Blender Hotkeys and Tips





When it comes to Blender, you can save time in many ways. 
Memorizing common mouse actions and numeric keypad hotkeys in Blender or common keyboard hotkeys in Blender's 3D View help you work more efficiently in Blender. 
If memorization isn't your thing, you can even print lists of these mouse actions and hotkeys and refer to them whenever you need to.


Mouse Actions

Blender makes it a point to use as many buttons on your mouse as possible. 
You have five fingers; you may as well get full use of them. 
This table gives you some of the most commonly used mouse behaviors.





Action
Result






Left-click
Place 3D cursor






Ctrl+left-click (edit mode)
Quick-extrude






Ctrl+left-click+drag
Lasso selection






Right-click
Select






Shift+right-click
Add to selection






Alt+right-click (edit mode)
Edge/Face loop select






Middle-click+drag
Rotate view






Shift+middle-click+drag
Pan view






Ctrl+middle-click+drag
Zoom view








Numeric Keypad Hotkeys

The numeric keypad gives you a high-speed means of navigating the 3D View in Blender. 
The following table explains some of the more useful and common hotkeys that involve the numeric keypad. 
(Note: If you're using a laptop that doesn't have a numeric keypad, you can enable the Emulate Numpad check box in the Input section of User Preferences and use the numbers along the top of your keyboard instead of the numeric keypad.)





Hotkey
Description




1
Front view




Ctrl+1
Back view




2
Rotate view up




Ctrl+2
Pan view up




3
Left side view




Ctrl+3
Right side view




4
Rotate view left




Ctrl+4
Pan view left




5
Toggle perspective/orthographic view




6
Rotate view right




Ctrl+6
Pan view right




7
Top view




Ctrl+7
Bottom view




8
Rotate view down




Ctrl+8
Pan view down




9
Redraw screen




0
Camera view




Ctrl+Alt+0
Set camera to viewport




/
Toggle local view




. 
(dot/period)
Zoom on selection




+
Zoom into view






Keyboard Hotkeys in 3D View

Blender is designed to be used with one hand on the keyboard and the other on the mouse. 
Nearly every key on a standard keyboard is assigned to some task within Blender, and sometimes more than one task. 
For example, the numbers across the top of the keyboard reveal each of the first ten Blender layers. 
Alt+Any number shows each of the last ten layers. 
Shift+Any number allows you to show more multiple layers simultaneously. 
And that’s not all! The following table shows some of the more commonly used hotkeys while working in Blender.






Hotkey
Description




A
Toggle select all/none




Alt+A
Play animation in view




Shift+A
Show Add menu




C
Circle (Brush) select




Shift+D
Duplicate




Alt+D
Linked duplicate




E (edit mode)
Extrude




F (edit mode)
Create face/edge




G
Grab/move




Alt+G
Clear location




H
Hide selected




Alt+H
Reveal all




I
Insert keyframe




Ctrl+J
Join selected objects




L (edit mode)
Select linked vertices




Shift+L (edit mode)
Deselect linked vertices




M
Move selection to layer




Ctrl+M
Mirror selection




N
Show Properties region




Ctrl+N
New Blender session




Ctrl+N (edit mode)
Calculate normals outside




O (edit mode)
Enable proportional editing




P (edit mode)
Separate to new object




Ctrl+P
Make parent




Alt+P
Clear parent




R
Rotate




Alt+R
Clear rotation




S
Scale




Alt+S
Clear scale




U (edit mode)
Unwrap mesh




V
Toggle Vertex Paint mode




W (edit mode)
Specials menu




Ctrl+S
Save file




X
Delete selection




Ctrl+Z
Undo




Ctrl+Shift+Z
Redo




Spacebar
Show search menu




Shift+Spacebar
Maximize editor area




Ctrl+Spacebar
Toggle manipulator




Alt+Spacebar
Change manipulator orientation




Tab
Toggle Edit mode




Shift+Tab
Toggle snapping





go to Blender's preferences in the Input tab. 


