Selecting UVs

Much like the 3D Viewport, the UV Editor has selection mode buttons in the header, as well as a Select menu.

Sync Selection

When enabled (the default), the UV Editor and 3D Viewport share a synchronized selection state. Selecting components (vertices, edges, or faces) in one editor will automatically select the corresponding elements in the other.

With Sync Selection enabled, all faces are visible in the UV Editor at all times. Selecting a vertex, edge, or face in the 3D Viewport selects its corresponding UV elements. However, when a single 3D vertex or edge corresponds to multiple UV vertices or edges (for example, along a UV seam), you cannot select them individually—selecting one selects all of them.

When disabled, only the UVs belonging to the currently selected faces in the 3D Viewport are shown. Selections in the UV Editor are independent, allowing individual UV vertices and edges to be selected even if they correspond to the same mesh vertex or edge. Selecting in one editor no longer affects the other.

Note

Currently, only some 3D Viewport selection operations preserve per-UV selection data, including basic picking, box, circle, and lasso selection. Other operators, such as Select Random or Select Similar, will reset the stored UV selection, causing all UVs connected to selected mesh elements to become selected. Support for additional operators may be added later.

Hint

Internally, UV selection data is stored per face corner and created on demand to avoid overhead. Python scripts that modify mesh selections can use the API functions to synchronize or clear the UV selection state as needed.

Selection Mode

Vertex:

1 Select vertices.

Edge:

2 Select edges.

Face:

3 Select faces.

If Sync Selection is enabled, you can hold Shift while clicking a selection mode to activate multiple ones at the same time, or Ctrl to expand/contract the selection.

See also

Mesh Selection

UV Island Selection

Reference

Mode:

Edit Mode

Menu:

Header ‣ UV Island Selection

Shortcut:

4

Select contiguous groups of faces that are connected in the UV map.

Sticky Selection Mode

Options for automatically selecting additional UV vertices. Only available for Face select mode or if Sync Selection is disabled.

Disabled

Each UV vertex can be selected independently of the others.

Shared Location

Automatically select UV vertices that correspond to the same mesh vertex and have the same UV coordinates. This is the default and gives the illusion that multiple faces in a UV map can share the same vertex; in reality, they have separate vertices that overlap.

Shared Vertex

Automatically select UV vertices that correspond to the same mesh vertex, even if they have different UV coordinates. This is also the behavior when Sync Selection is enabled.

Select Menu

All A

Selects all UV elements.

None Alt-A

Deselects all UV elements.

Invert Ctrl-I

Inverts the current selection.

Box Select Alt-B

See Box Select.

Box Select Pinned Ctrl-B

Like Box Select, but only selects pinned UV vertices.

Circle Select

See Circle Select.

Lasso Select

See Lasso Select.

More/Less Ctrl-NumpadPlus, Ctrl-NumpadMinus

Expands/contracts the selection to/from the adjacent elements.

Select Similar Shift-G

Selects UV elements that are similar to the active one in some way. The Adjust Last Operation panel provides several options:

Type

The property to compare. Which properties are available depends on the Selection Mode.

Vertex Selection Mode

Pinned:

Selects vertices with the same pinned state.

Edge Selection Mode

Length:

Selects edges with a similar length in the UV map.

Length 3D:

Selects edges with a similar length in the 3D mesh.

Pinned:

Selects edges with the same pinned state.

Face Selection Mode

Area:

Selects faces with a similar area in the UV map.

Area 3D:

Selects faces with a similar area in the 3D mesh.

Material:

Selects faces that have the same Material.

Object:

Selects faces that belong to the same object. This is useful when multiple objects are in Edit mode at once.

Polygon Sides:

Selects faces with a similar number of edges.

Winding:

Select faces that have the same orientation (facing upwards or downwards in the UV map).

Island Selection Mode

Area:

Selects islands with a similar area in the UV map.

Area 3D:

Selects islands with a similar area in the 3D mesh.

Amount of Faces in Island:

Selects islands with a similar number of faces.

Compare

The comparison operator.

Equal:

Select elements whose value is equal.

Greater:

Select elements whose value is greater or equal.

Less:

Select elements whose value is less or equal.

Threshold

Tolerance for values that are almost, but not quite the same. A higher threshold will select more elements.

Select Linked

Linked Ctrl-L

Selects all elements that are connected to the currently selected ones.

Shortest Path

Selects the path between two selected elements. (See below)

Select Pinned Shift-P

Selects all pinned UVs.

Select Split Y

“Detaches” the selected faces so they can be moved elsewhere without affecting their neighbors.

Hint

Unlike Split Selection for meshes, which physically disconnects faces, this is a pure selection operator. In UV space, the faces were never connected to begin with; it only seemed that way because Sticky Selection automatically selected the vertices of the neighboring faces. Select Split deselects those vertices again.

As an alternative to Select Split, you can set the Sticky Selection Mode to Disabled.

Select Overlap

Selects all UV faces that overlap each other.

Shortest Path

Reference

Mode:

Edit Mode

Menu:

Select ‣ Select Linked ‣ Shortest Path

Shortcut:

Ctrl-LMB

Selects all the UV elements along the shortest path between two elements: the two selected elements when activated using the menu, or the active one and the clicked one when activated using the shortcut.

Face Stepping

For vertices: allows the path to step across faces, following their diagonal rather than their edges.

For edges: selects disconnected edges that are perpendicular to the path (edge ring), rather than connected edges along the path (edge loop).

For faces: allows the path to go through faces that only share a vertex, rather than an edge.

Topology Distance

Calculates the distance by simply counting edges rather than measuring their lengths.

Fill Region Shift-Ctrl-LMB

Selects all shortest paths (rather than just one).

Dashed Line Options

Allows to only select elements at regular intervals, creating a “dashed line” rather than a continuous one.

Deselected

The number of deselected elements in the repetitive sequence.

Selected

The number of selected elements in the repetitive sequence.

Offset

The number of elements to offset the sequence by.

See also

Mesh edit Select Shortest Path.

Select Edge Loop

Reference

Mode:

Edit Mode

Shortcut:

Alt-LMB, or Shift-Alt-LMB for extending the existing selection.

Holding Alt while clicking an edge selects that edge and then expands the selection as far as possible in the two directions parallel to it. (While this of course works for selecting edge “loops” that go all the way around a mesh, it also works if there’s no loop.)

You can additionally hold Shift to extend the current selection rather than replacing it.

See also

Mesh edit Select Edge Loops.

Select Edge Ring

Reference

Mode:

Edit Mode

Shortcut:

Ctrl-Alt-LMB, or Shift-Ctrl-Alt-LMB for extending the existing selection.

Holding Ctrl-Alt while clicking an edge selects that edge and then expands the selection as far as possible in the two directions perpendicular to it. (While this of course works for selecting edge “rings” that go all the way around a mesh, it also works if there’s no ring.)

You can additionally hold Shift to extend the current selection rather than replacing it.

See also

Mesh edit Select Edge Rings.