Unity Editor keyboard shortcuts

Unity is the most widely used game engine, and its editor is a dense multi-window workspace of Scene, Game, Hierarchy, Inspector, and Project views. The default shortcuts cover transform tools, scene navigation, play mode, and window switching. Internalizing Q/W/E/R/T and the Ctrl+number window keys makes level editing dramatically faster. This cheat sheet covers 51 default shortcuts for Windows and Mac.

Transform Tools

View (hand) tool	`QQ`
Move tool	`WW`
Rotate tool	`EE`
Scale tool	`RR`
Rect transform tool	`TT`
Combined move/rotate/scale tool	`YY`
Toggle pivot / center handle position	`ZZ`
Toggle local / global handle orientation	`XX`
Vertex snapping (hold while dragging)	`VV`

Scene View & Selection

Frame selected object	`FF`
Frame selected and follow it	`Shift`+`FShift`+`F`
Move scene camera	`Arrow keysArrow keys`
Hide/show selected object (scene visibility)	`HH`
Toggle isolation on selection	`Shift`+`HShift`+`H`
Select all	`Ctrl`+`ACmd`+`A`
Focus search field	`Ctrl`+`FCmd`+`F`

GameObjects

New empty GameObject	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`NCmd`+`Shift`+`N`
New empty child GameObject	`Alt`+`Shift`+`NOption`+`Shift`+`N`
Duplicate	`Ctrl`+`DCmd`+`D`
Delete selected object	`DeleteCmd`+`Delete`
Rename selected object	`F2Return`
Open Add Component menu	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`ACmd`+`Shift`+`A`
Toggle GameObject active state	`Alt`+`Shift`+`AOption`+`Shift`+`A`
Align selected object with scene view	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`FCmd`+`Shift`+`F`
Move selected object to scene view position	`Ctrl`+`Alt`+`FCmd`+`Option`+`F`

Editing

Undo	`Ctrl`+`ZCmd`+`Z`
Redo	`Ctrl`+`YCmd`+`Shift`+`Z`
Cut	`Ctrl`+`XCmd`+`X`
Copy	`Ctrl`+`CCmd`+`C`
Paste	`Ctrl`+`VCmd`+`V`
Paste as child	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`VCmd`+`Shift`+`V`

Play Mode

Enter / exit play mode	`Ctrl`+`PCmd`+`P`
Pause play mode	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`PCmd`+`Shift`+`P`
Step one frame	`Ctrl`+`Alt`+`PCmd`+`Option`+`P`
Maximize focused window	`Shift`+`SpaceShift`+`Space`

Windows

Scene view	`Ctrl`+`1Cmd`+`1`
Game view	`Ctrl`+`2Cmd`+`2`
Inspector	`Ctrl`+`3Cmd`+`3`
Hierarchy	`Ctrl`+`4Cmd`+`4`
Project window	`Ctrl`+`5Cmd`+`5`
Animation window	`Ctrl`+`6Cmd`+`6`
Profiler	`Ctrl`+`7Cmd`+`7`
Console	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`CCmd`+`Shift`+`C`

Project & Build

New scene	`Ctrl`+`NCmd`+`N`
Open scene	`Ctrl`+`OCmd`+`O`
Save scene	`Ctrl`+`SCmd`+`S`
Save scene as	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`SCmd`+`Shift`+`S`
Refresh / reimport assets	`Ctrl`+`RCmd`+`R`
Build and run	`Ctrl`+`BCmd`+`B`
Open Build Settings	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`BCmd`+`Shift`+`B`
Open Preferences	no default`Cmd`+`,`

Put your top Unity Editor shortcuts on real keys

The five Unity Editor actions most worth binding to a physical macropad key:

Ctrl+PCmd+P Enter / exit play mode The test-iterate loop is the heartbeat of game dev; hit it hundreds of times a day.

FF Frame selected object Instantly recenters the scene camera on whatever you are working on.

Ctrl+DCmd+D Duplicate Level building is mostly duplicating and repositioning objects.

Ctrl+Shift+CCmd+Shift+C Console First stop after every error or debug log; a chord worth flattening to one key.

Ctrl+SCmd+S Save scene Unity crashes are legend; a big physical save key builds the reflex.

I hand-build small-batch programmable macropads (QMK/VIA) in Barcelona. One press, any shortcut, any app.

See the macropads

Unity Editor shortcut FAQs

What are the Q W E R T Y keys in Unity?

They select the transform tools: Q is the view/hand tool, W move, E rotate, R scale, T rect transform, and Y the combined move/rotate/scale tool.

How do I enter play mode in Unity with the keyboard?

Press Ctrl+P (Cmd+P on Mac). Ctrl+Shift+P pauses, and Ctrl+Alt+P advances a single frame while paused.

How do I focus the camera on an object in Unity?

Select the object and press F with the Scene view active. Shift+F locks the camera to the object so it follows while the object moves.

Can I customize Unity's keyboard shortcuts?

Yes. The Shortcuts Manager (Edit > Shortcuts, or Unity > Shortcuts on Mac) lets you rebind almost every editor command and save profiles.

What is the shortcut for the Unity console?

Ctrl+Shift+C on Windows, Cmd+Shift+C on Mac. The other main windows use Ctrl/Cmd+1 through 7.