If you have spent hours perfecting a complex control scheme—especially for flying the Dodo or RC planes—you should back up this file.

It stores your custom keybindings for foot travel, driving, and flying.

It maps button IDs for gamepads and joysticks.

While it sounds like a simple configuration file, keys.dat is essential for how the game translates your physical inputs into Tommy Vercetti’s actions. Whether you are dealing with a "Mouse Not Working" glitch or trying to port console controls to PC, understanding this file is the first step. What is keys.dat?

For those looking to push the game beyond its 2002 limitations, keys.dat is a frequent target for modification. Using GInput

Unlike human-readable .INI files, this is a data file that the game engine reads directly to initialize control schemes upon startup. Common Issues and Fixes