Selecting

Selection determines which elements will be the target of our actions. Selections work on the current scene visible objects. Blender has advanced selection methods. Both in Object Mode and in Edit Mode.

Selections and the Active Object

Blender distinguishes between two different states of selection:

Active object in yellow, selected object in orange, and unselected object in black.

In Object Mode the last (de)selected item is called the “Active Object” and is outlined in yellow (the others are orange). There is at most one active object at any time.

Many actions in Blender use the active object as a reference (for example linking operations). If you already have a selection and need to make a different object the active one, simply reselect it with Shift-LMB.

All other selected objects are just selected. You can select any number of objects. In order to change a property or to perform an operation on all selected objects (bones, and sequencer strips) hold Alt, while confirming.

Select Menu

All

Reference

Mode:

All Modes

Menu:

Select ‣ All

Shortcut:

A

Select all selectable objects.

None

Reference

Mode:

All Modes

Menu:

Select ‣ None

Shortcut:

Alt-A

Deselect all objects, but the active object stays the same.

Invert

Reference

Mode:

All Modes

Menu:

Select ‣ Invert

Shortcut:

Ctrl-I

Toggle the selection state of all visible objects.

Box Select

Reference

Mode:

All Modes

Menu:

Select ‣ Box Select

Shortcut:

B

Interactive box selection.

Circle Select

Reference

Mode:

All Modes

Menu:

Select ‣ Circle Select

Shortcut:

C

Interactive circle selection.

Lasso Select

Reference

Mode:

All modes

Menu:

Select ‣ Lasso Select

Shortcut:

Ctrl-Alt-LMB

See Select Lasso.

Select Active Camera

Reference

Mode:

Object Mode

Menu:

Select ‣ Select Active Camera

Selects the active camera, this is especially handy in complex scene.

Select Mirror

Reference

Mode:

All Modes

Menu:

Select ‣ Select Mirror

Select the Mirror objects of the selected object, based on their names, e.g. “sword.L” and “sword.R”.

Select Random

Reference

Mode:

Object Mode

Menu:

Select ‣ Select Random

Randomly selects unselected objects based on percentage probability. The percentage can be modified in the Adjust Last Operation panel. It is important to note that the percentage is the likelihood of an unselected object being selected and not the percentage amount of objects that will be selected.

Select More/Less

Reference

Mode:

Object Mode

Menu:

Select ‣ More/Less

Shortcut:

Ctrl-NumpadPlus, Ctrl-NumpadMinus

Their purpose, based on the hierarchical.

More

Expand the selection to the immediate parent and children of the selected objects.

Less

Contrast the selection, deselect objects at the boundaries of parent/child relationships.

Parent

Deselects the currently selected objects and selects their immediate parents.

Child

Deselects the currently selected objects and selects their immediate children.

Extend Parent

Extends the selection to the immediate parents of the currently selected objects.

Extend Child

Extends the selection to the immediate children of the currently selected objects.

Select All by Type

Reference

Mode:

Object Mode

Menu:

Select ‣ Select All by Type

With this tool, it becomes possible to select objects of a certain type in one go. For a description of all object types see Object Types.

Select Grouped

Reference

Mode:

Object Mode

Menu:

Select ‣ Select Grouped

Shortcut:

Shift-G

There are two ways to organize the objects in relation to one another. The first one is parenting, and the second is simple grouping. These relationships to an artist’s advantage by selecting members of respective families or groups. Select Grouped uses the active object as a basis to select all others.

Children

Selects all hierarchical descendants of the active object.

Immediate Children

Selects all direct children of the active object.

Parent

Selects the parent of this object if it has one.

Siblings

Select objects that have the same parent as the active object. This can also be used to select all root level objects (objects with no parents).

Type

Select objects that are the same type as the active one.

Collection

Select all objects that are in the same collection as the active one. If the active object belongs to more than one collection, a list will pop up so that you can choose which collection to select.

Object Hooks

Every hook that belongs to the active object.

Pass

Select objects assigned to the same Render Pass.

Color

Select objects with same Object Color.

Keying Set

Select objects included in the active Keying Set.

Light Type

Select matching light types.

Select Linked

Reference

Mode:

Object Mode

Menu:

Select ‣ Select Linked

Shortcut:

Shift-L

Selects all objects which share a common data-block with the active object. Select Linked uses the active object as a basis to select all others.

Object Data

Selects every object that is linked to the same Object Data, i.e. the data-block that specifies the type (mesh, curve, etc.) and the build (constitutive elements like vertices, control vertices, and where they are in space) of the object.

Material

Selects every object that is linked to the same material data-block.

Instanced Collection

Select every object that is linked to the instanced collection.

Texture

Selects every object that is linked to the same texture data-block.

Particle System

Selects all objects that use the same Particle System.

Library

Selects all objects that are in the same Library.

Library (Object Data)

Selects all objects that are in the same Library and limited to Object Data.

Select Pattern

Reference

Mode:

Object Mode

Menu:

Select ‣ Select Pattern…

Selects all elements whose name matches a given pattern. Supported wild-cards: * matches everything, ? matches any single character, [abc] matches characters in abc, and [!abc] match any character not in abc. As an example *house* matches any name that contains house, while floor* matches any name starting with floor.

Case Sensitive

The matching can be chosen to be case sensitive or not.

Extend

When Extend checkbox is checked the selection is extended instead of generating a new one.