Doc:Reference/Hotkeys/Edit

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Again, most of these hotkeys are useful in the 3D Viewport when in Edit Mode, but many work on other Blender Objects, so they are summarized here. Many Object Mode keys works in Edit mode too, but on the selected vertices or control points; among these Grab, Rotate, Scale and so on. These hotkeys are not repeated here. TAB or ALT-E This button starts and stops Edit Mode.

A Select/Unselect all.

BKEY-BKEY Circle Select. If you press B a second time after starting Border Select, Circle Select is invoked. It works as described above. Use NUM+ or NUM- or MW to adjust the circle size. Leave Circle Select with RMB or ESC.

N Number Panel. Simpler than the Object Mode one, in Edit Mode works for Mesh, Curve, Surface. The location of the active vertex is displayed.

O Switch in/out of Proportional Editing.

SHIFT-O Toggles between Smooth and Sharp Proportional Editing.

P Separate. You can choose to make a new object with all selected vertices, edges, faces and curves or create a new object from each separate group of interconnected vertices from a popup. Note that for curves you cannot separate connected control vertices. This operation is the opposite of Join (CTRL-J).

CTRL-P Make Vertex Parent. If one object (or more than one) is/are selected and the active Object is in Edit Mode with 1 or 3 vertices selected then the Object in Edit Mode becomes the Vertex Parent of the selected Object(s). If only 1 vertex is selected, only the location of this vertex determines the Parent transformation; the rotation and dimensions of the Parent do not play a role here. If three vertices are selected, it is a 'normal' Parent relationship in which the 3 vertices determine the rotation and location of the Child together. This method produces interesting effects with Vertex Keys. In EditMode, other Objects can be selected with CTRL-RMB.

CTRL-S Shear. In EditMode this operation enables you to make selected forms 'slant'. This always works via the horizontal screen axis.

U Undo. When starting Edit Mode, the original ObData block is saved and can be returned to via U. Mesh Objects have better Undo, see next section.

W Specials PopupMenu. A number of tools are included in this PopupMenu as an alternative to the Edit Buttons. This makes the buttons accessible as shortcuts, e.g. EditButtons->Subdivide is also 'WKEY, 1KEY'.

SHIFT-W Warp. Selected vertices can be bent into curves with this option. It can be used to convert a plane into a tube or even a sphere. The centre of the circle is the 3DCursor. The mid-line of the circle is determined by the horizontal dimensions of the selected vertices. When you start, everything is already bent 90 degrees. Moving the mouse up or down increases or decreases the extent to which warping is done. By zooming in/out of the 3Dwindow, you can specify the maximum degree of warping. The CTRL limiter increments warping in steps of 5 degrees.

[edit] EditMode Mesh Hotkeys

Relevant to Blender 2.33 This section and the following highlight peculiar EditMode Hotkeys. CTRL-NUM+ Adds to selection all vertices connected by an edge to an already selected vertex.

CTRL-NUM- Removes from selection all vertices of the outer ring of selected vertices.

ALT-CTRL-RMB Edge select.

E Extrude Selected. "Extrude" in EditMode transforms all the selected edges to faces. If possible, the selected faces are also duplicated. Grab mode is started directly after this command is executed.

F Make Edge/Face. If 2 vertices are selected, an edge is created. If 3 or 4 vertices are selected, a face is created.

SHIFT-F Fill selected. All selected vertices that are bound by edges and form a closed polygon are filled with triangular faces. Holes are automatically taken into account. This operation is 2D; various layers of polygons must be filled in succession.

ALT-F Beauty Fill. The edges of all the selected triangular faces are switched in such a way that equally sized faces are formed. This operation is 2D; various layers of polygons must be filled in succession. The Beauty Fill can be performed immediately after a Fill.

CTRL-F Flip faces. Selected triangular faces are paired and the common edge of each pair swapped.

H Hide Selected. All selected vertices and faces are temporarily hidden.

SHIFT-H Hide Not Selected: All non-selected vertices and faces are temporarily hidden.

ALT-H Reveal. All temporarily hidden vertices and faces are drawn again.

ALT-J Join faces. Selected triangular faces are joined in pairs and transformed to quads.

K Knife tool Menu.

