Blender provides many keyboard shortcuts and hotkeys to speed our workflow. Some shortcuts are global and work no matter which mode or editor we are in. Others are specific to a certain area of Blender. Here’s a reference guide to Blender’s shortcuts.
For Mac users: Generally, shortcuts are the same on Blender for Mac except we use “Command” instead of “Control.” But… there are a few cases where that doesn’t work.
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General Shortcuts
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Right Mouse Click | Open Context Menu |
| Spacebar | Play Animation (Unless changed in preferences) |
| D (Hold) | Annotate – Free |
| Shift + D (Hold) | Annotate – Smooth |
| Alt + D (Hold) | Annotate – Straight Line |
| N | Toggle Sidebar (Right) |
| T | Toggle Toolbar (Left) |
| Q | Quick Favorites Menu |
| Ctrl + C | Copy Selected |
| Ctrl + V | Paste Selected |
| Ctrl + O | Open File |
| Ctrl + S | Save File |
| Ctrl + N | New File |
| Ctrl + Z | Undo |
| Shift + Ctrl + Z | Redo |
| Shift + R | Repeat Last Action |
| Ctrl + Q | Quit |
| F1 | Help |
| F2 | Rename Selected |
| Ctrl + F2 | Batch Rename |
| F3 | Search Menu |
| F4 | File Context Menu |
| F9 | Adjust Last Operation |
| F11 | View Render |
| Ctrl + F11 | View Animation |
| F12 | Render Current Frame |
| Ctrl + F12 | Render Animation |
View Shortcuts
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Z | Viewport Preview Pie Menu |
| Alt + Z | Toggle X-Ray Mode |
| H | Hide Selected |
| Shift + H | Hide Unselected |
| Alt + H | Unhide All |
| NumPad 0 | Camera View |
| NumPad 1 | Orthographic View – Front |
| Ctrl + NumPad 1 | Orthographic View – Back |
| NumPad 3 | Orthographic View – Right |
| Ctrl + NumPad 3 | Orthographic View – Left |
| NumPad 7 | Orthographic View – Top |
| Ctrl + NumPad 7 | Orthographic View – Bottom |
| Home | Show All (Zoom to Fit) |
| / | Isolate Selected |
| Ctrl + Spacebar | Toggle Maximum Area View |
| Ctrl + Alt + Spacebar | Toggle Full Screen |
| Accent Mark (`) | View Pie Menu |
| Ctrl + Accent Mark (`) | Toggle Gizmo Visibility |
| Ctrl + Page Up / Page Down | Toggle Workspace |
Navigation Shortcuts
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Scroll Wheel (or) Ctrl + Middle Click + Drag | Zoom In / Zoom Out |
| Middle Click + Drag | Orbit |
| Shift + Middle Click + Drag | Pan |
| Shift + ~ | Enter Walk/Fly Mode (Click to Exit) |
Selection Shortcuts
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| A | Select All |
| Alt + A | Deselect All |
| B | Box Select |
| C | Circle Select |
| Ctrl + I | Invert Selection |
| W | Cycle Selection Type (Tweak, Circle, Box, Lasso) |
| Shift + LMB | Add To / Remove From Selection |
Transformation Shortcuts
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| G | Move |
| G + X/Y/Z | Move – Restrict to one global axis |
| G + XX/YY/ZZ | Move – Restrict to one local axis |
| G + Shift + X/Y/Z | Move – Restrict to two global axes |
| G + Shift + XX/YY/ZZ | Move – Restrict to two local axes |
| R | Rotate |
| RR | Trackball Rotate |
| R + X/Y/Z | Rotate – Restrict to one global axis |
| R + XX/YY/ZZ | Rotate – Restrict to one local axis |
| R + Shift + X/Y/Z | Rotate – Restrict to two global axes |
| R + Shift + XX/YY/ZZ | Rotate – Restrict to two local axes |
| S | Scale |
| S + X/Y/Z | Scale – Restrict to one global axis |
| S + XX/YY/ZZ | Scale – Restrict to one local axis |
| S + Shift + X/Y/Z | Scale – Restrict to two global axes |
| S + Shift + XX/YY/ZZ | Scale – Restrict to two local axes |
Edit Mode Shortcuts
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| 1 | Vertex Select |
| 2 | Edge Select |
| 3 | Face Select |
| Shift + A | Add Mesh Primitive |
| Ctrl + B | Bevel Selected |
| E | Extrude |
| F | Fill Edge / Face |
| Alt + F | Triangle Fill |
| GG | Edge Slide / Vertex Slide |
| I | Inset Face |
| K | Knife Tool |
| L | Select Linked |
| M | Merge Vertices |
| Ctrl + M +X/Y/Z | Mirror Selected On Axis |
| O | Toggle Proportional Editing |
| P | Separate Mesh (Into New Object) |
| Ctrl + R | Edge Loop and Slide |
| Alt + S | Shrink / Fatten |
| Shift + Ctrl + Alt + S | Shear |
| V | Rip Region |
Object Mode Shortcuts
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Shift + A | Add Object |
| Ctrl + A | Apply Options Menu |
| Alt + G/R/S | Reset Location / Rotation / Scale |
| Shift + D | Duplicate Object |
| Alt + D | Duplicate Object (Linked Data) |
| Ctrl + G | Create New Collection from Selected |
| Ctrl + J | Join / Merge Selected Objects |
| M | Move Selected to Collection |
| Ctrl + M + X/Y/Z | Mirror Object on Axis |
| Ctrl + P | Set Parent (Parents Selected to Active) |
| Alt + P | Clear Parent of Selected |
Shortcuts can be remapped and customized in the Blender’s User Preferences.
Please take a look around the site for more Blender tutorials and resources. I also have a YouTube channel with straight-forward and clear Blender tutorials. Sign up for my e-mail list below to stay informed on Blender updates. Stay creative!
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