Search by key-binding: "z". "Context Toggle Values"





Shortcuts


Conventions


Keyboards

Hotkey letters are shown in this manual like they appear on a keyboard; for example:
G refers to the lowercase g.
Shift, Ctrl, Alt are specified as modifier keys.
Ctrl-W, Shift-Alt-A, … indicates that these keys should be pressed simultaneously.
Numpad0 to Numpad9, NumpadPlus refer to the keys on the separate numeric keypad.
Other keys are referred to by their names, such as Esc, Tab, F1 to F12.
Of special note are the arrow keys, Left, Right and so on.


Mice

This manual refers to mouse buttons as:
LMB Left Mouse Button
RMB Right Mouse Button
MMB Middle Mouse Button
Wheel Scrolling the wheel.



Mouse

Blender’s default keymap has two main interaction modes: Right- and left-click-select.
In the past, Blender has used right-click-select to have a more clear
distinction between selection and action.
In this mode, the RMB (Right Mouse Button) is generally used for
selection and the LMB (Left Mouse Button) initiates or confirms actions.
Today, Blender users can choose between the older right-click-select method
and left-click-select, which makes Blender feel more like other software.
Video: Learn the benefits of right-click-select.


Hovering

While hovering (when the cursor is held over a button).


Properties

Ctrl-C – Copy the (single) value of the button.
Ctrl-V – Paste the (single) value of the button.
Ctrl-Alt-C – Copy the entire vector or color of the field.
Ctrl-Alt-V – Paste the entire vector or color of the field.
RMB – Open the context menu.
Backspace – Clear the value (sets to zero or clears a text field).
Minus – Negate number values (multiply by -1.0).
Ctrl-Wheel – Change the value incremental steps.
For pop-up option menus buttons, this cycles the value.
Return – Activates menus or toggles the value.
Alt – Hold while editing values to apply the change to all selected items
(objects, bones, sequence-strips).
This can be used for number fields and toggles.



Animation

I – Insert a keyframe.
Alt-I – Clear the keyframe.
Shift-Alt-I – Clear all keyframes (removing all F-curves).
Ctrl-D – Assign a driver.
Ctrl-Alt-D – Clear the driver.
K – Add a Keying Set.
Alt-K – Clear the Keying Set.



Python Scripting

Ctrl-C – Over any Operator Buttons copies their Python command into the clipboard.
This can be used in the Python Console or in the Text editor when writing scripts.
Shift-Ctrl-C – Over property buttons copies their data path for this property
(also available from the context menu).
Useful when writing drivers or scripts.
Shift-Ctrl-Alt-C – Over property buttons copies their full data path for the data-block and property.
Note that in most cases it is best to access values based on the context, instead of by name.





Dragging

Ctrl – While dragging, snap to discrete steps.
Shift – Gives precision control over the value.
Shift-Ctrl – Precise snap will move the object with high precision
along with the snapping constraint.



Text Editing

Home – Go to the start.
End – Go to the end.
Left, Right – Move the cursor a single character.
Ctrl-Left, Ctrl-Right – Move the cursor an entire word.
Backspace, Delete – Delete characters.
Ctrl-Backspace, Ctrl-Delete – Deletes words.
Shift – While holding the key and moving the cursor selects.
Ctrl-A – Select all text.
Ctrl-C – Copy the selected text.
Ctrl-X – Cut the selected text.
Ctrl-V – Paste text at the cursor position.



Confirm and Cancel

Esc, RMB – Cancels.
Return, LMB – Confirms.


Blender Precision Modeling

That is advance mode for modeling.

To Move (G key) and constraint it to the X-axis (X key), three units
type GX3 and press return.

To use Advance Mode
In any transformation, before you type a numeric value, press the equal key (=) in your keyboard. 
You will see brackets in your status bar.
Now, you can type not only a single value but a full expression.

