Unity Manual Scene

Triggers

• Navigating the Scene view with the mouse and keyboard
• Saving the current scene
• Switching between loaded scenes or additive scene workflows
• Telling a user how to frame the camera on an object

Manual Scene Tasks

Step-by-step instructions for Scene view navigation and scene management inside the Unity Editor. Paths assume the default English Unity UI; translate the labels into the user's Unity language when replying.

When to guide manually vs automate

Guide manually when the user can finish the task in 3 clicks or fewer: orbiting the view, saving, setting a scene active, or loading one additive scene.

Automate when the task involves querying scene contents, batch loading/unloading, dependency analysis, screenshot capture, or switching scenes programmatically across many scenes — use the scene REST module instead.

Navigate the Scene view

Step 1 — Orbit

Hold Alt and drag with the left mouse button to orbit around the current pivot.

Step 2 — Pan

Hold Alt and drag with the middle mouse button (or scroll wheel pressed) to pan.

Step 3 — Zoom

Scroll the mouse wheel to zoom in and out.

Step 4 — Focus on an object

Select a GameObject and press F to frame the Scene view on it.

Toggle 2D / orthographic view

Step 1 — Click the 2D toggle

In the Scene view toolbar, click the 2D button to switch between perspective and orthographic views (relevant for 2D projects or flat alignment).

Step 2 — Change projection with a hotkey

Press the scene-view toolbar shortcut Right-click > Perspective/Orthographic or use the dropdown on the view axis gizmo, depending on Unity version.

Save the current scene

Step 1 — Save

Press Ctrl + S.

Alternative path:

• Main menu File > Save

Step 2 — Save as a new file

Choose File > Save As... and pick a location under Assets/.

Open a different scene

Step 1 — Open the scene asset

Double-click a .unity scene file in the Project window.

Alternative path:

• Main menu File > Open Scene.

Step 2 — Confirm save

If the current scene has unsaved changes, Unity prompts to save or discard.

Additive scene workflow

Step 1 — Open the first scene

Double-click the first scene asset.

Step 2 — Add a scene additively

Right-click another scene asset in the Project window and choose Open Scene Additive.

Alternative path:

• Drag the scene asset into the Hierarchy to add it additively.

Step 3 — Manage loaded scenes

Open the Scenes in Build list from File > Build Profiles (or File > Build Settings in older Unity versions) to set which scenes are included in builds and their order.

Automate instead?

If the user wants to load or unload scenes programmatically, query scene hierarchy data, capture scene screenshots, or analyze scene dependencies, switch to the REST module:

• scene