Blender useful Keyboard Shortcuts

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A collection of keyboard shortcuts that I’ve learned and should probably remember if I take a break from Blender and then get back to it at some point.

Basics

Shortcut Action
Shift + A Add object/node
G Move
S Scale
S + Shift X/Y/Z Scale in every axis except the one selected after shift is held down e.g x & y but not z
R Rotate
R + X/Y/Z Rotate along global axis
R + XX/YY/ZZ Rotate along local axis
R + MiddleM Axis Rotate along axis that you are hovering over with middle mouse button clicked
R + Ctrl Snap to increments of 5
Shift (hold) Precise movement
Shift + D Duplicate
Alt + D Duplicate linked
H Hide
Alt + H Unhide all
Shift + H Hide all except selected
Middle Mouse Orbit around center (rotate around center)
Shift + MiddleM Pan
P If nodes are selected, duplicate then press P to make the duplicated nodes an own object
Alt + Left Click Select a whole edge loop in edit mode
Shift + Right Click Move 3D cursor
Shift + C Reset 3D cursor to center
Ctrl + P Make all selected objects a parent of the last selected object. Choose (Keep Transform).
Ctrl + A Apply e.g. Scale, so that for example UV Maps aren’t stretched
L Select everything that is connected to the “island” that the mouse is hovering over
Alt + G Move the two selecte objects to the exact same place (useful for baking normals for example

Window Shortcuts

Shortcut Action
N Properties bar
NumPad 7 Top view
NumPad 1 Front view
NumPad 3 Right view
Ctrl + NumPad 3 Left view
Alt + Middle Mou Hold alt and drag middle mouse toward an axis, Blender will show corresponding view
NumPad . Center selected
Home Show all non-hidden objects

General Selections

Shortcut Action
A Select all
Alt + A OR Double press A Deselect all
Ctrl + i Invert selection
Shift + L Select linked
Shift + G Select similar

Object Navigation

Shortcut Action
Tab Edit OR Object mode toggle
Ctrl + M then X/Y/Z Mirror
Ctrl + J Join selected objects
Ctrl + A Apply location / scale / rotation
Shift + C Center 3D cursor
M Move active object to collection

Modeling

Shortcut Action
E Extrude
i Inset
Ctrl + B Bevel
Ctrl + Shift + B Bevel vertices
Ctrl + R Loopcut
G,G Vertex/Edge Slide
K Knife
F Fill face
Alt + M Merge
Shift + N Recalculate normals
Ctrl + Shift + N Invert normals
O Proportional editing on/off
Select edges + F Create a new face between two edges
Select faces + F3 + “Bridge” Create a beautiful bridge of faces between the two faces
Select vertices + Shift + E Adds a crease (ridge, Falte, Knitterfalte)
Shift + N Recalculate normals for selected faces
K Knive Tool
C If you’re using the knive tool, this will restrain the angle to 45°

Sculpting

Shortcut Action
F Change size of your brush
Shift + F Change strength of brush
Ctrl + Click Switch between add/subtract

Texture Painting

Shortcut Action
X Flip colors to previous color

Shading

Shortcut Action
Ctrl + Shift + LeftClick Leftclick on a renderer node output will show the output directly on your model. (only works if the addon “Node: Node Wrangler” is turned on)

UV Editing

Shortcut Action
Ctrl + E Opens context menu in which you can choose “Mark Seam” if an edge is selected
U Open context menu in which you can choose “Unwrap”

Animation

Shortcut Action
i Set keyframe at currente slider position (choose Location & Rotation)