Fallout 4 is regarded as one of the best open-world RPGs you can play and the culmination of everything the Fallout series has been building to since the first game was released. However, it’s not perfect. While this is part of its charm, it can also be frustrating because features such as your Companions and NPCs that are meant to accompany you until you tell them otherwise can disappear. This Fallout 4 guide explains how to find lost Companions, so you don’t need to wander the wasteland in search of them endlessly.

Where and how to find lost Companions in Fallout 4

It will surprise no one to discover that your Companions can just get lost in Fallout 4. This can happen while you’re in the middle of a quest, when you fast travel, or when a creature dies on the opposite side of the map. There’s no real rhyme or reason to it. You can do a couple of things to find these lost companions again, and we’ve compiled the best methods here.

How to find lost Companions using console commands

Console commands are the easiest way to find your lost Companions but only PC players can use this feature. You can open up the in-game console with the Tilde (~) key, and then you’ll need to type in “prid 0001d162” (note that the Companion ID, which in this example is “0001d162” changes depending on which Companion you want to move to your location), press return, and then type “moveto player“. Press return again, then the Tilde key and your Companion will be moved to your location.

Below we’ve listed the IDs for every Companion in Fallout 4. Use the process above but change the Companion ID to summon that Companion to your location.

  • Ada: 0100ff12Automatron: This is the only Companion whose ID isn’t set. It changes depending on what’s available when you build it, so you may want to take note of that when you come to it. Cait: 00079305Codsworth: 0001ca7dCurie: 00102249Paladin Danse: 0005de4dDeacon: 00045ac9Dogmeat: 0001d162John Hancock: 00022615Robert MacCready: 0002a8a7Nick Valentine: 00002f25Old Longfellow: 02006e5bPiper: 0002f1fPorter Gage: 0500a5b1Preston Garvey: 0001a4d7Strong: 0003f2bbX6-88: 0002e210a

Find lost Companions in Fallout 4 using the Vault-Tec Population Management System

In your settlement, you can build something called the Vault-Tec Population Management System. This system allows you to put trackers on all of your Companions so you can find them on the in-game map whenever you want. Once you’ve built it, you can interact with it to find any or all of your Companions and set map markers for them. This means that no matter where they randomly teleported, you can track them down and tell them to join up with you again.