Counter-Strike relies on precise movements and small efficiencies to become a successful player in the game, which is why there is little to no room for slight errors when you’re playing at the highest level. Players must be able to act efficiently and minimize mistakes, which is where key binds can come into play.
Key binds allow players to perform action(s) with one press of a button, ensuring that there are fewer buttons a player must press to replicate the same thing. Mastering key binds will help you elevate your game in Counter-Strike, which is why we’re going to tell you everything about how to bind keys in CSGO.
Understanding Key Binds
In the context of Counter-Strike, key binds are essentially customized settings, in which players can assign up to several actions to a button on the keyboard. Once the designated button is pressed, the game will begin performing the actions linked to it for the player.
Key binds can be set up by using console commands, which means you must have the in-game developer console enabled. We’ll teach you how to set up binds later on in the article.
It is safe to say that 99% of professional players utilize key binds of some sort, as they enhance gameplay positively through various ways, protecting players from certain flaws or bad habits.
Why Should I Use Key Binds?
Well, so far, the point of key binds are just to help you perform more actions with less time – it doesn’t help you improve your aim or anything, right? However, if you think binds are useless, you are completely wrong.
In general, binds help players minimize their actions, making them more efficient. Binds are essentially a life hack for lazy people, since you can have the game perform certain actions for you. Overall, binds were made to improve the quality of life when playing the game, but it can also improve your movement, which is another important factor to becoming a good player.
Here are three main reasons why you should start implementing key binds to your gameplay:
Reduced Human Error
Remember that we’re all human, and we can make mistakes from time to time. This is called “human error,” which is something that is inevitable, even for the best players in Counter-Strike. Having the game execute certain actions for you instead of manually doing it yourself will reduce the chances of you messing up.
A great example is the jump throw bind. For certain smoke or grenade lineups, players are required to jump and throw their grenade while they are at the highest point in the air. For experienced players, the success rate for a proper jump throw is probably 95 to 99%, which is very high. However, there’s always that 1 to 5% where they could mess up.
Having a key bind assigned to execute a jump throw will turn those odds to 100%, meaning there is no way for them to miss another jump throw in their lives. Doesn’t that sound a little too overpowered? Since almost all professional players utilize the jump throw bind, which is completely legal, players who are not using it are putting themselves at a disadvantage.
Efficiency – Minimizing Buttons To Press
Another key reason for using key binds is to improve the overall efficiency for your actions, by reducing the number of buttons or mouse movements you would normally have to make.
Some key binds help players perform one specific action, but like the jump throw bind, you can actually assign multiple commands or actions to one key bind, allowing you to do two or more things at once. The accessibility of key binds can pretty much save you seconds of time, which is crucial in a game like Counter-Strike where every millisecond could determine whether you get a kill or die.
Minimizing the buttons you have to press is also amazing for lazy people. For example, you might have to click your mouse up to ten times when you are buying weapons and gear for the round. Instead, you can set up buy binds to make a complete purchase with one press of a button.
Overall Comfortability
If we haven’t given you enough reasons already, key binds also play an important role in providing comfort for players. Everyone will play their best when they feel good, which can be assisted by having proper key binds assigned to the right keyboard buttons.
By using specific binds, players can enhance the quality of life when playing the game, making them comfortable, which can go a long way. With the help of key binds, you can react and press your buttons much faster than you would if you were still on default settings.
It is also worth remembering that key binds can be assigned anywhere on the keyboard. Some players might not be able to reach the right side of their keyboards, so they can set all of their key binds on the left side for easy access.
How To Bind Keys CSGO
Okay, so now we know what binds are and why every player should have them. However, if you are reading this article, there’s a high chance you are still a beginner, or an inexperienced player. You might be asking yourself the question “how to bind keys in CSGO?”, and we’ll gladly give you the answer.
There are two main ways you can bind keys in Counter-Strike:
- Setting up key binds using the in-game settings
- Setting up key binds using the console
Generally speaking, the beginner-friendly method of binding keys should be done through the in-game settings, but you must familiarize yourself with the console for more advanced binds, which will be the main talking point of this article. Regardless, we’ll guide you through both methods.
Binding Using In-Game Settings
For beginners, the best way to bind keys is through the Counter-Strike client, using the in-game settings menu.
To set your key binds using the in-game settings, follow the steps below:
- Launch Counter-Strike and go to the main menu.
- Open your in-game settings menu by clicking the gear icon.
- From the various categories to select from, choose “Keyboard / Mouse”.
- Here, you should see a list of key binds you can adjust.
- Next to the action you are trying to bind, set your desired key.
