Blender shortcuts: the keys to know, editor by editor
Short answer
The Blender shortcuts to learn first: F3 to search for any command, G, R and S to move, rotate and scale, Tab to switch to Edit Mode, Shift+A to add an object, F12 to render the image and Ctrl+F12 to render the animation. This guide sorts them by editor, using the default Blender 5 keymap.
Blender is driven from the keyboard far more than from the mouse: almost every tool has a shortcut, and tutorials chain them together without naming them. The tables below group the Blender shortcuts, or hotkeys, that you use every day, editor by editor, with the default keymap of Blender 5 (the Blender preset in Preferences). On a Mac, Cmd replaces Ctrl for most commands.
One rule comes before all the others: a shortcut acts in the editor under the mouse pointer. The same A selects everything in the 3D Viewport, in the UV Editor or in the Graph Editor, depending on where the pointer is.
General shortcuts
These work anywhere in the interface. If you only remember three, keep F3, Ctrl+Z and F9.
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| F3 | Search for a command by name (menu search) |
| Ctrl+Z / Shift+Ctrl+Z | Undo / redo |
| F9 | Reopen the settings of the last operation |
| Ctrl+S / Ctrl+O / Ctrl+N | Save / open / new file |
| F2 | Rename the active item |
| F1 | Open the manual page for the tool under the pointer |
| Q | Quick Favorites menu |
| Ctrl+Space | Maximise the area under the pointer, then restore it |
| Ctrl+Page Up / Page Down | Next or previous workspace |
| X / Delete | Delete the selection, with or without confirmation |
| Ctrl+Q | Quit Blender |
F9 deserves a closer look: after an extrusion, a bevel or adding an object, it reopens the operation's settings panel (number of segments, radius, size) so you can correct it without starting over.
Navigating the 3D Viewport
You navigate with the middle mouse button, and the wheel zooms. The numpad gives exact views, which help when you model from the front or the side.
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| Middle mouse button (drag) | Orbit around the scene |
| Shift + middle mouse button | Pan the view |
| Ctrl + middle mouse button, or the wheel | Zoom |
| Numpad 1 / Numpad 3 / Numpad 7 | Front / right / top view (with Ctrl: the opposite view) |
| Numpad 5 | Toggle between perspective and orthographic |
| Numpad 0 | Active camera view |
| Numpad . / Home | Frame the selection / frame the whole scene |
| Grave accent key (`) | Navigation pie menu; with Shift: fly or walk |
On a laptop without a numpad, open Preferences, go to Input and tick Emulate Numpad: the number keys along the top of the keyboard take over from the numpad. With a touchpad or a two-button mouse, Emulate 3 Button Mouse replaces the middle button with Alt and the left click.
Selecting, hiding and showing
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| A / Alt+A | Select all / deselect all (or press A twice) |
| Ctrl+I | Invert the selection |
| B / C | Box select / circle select with a brush |
| H / Shift+H / Alt+H | Hide the selection / hide everything else / reveal everything |
| T / N | Show the toolbar / the sidebar |
| Z | Shading mode pie menu (wireframe, solid, material, rendered) |
Transforming and adding objects in Object Mode
The three basic transforms follow the same logic: the key starts the action, the mouse adjusts it, a left click confirms and a right click cancels. During the action, X, Y or Z locks the movement to one axis, and typing a number gives an exact value: R Z 90 rotates the object 90 degrees around the vertical axis.
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| G / R / S | Move / rotate / scale |
| Shift+A | Add an object (mesh, light, camera…) |
| Shift+D / Alt+D | Duplicate / duplicate sharing the same mesh (linked duplicate) |
| Ctrl+J | Join the selected objects into one |
| Ctrl+A | Apply scale, rotation or location |
| M | Move to a collection |
| Shift+S | Snap pie menu (3D cursor, selection) |
| Tab / Ctrl+Tab | Edit Mode / mode pie menu |
Ctrl+A saves you from many surprises. An object scaled in Object Mode keeps a scale other than 1, which then throws off bevels, modifiers and simulations. Applying the scale resets the values without changing the shape.
Modelling in Edit Mode
In Edit Mode, 1, 2 and 3 (the number keys along the top of the keyboard) switch to vertex, edge or face selection. G, R and S then act on the selected elements.
