Blender is built around the keyboard: nearly every modelling, animation, and shading action has a hotkey, and many start a tool that takes a follow-up key. This reference covers the default keymap across the main editors and modes.
How it works
Each shortcut is tagged with an editor (3D Viewport, UV, Node, Graph, or Global)
and, for viewport actions, a mode (Object, Edit, Sculpt, Pose, or All). The search
box matches the action, editor, and keys, while the editor and mode selectors
filter the list. Universal shortcuts marked All stay visible whatever mode you
pick. Remember that transform tools chain keys: pressing G then X then a number
moves the selection a precise distance along X.
Tips and examples
Shift Aadds an object in the viewport or a node in the Node editor — the same mnemonic across editors.- In Edit mode, number keys
123switch between vertex, edge, and face selection. Zopens the shading pie menu (wireframe, solid, material preview, rendered) rather than toggling a single mode.- Hold a tool’s modifier for a one-shot variant: in Sculpt mode, holding Shift while drawing smooths instead of building up.
This is the default keymap, not the Industry Compatible one. If you switched keymaps in Preferences, expect different select and transform bindings.