Unlocking new spells is a lot of fun in Baldur's Gate 3, and if you want to use your character's kit effectively then you should definitely take advantage of the hotbar. If you are wondering how to edit your hotbar in Baldur's Gate 3 to add your favourite items and spells, then we are here to help.
When the game was first released in early access, menu navigation was highly complex. The dynamic hotbar kept moving things around whenever you learned new spells or picked up items. While the hotbar itself is still available, you can now lock and customise it to your liking, which makes life a lot easier and far more accessible.
Before we talk more about how to edit this function, be sure to check out our class tier list to find out which characters you should be picking for your first playthrough. We also have a guide to help you customise your Steam Deck settings for Baldur's Gate 3 to get the best performance possible when you're on the go.
How the hotbar works in Baldur's Gate 3
In Baldur's Gate 3, Larian Studios has implemented a feature known as the Quick Slot Bar. This automatically changes the spells and potions available to you depending on what you need. Things automatically appear on the hotbar, which can be very frustrating, and if you don’t like the game managing things on your behalf, there are a few ways to tweak this and make your experience more intuitive.
- Read more: Baldur's Gate 3 race tier list and class tier list
The hotbar adds and removes items as soon as they become possible actions. The problem with this is that Baldur's Gate 3 is a very in-depth title, and it has too many actions and items to be placed on the hotbar. The only solution that we have right now is to lock it once you are done adapting it to your play style.
How to edit your hotbar
Patch 7 added major improvements to the hotbar in Baldur's Gate 3 during early access. You can now customise it with items that you want, and things will not change dynamically. You can enable this option by simply going to the Gameplay option in the Settings menu.
The UI is still a little confusing, so if you are unable to figure out how to add spells and items to your hotbar, here's what you need to do:
- Open the character panel
- Open your spellbook and drag items to the hotbar
- To add items, you can right-click items in the inventory and add them to the Custom tab
- Exit the inventory/spell book once you are done customising your hotbar
If you are unable to see certain spells in the spellbook, make sure you click on Common Actions to see some additional options. There should be a small subgroup of spells that are not typically visible in the spellbook that you can add to your hotbar.
That is all you need to know about editing your hotbar in Baldur's Gate 3. For more content, check out our multiplayer guide if you are looking to play with friends. If you are a lone wolf, we have a solo guide as well. But we've also got some handy guides for when you're running around Faerun, such as how to solve the Thorn Mausoleum puzzle, and whether you should choose the Mountain Pass or Underdark routes to Moonrise Towers.