How to use a CS:GO config & create an autoexec

CS:GO is a game that offers a lot of customization options. Players are constantly experimenting with their resolution, crosshairs, video settings, and so on. A lot of these finer adjustments are made in the console of the game (which you can access by pressing the ~ key by default) but the annoying thing is that they often reset upon rebooting the game. It can be a massive annoyance to have to retype all of your special settings each time you reset the game, so for that reason players have taken to using an autoexec.

An autoexec is basically a personal config file that you put in the game’s files with your own personal settings (such as crosshair settings, buy binds, sensitivy, and so on) so that the game automatically loads these settings each time you start up the game. That’s really handy in and of itself, but the cool thing is that this allows you to instantly load up your own settings anywhere. Just store your own autoexec file somewhere you can access it online and insert it into the game if you’re playing on a different PC at a LAN or whatever and voila! You’re playing on your own trusty settings.

Thanks to this you can also use the configs of other players or pro players. So if you want to check out how dev1ce plays, for example, you can just remove your own config, download his and install it, and then play the game with dev1ce’s config. Once you’re done you can just replace that config with your own and get right back to the way it was without any issues.

If you make your own personal config/autoexec file, remember to store it somewhere online in case it gets replaced or removed.

How to use a CS:GO pro’s config

All you need to use a pro player’s config is a downloadable file of their config file. We’ve got the configs of a whole bunch of professional CS:GO players ready to download, so if you want to use (for example) s1mple’s settings, just go to his player page and click ‘config’ and your download should begin automatically.

Before you begin this process we recommend you to create a backup folder for your own config; we like to place this on the desktop, but of course this is entirely up to you. To put it on the desktop just right click an empty space, and click ‘New’ -> ‘Folder’. Once you’ve got a backup folder ready you’re all set.

1. Download the config of the player that you want.
2. Open the zipped file with your preferred program.
3. Go to your Steam folder (this is usually in ‘Local Disk (C:)‘) and then navigate to ‘Program Files (x86)‘ -> ‘Steam‘ -> ‘userdata‘ -> YOURSTEAMID (this is a bunch of numbers that corresponds with your personal Steam ID number) -> ‘730‘ -> ‘local‘ -> ‘cfg‘.
4. Place your old config.cfg file in your backup folder.
5. Place the downloaded config in the cfg map. If it is not already named ‘config.cfg’ you should right click it and rename it so it says exactly ‘config.cfg‘.

That’s it! To get back to your own config just remove the downloaded config and replace it with the config file you placed in the backup folder.

Popular pro configs

How to create an autoexec and use it

Creating an autoexec is actually really simple if you just follow the right steps. First, we recommend that you download Notepad++ so that you can easily edit your file once you’ve created it. This is a perfectly safe program that’s used by millions of people around the world, so no need to worry about this at all. With Notepad++ downloaded (it’s a very small program, so it shouldn’t take long at all) you’re all set to go.

1. Go to your CS:GO config folder. To find this, go to your Steam library and right click on Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Then click on ‘Properties‘ and after that click ‘Browse Local Files‘.
2. You’ll get to a map with lots of folders in it. Double click on ‘csgo‘, then go to ‘cfg‘. You’ll see a long list of files and documents, but don’t worry about that.
3. Right click somewhere that’s not a file and click ‘New‘ -> ‘Text Document‘. You should name this ‘autoexec.txt‘ when you make it.
4. Open your brand new autoexec.txt file and write your favorite commands. What you use will be dependent on what you personally want, but there are plenty of resources online such as this autoexec creator to help you, though you’ll have to use a different crosshair generator (such as this one) than the one they link to since that link no longer seems to be working. Alternatively you can download the workshop map Crashz’ Crosshair Generator and make or pick one there. Just press ‘share’ once you’re done and copy the text that the map puts out to your autoexec.
5. Write ‘host_writeconfig‘ at the last line (the autoexec creator that we linked already does this).
6. Once you’re all done writing your autoexec lines, press ‘File‘ -> ‘Save As‘. You now need to name the file ‘autoexec.cfg‘ (it’s really important that you check your spelling) and save it as ‘All Files‘.
7. Your autoexec is now ready. You’ll find that your old .txt file is still there, but you can delete that if you want since you can directly edit your autoexec using Notepad++ by right clicking and clicking ‘Edit with Notepad++’.

Now your autoexec needs to launch every time you launch the game, so navigate to your Steam library again.

1. Right click ‘Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’.
2. Click ‘Properties’.
3. Click ‘Set Launch Options’.
4. Write ‘+exec autoexec.cfg’ and then click ‘OK’.

You’re all set!

ProSettings | Staff

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This is the ProSettings Staff account. We use this for articles with content that has been conceptualized by multiple people and/or doesn't contain the opinions of just one of our writers.

Updated: August 21, 2022