How to Hide or Show Marching Ants in GIMP

When working in GIMP, the animated dotted line that outlines an active selection is commonly referred to as "marching ants." While this boundary helps you see the precise area you are editing, it can sometimes obstruct your view of subtle image details or edge blends. This guide explains how to quickly enable or disable the display of the selection outline in GIMP using keyboard shortcuts, the application menu, or global preferences.

Method 1: Use the Keyboard Shortcut

The fastest way to toggle the marching ants on or off without deselecting your pixels is with a keyboard shortcut:

  • Press Ctrl + T on Windows or Linux.
  • Press Cmd + T on macOS.

Pressing this key combination immediately hides the selection outline. Pressing it again restores the visibility of the marching ants. Note that your selection remains active even when the boundary is hidden.

Method 2: Use the View Menu

If you prefer using the graphical interface rather than shortcuts:

  1. Click on the View menu in the top menu bar.
  2. Locate Show Selection in the drop-down list.
  3. Click Show Selection to toggle it. A checkmark next to the option indicates that the marching ants are visible; clicking it removes the checkmark and hides the animation.

Method 3: Change the Default Display in Preferences

If you want to control whether the selection boundary appears by default whenever you open a new image window:

  1. Navigate to Edit > Preferences (on macOS, GIMP > Preferences).
  2. In the Preferences dialog, expand the Image Windows section on the left.
  3. Select Appearance.
  4. Under the "Normal mode" or "Fullscreen mode" section, look for the Show selection checkbox.
  5. Check or uncheck the box according to your preference, then click OK to save your settings.