Three types of digital predictive dead-beat current control algorithms (PDB-CCAs) for phase-shifted full-bridge DC–DC converters with peak current, valley current and average current are presented. The PDB-CCAs are derived directly from the switching characteristics and topological structures of the converters. The proposed algorithms can predict the inductor current in the next switching period by sampling the input voltage, output voltage and inductor current in the current switching period. To ensure the stability of the inductor current, the PDB-CCAs result in a greatly improved transient performance, since the inductor current tracks the reference in one switching period or less when a reference perturbation or current perturbation occurs. In addition, although the procedure for deriving the control algorithms is complex, they can be easily implemented by a digital controller after reasonable simplification. Finally, simulation and experimental results are obtained and they agree with the theoretical results, which demonstrate the validity of the proposed PDB-CCAs.