Inkscape Node Editing Shortcuts
Once the Node tool (covered on the tools category page) is active, this set of shortcuts governs the actual anchor points and curve handles that define a path's shape — inserting and deleting nodes, converting between sharp corners and smooth curves, and splitting or rejoining a path at a specific point.
| Action | Windows | Mac | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Insert node on path | Insert (with Node tool active) | Insert | Adds a new anchor point at the midpoint of the selected path segment, giving finer control over that section's curve shape. |
| Delete selected node | Delete or Ctrl+Delete | Delete or Cmd+Delete | Removes the selected anchor point; Ctrl+Delete deletes it without trying to preserve the original curve shape, while plain Delete attempts to keep the path's general shape intact. |
| Make selected node a corner | Shift+C | Shift+C | Converts a smooth curve node into a sharp corner node, breaking the symmetric handle relationship so each side of the node can curve independently. |
| Make selected node smooth | Shift+S | Shift+S | Converts a corner node into a smooth curve node, forcing the handles on both sides into a symmetric, continuous curve relationship — the reverse operation to making a node a sharp corner. |
| Break path at selected node | Shift+B | Shift+B | Splits a path into two separate segments at the selected node without deleting anything, useful for detaching part of a shape's outline to be manipulated or deleted independently. |
| Join two endpoint nodes | Ctrl+J | Cmd+J | Merges two selected endpoint nodes (from the same path or two different paths) into a single node, closing a gap between them, the reverse of breaking a path apart. |
Inserting a node (Insert, with the Node tool active and a path segment selected) adds a new anchor point at the midpoint of that segment, giving you finer control over that specific section's curve without affecting the rest of the path — useful when an existing curve is close to right but needs one additional control point to achieve an exact shape that its current handful of nodes can't quite express.
Deleting a node offers two genuinely different behaviors worth understanding precisely. Plain Delete removes the selected node while attempting to preserve the path's overall visual shape, automatically adjusting the curve handles of the neighboring nodes to compensate for the one that's gone — Inkscape's best guess at keeping the curve looking similar to how it did before. Ctrl+Delete (Cmd+Delete on Mac) instead removes the node more bluntly, without that shape-preserving adjustment, which can produce a visibly different curve at that specific point — worth reaching for deliberately when you specifically want the simpler, more direct removal rather than Inkscape's automatic smoothing attempt, which doesn't always guess correctly what shape you actually wanted to preserve.
Converting a node's type — smooth to corner (Shift+C) or corner to smooth (Shift+S) — changes the fundamental relationship between a node's two curve handles. A smooth node forces both handles into a symmetric, continuous relationship, producing a curve that flows through that point without any visible kink. A corner node breaks that symmetry entirely, letting each side of the node curve (or stay straight) completely independently of the other, which is exactly what you want at a genuinely sharp corner where the curve should visibly change direction abruptly rather than flow smoothly through it.
Breaking a path at a node (Shift+B) splits a single continuous path into two separate, independently editable segments at that specific point, without deleting any of the actual path geometry — useful for detaching part of a shape's outline so it can be moved, deleted, or manipulated on its own without affecting the rest of what was previously one connected path.
Joining two nodes (Ctrl+J / Cmd+J) is the reverse operation: selecting two endpoint nodes — either from the same path's two loose ends, or from two entirely separate paths — and merging them into a single connected node, closing whatever gap existed between them. This is the standard way to connect two previously separate path segments into one continuous path, or to close a path that was left open by mistake during initial drawing.
A practical node-editing sequence worth knowing: after using Break (Shift+B) to detach a section of a path for independent editing, reconnecting it later (once you're done with whatever independent adjustment you needed) uses Join (Ctrl+J) on the two endpoints that were originally connected — the two shortcuts are natural complements, letting you temporarily detach and later reattach a specific section of a path without needing to delete and completely redraw that section from scratch.
Worth understanding how node type (smooth versus corner) interacts with dragging a curve handle directly: dragging one handle of a smooth node automatically moves its paired handle on the opposite side in a mirrored, symmetric way, which is precisely the behavior that keeps the curve smooth through that point — while dragging a handle on a corner node moves only that one handle independently, leaving the opposite side's curve shape (or lack of a handle, on a fully straight-line corner) completely undisturbed.
Multiple node selection is worth knowing about since none of these shortcuts are limited to acting on a single node at a time. Rubber-band selecting a region with the Node tool, or Shift-clicking additional nodes individually, builds a multi-node selection, and every shortcut on this page — inserting, deleting, converting type, breaking — applies to the entire selection simultaneously rather than one node at a time. Converting a dozen nodes from corner to smooth in one Shift+S press, for instance, is considerably faster than repeating the conversion node by node across a complex path with many points needing the identical treatment.
A genuinely common beginner confusion worth addressing directly: expecting Delete to remove a node the same blunt way it removes a whole selected object elsewhere in Inkscape. Because plain Delete on a node tries to intelligently preserve the surrounding curve's shape rather than just erasing the point and leaving a visible kink or gap, the result can look subtly different from what a first-time user expects — reaching for Ctrl+Delete instead, which skips that automatic shape-preservation step entirely, often produces a more predictable, easier-to-reason-about result for anyone still building an intuition for how Inkscape's node system actually behaves under the hood.