Like from the menu? Or nah? Just making sure I'm not stupid.

I got the impression that the game will scrap automatically from your junk inventory. Not sure if that's correct or not.
As for scrapping thinks around the settlement I've not found a faster way then by walking around and doing it manually.

Scrapping automagically is done from the inventory of that particular workbench (IE: the armor, weapons, or settlement workbench.). Reports are that items scrapped by the bench for one component consume the item, with any leftover components (such as glass from a decanter, when you need cork.) being wasted.

I think I'ma go back to dropping my junk and manually scrapping it.

Yeah, I just did a post in the help section asking basically the same thing:

Is there an EASY way to scrap armor and junk? I've tried searching the internet and reading the game guide. Everyone/everything says to scrap junk, but you can't scrap any junk, and for some reason MOST of the armor (but 10% you can? so weird) in a workbench. Storing it doesn't seem to scrap it either.

From what I've figured, you have to carry junk and armor all the way to a settlement area, drop it on the ground, enter the settlement menu, target each item, then scrap each item in a massive circle of armor and junk individually.

I'm glad I've found a way, but that CAN'T be the way it was designed or intended. Hoping someone has a better way to just "scrap all junk" and/or figures out why most armor can't be scrapped at the workbench and has to be dropped and scrapped from the settlement menu.

Simply "storing" junk doesn't scrap it. There also doesn't seem to be a "Junk" workbench where you can just scrap it all. As I mentioned above, I can't scrap nearly ALL armor without dropping it on the ground in a settlement area and selecting "scrap" from the settlement menu.

If someone has a better way, let us know. If someone is successfully scrapping just fine somewhere else and the UI is bugged...er...MORE bugged, let us know please.

You can not the same as scrapping, sure.. but helpful for building.

The game says that any materials not used when dismantling an item are returned to the Workshop storage. If someone gives Glass and Cork, and you only need Glass, then the Cork should be returned to the Workshop.

As for why you can't scrap a lot of the apparel you find, it's because it's not armor. You can only scrap and modify actual armor. Outfits and clothing can't be modified or scrapped. The only exception I've found has been the Vault 111 Jumpsuit; however, since it's the only thing I've found that isn't armor that can be modified, I'm thinking that it's an exception to the rule, not proof of the rule being invalid.

Hmm, it should more clearly delineate which raider gear is "armor" and which is clothing then, so you know when you pick it up. It's still all in the armor column, I'd rather it just let you scrap anything in the "armor" section, even if it gives you cloth and not leather.

I think you'll love me for this as I've found it insanely useful:

The game automatically scraps junk as you need them for parts. However, the issue is that many items far outweigh the summed weight of their components. My solution? Just go to a settlement, drop the item, enter workshop mode, and scrap it there. You can drop a ton of items as once and just go around doing "scrap, enter", "scrap, enter", "scrap, enter".

Doh! Ninja'd >.<

But if you are already in your settlement wouldn't it be easier to just go ahead and store it and it will get used as needed. Storage doesn't have a weight limit does it?

It doesn't, but the downside of that is not having your crafting material on hand (assuming you need the material/items on hand which I'm certain you do) if you encounter a crafting bench in the wasteland and want to mod a new weapon you just found without going back to a settlement. Although a decent compromise would be scrapping everything, but storing material not related to gun/armor mods, like wood, cement, etc.

In the end, it's likely a situation where people will decide on what works best for them. Fortunately, the game seems versatile enough for this to be possible.

I would settle for just knowing HOW the system works. Right now who knows, obviously not Bethesda as they couldn't even give us a game manual.

i wish the confirmation for scrapping could be removed, or disabled with an ingame toggle.

dropping lots and lots of items to scrap is an incredibly tedious affair of selecting 'scrap' then confirming

its even worse for scrapping stuff that cannot be put in the inventory. at least if you dont want to be bothered to scrap junk manually, the game will do it for you in the workbench. thats not the case with fridges, tables, cars, etc. etc. etc.....

All this is because dear Bethesda ported the controls from console 1:1. God, I can't wait the mod kit.....

Ok, hopefully this helps clear things up.

I just loaded my game at Sanctuary.

Took all items from Workbench.

Checked Weapon Bench and Workbench, no items there or materials.

