How to Select Linked Data in Blender

Selecting linked data in Blender allows you to quickly highlight geometry physically connected to a selection, or find multiple objects that share common properties like meshes, materials, and collections. Whether working in Edit Mode to isolate a mesh island or in Object Mode to find all instances sharing a specific datablock, Blender provides dedicated keyboard shortcuts and menus to streamline the workflow.

Selecting Connected Geometry in Edit Mode

When editing a mesh, you can select geometry that is physically connected (linked) to your current selection or mouse pointer.

  • Hover and Select (L): Position your mouse cursor over any vertex, edge, or face and press L. This selects the entire contiguous piece of geometry under your cursor without needing to click first.
  • Expand Selection (Ctrl + L): Select at least one vertex, edge, or face, then press Ctrl + L. This expands your current selection to include all geometry connected to it.
  • Deselect Linked (Shift + L): Hover over a selected mesh piece and press Shift + L to deselect that connected geometry.
  • Filter Options: After running a linked selection, open the Select Linked pop-up menu in the bottom-left corner of the 3D Viewport. Here, you can constrain the selection by specific attributes like Material, Seam, Sharp, or UVs.

Selecting Objects with Linked Properties in Object Mode

To select multiple objects in your scene that share identical data—such as linked duplicates (Alt + D), materials, or collections—use Object Mode.

  1. Select the primary object containing the data you want to target.
  2. Press Shift + L to open the Select Linked menu.
  3. Choose the criteria to match:
    • Object Data: Selects all objects sharing the same mesh, curve, or armature data.
    • Material: Selects all objects using the active material of the selected object.
    • Collection: Selects all objects that belong to the active object's collection.
    • Image Texture: Selects objects sharing the same active image texture node.
    • Library: Selects objects linked from the same external .blend file.

Accessing Linked Selection via Menus

If you prefer using menu navigation instead of hotkeys:

  • In Edit Mode: Navigate to Select > Select Linked > Linked in the 3D Viewport header menu.
  • In Object Mode: Navigate to Select > Select Linked in the 3D Viewport header menu, then choose your target property.