How to Copy a Material to Another Object in Blender

Copying materials between objects in Blender is a fundamental workflow technique that saves time and ensures visual consistency across your 3D models. Whether you need to apply a material to a single object or instantly share it across dozens of selected meshes, Blender provides several fast methods using keyboard shortcuts, the Material Properties panel, and drag-and-drop actions. This guide explains the simplest ways to copy and link materials in Blender.

This method is ideal when you want to copy a material from one source object to several target objects at the same time.

  1. Select all the target objects that you want to apply the material to.
  2. Hold Shift and select the source object (the object that already has the material). The source object must be selected last so it becomes the Active Object (outlined in a lighter orange).
  3. Press Ctrl + L (or Cmd + L on macOS) to open the Link/Transfer Data menu.
  4. Select Link Materials.

All selected objects will now share the exact same material.

Method 2: Assign via the Material Browser

If you only need to copy a material to one object, you can select it directly from the material list.

  1. Click on the object you want to apply the material to.
  2. Go to the Material Properties tab in the Properties Editor (the red sphere icon on the right side).
  3. Click the Browse Material to be linked icon (the small sphere dropdown next to the material name field).
  4. Choose the existing material from the list.

Method 3: Drag and Drop from Material Slots

You can visually drag a material from one object onto another using the 3D Viewport or Outliner.

  1. Select the object containing the source material.
  2. Go to the Material Properties panel.
  3. Click and hold the material slot icon (left of the material name).
  4. Drag your mouse over to the target object in the 3D Viewport or the Outliner list and release the mouse button.

Method 4: Copy and Paste Material Data

If you want to duplicate a material so that changes made to the new object do not affect the original object, use the copy and paste feature.

  1. Select the source object and go to the Material Properties panel.
  2. Click the down-arrow icon (Material Specials menu) below the + and - buttons on the right side of the material slot list.
  3. Select Copy Material.
  4. Select the target object, add a new material slot if necessary, click the same down-arrow icon, and choose Paste Material.
  5. (Optional) Click the New Material icon (looks like two overlapping pages next to the material name) to make it a unique user copy so edits won't alter the original material.