• Face Loop Select: (SHIFT-R) Face loops are highlighted starting

from edge under mouse pointer. LMB finalizes, ESC exits.

• Face Loop Cut: (CTRL-R) Face loops are highlighted starting

from edge under mouse pointer. LMB finalizes, ESC exits.

• Knife (exact): (SHIFT-K) Mouse starts draw mode.

Selected Edges are cut at intersections with mouse line. ENTER or RMB finalizes, ESC exits.

• Knife (midpoints): (SHIFT-K) Mouse starts draw mode.

Selected Edges intersecting with mouse line are cut in middle regardless of true intersection point. ENTER or RMB finalizes, ESC exits.

L Select Linked. If you start with an unselected vertex near the mouse cursor, this vertex is selected, together with all vertices that share an edge with it.

SHIFT-L Deselect Linked. If you start with a selected vertex, this vertex is deselected, together with all vertices that share an edge with it.

CTRL-L Select Linked Selected. Starting with all selected vertices, all vertices connected to them are selected too.

M Mirror. Opens a popup asking for the axis to mirror. 3 possible axis group are available, each of which contains three axes, for a total of nine choices. Axes can be Global (Blender Global Reference); Local (Current Object Local Reference) or View (Current View reference). Remember that mirroring, like scaling, happens with respect to the current pivot point.

ALT-M Merges selected vertices at barycentrum or at cursor depending on selection made on pop-up.

CTRL-N Calculate Normals Outside. All normals from selected faces are recalculated and consistently set in the same direction. An attempt is made to direct all normals 'outward'.

SHIFT-CTRL-N Calculate Normals Inside. All normals from selected faces are recalculated and consistently set in the same direction. An attempt is made to direct all normals 'inward'.

ALT-S Whereas SHIFT-S scales in Edit Mode as it does in Object Mode, for Edit Mode a further option exists, ALT-S moves each vertex in the direction of its local normal, hence effectively shrinking/fattening the mesh.

CTRL-T Make Triangles. All selected faces are converted to triangles.

U Undo. When starting Edit Mode, the original ObData block is saved and all subsequent changes are saved on a stack. This option enables you to restore previous situations, one after the other.

SHIFT-U Redo. This lets you re-apply any undone changes up to the moment in which Edit Mode was entered.

ALT-U Undo Menu. This let you choose the exact point to which you want to undo changes.

W Special Menu. A PopupMenu offers the following options:

• Subdivide: All selected edges are split in two.
• Subdivide Fractal: All selected edges are split in two and middle vertex displaced randomly.
• Subdivide Smooth: All selected edges are split in two and middle vertex displaced along the normal.
• Merge: As ALT-M.
• Remove Doubles: All selected vertices closer to each other than a given threshold (See EditMode Button Window) are merged ALT-M.
• Hide: As H.
• Reveal: As ALT-H.
• Select Swap: Selected vertices become unselected and vice versa.
• Flip Normals: Normals of selected faces are flipped.
• Smooth: Vertices are moved closer one to each other, getting a smoother object.
• Bevel: Faces are reduced in size and the space between edges is filled with a smoothly curving bevel of the desired order.

XKEY Erase Selected. A PopupMenu offers the following options:

• Vertices: All vertices are deleted. This includes the

edges and faces they form.

• Edges: All edges with both vertices selected are deleted.

If this 'releases' certain vertices, they are deleted as well. Faces that can no longer exist as a result of this action are also deleted.

• Faces: All faces with all their vertices selected are deleted.

If any vertices are 'released' as a result of this action, they are deleted.

• All: Everything is deleted.
• Edges and Faces: All selected edges and faces are deleted, but

the vertices remain.

• Only Faces: All selected faces are deleted, but the edges and

vertices remain.

YKEY Split. This command 'splits' the selected part of a Mesh without deleting faces. The split parts are no longer bound by edges. Use this command to control smoothing. Since the split parts have vertices at the same position, selection with LKEY is recommended.

[edit] EditMode Curve Hotkeys

Relevant to Blender 2.33 C Set the selected curves to cyclic or turn cyclic off. An individual curve is selected if at least one of the vertices is selected.

E Extrude Curve. A vertex is added to the selected end of the curves. Grab mode is started immediately after this command is executed.

