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 arrow

Expand/close all (also in Shader Tree)

' (apostrophe)

Swap foreground/background layers

Ctrl+D

Duplicate selected layer(s) (only in Items mode)

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
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)

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

C

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)