Controls and Shortcuts

Mouse

• Left-click a stack, a city or a tile to select it. Click a stack's flag again to cycle through the stacks on that tile.
• Right-click and drag from a selected stack to the tile it should go to, then release to send it. The path and the turns it takes are drawn as you drag.
• Right-click a unit for its order wheel; hold the right button on a stack to pick units out of it.
• Middle-drag anywhere on the map to pan, or left-drag from an empty tile (one with no unit or city on it); the mouse wheel zooms.
• Resting the cursor on almost anything shows a tooltip; anything written in blue is a link. Hold Ctrl to keep a tooltip open.

Keyboard

Turn

• End Turn: Enter - Finish the turn, or advance to whatever is still waiting for orders. Never takes an ended turn back; click the End Turn button for that.
• Force End Turn: Shift+Enter - End the turn immediately, skipping anything still asking for orders.
• Undo Last Choice: Control+Z - Take back your last choice this turn: a production change, a research pick, a trade route between your own cities or a Public Works placement.

Camera

• Pan Up: W - Scroll the view up.
• Pan Down: S - Scroll the view down.
• Pan Left: A - Scroll the view left.
• Pan Right: D - Scroll the view right.

Units

• Fortify: F - Dig the selected units in for a defensive bonus.
• Disband: Delete - Destroy the selected unit, after a confirmation.
• Skip Turn: Space - Leave the selected units be this turn; they stop asking for orders.
• Found City: B - Founds a city with the selected settler at this location.
• Group Stacks On Tile: G - Select every friendly stack standing on this tile.
• Move Up: Num 8 - Step the selected stack one tile up.
• Move Up-Right: Num 9 - Step the selected stack one tile up and right.
• Move Right: Num 6 - Step the selected stack one tile right.
• Move Down-Right: Num 3 - Step the selected stack one tile down and right.
• Move Down: Num 2 - Step the selected stack one tile down.
• Move Down-Left: Num 1 - Step the selected stack one tile down and left.
• Move Left: Num 4 - Step the selected stack one tile left.
• Move Up-Left: Num 7 - Step the selected stack one tile up and left.

Windows

• Crucipedia: F1 - Open the in-game help.
• Research: F2 - Open the tech tree.
• Government: F3 - Open the government and tax rate panel.
• Diplomacy: F4 - Open the diplomacy panel.
• Scoreboard: F5 - Open the rating history graphs.
• Great People and Relics: I - List every Great Person, relic and device you hold: where it is and what it does.
• Report a Bug: F7 - Open the bug report dialog. The screenshot is taken just before it opens.
• Trade Routes: T - Toggle between every trade route and the selected city only.
• Chat: Tab - Multiplayer: open the chat to talk to the other players, everyone or one in private.
• Tab: Public Works: Control+1 - Show public works placement in the context panel.
• Tab: Government: Control+2 - Show government and policies in the context panel.
• Tab: Diplomacy: Control+3 - Show relations and deals in the context panel.
• Tab: Cities: Control+4 - Show the list of your cities in the context panel.
• Tab: Armies: Control+5 - Show your armies in the context panel.
• Caravan Manager: Control+6 - Open the Caravan Manager: every city, good and trade route.
• Tab: Production: Control+7 - With a city selected: show its production and queue.
• Tab: Items: Control+8 - With a city selected: show its items and your inventory.
• Tab: City Inspector: Control+9 - With a city selected: open its inspector to place its citizens and manage its trade.
• Tab: Units: Control+0 - With a city or unit selected: show the units on its tile.
• Tab: Other Units: not bound - With a unit selected: show other civs' units on its tile.
• Tab: Cargo: not bound - With a unit or city selected: show what your ships on its tile are carrying.
• Close Window: Esc - Close the top window, or open the game menu.
• Previous City: Left - In the city view: switch to your previous city.
• Next City: Right - In the city view: switch to your next city.

PublicWorks

• Place Road: R - Pick up a road to place on the map, as its button in the Public Works tab does.
• Place Bridge: Shift+R - Pick up a bridge to place across a river, as its button in the Public Works tab does.

The turn

• The End Turn button at the bottom right changes to whatever still needs you: a unit without orders, a city with an empty queue, no research. Clicking it takes you there; Shift+click, a right-click or Force End Turn ends the turn regardless.
• Once ended, the button reads Ended until everyone has finished. Click it to take your turn back while the others are still playing; the End Turn key never takes it back, so pressing it repeatedly to step through the turn is safe.
• Units without orders wait for you every turn. Fortify or Skip Turn a unit you mean to leave where it is, and the button stops asking about it.