There is a simple version of this and a complete version, and both are below in that order.

Short answer

The direct answer is above the fold; the reasoning underneath is there for when the direct answer does not fit your situation.

Edge cases are genuinely rare, which is why the simple answer is usually the correct one. Most of the disagreement online comes from people describing different versions of GTA Online. Patch notes move numbers around constantly; the shape of the answer holds even when a specific value shifts.

When the usual advice fails

Testing this yourself takes a few minutes and settles it definitively. The accepted community answer is broadly right and wrong in a specific way that matters here. Anything that behaves differently on console than on PC is flagged where it matters. It is worth separating what the game does from what players have concluded it does.

The mechanic behind it is simpler than the discussion around it suggests. Most of the disagreement you will find online is two people describing different builds. Nothing here depends on a setting you are unlikely to have.

Why it works this way

There is no hidden trick here that the game is keeping from you. None of this needs a paid tool, a third-party launcher or an account on a site you have never heard of. If your result differs from what is described here, note what is different first rather than starting over.

  • Revisit after a major patch if the behaviour changes.
  • Test it yourself where testing is cheap.
  • Keep a save or backup from before you start — it costs nothing and occasionally saves an evening.
  • Note the exception cases — they are specific rather than vague.
  • Do not build a routine around an edge case.
  • Write down what you changed, so you can undo exactly one thing if it goes sideways.

The practical answer

The community wisdom on this is roughly half right, and the half that is wrong costs the most time. A single check up front replaces a lot of guessing later. If you are coming to this after a long break, the terminology has probably moved on. Where two approaches both work, the one with fewer moving parts is the one to keep.

Do the cheap check before the expensive one — that ordering alone saves most of the frustration. If a step reads as obvious, do it anyway — the obvious ones are the ones people skip and then wonder about. GTA Online is not shy about hiding useful information two menus deep, so some of this is simply knowing where to look.

What to do instead

The awkward part is rarely the step itself, it is knowing which step comes first. Where something depends on your platform or region, that is called out rather than glossed over. Everything below is framed around the current state of GTA Online rather than a launch-week impression.

There is usually a fast way and a reliable way, and it is worth knowing which one you are choosing. The developers have changed their mind about this at least once, which explains the older advice. It helps to understand why a step exists, because then you can adapt it when your situation is slightly different.

Worth knowing alongside this

Treat anything stated without a version number as provisional. The short version is near the top on purpose; the reasoning is there if you want to know why. Screenshots age faster than text, which is why this describes rather than shows.

Where people go wrong

  • Changing five things at once and then not knowing which one helped.
  • Rushing the last step, which is usually the one with the actual requirement in it.
  • Trusting a video thumbnail that promises a result the video never actually shows.
  • Ignoring the platform-specific note and then wondering why the steps do not line up.

GTA Online FAQ

Why do people disagree about this?

Mostly because they are describing different versions. Version drift explains the majority of contradictory advice about GTA Online.

Does this change between platforms?

The behaviour does not. Where menu paths or prompts differ, that is noted above.

What is the short answer?

It is the paragraph near the top. Everything after it exists for the cases where that paragraph does not quite fit.

How long does this take?

Minutes if it goes cleanly, an evening if you hit the edge case in the caveats list. Neither is unusual.

Come back to the caveats list if it does not work first time — the answer is almost always in there.