If you’ve spent any time exploring No Man’s Sky’s infinite planets, you’ve probably stumbled on at least one upgraded multi tool that’s better suited for mining, combat, or scanning than your default starter model. Once you’ve collected two or more of these useful gadgets, you’ve likely asked: how do you switch multi tools in No Man’s Sky without wasting time digging through menus mid-action? I remember my first time dealing with this, I’d just found an S-class mining tool on a frozen radioactive planet, but I had no idea how to swap to it when I ran into a pack of aggressive sentinels 10 minutes later. I fumbled through my inventory for so long that I lost half my exosuit shields and half the rare activated cobalt I’d just mined. It was a frustrating mistake, and one I don’t want you to repeat.
How Do You Switch Multi Tools in No Man’s Sky: Core Methods for All Platforms
The good news is that swapping multi tools is incredibly simple once you know the two standard methods, and they work exactly the same across PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch versions of the game. The method you pick will depend on whether you’re in a safe area or in the middle of a high-pressure situation like a sentinel attack or a storm.
The fastest option is the quick menu swap, which lets you switch tools in less than a second without opening your full inventory. Quick menu swap is only available if you’ve registered the multi tool at a space station, planetary settlement, or Space Anomaly terminal first. To use this method, hold down the quick menu button: that’s Q on PC, down on the D-pad for all console platforms. Navigate to the multi tool icon on the radial menu, then select the tool you want to equip from the list that pops up. You’ll see a small animation play, and your tool will swap instantly.
If you haven’t registered your new multi tool yet, or you want to rearrange your loadout while you’re in a safe spot, you can use the inventory swap method. Open your main inventory menu, then tab over to the multi tool section (it’s the icon that looks like a pistol next to your exosuit and ship tabs). Hover over the multi tool you want to equip, then select it to swap it into your active slot. This method works even for unregistered tools, but it’s far slower, so I only recommend using it when you’re not at risk of being attacked or caught in a storm.
Pre-Requisites to Swap Multi Tools Without Headaches
Before you can start swapping between tools freely, there are a few boxes you need to tick first. Skipping these steps will lead to lost tools, wasted units, and a whole lot of frustration, so make sure you take care of these as soon as you start collecting extra multi tools.
- At least two registered multi tools in your dedicated multi tool inventory slots: You start the game with only one multi tool slot, so you’ll need to unlock extra slots if you want to carry more than one tool at a time.
- Enough free multi tool inventory slots to store additional tools you collect: You can unlock up to six total multi tool slots as of the latest game update, so you don’t have to limit yourself to just a mining and combat option.
- Access to a Space Station, Planetary Settlement, or the Space Anomaly to register new tools: Any multi tool terminal at these locations will let you register a new tool to your inventory for a small, one-time fee.
When you first pick up a new multi tool from a planetary cabinet or a NPC, it will automatically become your active tool, but it won’t be added to your permanent inventory until you register it. You must register every new multi tool you collect to access it via quick swap. If you pick up another new tool before registering the first one, you’ll lose the unregistered tool permanently, with no way to get it back unless you return to the exact planet you found it on. Unregistered multi tools will be lost if you pick up a new one without storing it first, so make it a habit to swing by the nearest space station as soon as you find a new tool you want to keep.
Pro Tips to Optimize Your Multi Tool Loadout for Fast Swaps
Once you have a few multi tools registered to your inventory, you can set up your loadout to make swaps even faster, so you never have to pause mid-exploration for longer than half a second. I’ve tested a ton of different loadout setups over the last 300 hours I’ve put into the game, and these tips have saved me more times than I can count.
Name each of your multi tools by their purpose to avoid picking the wrong one mid-action. You can rename any multi tool by opening its tab in the inventory menu and selecting the rename option. I have four tools in my current loadout, named “Mining S-Class”, “Combat Sentinel”, “Scanning Fauna”, and “Building Terrain”, so I never accidentally pull out my scanning tool when I’m being chased by a sentinel walker. It’s a tiny change that makes a huge difference in high-pressure moments.
Keep your most frequently used tools in the first two quick menu slots for faster access. You can rearrange the order of your multi tools in the inventory tab by dragging and dropping them into different slots, so put the two you use most often at the top of the list. If I’m spending the day mining for rare resources to upgrade my freighter, I put my mining tool first. If I’m exploring a high-sentinel planet to collect corrupted shards, I put my combat tool first so I can swap to it instantly if I get spotted.
Another small tip: Make sure each of your multi tools is fully upgraded for its specific purpose before you add it to your loadout. There’s no point swapping to a combat multi tool that only has a basic boltcaster and no damage upgrades, because it won’t be strong enough to take down high-level enemies. I usually spend a few million units upgrading each new tool I find before I add it to my regular rotation, and it’s well worth the investment.
Common Multi Tool Swap Mistakes to Avoid
Even if you know how to swap multi tools correctly, there are a few common mistakes that even veteran players make from time to time. I’ve made almost all of these myself, so I can tell you exactly how much of a pain they are to fix, and how easy it is to avoid them in the first place.
The most common mistake is forgetting to register a new multi tool before leaving the space station or planet where you found it. I once found a perfect S-class combat tool with 24 technology slots on a remote abandoned planet, and I was so excited to test it out that I flew off to another system without registering it first. When I picked up a random C-class tool later that day to scrap it for parts, I lost the S-class tool entirely, and I never found that planet again. It was a devastating loss, and one I could have avoided if I’d just stopped at the nearest space station for 10 seconds to register it.
Always check your multi tool slot count before interacting with a new multi tool cabinet on a planet. If you have no free slots left, you’ll be forced to discard one of your existing registered tools to pick up the new one. Most of the time, the new tool you find on a planet isn’t worth ditching a fully upgraded S-class tool you’ve spent months upgrading, so double check your slot count first to avoid accidental deletions.
If you do accidentally discard a registered multi tool, don’t panic. You can retrieve a discarded multi tool for 500,000 units at any Space Station multi tool terminal, but it’s always better to avoid the cost entirely. The retrieval option is at the bottom of the multi tool terminal menu, and it will show all the tools you’ve discarded in the last 10 hours of gameplay, so you won’t lose your favorite tool forever if you make a mistake.
Another mistake I see new players make all the time is trying to swap tools while they’re mid-animation, like while they’re mining a deposit or firing their weapon. The swap won’t register until the animation is done, so you’ll end up wasting time spamming the swap button instead of just waiting half a second for the animation to finish. If you need to swap quickly, stop what you’re doing first, then trigger the swap.
Once you get the hang of how do you switch multi tools in No Man's Sky, you’ll cut down on wasted time during exploration, combat, and mining runs drastically. The quick swap method becomes second nature after a few uses, and taking the time to set up your loadout and name your tools will make your entire gameplay experience far smoother. Don’t worry if you make a few mistakes at first, like forgetting to register a tool or picking the wrong one mid-fight, every player goes through that. Once you get the system down, you’ll wonder how you ever played without swapping between tools for every different activity.
