How to UV Unwrap a Cylinder in Blender

UV unwrapping a cylinder in Blender requires adding strategic seams to flatten the 3D mesh cleanly onto a 2D space without texture stretching. This guide explains how to properly add edge seams to the top, bottom, and side of a cylinder, execute the unwrap command, and straighten the resulting UV map for perfect texture alignment.

Step 1: Switch to Edit Mode and Select Edges

  1. Select your cylinder object in Object Mode.
  2. Press Tab to switch to Edit Mode.
  3. Press 2 on your keyboard to switch to Edge Select mode.

Step 2: Mark the Seams

A cylinder requires three seam cuts to flatten properly: one along the top loop, one along the bottom loop, and one vertical seam connecting them down the side.

  1. Top Cap: Hold Alt and left-click the edge loop around the top rim of the cylinder.
  2. Bottom Cap: Hold Shift + Alt and left-click the edge loop around the bottom rim.
  3. Side Seam: Hold Shift and left-click a single vertical edge running from the top rim to the bottom rim.
  4. Right-click in the viewport and select Mark Seam (or press Ctrl + E and choose Mark Seam). The selected edges will now highlight in red.

Step 3: Unwrap the Cylinder

  1. Press A to select all faces of the cylinder.
  2. Press U to open the UV Mapping menu.
  3. Select Unwrap.

Open the UV Editing workspace from the top menu bar to view your flattened UV map. You will see two circular islands (the top and bottom caps) and one rectangular island (the cylinder body).

Step 4: Straighten the UV Grid (Optional)

Depending on your Blender settings, the unwrapped rectangular island for the side of the cylinder may appear curved. To make it a perfectly straight rectangular grid:

  1. Switch to the UV Editing workspace.
  2. Select one face on the body island.
  3. Right-click and choose Follow Active Quads (or press U > Follow Active Quads in the 3D Viewport).
  4. Click OK in the operator panel.

The side geometry will snap into a perfectly aligned rectangular grid, preventing texture warping when applying seamless materials.