topic Re: manipulator tool not visible - how do i show it in viewport? in Maya Forum

manipulator tool not visible - how do i show it in viewport?

Anonymous — Wed, 06 May 2020 09:46:44 GMT

After using the Sculpting tools in Maya 2019, the manipulator tool is no longer visible for any object, including new geometry. I may have inadvertently switched it off, but haven't manged to find a way to bring it back. Restarted Maya, but problem still persists... Checked manipulator settings, but nothing is hidden....

Re: manipulator tool not visible - how do i show it in viewport?

Anonymous — Wed, 06 May 2020 10:56:10 GMT

pivot position correct, but no manipulator tool

Re: manipulator tool not visible - how do i show it in viewport?

mspeer — Wed, 06 May 2020 14:09:41 GMT

Hi!

a) Try "+" and "-" on your keyboard to resize the manipulator.

b) Reset the Tool Settings and change the size in the Preferences.

c) You can also simply try a reset of your preferences.
Rename the folder prefs in folder 2020 to something like prefs_backup, or to reset everything, the folder 2020 to 2020_backup (or even the maya folder to maya_backup). Maya creates new folders (don't copy preferences from previous Maya versions). Detailed at:
https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/maya/troubleshooting/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/Reset-Maya-to-Default.html

Re: manipulator tool not visible - how do i show it in viewport?

jordan.giboney — Wed, 06 May 2020 23:39:46 GMT

Hi @Anonymous

Thanks for posting! In addition to @mspeer's post, we have the following resource which may help 🙂

Move, Rotate, or Scale tools are not working correctly in Maya

If the previous post or another strategy resolved the problem, please let us know! 🙂 we would love to hear your solution.

Thanks again for being a part of our community!

Re: manipulator tool not visible - how do i show it in viewport?

Anonymous — Thu, 07 May 2020 09:00:46 GMT

Thanks for the response @mspeer - I had tried the '+ -' option but no joy. Tried the other workarounds you suggested as well, but still no luck. Opened a new scene but no change - still stuck with no manipulators 🙁

Re: manipulator tool not visible - how do i show it in viewport?

Anonymous — Thu, 07 May 2020 13:30:39 GMT

Thanks for the message @jordan.giboney - I did the dxdiag check; am running Nvidia Geforce 1070 gpu so I don't think there's an issue there.

I did update the Nvidia display drivers, which then caused some issues with win 10 on boot up, but I managed to resolve those!

Unfortunately there is still no manipulator handle present...

Re: manipulator tool not visible - how do i show it in viewport?

Abdulla-Qaladzay — Thu, 07 May 2020 15:04:05 GMT

Hi @Anonymous

some time I forget that my manipulator's mode is on tweak

which it hide the manipulators

Re: manipulator tool not visible - how do i show it in viewport?

mspeer — Fri, 08 May 2020 02:10:22 GMT

Hi!

If it worked before and even a Reset of the Preferences does not help, then this is very likely an issue with the GPU driver.

Try an update or older version of the driver or

in Maya different Viewport modes / Render engine settings like "DirectX".
(Preferences -> Display -> Viewport 2.0)

Re: manipulator tool not visible - how do i show it in viewport?

Anonymous — Sat, 09 May 2020 10:18:55 GMT

Thanks @Abdulla-Qaladzay , I did check that, but it wasn't the problem this time. It is worth noting for future reference, though!

Re: manipulator tool not visible - how do i show it in viewport?

Anonymous — Sat, 09 May 2020 10:33:05 GMT

Hi @mspeer I did try the Direct X setting as you suggested, but still no change. I loaded up my Maya 2018 version to compare and there is no problem there! Maybe I'll just keep going in 2018...🙁

Re: manipulator tool not visible - how do i show it in viewport?

mspeer — Sat, 09 May 2020 16:28:19 GMT

Hi!

It's not clear from your first compressed screenshot, but it seems as if the manipulator is just too small.

Using "+" on the keyboard should help.

But I highly recommend to try reset of all Preferences (if not done already), by renaming the main maya folder in your user documents folder.

Re: manipulator tool not visible - how do i show it in viewport?

jordan.giboney — Mon, 11 May 2020 23:09:54 GMT

Hi @Anonymous

Just wanted to check in again 🙂 Are you still having this issue?

Knowing the outcomes to the following strategies would be very helpful:

when you have the move tool active in the viewport (select an object) press the + button to increase the manipulator size (pressing the - button will make it smaller).
Reset your preferences to default - this process will return all manipulators to the default size.

Or, if you found another strategy we would love to hear that as well 🙂

Thanks for participating in our forums!

Re: manipulator tool not visible - how do i show it in viewport?

jordan.giboney — Tue, 12 May 2020 15:56:32 GMT

Hi @Anonymous

Just checking in and seeing how things were going 🙂 Were you able to find a solution to this issue? If so, we would love to hear about it and mark this thread as solved - this helps other forum members find the answers easier.

Thanks for being a part of our community!

Re: manipulator tool not visible - how do i show it in viewport?

marbon_dacuyan — Thu, 20 Apr 2023 18:10:14 GMT

I had this issue before. Very annoying but i finally found the solution that worked for me and would like to share it here for anyone having this problem too. You go to your desired manipulator tool(translate, rotate, scale) that doesnt show anything and simply just press "Tab"

Re: manipulator tool not visible - how do i show it in viewport?

anhnv_135020121065 — Wed, 09 Aug 2023 13:14:54 GMT

Hi! I've run into this problem as well. It's late but make sure the tickbox of viewport utilities in the viewport is checked.

Re: manipulator tool not visible - how do i show it in viewport?

AlanSerra — Fri, 25 Aug 2023 18:03:15 GMT

-most obvious solution is to make sure "manipulators" option is checked under the viewport's "show" menu.

-second solution is to make sure the "Tweak Mode" is NOT checked on each transform's (translate, rotate and scale) tools settings, like below (do this for each transform tool missing the manipulator):

Re: manipulator tool not visible - how do i show it in viewport?

joshZ8H6N — Fri, 05 Sep 2025 22:49:22 GMT

alt v is the hotkey that i accidentally press which hides the manipulator.

Re: manipulator tool not visible - how do i show it in viewport?

antti_rautiola — Tue, 24 Mar 2026 16:46:10 GMT

Import the scene into a fresh scene.