F Add segment. A segment is added between two selected vertices at the end of two curves. These two curves are combined into one curve.

H Toggle Handle align/free. Toggles the selected Bezier handles between free or aligned.

SHIFT-H Set Handle auto. The selected Bezier handles are converted to auto type.

CTRL-H Calculate Handles. The selected Bezier curves are calculated and all handles are assigned a type.

L Select Linked. If you start with an non-selected vertex near the mouse cursor, this vertex is selected together with all the vertices of the same curve.

SHIFT-L Deselect Linked. If you start with a selected vertex, it is deselected together with all the vertices of the same curve.

M Mirror. Mirror selected control points exactly as for vertices in a Mesh.

T Tilt mode. Specify an extra axis rotation, i.e. the tilt, for each vertex in a 3D curve.

ALT-T Clear Tilt. Set all axis rotations of the selected vertices to zero.

V Vector Handle. The selected Bezier handles are converted to vector type.

W The special menu for curves appears:

• Subdivide: Subdivide the selected curve segment.
• Switch direction: The direction of the selected curves is

reversed. This is mainly for Curves that are used as paths!

X Erase Selected. A PopupMenu offers the following options:

• Selected: All selected vertices are deleted.
• Segment: A curve segment is deleted. This only works for single segments.

Curves can be split in two using this option. Or use this option to specify the cyclic position within a cyclic curve.

• All: Delete everything.

[edit] EditMode Surface Hotkeys

Relevant to Blender 2.33 C Toggle Cyclic menu. A PopupMenu asks if selected surfaces in the 'U' or the 'V' direction must be cyclic. If they were already cyclic, this mode is turned off.

E Extrude Selected. This makes surfaces of all the selected curves, if possible. Only the edges of surfaces or loose curves are candidates for this operation. Grab mode is started immediately after this command is completed.

F Add segment. A segment is added between two selected vertices at the ends of two curves. These two curves are combined into 1 curve.

L Select Linked. If you start with an non-selected vertex near the mouse cursor, this vertex is selected together with all the vertices of the same curve or surface.

SHIFT-L Deselect Linked. If you start with a selected vertex, this vertex is deselected together with all vertices of the same curve or surface.

M Mirror. Mirror selected control points exactly as for vertices in a Mesh.

SHIFT-R Select Row. Starting with the last selected vertex, a complete row of vertices is selected in the 'U' or 'V' direction. Selecting Select Row a second time with the same vertex switches the 'U' or 'V' selection.

W The special menu for surfaces appears:

• Subdivide: Subdivide the selected vertices.
• Switch direction: This will switch the normals of the selected parts.
• Mirror: Mirrors the selected vertices.

XKEY Erase Selected. A PopupMenu offers the following choices:

• Selected: All selected vertices are deleted.
• All: Delete everything.

[edit] EditMode Metaball Hotkeys

Relevant to Blender 2.33 M Mirror. Mirror selected control points exactly as for vertices in a Mesh.

[edit] EditMode Font Hotkeys

Relevant to Blender 2.33 In Text Edit Mode most hotkeys are disabled, to allow text entering. RIGHTARROW Move text cursor 1 position forward.

SHIFT-RIGHTARROW Move text cursor to the end of the line.

LEFTARROW Move text cursor 1 position backwards.

SHIFT-LEFTARROW Move text cursor to the start of the line.

DOWNARROW Move text cursor 1 line forward.

SHIFT-DOWNARROW Move text cursor to the end of the text.

UPARROW Move text cursor 1 line back.

SHIFT-UPARROW Move text cursor to the beginning of the text.

ALT-U Reload Original Data (undo). When EditMode is started, the original text is saved. You can restore this original text with this option.

ALT-V Paste text. The text file /tmp/.cutbuffer is inserted at the cursor location.

[edit] Armature Editing Hotkeys

Relevant to Blender 2.33 CTRL-TAB Toggles Pose Mode on/off.

E Extrude Armature. An extra Bone is added to the selected Bone. Grab mode is started immediately thereafter.

L Select linked bones in a chain.

Redirects to fix

• Reference/HK/Object → Doc:Reference/Hotkeys/Object
• Reference/HK/Other → Doc:Reference/Hotkeys/Other