# Very basic : Apply pose mode while weight painting

**URL:** <https://blenderartists.org/t/very-basic-apply-pose-mode-while-weight-painting/1608245>\
**Category:** Animation and Rigging\
**Created:** [August 27, 2025, 2:20am UTC](https://blenderartists.org/t/very-basic-apply-pose-mode-while-weight-painting/1608245 "2025-08-27T02:20:31Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Lancer](https://blenderartists.org/user_avatar/blenderartists.org/lancer/32/2869_2.png) [@Lancer](https://blenderartists.org/u/Lancer)\
**Post date:** [August 27, 2025, 2:20am UTC](https://blenderartists.org/t/very-basic-apply-pose-mode-while-weight-painting/1608245/1 "2025-08-27T02:20:31Z")

</div>

Hi all,

I’m returning to Blender after years away. Back in the day (around 2.7), I used to:

- Enter **Pose Mode**
- Select a **bone** of the armature
- Then go into **Weight Paint Mode** on the mesh

At that point, the mesh surface could be weight painted directly to the selected bone (red = full influence, blue = none), and — **most importantly** — I could **Ctrl-click other bones while weight painting** to instantly switch which bone I was editing.

This made it super fast to paint fingers or other tight areas while checking deformation in real time.

In Blender 4.3, I just can’t seem to do this. Ctrl-click doesn’t work anymore, and I’m struggling to find an equivalent. I can’t believe this functionality would have been removed — am I just missing the new workflow?

Appreciate any guidance!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![keihaankarkinen](https://blenderartists.org/user_avatar/blenderartists.org/keihaankarkinen/32/1260560_2.png) [@keihaankarkinen](https://blenderartists.org/u/keihaankarkinen)\
**Post date:** [August 27, 2025, 2:29am UTC](https://blenderartists.org/t/very-basic-apply-pose-mode-while-weight-painting/1608245/2 "2025-08-27T02:29:15Z")

</div>

Nowadays you must hold ALT and click a bone to select it in weight painting mode. And before going into weight painting mode you must select the armature, then shift click the mesh and then go to weight paint mode to have this function available. So that the armature and the mesh are both selected, and the mesh is an active object, then go to weight paint mode. 👍

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Lancer](https://blenderartists.org/user_avatar/blenderartists.org/lancer/32/2869_2.png) [@Lancer](https://blenderartists.org/u/Lancer)\
**Post date:** [August 27, 2025, 2:36am UTC](https://blenderartists.org/t/very-basic-apply-pose-mode-while-weight-painting/1608245/3 "2025-08-27T02:36:13Z")

</div>

ALT-key - great to know - thank you