How to Select All Objects in Blender

Selecting all objects in a Blender scene is a basic yet essential task for managing 3D models, applying global changes, and organizing your workspace. This guide explains the fastest keyboard shortcuts, menu options, and Outliner methods to select or deselect every object in your viewport instantly.

The Fastest Method: Keyboard Shortcut

The quickest way to select everything in the 3D Viewport is using the default keyboard shortcut:

  1. Hover your mouse cursor over the 3D Viewport.
  2. Press A on your keyboard.

Every visible object in your active scene will immediately be highlighted in orange, indicating that it is selected.

How to Deselect All Objects

If you need to clear your selection, you have two options depending on your Blender preference settings:

  • Alt + A: Pressing Alt + A deselects all currently selected objects.
  • Double-Tap A: Quickly pressing A twice will also deselect everything in modern versions of Blender.
  • Click in Empty Space: Left-clicking on an empty area of the 3D Viewport will clear the selection.

Selecting All Objects via the Menu Bar

If you prefer using the graphical user interface instead of hotkeys:

  1. Look at the top-left corner of the 3D Viewport.
  2. Click on the Select menu.
  3. Click All from the drop-down menu.

To clear the selection using the menu, go to Select > None.

Selecting All Objects in the Outliner

You can also select all objects through the Outliner panel (the object hierarchy list usually located in the top-right of the screen):

  1. Hover your mouse over the Outliner window.
  2. Press A to select every item listed in your scene hierarchy.

Alternatively, you can click the top object, hold Shift, and click the bottom object to select everything in between.

Selecting Objects by Type

If you want to select all objects of a specific category (such as all meshes, lights, or cameras):

  1. Click on Select in the 3D Viewport header.
  2. Hover over Select All by Type.
  3. Choose the specific object type you want to select (e.g., Mesh, Light, or Camera).