GTA Trilogy cheats: how to enter a code in the Definitive Edition on any platform

Once entered, a message on screen confirms the cheat is on. On consoles, entering the same combo again turns most cheats off. The input method is the same in all three games of the trilogy.

On PC you simply type the code on the keyboard while playing. There's no separate field or console, and you don't need to press Enter. It works the same in the Rockstar Games Launcher, Steam and Epic Games Store versions.

In San Andreas every cheat has two variants: a short gibberish code like HESOYAM and a phrase like INEEDSOMEHELP. Both work in the Definitive Edition. If the short code doesn't trigger, try the phrase: short codes sometimes differ by one letter between guides, while the phrases are written the same everywhere.

On consoles a cheat is a button combo. You have to press it quickly and during gameplay, not in the pause menu. On every GTA Top code page, combos are written with PlayStation buttons. For other consoles, swap the buttons like this:

Example: HESOYAM on Switch is R, ZR, L, B, ←, ↓, →, ↑, ←, ↓, →, ↑. The Switch button mapping was worked out by cross-checking combos on GTA BOOM and AppTrigger.

Older Xbox consoles. The table above is for the Definitive Edition. In the original games on the first Xbox and Xbox 360, the bumpers and triggers are swapped: L1 corresponds to LT, R1 to RT, L2 to LB, R2 to RB. That's why Xbox 360 combos from old guides won't work on Xbox One in the remaster, and vice versa.

The mobile Definitive Edition for iOS and Android came out on December 14, 2023. You can enter cheats in one of two ways, and the path is the same in GTA III, Vice City and San Andreas.

1. Through the menu (touchscreen). Tap the map to open the pause menu → Options → the Accessibility tab (far right) → the Enter Cheat Code button at the bottom of the list, below Color Blind Mode. Your phone's keyboard appears: type a PC code, for example HESOYAM.
2. With a controller. If a Bluetooth controller is connected to your phone, console combos work just like on PlayStation or Xbox.

Both methods are described by TouchArcade and Dotesports. The games were once on Netflix Games too, but the Netflix versions of the trilogy are gone, so everything here applies to the App Store and Google Play apps.

The old 2011–2013 mobile ports (not Definitive) have no code field. They need a physical keyboard over Bluetooth or a USB adapter (OTG). The 2013 San Andreas port also has a few codes of its own — they're on the San Andreas cheats page. The differences between the mobile versions are covered on the GTA Trilogy on mobile page.

Most cheats from the 2001–2004 games work in the remaster. Some were removed: Rockstar producer Rich Rosado told USA Today, “We actually had to remove a couple for technical reasons.” Game Informer and Sirus Gaming reported this on November 11, 2021. The reason was that some cheats didn't work well on Unreal Engine. Rockstar never published an official list of removed codes.

So everything below comes from guides, and they don't agree with each other:

Game Rant tested cheats on PS5 in the first days after launch (November 14, 2021) and counted about 20 missing in San Andreas, including the jetpack. But GTABase and PC Gamer list the jetpack as working, so that list looks partly wrong. In San Andreas the console combo for “flying cars” also changed, although the PC code stayed the same.

What exactly works in each game is marked in the tables on the individual game pages.

In the Definitive Edition, cheats disable achievements and trophies in all three games. Steam players report that the game shows a warning: “Games in which cheats have been activated cannot unlock trophies”.

• What gets blocked. The specific save where you entered the cheat, not your whole account. According to CheatCC and players on GameFAQs, achievements unlock as usual on other slots.
• Can you undo it? No method confirmed by any source. All you can do is load a save made before the cheat.
• Switch. Switch has no achievement system, so this applies to PC, PlayStation and Xbox.
• Mobile. We found no specific description for mobile: TouchArcade and Dotesports only say in general terms that cheats block some achievements.

Trilogy patches fixed buggy trophies (for example, the San Andreas platinum), but those fixes have nothing to do with cheats.

1. Before your first cheat, save to a separate slot and don't overwrite it. Game Informer and Push Square recommend this.
2. Play with cheats on a different slot. If you want achievements, go back to the “clean” one.
3. Don't save over your main slot while cheats that can't be turned off are active: riot mode and pedestrian attacks. Once saved, they stay in that save for good.
4. In San Andreas, don't turn on too many cheats in one playthrough: according to GTA BOOM and GTA Wiki, you may then be unable to finish the missions Burning Desire, Life’s a Beach, Photo Opportunity and Madd Dogg.

Technically the game doesn't stop you saving with cheats — the only risk is that a broken slot can't be fixed.

This page only covers how to enter cheats. Full code tables for PC, PlayStation, Xbox and Switch, with notes on what works in the Definitive Edition, are on each game's page:

• GTA 3 cheats — money, weapons, tank, weather, what changed in the remaster.
• GTA Vice City cheats — weapons, vehicles, wanted level, new Definitive Edition codes.
• GTA San Andreas cheats — HESOYAM, jetpack, skills, codes for Switch and the 2013 mobile port, side effects.

Prices and what's in the bundle are on the GTA Trilogy price page; the general overview is on the GTA Trilogy page.