Home > Guides > Fallout 4: How to Scrap Junk

Fallout 4: How to Scrap Junk

Updated:
fallout 4 how to scrap junk

The big part of Fallout 4 gameplay is looting. While you are looking for new weapons, heals, and caps you will also encounter tons of random things like ashtrays, cups, bottles, tin cans, all of which can be collected. Those items are known as junk and are used for many things but take quite a lot of inventory space and weight. One way to deal with it is to scrap it and here’s how to scrap junk in Fallout 4.

What is Junk For?

As already mentioned, junk is all the random things that you can find in the wasteland. If you can’t use it to kill others or can’t eat it, it’s junk. That doesn’t mean it’s useless though. Believe it or not, junk plays a huge part in the game.

The junk is the source of all sorts of materials. Adhesive, aluminum, oil, steel, you name it. And those materials are used for quite a few things. First and foremost – upgrading. Your power armor and weapons all can be modified and upgraded (power armor can also be repaired) with said materials. The better the upgrade the more materials it will require.

Mod crafting for weapons and required materials in Fallout 4
Mod crafting for weapons and required materials

Another mechanic that debuted in Fallout 4 is settlement building. You can manage settlers, build them housing and supply them with food and water. There is a long process of how to manage a settlement but long story short – building structures and furniture in your settlement also requires the same materials.

How to Scrap/Store Junk? (Turn it into Materials)

The junk can take quite a lot of space. And bigger items like batteries and canisters also weigh a lot. So we need a way to keep it around but not in our inventory. Luckily there are two ways of dealing with this issue: scrapping or storing.

Storing

Let’s start off with storing because it’s the easiest way between the two. You probably noticed that you can transfer items between your inventory and different storage facilities: like cupboards, safes, or workshops. Since the workshop is where you will use the materials anyway it is the best way to store your junk.

To put your items in the workshop go to any station that you have at the location. The workshop’s storage is shared between all the stations that are located in the same area. But it is not shared between other workshops you may own or find. When you access a station you will see your own inventory as well as workshop’s. To transfer items simply click on an item in your inventory or when it comes to junk there is a handy button “Store all Junk” located at the bottom of the screen (“T” keybind by default on PC).

Workshops' inventory
Workshops’ inventory

And there you go! When you will be using any station of this workshop you will be able to use the junk to craft whatever you need. The number of resources you have will be automatically calculated including your stored junk. And when you do craft something, you will see a pop-up screen confirming what junk was converted to materials.

Scrapping

If you are the kind of person who wants everything to be in form of materials straight away and save yourself from the nightmare you see every time you open a workshop, here’s a method for you.

When in the settlement/workshop area you can enter the building mode by holding “V” by default. In this mode, you can build and scarp your surroundings. Scrapping is done by pointing at the item and pressing “R”. In the confirmation screen after you will see what materials you will get by scrapping said item/structure.

Scrapping junk from the building menu
Scrapping junk from the building menu

To use this feature to scrap junk all you have to do is go to your inventory and drop all the junk on the floor. Then individually scrap every item you just dropped. That is going to be monotonous work especially if you have been out adventuring for quite a while so I highly recommend using the strong method instead.

Where to Get More Junk/Materials?

Might seem like a simple question, I mean just loot, right? Actually, if you are gathering basic materials for building settlement structures, like wood, steel, or rubber there is a better way for you to obtain resources. In the building mode, you can scrap all the structures around you. That includes trees, old cars, collapsed houses, tires, almost anything can be demolished. Use that to get a load of materials for building.

Scrapping houses from building menu
Scrapping houses from a building menu

For more specific materials you will have to go loot hunting. I suggest going to cities or towns like Concord or Cambridge if you are in the early game and running around houses and apartment buildings. Those always have the most random and weird stuff lying around.

Not Junk After All

Ironically junk is very valuable in Fallout 4 or in any Fallout game. We are talking about the game in which we use bottle caps as money after all. Make sure to grab as much junk as you can while you are out or look for junk that contains materials you lack. They won’t take any space once in the workshop and you never know what you might need in the future.

Photo of author

AUTHOR

Based in the UK, Edward is a Guides Editor at Gamezo. He's all about esports and gaming and plays a little bit of everything. But his favorite game of all time is Destiny 2.