Throwing this out here because it’s missing feature that I think UE really needs. I’m scratching my head wondering how the dev team themselves actually have not gone crazy working in their engine without this basic QOL feature.
Essentially all 3D editing platforms have this and it feels bizarre that UE is still missing it (even most 2D platforms let you lock objects in this way). Note that UE does have a ‘lock selected actor’ (hidden away in a right-click menu, not in outliner) but that feature unfortunately does not prevent those actors from still being selected in viewport
As far as I can tell the only way to do this atm is via a paid marketplace plugin, it is not a basic engine outliner feature.
This is mostly a UE-specific problem because pretty much all other 3D platforms have resolved this long ago. E.g. Blender (this is just one example, but Blender, Unity, 3DS Max, Maya, etc. all have this feature).
This has been a much requested feature over the years and still no attention to it. Look at the number of times this has been requested or asked about why it’s missing:
im facing this issue everytime i work in unreal editor ,
whatever i want to select a particle or Decal or a certain small objects that exist on top of my floor or near by it, it does not select it but select the floor underneath it or the background instead
which is very annoying …
and looking for that thing to select in the side panel will force me to scroll through all the hundreds of objects that is in my scene
an easy way which is a future exist in Cinema 4D already and its very useful
…
Hi Guys
love your engine but please reconsider adding a very basic feature of freezing an object from the selection and showing that it is frozen in the scene object list, only a few lines of code.
This was requested in 2015
and the topic has been closed with a our priorities are elsewhere answer, am sure you guys are busy however i suspect your own game level designers would also appreciate this ability.
thanks
Rob
I do a lot of marquee selections and I keep accidentally duplicating my skybox. I still want to see it, but I am trying to find a way to lock it so that it cannot be selected, moved, or duplicated.
anyone found a workaround to prevent actors from being selected?
Hi!
Just want to know if this feature has been implemented by now. I’ve seen this was asked some years ago but the question was closed a couple of years ago and it hasn’t been added yet.
If there is any option to do so, can anyone tell me where is it? It’s really annoying keep selecting anything but the object you need. I’m used to the freeze option and use it a lot.
I’ve tried the Transform → Lock Actor Movement option but that’s not what I really need… Any help on this?
Thanks!
Undo to reselect the light?
Make temporary Outliner filter by writing the name of the asset you are looking for into Search bar
Use folders to keep Outliner tidy.
Use shift+click on the little arrow before folder/levelName icon (Outliner) to close/open all sub-folders recursively.
Sort assests into several files and load them as sub-levels (Window/Levels). You can lock each sub-level to prevent its content from being selected (lock icon)
I keep miss-clicking and moving or selecting object I don’t want to. Is it possible to lock objects so they can’t be click-selected, but are still visible?
Hi guys,
While working on my level I want to keep things tidy and organized. As a Blender user, I am used to locking (restricting the selection) folders or a specific object. Locking folders is in this case in the world outliner. This, of course, prevents selecting it and is useful when matching a level blockout.
The last thing is a bit silly but worth mentioning, I hide a lot of my objects to experiment with the final assets. So when I quit Unreal and start it the next day all of my objects a…
I just picked up a plugin that will make this happen. This is the only thing I’ve seen that will do what you want to do. Weird right?
Here is the original feature request from 2014:
I still don’t think this has been properly implemented, unless Google is giving me really bad results.
Hello,
I found the solution:
Select the object in the World Outliner or in the viewport> right click> Transform> Lock actor movement
To copy and move an object Click on the object + alt: will create a copy
To copy paste a location, rotation, scale
Right click on the names of these attributes found in the Transform panel.
Best regards
Greetings. In the viewport I use the navigation tools for panning and zooming and tilting the camera views. However, from clicking in the view port I frequently end up selecting an object and have to hit “escape” key to unselect. Does anyone know how to lessen inadvertently selecting objects when clicking and using the option keys for camera movement? I saw where you can lock the position of objects; but that didn’t prevent from them being selected. Thanks in advance.
There is a cheap plugin on the marketplace to lock actors in place and make them not selectable.
I’m used to working in 3ds Max and Softimage where I can freeze or make a geometry object non-selectable once I have it in place. Right now in UE4 I keep accidentally moving my geometry around while I’m moving other geometries around. Is there any way to lock or freeze geometry in place?
As far as I know this functionality is still missing in the editor. What you can do for now is to Lock Actor Movement so that noone will move it inside editor (in the World Outliner right click on the object → Transform → Lock Actor Movement). You can use it together with hiding objects on the scene (eye icons in the World Outliner).
It’s not exactly what you wanted but maybe it will help a bit.
[UE components show lock]
This should be very useful. Currently if we want to temporary hide some components the only way is by selecting and go to the details panel and look for rendering/visible. Its pretty tedious if you have many components in a blueprint.
Thank you very much!!
Dany
P.D.- I love the radio!
eldany.uy
August 5, 2022, 8:17pm
2
It’s so basic and useful that hurts
Edit…how to vote? it says 0 vote
Uhhh I think you just click the vote button at the top…I think?
1 Like
Marsatas
November 19, 2022, 11:20am
6
Has it ever been addressed on why this basic feature is missing from UE?
Krabworks
November 22, 2022, 10:27pm
7
Not as far as I know. Very annoying, though
Brumenn
November 23, 2022, 2:59pm
8
A must have basic feature, definitively.
1 Like
Morgrove
December 17, 2022, 3:47pm
9
Started learning Unreal a couple of days ago and this is perhaps one of the first things I googled… couldn’t believe that this is not possible in such an otherwise mature product ._.
2 Likes
Krabworks
December 18, 2022, 6:31pm
10
Mhmm…still nothing in sight yet for this unfortunately.
+1, it consumes a lot of wasted time to reverse the operation with a accidentally selected object, breaks the work flow and causes frustration
Heyo!I will release this plugin in Marketplace, but right now you can check my GitHub repo and download latest release . I have built it only for UE 5.1, but older version will come soon . There is still plenty work to do and improve, but I hope it will help you.
UPD: Added UE5.0 supportMarketplace for free
21 Likes
Beats me how fortnite gets made without selection control.
1 Like
Heyo everyone, I have publish the plugin on Marketplace for free, enjoy!
5 Likes
Chacobo
January 26, 2023, 4:38am
16
Wow what are the chances. For the past 3 years this is the first time I needed such functionality and BAM there’s a new free plugin.
1 Like
Krabworks
January 26, 2023, 6:36pm
17
You are legendary <3 cheers
I would still like to see this as official engine functionality one day, but in the meantime you have made a lot of peoples’ lives easier
1 Like
Thanks. I have just installed your plug-in and it works. Thank you.
Karrelen
May 13, 2024, 11:08pm
20
Thank you so much GradessGames, it works well with the 5.4 version
UE5 is superb but how is that possible that the epic dev did not include this very basic function in it?
must-have feature definitely.