Dropped all craft / junk items from Inventory, no materials left.

Went to Weapon Bench, tried to craft a 'Black' Baseball Bat. Needs only 5 wood, cant as i have none.

Picked up 2 Toy Cars and a Fishing Rod. These contained a total of 5 Wood, 2 Gears, 1 Spring, 2 Screws.

Put these items in Workbench.

Crafted the 'Black' mod, showed me the items it would use, i clicked to create it.

Checked back in Weapon Bench and Workbench, no Gears, Screws or Spring.

Checked Inventory, nope.

Checked area around Bench, nope.

I will continue to drop and scrap items as i have been. Shame they made it this way, takes away from a nice idea, with a horrible implementation.

So your saying if you had dropped the 2 toy cars and fishing pole, scrapped them in edit mode, then you would have just used the wood in your inventory? Would you still have to put the wood in storage for it to be used or can it use it right out of your personal inventory.

I just did the same thing, but got different results. I made sure there was nothing in the Workbench, then found a container and dumped everything in my inventory into it except a 10mm pistol, a Shovel, a Duct Tape, and a Desk Fan. Upon making the grip, I checked my inventory, and there was only the Comfort Grip 10mm Pistol and the 10mm Standard Grip Mod. However, upon checking my Workshop, I found 1 Cloth, 2 Gears, and 5 Steel sitting in the workbench. This aligns perfectly with the extra materials from the dismantled items. Also, I did this at Sanctuary Hills; however, I just restarted, so I have no settlers there to make stuff appear in the workshop without me putting it there. I don't know if it makes any difference, but I am on the PC.

I didnt do any other test, that was tedious enough. But if i manually scrapped the item, i should have had all the materials, then when i built the bat, only the wood should have gone.

I do have settlers, but not sure ive set them up properly. Either way, my bench and inventory was still empty after i crafted the bat. Did they appear straight away for you ? I waited about 30 secs but still no items.

One difference I can see, you crafted from your inventory ? I crafted from the bench. Maybe thats a factor ?

Ok, ive just redone this test.

I tried crafting from the bench = all material not used got wasted

I tried crafting from inventory = all material not used got wasted

I tried crafting from bench, after scrapping = only used needed material

I checked my inventory and workbench after each test. For me at least, the un used materials are being lost. So i will have to manually drop and scrap every item. Or let the game just throw half the stuff it doesnt use away.

Ive also waited 15 mins, and the rest still havent appeared in the workbench.

R0M, now try crafting from the bench. Then add 1 item of what is missing to the bench.

In the example above:

Picked up 2 Toy Cars and a Fishing Rod. These contained a total of 5 Wood, 2 Gears, 1 Spring, 2 Screws.

Wood is used, gears, spring and screws are missing.

Deposit 1 gear in the benchmark, and see if you now have 3. (I think waiting and/or fast traveling could fix it).

AKA it seems to only be a temporary bug / display bug. The items are there, but somehow it takes times/reload/'another of this item deposited' to be calculated.

Well I quick way to check that would be the just hit F5 and then F9 and see if the 'missing' pieces suddenly appear.

What if you put the item in 'storage' first then craft, does it leave the extra parts in storage or does it get lost as well?

Ok, i tried again. Fast travel didnt fix it. Save and reload didnt fix it. Adding another item (not scrapped) didnt fix it. Scrapping an item with a shared material instantly brought back all the missing components.

Building another mod, directly from inventory, doesnt fix it. The materials still dont show up. It seems the only fix i can reproduce is to manually scrap an item.

That said, if you go into crafting, and browse the mods, the missing items are still listed. So for a spike mod, it said Screw 2/1 or whatever. Even though the screws were still 'missing' from the bench or inventory. So the game sees them, you just cant see them, or remove them, but can build with them.

It gets 'lost'. However, it seems this is only visually lost, the game still sees these missing items. They only show up when you scrap something manually (during my testing), crafting, saving, travelling didnt restore them.

I HOPE we find out that all if this is due to bugs and it is something that will be patched soon. I'd hate to think we'd have to continue to work like this. In the mean time I'll just be scrapping everything manually and carrying the parts with me as long as I can (or dumping excess only into the storage).

THANK YOU for all the testing!