Keyboard Shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts can really streamline the user experience, by mapping specific functions to simple keyboard key presses. Any command in Modo can have a keyboard shortcut assigned to it. These keyboard shortcuts can also be re-assigned, customizing Modo to a users specific needs. By also allowing the Ctrl, Shift and Alt key qualifiers (including combinations thereof), you have a wide array of keys to choose from.

Note: On Mac machines that use a limited keyboard, such as a laptop, replace the Ctrl key with the Cmd key.

To assign a keyboard shortcut to a command, perform the command from the interface, then expand the Command History viewport, located in the lower-right hand corner of the interface. Locate the command in the list (usually visible at the bottom of the history), then right-click and choose Map Command to Key. You can also assign keyboard equivalents using the Input Editor found on the System menu on the menu bar. This is useful if you want to create keyboard shortcuts for scripts or tools that don't actually appear in the default interface.

To create your own custom keyboard shortcuts, watch this video:

List of Keyboard Shortcuts

General/System

Keystroke(s)	Action
F1	Help (Click on the interface element to open the related help file.)
Ctrl+N	New scene
Ctrl+O	Open saved scene
Ctrl+I	Open saved image
Ctrl+W	Close current scene
Ctrl+Shift+W	Close all open scenes
Ctrl+S	Save current scene
Ctrl+Shift+S	Save scene as...
Ctrl+Q	Quit Modo
Alt+F12	Config file save
Shift+F5	Run script
Ctrl+Z	Undo
Ctrl+Shift+Z	Redo
Ctrl+X	Cut
Ctrl+C	Copy
Ctrl+V	Paste
Delete	Delete (not available in Items mode)
Ctrl+R	Brings up the last tool used
Alt+R	Brings up the last tool used, ignoring UI interactions and selections
Shift + Ctrl+Tab	Layout switcher, organized by most recent

Viewports

Navigation

Keystroke(s)	Action
Alt+click	Rotate view
Alt+middle-click	Rotate viewport Z axis (bank) view
Alt+right-click	'Flick' rotate
Shift+Alt+left-click	Pan view
Shift+Alt+right-click	Pan up/down only
Ctrl+Alt+left-click	Zoom to mouse position
Ctrl+Alt+right-click	Box zoom
. (period)	Zoom in (only in component modes)
Shift+. (period)	Zoom in x2
, (comma)	Zoom out (only in component modes)
Shift+, (comma)	Zoom out x2
G	Center the view on the cursor's position
/	Turntable (only in component modes)
Shift+/	When turntable is running, displays upright turntable
Mouse Wheel Scroll	Zoom view in and out to mouse pointer
A	Fit (zoom to scene extents/all items)
Shift+A	Fit selected (zooms to selected elements)
Ctrl+A	Align selected (aligns view to the current selection)
Ctrl+Shift+A	Fit and align selected (zooms and aligns the view to the current selection)

3D viewport Options

Enter values on the numeric keypad and move the pointer over the target viewport to select.

Keystroke(s)	Action
O	Open the viewport options pop-over
Alt	Modifies the Viewport Settings button in the top left of the viewport to show shading styles for inactive meshes
0 (zero)	Maximize/minimize the viewport within the group
. (decimal)	Perspective
1	Top (press again to toggle top/bottom view)
(Mac): Shift+1 (Windows): Windows +1 (Linux): Shift+1	Bottom
2	Front (press again to toggle front/back view)
(Mac): Shift+2 (Windows): Windows +2 (Linux): Shift+2	Back
3	Right (press again to toggle right /left view)
(Mac): Shift+3 (Windows): Windows +3 (Linux): Shift+3	Left
4	Shaded
5	Texture
6	Reflection
7	Wireframe
8	Solid
9	Vertex Map
/	Wireframe None
Shift+/	Wireframe Light
Ctrl+/	Wireframe Dark
= (equals)	Toggle viewport smoothing

Tabbed Viewport

Note: The following keyboard shortcuts only work on Mac.

