How to select translucent actors in Unreal Engine

Learn why translucent actors can be hard to click in the Unreal Engine viewport and how to enable reliable selection so you can grab glass, decals, water, and VFX planes without accidentally selecting what is behind them.

Elias Wick, Senior Technical Artist | Published: Jan 30, 2026 – 2 min read #tips #tricks #translucent #selection #viewport #assets

Information

If you are trying to click a translucent actor in the viewport, like glass, water, decals, or FX cards, and Unreal keeps selecting whatever is behind it, the issue is usually not your asset. It is the translucent selection toggle.

The solution

Press T on your keyboard in the Level Editor viewport to toggle Translucent Selection on or off.

If translucent selection is off, you cannot click translucent surfaces, and your clicks pass through to actors behind them.
If translucent selection is on, translucent actors become selectable again.

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