatme. |
| setrelationshiprank [ID] [#] | Select two NPCs and set the relationship between them, the values range from 4 (lover) to -4 (archnemesis). |
| player.setscale [#] | Changes the size of the player or NPC. You start out at level one, which is normal sized, while zero is small. It goes all the way up to an absurdly huge ten. |
| player.drop [Item ID] [#] | Forces the player to drop items, even usually undroppable quest items. Try just 'drop' to drop absolutely everything you're carrying. |
| coc [Cell ID] | Teleports you to any specified cell in the world. |
Targeted Skyrim console commands
Targeted Skyrim console commands
Targeted Skyrim commands will have an effect on an NPC or item that you select. They're perfect for unlocking chests, instakilling enemies, and bringing them back to life again.
| Code | Effects |
|---|---|
| unlock | Unlocks selected door or chest. |
| lock [#] | Locks selected door or chest (or NPC?), with a difficulty from 1-100. |
| kill | Instantly kills selected NPC. Important NPCs will be knocked unconscious. |
| resurrect | Resurrect targeted corpse. Follow the command with a 1 to resurrect them with all items intact. |
| removeallitems | Target a character and type this and you'll get all their items—including their clothes and equipment. |
| addtofaction [Faction ID] [#] | Click on an NPC and use this command to add them to a faction. It's not just about Stormcloaks and Imperials though. Using 0005C84D will add a character to the follower faction, giving them the necessary dialogue to join you, while 00019809 will add them to the 'potential spouse' faction, allowing you to marry them. Doesn’t work on NPCs with unique voices. |
| disable | Makes targeted NPC invisible, disables their collisions, and prevents AI from interacting with them. |
| enable | Undoes the effects of the Disable command. Disabling and then Enabling your follower will reset them to your current level, which is a handy way of making sure they stay useful in combat. |
| setessential [NPC ID] [0/1] | Sets an NPCs essential status. "0" means they'll die when their HP hits 0. "1" means they'll go unconscious. Useful for keeping cherished NPCs alive, but be careful with making important NPCs killable. |
| setownership [Item ID] | This command sets you as the owner of the targeted item, letting you pick it up without stealing. |
| unequipitem [Item ID] | Forces an NPC to unequip specified item. |
| dispelallspells | Dispels all spell effects on the target NPC. |
| MarkForDelete | Permanently removes selected item when current area is reloaded. |
Quest-related Skyrim console commands
Quest-related Skyrim console commands
Skyrim quest commands can help you get around bugged issues in quests by automatically getting yourself to the next quest state or just let you cheat by moving directly to your next objective.
| Code | Effects |
|---|---|
| caqs | Automatically complete all the stages of every quest. Perfect if you hate playing games. |
| movetoqt [Quest ID] | Teleports you directly to your quest target. |
| setstage [Quest ID] [Stage #] | This allows you to move the quests you're playing back to a prior stage or forward to a new one. Useful if you've somehow broken it by murdering the wrong NPC. UESP.net has a useful list of quests, along with IDs and stages. |
Other Skyrim console commands
Other Skyrim console commands
These are all of the odds and ends of Skyrim console commands. Do make sure you try out that secret developer room with all the toys.
| Code | Effects |
|---|---|
| csb | Clears the annoying drops of blood that linger on the screen after fights. |
| help | Lists every single console command. |
| coc qasmoke | Teleports you to Bethesda's debug room with every in-game item. It might take a while to load—there are thousands of items here. Type "coc Riverwood" (or any other location) to return to the game. |
| qqq | Quit the game without having to go through any of those pesky menus. |
| fov [#] | Sets your field of view. The maximum is 180. |
| set timescale to [#] | This defaults at 20. Drop it to 1 for real-time Skyrim, up it to experience crazy timelapse-style Skyrim. |