Keystroke(s)	Action
Ctrl+Shift+Home	Open first tab
Ctrl+Shift+End	Open last tab
Ctrl+Shift+Page Up	Open next tab
Ctrl+Shift+Page Down	Open last tab

Item List

Keystroke(s)	Action
F	In Items selection mode, locate selected item (layer). In other modes flip polygons
Shift+click	Expand/close all (also in Shader Tree)
' (apostrophe)	Swap foreground/background layers
Ctrl+D	Duplicate selected layer(s) (only in Items mode). If you have a procedural mesh or procedural operation selected, this command activates Duplicate Procedural Stack.
Shift+D	Instance selected layer(s) (only in Items mode)
N	New Mesh Item
L	New locator item (only in Items mode)

Channel List

Keystroke(s)	Action
I	Select modifier input
O	Select modifier output
C	Channel haul on (only in Items mode)

Floating Windows

Keystroke(s)	Action
F2	Modeling toolbox
F3	Sculpt/paint toolbox
F4	Setup toolbox
F5	Command History viewport
F6	Presets viewport
F7	Graph Editor
F8	Render preview
F11	Snapping pop-over
` (backtick)	Toggle window visibility

Pie Menus

Pie menus are quick contextual pop-up menus that appear using keystroke combinations. Menu items are laid out in a wheel so you can access them gesturally for speedier workflow. To open, press the keyboard shortcut, then click in the 3D viewport to open. If you want the pie menu to appear immediately, go to System > Preferences > Input Remapping and enable Open Pies Immediately.

Keystroke(s)	Action
Ctrl+` (backtick)	Layout switch favorites
Ctrl+1	GL viewport toggles
Ctrl+2	GL viewport style
Ctrl+Spacebar	GL viewport view type
Ctrl+3	Open pop-over
Alt+Q	Selection mode/Transform tools
Alt+` (backtick)	Open palette
Shift+` (backtick)	Properties and options
B	Brushes pie menu (only when a Brush tool is active)
Alt+Spacebar	Animation shortcuts (only in the Animation layout)

Modeling

General Modeling

Keystroke(s)	Action
Q	Drop active tool
Ctrl/Cmd+Tab	Toggle the Tool HUD
K	Tool properties pop-over Note: The tool needs to be active for this shortcut to work.
Esc	Escape current operation/drop active selection
Spacebar	Cycle-through Component modes
Shift+Spacebar	Toggle Component mode to Item mode (or last mode)
= (Equals)	Tool handles larger
- (Minus)	Tool handle smaller
0 (zero)	Toggle tool handle visibility (not on the numeric keypad; only on Mac)
Ctrl+D	Reset tool attributes
Shift+0-9	Select layer 1-10
Alt+Spacebar	Quick access pop-over
M	Assign material tag. This applies when working in both direct and procedural modeling.
S	Enables the Slide / Edge Slide tool when in a component mode (Polygons, Edges, or Vertices). Note: This shortcut only activates the Slide tool when in component mode. Pressing S in item mode keys a selected channel. For more information, see Using Channels.
Tab	Toggle subdivision surfaces
Shift+Tab	Toggle Catmull-Clark subdivision surfaces
Numeric Keypad +/-	Increase/decrease subdivision level

Action Center/Axis

Keystroke(s)	Action
Alt+W	Origin
Alt+E	Pivot
Alt+A	Automatic
Alt+S	Selection
Alt+D	Selection center, auto axis
Alt+Q	Displays pie menu
Alt+F	Screen
Alt+Z	Element
Alt+X	Local
Alt+G	Pivot center, parent axis

Selection

Keystroke(s)	Action
Alt+Shift+A	Select all
Up arrow	More (select next plausible element in loop)
Shift+Up arrow	Select expand
Down arrow	Less (de-select last element)
Shift+Down arrow	Shrink
Left arrow	Select previous loop
Shift+Left arrow	Select previous loop add
Right arrow	Select next loop
Shift+Right arrow	Select next loop add
L	Select loop
Alt+L	Select ring
]	Connected
[	Invert selection
Shift+]	Close loop
Shift+G	Select between
Alt+1	Convert selection to vertices
Alt+2	Convert selection to edges
Alt+3	Convert selection to polygons
; (semicolon)	Select through toggle

Hide/Lock Geometry

Keystroke(s)	Action
H	Hide selected
Shift+H	Hide unselected
Ctrl+H	Hide invert (toggle state)
Shift+Q	Hide Fusion Source Mesh
U	Show
J	Lock selected
Shift+J	Lock unselected
Ctrl+J	Lock invert (toggle state)
I	Unlock

Work Plane

Keystroke(s)	Action
Home	Align to geometry under cursor
Shift+Home	Align to selection (average of all selected)
Ctrl+Home	Align to viewport
End	Reset the Work Plane
Shift+End	Open Work Plane pop-over
Page Up	Walk +
Page Down	Walk -
Numeric Keypad * (asterisk)	Toggle visibility
Alt+O	Offset Work Plane to geometry position under cursor

Snapping

Keystroke(s)	Action
X	Toggle snap state (hold with tool active for temporary snap)
F11	Open snapping pop-over
Ctrl+Shift+T	Element snap

