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, or may only work in Edit Mode or Object Mode. 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

ShortcutAction
Right Mouse ClickOpen Context Menu
SpacebarPlay Animation (Unless changed in preferences)
D (Hold)Annotate – Free
Shift + D (Hold)Annotate – Smooth
Alt + D (Hold)Annotate – Straight Line
NToggle Sidebar (Right)
TToggle Toolbar (Left)
QQuick Favorites Menu
Ctrl + CCopy Selected
Ctrl + VPaste Selected
Ctrl + OOpen File
Ctrl + SSave File
Ctrl + NNew File
Ctrl + ZUndo
Shift + Ctrl + ZRedo
Shift + RRepeat Last Action
Ctrl + QQuit
F1Help
F2Rename Selected
Ctrl + F2Batch Rename
F3Search Menu
F4File Context Menu
F9Adjust Last Operation
F11View Render
Ctrl + F11View Animation
F12Render Current Frame
Ctrl + F12Render Animation

View Shortcuts

ShortcutAction
ZViewport Preview Pie Menu
Alt + ZToggle X-Ray Mode
HHide Selected
Shift + HHide Unselected
Alt + HUnhide All
NumPad 0Camera View
NumPad 1Orthographic View – Front
Ctrl + NumPad 1Orthographic View – Back
NumPad 3Orthographic View – Right
Ctrl + NumPad 3Orthographic View – Left
NumPad 7Orthographic View – Top
Ctrl + NumPad 7Orthographic View – Bottom
HomeShow All (Zoom to Fit)
/Isolate Selected
Ctrl + SpacebarToggle Maximum Area View
Ctrl + Alt + SpacebarToggle Full Screen
Accent Mark (`)View Pie Menu
Ctrl + Accent Mark (`)Toggle Gizmo Visibility
Ctrl + Page Up / Page DownToggle Workspace

Navigation Shortcuts

ShortcutAction
Scroll Wheel (or)
Ctrl + Middle Click + Drag
Zoom In / Zoom Out
Middle Click + DragOrbit
Shift + Middle Click + DragPan
Shift + ~Enter Walk/Fly Mode (Click to Exit)

Selection Shortcuts

ShortcutAction
A Select All
Alt + ADeselect All
BBox Select
CCircle Select
Ctrl + IInvert Selection
WCycle Selection Type (Tweak, Circle, Box, Lasso)
Shift + LMBAdd To / Remove From Selection

Transformation Shortcuts

ShortcutAction
GMove
G + X/Y/ZMove – Restrict to one global axis
G + XX/YY/ZZMove – Restrict to one local axis
G + Shift + X/Y/ZMove – Restrict to two global axes
G + Shift + XX/YY/ZZMove – Restrict to two local axes
RRotate
RRTrackball Rotate
R + X/Y/ZRotate – Restrict to one global axis
R + XX/YY/ZZRotate – Restrict to one local axis
R + Shift + X/Y/ZRotate – Restrict to two global axes
R + Shift + XX/YY/ZZRotate – Restrict to two local axes
SScale
S + X/Y/ZScale – Restrict to one global axis
S + XX/YY/ZZScale – Restrict to one local axis
S + Shift + X/Y/ZScale – Restrict to two global axes
S + Shift + XX/YY/ZZScale – Restrict to two local axes

Edit Mode Shortcuts

ShortcutAction
1Vertex Select
2Edge Select
3Face Select
Shift + AAdd Mesh Primitive
Ctrl + BBevel Selected
EExtrude
FFill Edge / Face
Alt + FTriangle Fill
GGEdge Slide / Vertex Slide
IInset Face
KKnife Tool
LSelect Linked
MMerge Vertices
Ctrl + M +X/Y/ZMirror Selected On Axis
OToggle Proportional Editing
PSeparate Mesh (Into New Object)
Ctrl + REdge Loop and Slide
Alt + SShrink / Fatten
Shift + Ctrl + Alt + SShear
VRip Region

Object Mode Shortcuts

ShortcutAction
Shift + AAdd Object
Ctrl + AApply Options Menu
Alt + G/R/SReset Location / Rotation / Scale
Shift + DDuplicate Object
Alt + DDuplicate Object (Linked Data)
Ctrl + GCreate New Collection from Selected
Ctrl + JJoin / Merge Selected Objects
MMove Selected to Collection
Ctrl + M + X/Y/ZMirror Object on Axis
Ctrl + PSet Parent (Parents Selected to Active)
Alt + PClear 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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