There is a simple version of this and a complete version, and both are below in that order.

Short answer

Do the simple thing first. It is correct more often than the complicated thing people recommend instead.

  • Note the exception cases — they are specific rather than vague.
  • Revisit after a major patch if the behaviour changes.
  • Check the version you are actually running before assuming anything is broken.

There are two Last of Us canons running in parallel now — the games and the HBO series — and they diverge. The accepted community answer is broadly right and wrong in a specific way that matters here. It is worth separating what the game does from what players have concluded it does.

What to do instead

The community wisdom on this is roughly half right, and the half that is wrong costs the most time. Testing this yourself takes a few minutes and settles it definitively. Edge cases are genuinely rare, which is why the simple answer is usually the correct one. Nothing here assumes a particular playstyle beyond wanting the thing to work.

The mechanic behind it is simpler than the discussion around it suggests. Nothing here depends on a setting you are unlikely to have. A single check up front replaces a lot of guessing later.

The practical answer

Most of the disagreement online comes from people describing different versions of The Last of Us. The Last of Us is not shy about hiding useful information two menus deep, so some of this is simply knowing where to look. Patch notes move numbers around constantly; the shape of the answer holds even when a specific value shifts.

  • Test it yourself where testing is cheap.
  • Try the straightforward approach before the elaborate one.
  • Write down what you changed, so you can undo exactly one thing if it goes sideways.
  • Check which version any conflicting advice was written for.
  • Do not build a routine around an edge case.

Why it works this way

The short version is near the top on purpose; the reasoning is there if you want to know why. Anything that behaves differently on console than on PC is flagged where it matters. Most of the disagreement you will find online is two people describing different builds. Treat anything stated without a version number as provisional.

There is no hidden trick here that the game is keeping from you. There is usually a fast way and a reliable way, and it is worth knowing which one you are choosing. Half the pages on this topic were written for a build that no longer exists, which is why they stop matching what you see.

Worth knowing alongside this

Where something depends on your platform or region, that is called out rather than glossed over. Where two approaches both work, the one with fewer moving parts is the one to keep. Everything below is framed around the current state of The Last of Us rather than a launch-week impression.

It helps to understand why a step exists, because then you can adapt it when your situation is slightly different. The developers have changed their mind about this at least once, which explains the older advice. None of this needs a paid tool, a third-party launcher or an account on a site you have never heard of.

When the usual advice fails

The awkward part is rarely the step itself, it is knowing which step comes first. Do the cheap check before the expensive one — that ordering alone saves most of the frustration. If you are coming to this after a long break, the terminology has probably moved on.

Where people go wrong

  • Grinding a method that was patched months ago because a thread still ranks well.
  • Changing five things at once and then not knowing which one helped.
  • Downloading a helper tool for something the game already does in its own menu.
  • Assuming a guide from an older season still describes the current version.

The Last of Us FAQ

What if none of this works for me?

Then something in your setup differs from the assumption — version, region or platform. Check those three before anything else.

Does this change between platforms?

The behaviour does not. Where menu paths or prompts differ, that is noted above.

Why do other guides describe this differently?

Most were written for an earlier version and never revisited. Compare the steps against what your build actually shows.

Is this still accurate after the latest The Last of Us update?

The method is; individual numbers may not be. If a value on your screen differs, trust the screen and keep the sequence.

That is the whole of it — if something here stops matching The Last of Us, the game changed, not the method.