Hi everyone,
I’d like to raise a point that I believe is systematically overlooked in Unreal’s editor design: left-handed users.
Around 10% of the population is left-handed, yet the entire editor — not just viewport navigation — is built around right-handed defaults:
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Viewport navigation: RMB + WASD assumes the left hand stays on the keyboard while the right hand controls the mouse. Alt + RMB drag (orbit/zoom) is awkward when the mouse is held in the left hand.
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Blueprint editor: Graph navigation relies heavily on RMB drag, LMB + drag, and modifier combinations (Ctrl/Shift/Alt + click) that all assume a right-handed mouse grip.
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Sequencer: Timeline navigation and keyframe operations use similar asymmetric mouse+keyboard patterns.
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General shortcuts: Ctrl+C/V/Z, F2, Ctrl+S, etc., are all optimized for the left hand on the keyboard and the right hand on the mouse.
Now, I’m not asking for a full redesign. The shortcut system is already fully remappable and preset-based (Maya, 3ds Max, Blender presets ship by default). The infrastructure exists — what’s missing is a complete left-handed profile.
What I propose:
Ship a left-handed.ini (or equivalent) configuration file bundled with the Editor, loadable from Edit > Editor Preferences > Keyboard Shortcuts, that remaps the full editor experience for left-handed use:
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Viewport: orbit, pan, zoom, framing, selection, camera movement
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Blueprint: graph pan, zoom, selection, node creation, connection dragging
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Sequencer: timeline navigation, keyframe manipulation, scrubbing
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General: selection, duplication, saving, and other common actions
Users could then fine-tune it, but they’d have a working, comfortable starting point instead of spending hours rebuilding every binding from scratch.
Why this matters:
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Accessibility: Ignoring ~10% of your user base isn’t neutral. It signals “you’re not the target audience.”
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Competitive: Blender, Unity, and DaVinci Resolve all allow deep remapping, and some ship left-handed profiles or make it trivial to create them. Unreal is behind here.
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Cost: A preset file costs almost nothing to produce and maintain. The remapping system already exists.
I know many left-handed users (myself included) who struggle with this daily, and some who avoid certain tools entirely because of it. A single complete preset file would go a long way.
If this already exists somewhere and I missed it, I’d be glad to be corrected — but from what I can find, there’s no official left-handed editor profile.
Thanks for reading, and I hope you’ll consider this for a future release.