Everything Actor Paste adds to the editor: where to find it, what a paste carries across, every setting, and the messages you may see.
At a glance#
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Plugin type | Editor only |
| Editor platforms | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| Engine versions | UE 5.5–5.8 |
| Packaged games | Adds nothing. Pasted pieces are standard engine components, so Blueprints that used Actor Paste keep working if you disable the plugin later. Components whose classes come from another plugin still need that plugin. |
| Blueprint nodes | None |
| Settings | Editor Preferences → Plugins → Actor Paste, saved per user for this project |
Where to find it#
| Entry point | Where | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Paste shortcut | Ctrl+V, or whatever the editor's Paste command is bound to, with keyboard focus in a Components panel | Needs Fix Clipboard On Ctrl+V and actors copied from a level. If the paste cannot be converted, the editor's ordinary paste runs without a message. |
| Paste Actors as Components | Right-click a component, such as DefaultSceneRoot, in the Components panel. The entry is in the Actor Paste section. | Shown only while the clipboard holds level actors. Works whatever the settings, and reports why a paste failed. |
| Components panels | An Actor Blueprint's Components panel, or Details → Components for an actor selected in a level | Pasting into a level actor adds the components to that placed actor only. |
| Console commands | ActorPaste.Status, ActorPaste.ConvertClipboard |
See Console commands. |
Copy the actors in the level viewport or the Outliner. Assets selected in the Content Browser are not level actors.
The context menu's ordinary Paste entry is not converted. Choose Paste Actors as Components instead.
What a paste carries#
| Content | Result |
|---|---|
| Scene components | Every component in each actor's attachment tree, with its saved properties: meshes, material overrides for each slot, collision, mobility, lighting, and your own properties. |
| Attachments | Kept between copied pieces, including socket attachments. Blueprint actors kept as child actor components are the exception; see Blueprint actors. |
| Placement | Each top-level piece keeps its rotation and scale. Only its location moves, according to the pivot. Attached pieces keep their relative placement. |
| Components without a transform | Movement and other non-scene components paste when Include Non Scene Components is on. They are added to the actor, not under the root. |
| Lights, decals, and similar actors | Paste as their components. |
| Brushes | Paste as brush components, except the level's builder brush. |
Left out, without a mention in the notification: World Settings, group actors (their members still paste, but the grouping is lost), the builder brush, editor arrows and billboards, editor-only actors and components unless Include Editor Only Actors is on, and components without a transform when Include Non Scene Components is off.
Named in the notification: actors left with nothing to paste.
Not carried at all: actor-level data such as actor tags, layers, and Outliner folders; an attachment to an actor you did not copy (the piece arrives unattached, in the right place); and references between copied actors other than attachments, which come out empty.
Where pasted pieces go#
| Selected in the Components panel | Pasted pieces are added |
|---|---|
| The root, or nothing | Under the root. |
| Another component | Beside it, under the same parent. |
To place the pieces under a particular component, paste with the root selected, then drag them onto that component. The pasted pieces become the selection, and the whole paste is one Undo step.
Pivot options#
Set Pivot before pasting. Every option moves the group without rotating or scaling it.
| Pivot | Result |
|---|---|
| First Copied Actor (default) | The first copied actor sits at the origin of the component the pieces attach to, and the others keep their offsets. "First" follows the level's own actor order, not the order you selected them in. If that actor is skipped, the next one becomes the anchor. |
| Bounds Centre | The center of the pasted components' combined bounds sits at the origin. |
| Bounds Bottom Centre | Centered horizontally, with the bottom of the combined bounds at the origin. |
| Keep World Coordinates | The level coordinates are kept. |
If no anchor or bounds can be found, the group keeps its level coordinates.
Blueprint actors#
| Blueprint Actors | Result |
|---|---|
| Child Actor Component (default) | One Child Actor Component per Blueprint actor, using its class and carrying the values edited on that level instance, named after the actor. The Blueprint's graphs and Construction Script keep working. |
| Flatten To Components | The actor's components paste like any other actor's. Its graph behavior is not copied, and components its Construction Script created paste as plain copies that do not follow later changes to that Blueprint. |
A child actor component always pastes at the top level, even when its actor was attached to another copied actor. Actors attached to a Blueprint actor kept this way paste unattached, in the right place. Re-attach them in the Components panel, or use Flatten To Components when the hierarchy matters more than the actor's behavior.
Component names#
With Name Components After Actors on, an actor's root component takes the actor's label and its other components are named Label_ComponentName. Characters that names cannot contain become underscores. When a name is already taken, the editor adds a number.
With the setting off, names come from the actor's class, such as StaticMeshActor.
Settings#
Open Editor Preferences → Plugins → Actor Paste. Changes apply to the next paste.
| Category | Setting | Default | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pasting | Fix Clipboard On Ctrl+V | On | Converts copied level actors when you press the Paste shortcut in a Components panel. The context-menu entry works either way. |
| Pasting | Pivot | First Copied Actor | Where the group sits. See Pivot options. |
| Pasting | Blueprint Actors | Child Actor Component | Keep behavior, or flatten to editable components. |
| Pasting | Include Non Scene Components | On | Paste components that have no transform. |
| Pasting | Include Editor Only Actors | Off | Also paste editor-only actors and components. |
| Naming | Name Components After Actors | On | See Component names. |
| Feedback | Notify On Paste | On | Show the success and failure notifications. |
Console commands#
| Command | Effect |
|---|---|
ActorPaste.Status |
Prints whether the clipboard holds actors copied from a level. |
ActorPaste.ConvertClipboard |
Converts the copied level actors for component pasting and leaves the clipboard converted. Any Paste in a Components panel then pastes them. Copy the actors again before pasting them into a level. |
ActorPaste.LogPasteChord 1 |
Logs whether the Paste shortcut reached a Components panel. Use 0 to turn it off. |
Convert Clipboard for Component Paste is listed under Editor Preferences → Keyboard Shortcuts → Actor Paste, but binding a key to it has no effect in the current version. Use ActorPaste.ConvertClipboard instead.
Messages#
| When | Message |
|---|---|
| A paste succeeds | Actor Paste: N actor(s) as M component(s), with a second line naming Blueprint actors kept as child actor components and actors that had nothing to paste. |
| The context-menu entry or console command fails | Actor Paste could not convert the clipboard, followed by the reason. |
| Reason | What to do |
|---|---|
| Nothing in the clipboard could be read as level actors. | Copy the actors in the level again. |
| None of the copied actors carry anything that can live in a Blueprint. | The selection held only skipped content, such as group actors or editor-only actors. |
| Actor Paste could not write the copied components to the clipboard. | Try again. If it keeps failing, send the message to support. |
| Actor Paste needs a running editor. | Use it in a normal editor session. |
The success notification appears as soon as the clipboard is converted. If nothing was added, check what is selected in the Components panel and try Paste Actors as Components.
Limits#
- The workflow starts from actors placed in a level.
- The Paste shortcut falls back to the editor's own paste when conversion fails, without a message. The context-menu entry reports the reason.
- References between copied actors, other than attachments, are not carried.
- Pasting into a placed actor changes that actor only, not its Blueprint class.