For many players, one of the most exciting aspects of Borderlands 3 will be adding new and powerful gear to their inventories. Indeed, there is a myriad of ways to earn loot in Gearbox Software's highly anticipated new shooter, and one way is to use Borderlands 3 Shift Codes to obtain Golden Keys. There are not many BL3 Shift Codes currently available—as most of the codes released by Gearbox have been limited-time offerings, while only a handful of codes are still usable as of this writing.
That's where this guide comes in. The Borderlands 3 glitch outlined here will allow players to obtain infinite Golden Keys and as much powerful loot as they desire. It will also touch on the codes currently available, for those who prefer to nab some Golden Keys without resorting to glitches.
To note, the Borderlands 3 exploit detailed in this guide has been verified as functional on a PS4 version of the game, and it requires a USB storage device to execute. That said, following a similar process on Xbox One and PC should yield the same results—assuming players know where to locate the USB storage/user settings on these devices.
Updated December 13th, 2021 by Stephen LaGioia: Borderlands 3 is more than just an epic ARPG; it's a thriving community and dynamic world that continues to expand with added locales, challenges, and goodies to collect. Adding to the already vast universe of Promethea, Pandora, Eden-6, and Athenas is a slew of DLC packs featuring even more colorful characters, memorable quests, and awesome loot.
With so many items to gather in the game—and more that continues to be added to the fold—one can never have too many Golden Keys to obtain loot. Thus, it seemed like a good time to revisit and flesh out this handy guide dealing with the golden keys cheat/exploit in Borderlands 3.
What Are Golden Keys In Borderlands 3?
Golden Keys are a coveted type of key generated from Shift Codes, specifically used to crack open a special chest in the upper level of Sanctuary. The chest specifically resides across from the Fast Travel Station. It's a shiny gold chest adorned with a skull icon. Using a key to open the chest will provide some randomly-generated loot; usually in the form of potent new weapons.
These essentially work like free loot boxes that produce random goodies. The catch is that the codes used to get them usually come with a rather brief time limit before they expire; often merely 24 hours. Luckily, fans can obtain these temporary codes on a fairly regular basis in a number of ways, mainly by following Randy Pitchford on Twitter.
How To Enter Shift Codes In Borderlands 3
In order to get Golden Keys, players will need to enter the 25-digit Shift Codes in their possession. This is done by creating an account and entering the code at shift.gearboxsoftware.com, either directly in the browser, or within the game menu in the social tab followed by the Shift Code tab.
Once this is successful, players will need to visit the social tab again and check out the mail section, where a message will show up requesting the user to redeem the mail contents. The key will then appear in the player's inventory.
A few things to note here regarding Shift Codes and Golden Keys:
- While players can keep using new Shift Codes, only a limited amount of codes are available at one time, and each Golden Key can be used only once.
- It's recommended to be at a higher level (around 40) when using this chest, as the loot will scale up to a higher level.
- With that said, the items from the Golden Chest will always be in the form of Uncommon rarity of higher, and will be at the current level of the player.
- Codes in Borderlands 2 as well as The Pre-Sequel can be used in those games in a similar fashion, but cannot be transferred over or used in BL3.Current Available Shift Codes
As it's been touched on, Gearbox doles out a variety of codes, many of which come with limited windows and expiration dates. However, there are various codes that are currently meant to be permanent. They are as follows:
- ZFKJ3-TT3BB-JTBJT-T3JJT-JWX9H - 3 Golden Keys
- HXKBT-XJ6FR-WBRKJ-J3TTB-RSBHR - 1 Golden Key
- ZFKJ3-TT6FF-KTFKT-T3JJT-JWX36 - 1 Golden Key
- 9XCBT-WBXFR-5TRWJ-JJJ33-TX53Z - 3 Golden Keys
- ZRWBJ-ST6XR-CBFKT-JT3J3-FRXJ5 - 3 Golden Keys
- Z65B3-JCXX6-5JXW3-3B33J-9SWT6 - 3 Golden Keys
- WSKBB-Z666Z-C6KRZ-FBTB3-9WCKT - 3 Golden Keys
How To Do The Infinite Golden Key Glitch In Borderlands 3
While there are plenty of means to get Golden Keys, many will still find it easier and more convenient to have an instant, readily-available supply of infinite keys, which can be loaded up any time. Read on to discover how this nifty exploit can be done:
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The Borderlands 3 unlimited Golden Key glitch begins by navigating to the Social tab through the game's main menu. From here, players should access the Shift Code tab and submit a BL3 Shift Code in the designated space as usual.
- The first three codes listed above can simply be entered to make this work.
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Now, players can open their Borderlands 3 mailbox and redeem five BL3 Golden Keys.
- The bottom right of the screen should show a key icon with the number "5" to indicate the five keys are in the player's possession.
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With the Golden Keys collected, players will now need to make a backup save.
- This process is similar to the one used for duping weapons in Borderlands 3, and it begins by quitting the game and closing the application.
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Players should then navigate to Settings -> Application Saved Data Management -> Saved Data in System Storage -> Copy to USB Storage Device. As one might have suspected, this will copy the data containing the Golden Keys onto the device.
- This allows the USB device to be continually loaded, providing an infinite supply of Golden Keys.
- Be sure to have a USB device loaded into the console with some free space.
- Make sure that only "user settings" is copied, not "character save."
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Players can once again load up their characters and use their five BL3 Golden Keys to open up the chest in Sanctuary five times.
- As mentioned, this will yield powerful gear that scales with a player's level, including Borderlands 3 legendary weapons, and it also exhausts the stash of Golden Keys.
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At this point, players should once again quit the game and close the application. Now, navigate Settings -> Application Saved Data Management -> Saved Data on USB Storage Device -> Copy to System Storage. This will then copy the backup of the User Settings that was previously created back to System Storage, which contains the five Golden Keys.
- Again, keep in mind these steps involve the menus of the PS4 version, but the Xbox One and PC have similar menus that allow for this exploit if the folders are located and the data is copied/transferred in a similar fashion.
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Players can now load their character again. Once the game is loaded, five more keys should be loaded into the game, which can be used to open the chest five more times and produce new, additional loot.
- This process can be repeated endlessly, so long as a player is able to maintain their patience with the loading screens that they will have to sit through to execute this exploit.
Other Ways To Obtain Loads Of Great Loot
- For those that prefer not to use a BL3 exploit to earn their Golden Keys, using the various Borderlands 3 VIP codes is another way to produce an ample supply of them.
- Playing through Mayhem Mode also yields larger quantities of better loot.
- Farming bosses and tougher enemies is a great way to get many opportunities for great loot.
For a visual detailed step-by-step regarding this exploit, check out this video: