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.
  • Check which version any conflicting advice was written for.
  • If a menu path does not exist for you, your build is older or newer than the one described.

There are two Last of Us canons running in parallel now — the games and the HBO series — and they diverge. The mechanic behind it is simpler than the discussion around it suggests. Most of the disagreement online comes from people describing different versions of The Last of Us.

When the usual advice fails

The developers have changed their mind about this at least once, which explains the older advice. 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. None of this needs a paid tool, a third-party launcher or an account on a site you have never heard of.

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. The short version is near the top on purpose; the reasoning is there if you want to know why.

Why it works this way

Nothing here depends on a setting you are unlikely to have. The awkward part is rarely the step itself, it is knowing which step comes first. If you are coming to this after a long break, the terminology has probably moved on.

  • Revisit after a major patch if the behaviour changes.
  • Test it yourself where testing is cheap.
  • Expect one number in every guide to be out of date; the method is what matters.
  • Do not build a routine around an edge case.
  • Try the straightforward approach before the elaborate one.

Worth knowing alongside this

Nothing here assumes a particular playstyle beyond wanting the thing to work. If your result differs from what is described here, note what is different first rather than starting over. Do the cheap check before the expensive one — that ordering alone saves most of the frustration. What follows assumes you are on a current install and have not modified it.

There is no hidden trick here that the game is keeping from you. Most of the disagreement you will find online is two people describing different builds. Where two approaches both work, the one with fewer moving parts is the one to keep.

What to do instead

Half the pages on this topic were written for a build that no longer exists, which is why they stop matching what you see. Screenshots age faster than text, which is why this describes rather than shows. It helps to understand why a step exists, because then you can adapt it when your situation is slightly different.

There is usually a fast way and a reliable way, and it is worth knowing which one you are choosing. If a step reads as obvious, do it anyway — the obvious ones are the ones people skip and then wonder about. Where something depends on your platform or region, that is called out rather than glossed over.

The practical answer

Anything that behaves differently on console than on PC is flagged where it matters. Patch notes move numbers around constantly; the shape of the answer holds even when a specific value shifts. The community wisdom on this is roughly half right, and the half that is wrong costs the most time.

Where people go wrong

  • Skipping the prerequisite because it looked optional in someone else's summary.
  • Downloading a helper tool for something the game already does in its own menu.
  • Trusting a video thumbnail that promises a result the video never actually shows.
  • Ignoring the platform-specific note and then wondering why the steps do not line up.

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.

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.

Does this change between platforms?

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

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.

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