Tools

Keystroke(s)	Action
Transform
W	Move
E	Rotate
Alt+Shift+E	Planar rotate
R	Scale
Shift+R	Uniform scale
Y	Transform
Deform
Ctrl+E	Bend
T	Element move (Tweak)
Ctrl+T	Soft drag
Shift+Y	Flex tool
Shift+S	Smooth tool
Duplicate
Shift+X	Extrude
Shift+L	Radial sweep
Shift+Q	Grow quad row from edge
Z	Extend edge
Shift+V	Mirror tool
Mesh Edit
Backspace	Delete
Shift+Backspace	Remove
Ctrl+Backspace	Collapse
B	Bevel
Shift+B	Polygon bevel
Alt+B	Sketch extrude
Ctrl+B	Create polygon of given type from vertex selection
G	Edge slice
Shift+C	Polygon slice
Alt+C	Loop slice
D	Subdivide selected geometry
Shift+D	Open subdivide options
F	Flip polygon normal
Ctrl+L	Split face by selected vertices
P	Make polygon
Shift+T	Triple polygons (convert to triangles)
V	Spin edge
Alt+V	Spin quads
Curves
Shift+O	Make open curve
Ctrl+P	Make closed curve
Vertex Tools
Shift+W	Weight tool
Shift+M	Morph tool

Paint & Sculpt

Keystroke(s)	Action
B	Open brush tips pie menu (only when tool is active)
O	Open large color picker pop-over (hover over UI color picker)
S	Swap foreground/background colors
Shift + click and drag	Reposition the node and any child nodes further down the chain.
Ctrl + click	Create a new node between an existing one.
Middle mouse button + click	Remove individual nodes.
E/R	Image ink rotate left/right
D/F	Image ink scale up/down
Shift+Z	Adjust offset amount (sticky key, only while Brush tool is active)
Multi-Res Sculpting
Alt+(numeric pad) +	Subdivision level up
Alt+(numeric pad) -	Subdivision level down
Ctrl+(numeric pad) +	Current level up
Ctrl+(numeric pad) -	Current level down

Camera

Keystroke(s)	Action
Shift+Alt+click+drag	Move camera item
Shift+Alt+right-click+drag	Move up/down direction only
Alt+click+drag	Rotate around target distance
Alt+right-click+drag	Rotate around Z axis
Ctrl+middle-click+drag	Image ink scale up/down
Ctrl+Alt+click+drag	Move forward/backward only
Ctrl+Alt+right-click+drag	Adjust focal length
Roll Mouse Wheel	Zooms to cursor
Ctrl+A	Auto focus camera (only in a viewport defined as Camera and with auto-focus enabled)
Ctrl+F	Restart preview (only in the Preview viewport)

Animation

Selection

Keystroke(s)	Action
Shift+Z	Select all animated items
Z	Select all animated channels

Hierarchy

Keystroke(s)	Action
Ctrl+G	Group selected items (under group locator)
P	Parent in place
Ctrl+P	Parent
Shift+P	Unparent in place
Ctrl+Shift+P	Unparent

Timeline

Users must be in Items selection mode for these to work.

Keystroke(s)	Action
Shift+Up arrow	Go to first frame
Ctrl+Up arrow	Go to first keyframe
Ctrl+Left arrow	Go to previous keyframe
Shift+Left arrow	Go back one frame
/	Start/stop animation playback
Shift+Right arrow	Go forward one frame
Ctrl+Right arrow	Go to next keyframe
Ctrl+Down arrow	Go to last keyframe

Setting Keyframes

Keystroke(s)	Action
Shift+Y	Key transforms
Shift+E	Key rotations
Shift+W	Key positions
Shift+R	Key scale
S	Key selected channels
Shift+S	Key selected items

Graph Editor

Keystroke(s)	Action
A	Fit selected
Ctrl+F	Fit visible
Shift+F	Fit visible width
Alt+click	Pan view
Ctrl+Alt+click	Scale view
Alt+right-click	Scale graph size
Ctrl+Alt+right-click	Box zoom (drag box to zoom)
Ctrl+Shift+V	Paste insert keyframes to selected channels
Ctrl+Alt+V	Paste replace keyframes to selected channels

Render

Keystroke(s)	Action
F9	Render
Ctrl+F9	Render visible
Shift+F9	Render selected
F10	Render current view
Alt+Shift+F9	Open render display window
P	Pauses mPath renders while the render window is open

Preview Viewport

(F8 to open)

Keystroke(s)	Action
Ctrl+F	Focus under cursor
mouse wheel	Preview zoom
middle-click+drag	Jump the preview out to the original focal length (only when zoomed in)