Hacking Explained: How to Hack Terminals

Hacking terminals in Fallout 4 (FO4) requires finding the terminal password. Read on for a hacking guide and learn hacking tips and how to hack terminals in Fallout 4!

Hacking Explained

Hacking Goal is to Find Terminal Password

The first time you try to hack a terminal you'll be met with a lot of gibberish on the screen coupled with some words. Your goal is to find the terminal password among all that you see on the screen.

4 Attempts to Find Terminal Password

You will have four attempts to find the terminal password among the words shown on the screen. Clicking one of the words you find on the terminal screen will use up one attempt. If the word chosen was correct, the terminal will unlock.

If the word chosen was incorrect, the terminal will output a Likeness Rating on the right side of the screen. The Likeness rating indicates how many letters including their positions that the word chosen has in common with the password.

Hacking Example

Example of Terminal Hacking
First Attempt
R	E	P	A	I	R	"REPAIR" has nothing in common with the password.
Likeness = 0
Second Attempt
F	O	R	M	E	D	"FORMED" has two letters in the correct position.
Likeness = 2
Third Attempt
C	L	O	S	E	R	"CLOSER" only has one letter in the correct position. The letter "E" in the fifth position must be correct since it has that in common with "FORMED".
Likeness = 1
Fourth Attempt
B	O	D	I	E	S	"BODIES" has both "O" and "E" in the same position as "FORMED" so it is likely the password.
Correct Password

What Happens When You Fail Hacking

Failing all your attempts results in a 10-second waiting time before you can hack the terminal again. Do note that each time you access the terminal the words will be randomized and be different from the last time you accessed it.

Hacking Tips and Tricks

Find Bracketed Symbols to Reset Attempts and Remove Duds

Select symbols enclosed in a pair of brackets — (), [], {} or <> — among the gibberish found on the terminal screen to make hacking easier. Picking out these symbols does not take an attempt and will either reset the number of tries or remove incorrect words.

Sweep Through the Characters to Find Bracketed Symbols

Sweep through the characters found on the terminal screen until you find groups of symbols highlighted. You can do this to easily find special symbols without having to look hard for them.

Hacking Perks

Hacker Perk Under Intelligence Tree

The Hacker Perk indicates the skill level of hacking you can do, rank up this perk to hack higher level terminals. However, the Hacker perk does not do anything to make hacking easier except that you will never have to wait when you fail to hack again at Rank 4 of the perk.

Hacker Perk - Is It Worth It?

Close to Metal Companion Perk from Nick Valentine

Close to Metal is a companion perk that gives you one more attempt at hacking and reduces the lockout duration when you fail by 50%. You can get this companion perk from reaching maximum affinity with Nick Valentine.

Fallout 4 Related Guides

Beginner's Guide to Fallout 4: All Tips and Tricks

Fallout 4 Guides