Sounds pretty easy, right? However, please note that key binds do not end here. All you’ll see in your in-game settings menu are very basic actions, and you can only bind one action at a time.
If you really want to get into the world of binds, you must use console commands, which will allow you to do lots of cool stuff and also bind multiple actions to the same key.
Binding Using Console
The main way to set up key binds is through using the in-game developer console. At first, using the console might seem like a complicated task, but it’s much easier than it looks. If this is your first time hearing about it, there’s a good chance you don’t have it enabled.
Step 1: Enabling The Console
Before we can enter console commands in the in-game console, we must first enable it so you can have access to open it. Here’s how you can enable the developer console in Counter-Strike:
- Launch Counter-Strike and go to the main menu.
- Open your in-game settings menu by clicking the gear icon.
- From the available categories, select “Game”.
- The first setting you should see should be “Enable Developer Console”.
- Change the option from “No” to “Yes”.
To default bind to open the console is the tilde key (~). If you have used this key to bind something else, you will have to adjust your bind settings accordingly.
Alternatively, you can also go to your game’s launch options and type in the command “-console”. However, if you have already turned it on through the in-game settings, this is no longer required.
Step 2: Using Console Commands For Binds
Now that we have access to the console, we can start typing in console commands into it. Everytime you want to set up binds, you will be using the “bind” command, but there are other factors that must be included with it such as the designated key and the action it will perform.
That being said, the format for binding keys should look like: bind [key] [action].
To fully understand the concept, let’s start with an example. Let’s say we are trying to bind your “C” key to pull out a smoke grenade. In this case, the key will be “C”, and the action will be to pull out your smoke grenade. Now that all the components are identified, we can start inputting them into a bind command.
Open your developer console, and then type in this command below:
| bind “c” “use_weapon_flashbang” |
And that’s pretty much it. As long as you know the command for the action you are looking for, binding keys become a very simple task that will benefit you in the long run.
You might start getting carried away and add dozens of binds to your game. To keep track of all your binds, you can type in the command “key_listboundkeys” for a whole list of all the binds you have assigned in the game.
Bonus Step: Binding Several Actions At Once
More complex bind commands can help you perform several actions at once, and it is totally possible to assign everything to the same key.
One of the best examples would be the buy bind, where you can purchase a set of predetermined items by pressing one button. Since you are buying multiple items, you will need the command to perform more than one action. In this case, you will stack up action commands using “;”.
Let’s jump right into an example. We want our buy bind to purchase full armor, an AK-47, and a full kit of utility. The key of choice will be “K”. Then, the command would look like:
| bind “k” “buy vesthelm; buy ak47; buy smokegrenade; buy molotov; buy flashbang; buy hegrenade;” |
Notice how all the action commands are separated by the “;”. The same concept applies for every other complex bind command.
Bonus Step: Using Aliases
Additionally, you can also use the “alias” feature to stack several actions together into one code. The best example is the jump throw bind.
The first step to setting an alias is preparing all the action commands you will need, and then assign this group of commands under an alias. In this case, we’ll name the alias “jumpthrow”.
| alias “+jumpthrow” “+jump;-attack”; alias “-jumpthrow” “-jump” |
Now, the game will register this set of actions with “jumpthrow” being the keyword. Now that we have set up this alias, we can enter it into the actual jump throw command. For this example, we’ll use the “Alt” key.
| bind “Alt” “+jumpthrow” |
Notice how you only need to use “jumpthrow” as the action command, because all the actual commands inside it have already been saved under that alias.
How To Unbind Keys CSGO
Bind commands are incredibly useful, as we have already learned. However, sometimes players want to reset their bind commands or want to assign their binds to other keys. There are many reasons as to why someone would want to unbind their keys, and obviously, Valve has provided the option for players to do so.
In Counter-Strike, there are two main ways to unbind keys. Let’s go through them one-by-one.
Unbinding Using In-Game Settings
Earlier, we discussed that you can set binds using the in-game settings. Likewise, you can also unbind key binds through the same settings menu as well.
Here’s how you can unbind keys using the in-game settings:
- Launch Counter-Strike and go to your in-game settings page.
- Among all the categories, select “Keyboard / Mouse”.
- Here, you should see a list of all your basic binds.
- To unbind a key, click on the box and then remove it manually.
Additionally, there is also the “Reset” button at the bottom-right corner of your screen, which will clear all of your custom basic binds and reset them to default settings.
However, note that you can only unbind basic keys. Since there is a limited number of key binds in your in-game settings page, you cannot get rid of advanced binds that you made using the console and aliases.
Unbinding Using Console
Honestly speaking, the console is a much more effective way for unbinding keys than the in-game settings – and it is way easier, too.