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| E | Extrude |
| I | Inset a face |
| Ctrl+B | Bevel; the mouse wheel adds segments |
| Ctrl+R | Add an edge loop (Loop Cut) |
| K | Knife |
| M | Merge vertices |
| P | Separate the selection into a new object |
| L / Ctrl+L | Select the linked part under the mouse / linked to the selection |
Sculpting
In Sculpt Mode, F sets the brush size and Shift+F its strength: drag the mouse, then click. Holding Ctrl during a stroke inverts the brush, so a brush that adds material removes it instead. The sculpting in Blender tutorial (in French) shows these settings on a model, from the large volumes down to fine detail.
Nodes: materials and Geometry Nodes
The Shader Editor and the Geometry Nodes editor share the same shortcuts. Shift+A adds a node, Ctrl+G groups the selected nodes and Tab enters or leaves that group. M mutes a node without deleting it, which is handy for comparing a result with and without an effect, and Ctrl+J puts the selected nodes in a frame. The tutorial on Blender nodes and the Shader Editor (in French) goes through the same steps on a real material.
Animating
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| I / Alt+I | Insert a keyframe / delete the keyframe (over a property or in the 3D Viewport) |
| Space | Play or stop the animation (default setting, can be changed) |
| Shift+Ctrl+Space | Play in reverse |
| ← / → | Previous / next frame |
| ↑ / ↓ | Next / previous keyframe |
| Shift+← | Jump to the first frame |
| Ctrl+D | Add a driver to the property under the pointer |
To set up a first animation step by step, the walk cycle in Blender guide (in French) uses exactly these keys.
Rendering an image or an animation
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| F12 | Render the image at the current frame |
| Ctrl+F12 | Render the whole animation |
| F11 | Reopen the window of the last render |
| Esc | Stop the render in progress |
An image rendered with F12 is not saved automatically: use Image, Save As in the render window. An animation, on the other hand, is written frame by frame to the output folder set in Output Properties. The guide on how to render in Blender covers these settings, and the one on how to render an animation in Blender covers the export to video.
Copying values and paths
With the mouse over a field in the properties, Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V copy and paste its value, Ctrl+Alt+C copies a whole vector or colour, and Backspace resets it to the default value. Holding Alt while editing a field applies the value to every selected object. For scripting, Ctrl+C over a button copies the matching Python command.
Changing or finding a shortcut
Every shortcut can be changed in Preferences, under Keymap, which offers three presets: Blender (the one used in this guide), Blender 27x to get back the habits of versions before 2.80, and Industry Compatible, closer to the conventions of other 3D applications. Right-clicking any button also lets you add the tool to the Q Quick Favorites menu, or assign it a shortcut.
If a tutorial uses a key that does nothing for you, check three things: is the mouse over the right editor, are you in the right mode (Object, Edit, Sculpt), and was the tutorial recorded before 2.80? The guide to learning Blender (in French) helps you pick tutorials that are up to date.
Frequently asked questions
What is the most useful Blender shortcut?
F3, the menu search. It finds any command by name, including the ones whose shortcut you do not know, and shows that shortcut next to the result. It is the best way to learn all the others.
How do you navigate in Blender without a numpad?
In Preferences, under Input, tick Emulate Numpad: the number keys along the top of the keyboard then replace the numpad for the front, side and top views. Without a three-button mouse, Emulate 3 Button Mouse orbits the view with Alt and the left mouse button.
What is the shortcut to render in Blender?
F12 renders the image at the current frame, Ctrl+F12 renders the whole animation, F11 reopens the window of the last render and Esc stops a render in progress.
Can you use the shortcuts of another 3D application?
Yes. In Preferences, under Keymap, the Industry Compatible preset follows conventions close to those of other 3D applications, and Blender 27x brings back the ones used before version 2.80. Every shortcut can still be changed one by one.
Rendering the animation on TURNA
When a scene is already well optimised and the frame count is what takes the time, the remaining lever is rendering several frames at once. TURNA does this for Blender: an add-on (Blender 4.0 to 5.2, Cycles and Eevee) sends the scene in one click, and the frames are split across 1, 2, 4 or 8 GPUs in parallel, RTX 5090 first and RTX 4090 when none is free. The add-on shows the estimated cost before anything starts. Prices start at €2.90 per hour, billed on the time actually used, with a 30-second minimum, and new accounts get €25 of free credit. A single still image is still rendered by one machine, so the gain is on animations. Tiers and worked examples are on the Blender render farm page.
When Ctrl+F12 ties up your computer for hours, the Blender render farm page explains how to send the same animation to several GPUs from the add-on.
