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Updated July 25, 2025, by Christopher Norman Worcester:With the immense surge in popularity Fallout 4 has been seeing, it is important that we ensure we provide players with the most up-to-date information, in the best possible format. With this in mind, this update will add a video guide explaining the basics of hacking in Fallout 4.
Hacking terminals is one of the usual progression blockers inFallout 4. Some quest objectives can be made easier if players know their way around terminals, and some loot caches can only be accessed via hacking as well.
Seeing a bright green wall of text and symbols can be overwhelming, especially for players who are new to the series. If you’re trying to break your way intoFallout 4’shidden locationsand restricted areas, here’s a quick guide explaining what you need to do to successfully hack terminals without resorting to mods or cheats.
Fallout 4 Hacking Explained
Whenhacking terminals inFallout 4, the goal is to find the correct password among a long list of potential options, and the entire process mainly involves deduction and trial-and-error. If you want to crack open more advanced terminals, you’ll have to invest in the Hacker perk, one of thebest perks to unlock early inFallout 4if you want to focus on terminals instead of locks.
When you press a word from the list, a message saying"Likeliness = [x]“will appear, with [x] representing the number of letters that the chosen word has in common with the password. If the Likeliness counter displays 3, then it means three letters in the chosen word are correct and are in the right place.
For example, if the correct password isSTEAMand you pick the wordSTART, then the Likeliness counter will display 2 because S and T are correct letters that are in the right spots. However, if you pick the wordMEATS, then the Likeliness counter will display 0, because while the word has all the right letters, none of them are in the right position.
If you fail your hacking attempt, you will get locked out of the terminal. To prevent this,log out of the terminalonce you’ve nearly exhausted all of your tries, then try hacking it again. This will present you with a completely different set of words to choose from, but it will also refresh your retry counter.
Special Hacking Characters
While you’rehacking inFallout 4, you should pay attention to characters enclosed in parentheses and brackets. If you spot some symbols enclosed in( ), [ ], ,or{ }, try hovering your cursor over them. If they get highlighted like a complete word would, select them to trigger a random effect.
Selecting these special hacking characters can either reset the number of tries you can make or remove dud passwords from the list, giving you an easier time overall.
Fallout 4 Hacking Companions
Companions can be ordered to hack terminals for you. Nick Valentine, in particular, is very skilled at hacking — he’s one of thebest companions inFallout 4simply due to this fact plus his general effectiveness in combat.
Keep in mind that Nick can still fail his hacking attempts. If he does get locked out, he won’t be able to try again. This won’t lock players out, however, so there’s still a chance to crack the terminal open.
