
Open the console and select the NPC or companion you want to equip with a pip-boy. your whole stack, they can equip more than one, and you might be left with nothing but the broken ones in their inventory, similar to the companions below. NOTE: If you give them more than one functional one, I.E. Usually, three Pip-Boys will be taken from the stack, the settler will equip one, and you can take the remaining ones back to give them to other settlers. Transfer all Pip-Boys to the settler one at a time. To work around this, get all (new) Pip-Boys from the Pip-Boy crates and Vault steamer trunk in the entrance area.
When the Pip-Boy is placed in the settler's inventory, it will not automatically equip, remaining as an item in their inventory indefinitely. The steamer trunk gets refilled from time to time. Ten can initially be found in a Vault 88 themed steamer trunk by the main entrance, as well as one each in three Pip-Boy crates in the same area. And when that happens, it disappears from their inventory, making it impossible to get it back even if the settler dies.
Instead of having to tell a settler to equip, it will automatically be equipped as soon as it's on their inventory. Most settlers and humanoid companions, apart from Hancock and Nick Valentine, will also equip it if given to them. It is listed as a miscellaneous item, as it cannot be equipped by the Sole Survivor (who already wears a Pip-Boy of their own), but it can be equipped by some NPCs, such as Clem. It is identical in appearance to a Pip-Boy 3000 Mark IV, the same model used by the Sole Survivor. The Vault 88 Pip-Boy is a miscellaneous item in the Fallout 4 add-on Vault-Tec Workshop.