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.

  • Test it yourself where testing is cheap.
  • Try the straightforward approach before the elaborate one.
  • Keep a save or backup from before you start — it costs nothing and occasionally saves an evening.

There are two Last of Us canons running in parallel now — the games and the HBO series — and they diverge. It is worth separating what the game does from what players have concluded it does. Most of the disagreement online comes from people describing different versions of The Last of Us.

Worth knowing alongside this

Half the pages on this topic were written for a build that no longer exists, which is why they stop matching what you see. Nothing here depends on a setting you are unlikely to have. The mechanic behind it is simpler than the discussion around it suggests. Do the cheap check before the expensive one — that ordering alone saves most of the frustration.

The accepted community answer is broadly right and wrong in a specific way that matters here. Testing this yourself takes a few minutes and settles it definitively. It helps to understand why a step exists, because then you can adapt it when your situation is slightly different.

Why it works this way

Edge cases are genuinely rare, which is why the simple answer is usually the correct one. Screenshots age faster than text, which is why this describes rather than shows. Nothing here assumes a particular playstyle beyond wanting the thing to work.

  • Check which version any conflicting advice was written for.
  • Revisit after a major patch if the behaviour changes.
  • If a menu path does not exist for you, your build is older or newer than the one described.
  • Do not build a routine around an edge case.
  • Note the exception cases — they are specific rather than vague.
  • Region and platform change more than people expect, so confirm both.

What to do instead

The developers have changed their mind about this at least once, which explains the older advice. The community wisdom on this is roughly half right, and the half that is wrong costs the most time. Everything below is framed around the current state of The Last of Us rather than a launch-week impression. Anything that behaves differently on console than on PC is flagged where it matters.

The Last of Us is not shy about hiding useful information two menus deep, so some of this is simply knowing where to look. Where something depends on your platform or region, that is called out rather than glossed over. The short version is near the top on purpose; the reasoning is there if you want to know why.

When the usual advice fails

None of this needs a paid tool, a third-party launcher or an account on a site you have never heard of. A single check up front replaces a lot of guessing later. If a step reads as obvious, do it anyway — the obvious ones are the ones people skip and then wonder about.

The awkward part is rarely the step itself, it is knowing which step comes first. Patch notes move numbers around constantly; the shape of the answer holds even when a specific value shifts. There is usually a fast way and a reliable way, and it is worth knowing which one you are choosing.

The practical answer

Where two approaches both work, the one with fewer moving parts is the one to keep. If you are coming to this after a long break, the terminology has probably moved on. Most of the disagreement you will find online is two people describing different builds.

Where people go wrong

  • Downloading a helper tool for something the game already does in its own menu.
  • Ignoring the platform-specific note and then wondering why the steps do not line up.
  • Copying a setup wholesale from a streamer without understanding what each part does.
  • Changing five things at once and then not knowing which one helped.

The Last of Us FAQ

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.

What is the short answer?

It is the paragraph near the top. Everything after it exists for the cases where that paragraph does not quite fit.

Does this change between platforms?

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

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.

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