How to reveal and use the Map in Elden Ring (2023)

This guide explains how to reveal the map in Elden Ring, how to navigate it, place beacons and markers and take full advantage of it!

How to access the map in Elden Ring

When you finish the tutorial of Elden Ring, you will find yourself in Limgrave. This is the first region of The Lands Between – the territory where Elden Ring’s story takes place.

Unlike with other games, in Elden Ring you have access to the map from the very beginning. Though the details on it will be “locked”. You will only see major roads and points of interest will be marked on it as you discover them. Nearly nothing else.

You will also be able to see where the lands are and where the sea begins. In the image above you see the golden circles, representing the Grace checkpoints that you have already discovered (or in this case I have discovered).

The golden “flames” point you in the general direction of the main path of the game. You do not have to follow it, of course. And not every Grace location will have golden flames pointing in a direction.

To open the Map, press “G” on PC, TouchPad on PlayStation and ChangeView button on Xbox controllers. If you need some extra help, consult with my guide to Elden Ring’s PC and Consoles Controls.

How to reveal the map in Elden Ring

To reveal the full map in Elden Ring, you have to find map fragments. Each sub-section of The Lands Between can be “unlocked” with a map fragment that is located in a specific location.

When I say “unlocked” I mean “displayed with its full details. Even while you don’t see the full data on your map, you can still almost freely roam around. It would just be easier with a visible map.

You will find Map Fragments attached to a certain type of pillars, located near roads (usually) in the different regions.

This is what these pillars look like:

The pillar would be glowing until you pick up the map fragment from it. All you have to do is go to it and click to loot it.

If you are curious about the lore, you can find the map fragment in the Key Items tab in your Inventory and read its description. The image below shows the very first map fragment you will likely find, at Gatefront.

That map thumbnail actually correctly shows the portion of the map that the fragment reveals for you. Talk about attention to detail…

You can actually see the locations of these pillars marked on your map before you find the map fragments. Here is the symbol you need to be looking for on the map:

These map icons are actually quite small, but I have zoomed on it to show its shape and form properly. I left the cursor on that image as well, for scale. I didn’t have a potato around.

When you pick up a map fragment, the map will change its appearance to show a ton more details and it is also very beautifully drawn.

How to use the map in Elden Ring

You can open your map at almost any time and point to check it out. One example where you will not be able to do that is while you are talking to an NPC.

To open the map, press “G” on PC / TouchPad on Playstation / ChangeView button on Xbox.

In the bottom right you have a circle that shows you the time of day. There are a lot of different things happening in The Lands Between at night. New bosses spawn, new types of enemies and generally it’s scarier and more dangerous. As it should be.

On the bottom left-hand side, you see the available controls. They will either show the PC shortcuts or Xbox controller bindings, depending on how you have set up your controls. The image below shows PC controls.

The available controls will differ depending on where your selector is. The selector is the white circle.

You can place markers and beacons. They each look differently on the map and will remain there until you manually delete them.

Beacons are the blue arrows on the map. They are visible on your compass and on the horizon (when you are close to them) while you play too.

The markers are represented by circles. There are a number of different icons for markers for you to choose what and how you want to label.

While you stay with the white circle on an existing marker, you can replace it with another or remove it. The white circle snaps into an existing marker when you are close enough to it.

Markers are visible on your compass in-game as well.

When you discover a place of interest, it will be marked on your map with a small dark shape that represents this specific area. The example below is the Gatefron ruins (yeah, I deliberately don’t spoil other things, one is enough).

Tips and notes on how to use the map in Elden Ring

Be careful while staring at the map. It’s very helpful and beautiful, but the game does not stop while you admire the artist’s work. If you are not in a safe zone or area, something may attack you. The game’s world does not stop just because you have opened a map.

The map is your quickest (and only) way to travel quickly from one Grace node to another. Open the map, place the white circle on a Grace checkpoint and click the corresponding button to travel there.

The map shows great details and interesting hints. Use the markers system to place additional notes for yourself for things you want to check out later or have already checked out, but need to visit again. The questing system in Elden Ring is typical for the Souls games in that you do not have a notepad or a journal. You can use markers to remind you of what you need to do and where. For example, place markers for a vendor you have just discovered or a new boss you need to return to defeat later because right now it one-shots you.

At the bottom left-hand side, there will be a giant dark circle after you get invited to the Roundtable Hold. I won’t share a spoiler on how and where this happens because it’s part of the game’s story. The only way to return to it is through the map.

Use the map to plan your route by placing beacons. Elden Ring is a vast open world, but it doesn’t mean you can’t speedrun it. Or, if you have limited time, put a few beacons to create a path for yourself to explore and go to each one of these places. If you find something worthy, put a marker to remind yourself what’s at that location.

I hope you found my guide on how to reveal the map in Elden Ring and use it to its full potential in Elden Ring useful and interesting. I may add more tips and tricks on how to take full advantage of your map in Elden Ring in the future.

Meanwhile, take a look at some of the other Elden Ring Beginner’s Guides. We also have a growing Elden Ring Boss Guides collection. I suggest you start with these two:

• Elden Ring for Beginners: The Ultimate Guide
• How to defeat Bosses in Elden Ring: a beginner’s guide