There are two ways you can unbind keys through the console:
- Unbinding specific keys
- Unbinding all
The “unbind” command exists to unbind one key at a time. Using the command is extremely simple:
| unbind “[key]” |
For example, if you want to unbind your “J” key, you would simply type in: unbind “j”. This will remove all the functions bound to the command, and essentially ensure that the “J” key will be completely reset.
However, if you are looking to do a complete overhaul of your key binds for whatever reason, there is a command that will unbind all of your keys:
| unbindall |
As the name hints, the “unbindall” command will unbind all of your keys and reset them to default. This is great if you’re looking to revamp all of your key bindings using a single command and start from scratch.
Understanding Binding Codes
It is crucial to know the various bind codes for different keys, as entering the wrong code for specific buttons will ensure that your key bind will not work at all.
We’ll quickly go through the codes for all of the most common keys. We will not include alphabetical letters and numbers since they are written as themselves:
| Keyboard Button | Code |
| F1 | f1 |
| F2 | f2 |
| F3 and so on… | f3 |
| Tab | tab |
| Caps Lock | capslock |
| Enter | enter |
| Left Shift | shift |
| Left Control | ctrl |
| Left Alt | alt |
| Space Bar | space |
| Backspace | backspace |
| Scroll Wheel Button | mouse3 |
| Mouse 4 | mouse4 |
| Mouse 5 | mouse5 |
| Scroll Wheel Up | mwheelup |
| Scroll Wheel Down | mwheeldown |
What Are Some Binds To Get Started With?
Now that you are an expert with binds and how to bind keys, there’s one missing part: actually binding the keys to actions.
To get you started, we’ll recommend some of the most commonly-used binds in the game.
Scroll Wheel Jump Bind
One of the most frequently used binds in professional play is the scroll wheel jump bind, which makes your character jump every time you scroll. This is an incredibly useful bind for several movement purposes, most notably bunny hopping.
By binding your scroll wheel to jump, you can issue several instances of jump actions every time you scroll, helping you time bunny hops easily. However, be careful not to accidentally scroll in the middle of a gunfight, as you’ll start jumping and grief yourself. It will take some time to get used to, but it will pay its dividends in the long run.
To bind your scroll wheel to jump, use the command:
| bind mwheelup +jump; bind mwheeldown +jump; bind space +jump |
Jump Throw Bind
Another extremely useful bind is the jump throw bind. As the name already suggests, it will help you jump and throw a grenade perfectly, which is required for several grenade lineups for smokes, flashbangs, or molotovs.
Doing a jump throw manually isn’t too difficult, but there’s always a small chance for human error. You can eliminate all the risks of potentially missing a smoke by using this simple jump throw bind that will perform the actions for you.
To set up the jump throw bind, you will need aliases, but you can follow the commands below:
| alias “+jumpthrow” “+jump;-attack”; alias “-jumpthrow” “-jump”; bind “[key]” “+jumpthrow” |
Clear Decals Bind
Decals in Counter-Strike refer to blood stains, graffiti, and other player-made visuals that can appear on walls. These splatters and sprays can be very distracting for most players, and it also adds onto the game’s load, reducing performances.
Using the clear decals bind, you can constantly clear all the stuff on walls to help you see the game clearly and also reduce any potential frame rate or performance drops. If you really hate decals, you can also set the bind to your movement keys so they are being cleared pretty much every time.
To set up the clear decals bind, use the command below. You can bind it to as many keys as you’d like to increase the rate at which decals are being cleared:
| bind “[key]” “r_cleardecals” |
Noclip Toggle Bind
Practice makes perfect, which is why most aspiring players will spend a lot of time on private servers practicing various aspects of the game. They could be practicing their aim, or grenade lineups such as smokes and flashes.
Whatever the reason may be, the noclip command is one of the most useful practice commands in the game as you can travel from one place to another at the speed of light. Since the noclip command is a toggle command, we recommend setting a keybind to turn it on and off.
To toggle the noclip command on and off, use the command below:
| bind “[key]” “sv_cheats 1; noclip” |
Voice Enable Toggle Bind
Communication is one of the most important aspects in Counter-Strike, as teamwork makes the dream work. However, especially in solo queue games, you might have four strangers yelling their lungs out while you are in a clutch situation.
Backseaters and toxic players are extremely annoying to play with, which is why we recommend having the voice enable toggle bind, which will turn voice chat on and off whenever you press the bound key. This can help you focus on the game better and turn the voice chat back on whenever you please.
To set up the voice enable toggle bind, use the command below:
| bind “[key]” “voice_modenable_toggle” |