You can type something like:
1+0.15+2+0.15+3

Using imperial units
Go to the Scene Panel and pick Imperial as the Unity System. 

Also mark the Separate Units option, Blender will split values for lengths in two parts. 

A standard convention for measures is to display them using feet and inches at the same time.
For instance, when you have a length of 1.5 feet, you usually display that like 1 foot and 6 inches.
When you enable Separate Units, Blender will start to understand and separate itself all lengths.

You can now try to move an object using the following expression in advance mode:
1ft6in or 1’6”

Both options will work just fine!


shortcuts (hotkey) & Charts for Blender

blender-shortcut-chart

http://nideffer.net/classes/aim_f17/blender-shortcut-charts.pdf

The following is a list of useful  keyboard shortcuts, commands and features for Blender, handy to keep to one side when modelling. 
Although the bias for the below is towards making content for games, either Blenders own internal Blender Game Engine or external third-party technologies, they are  worth getting to know  because there is a lot of commonality to most other types of content creation and will facilitate the  User  getting the most from Blender.
Design note:   charts and references  relate to common or frequently used actions in Blender so should not be regarded as a comprehensive list of shortcuts. 
Note also that  triggers are context sensitive, the same key may function  differently depending upon the  Editor open or operation performed.


General Navigation/Mouse Control 



https://www.katsbits.com/images/tools_utilities/keyboard-layout_mouse-control_sml.png

Shift and Control (Ctrl), core keys  used in combination with Left, Right and Middle mouse buttons



General Object/Element manipulation shortcut keys 




Basic manipulation shortcuts to "Move", "Rotate" and "Scale" - these are universal shortcut keys in that they apply/are usable in most Editors, Windows or Control/Properties/Options Panels


Design note: (^) indicates an action initiated after manipulator, i.e., press �G� then �Ctrl� etc., held down throughout activity/action.

General 3D View Orientation shortcut keys 




The 3D View and the orientation of Objects within can be controlled using the "NumPad" keys - note default axis orientation is X/Y/Z ( left/right, front/back, up/down)

Design note: where Numpad keys are unavailable (laptop), in "User Preferences" activate "Emulate Numpad" under "Input" options, forcing Blender to use the main numerical keys, 1 - 0,  as alternatives. 
Enabling 'emulate'  disables the normal 'layer selection' feature  attributed to the same keys.
          
Design Note: items marked "*" above indicate   schemas useful in instances where mouse or touch-pad control options are not available (but access to full keyboard layout is). 
         

General Editor type shortcut keys 




Using "Shift+F[n]" quickly switches between Editor Types (Display Types)


Design note: (^) denotes a function either not available to all editors, view or areas, and/or the data presented differs relative to the editor/view within which the panels appears.

3D View Object Mode shortcut keys 




Using "Shift", "Ctrl" and "Alt" on the same keys to perform different operations in Object Mode


Design note: when "Emulate Numpad" is enabled ("User Preferences" » "Input"), the main numerical keys, 1 - 0, no longer function as layer selection shortcuts,  acting instead as alternatives to  the Scene manipulation keys typically attributed to  the Numpad (useful for laptops/keyboards absent the extended Numpad section).

3D View Edit mode shortcut keys 




Using "Shift", "Ctrl" and "Alt" on the same keys to perform different operations in Edit Mode




3D View Pose Mode shortcut keys 


Basic shortcut keys for "Pose" Mode (also largely available when  Armature  is  in Edit mode)




General UV/Image Editor shortcut keys




Basic shortcuts (hotkey's) for use in the UV/Image Editor - note that using the "Tab" key switches between the "UV Editor" and "Image Editor" aspect of the same editor view




General Action Editor shortcut keys 




Basic shortcuts (hotkey's) for use in the Action Sequence  Editor




General Node Editor shortcut keys 




Basic shortcut keys for the Node Editor (active in Cycles Render mode)



Graph Editor shortcut keys 




Basic shortcut keys for use in the Graph Editor