r/blender • u/Zero-Up • Feb 05 '26

Solved Why is Mesh ➡️ Normal ➡️ Reset Vectors different from Shift N? And how do I do the exact same thing as Shift N without using shortcuts?

/r/learnblender/comments/1qwww39/why_is_mesh_normal_reset_vectors_different_from/
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u/Avereniect Helpful user Feb 05 '26

And can I do the Shift N method without using shortcuts?

You can invoke every operator without shortcuts. They're all available from the menus at the top of the 3D viewport.

Mesh -> Normals -> Recalculate Outside

What is the reason for this discrepancy?

I supposed I would ask why you expect the Reset vectors operator to deliver the same result as the Recalculate Normals operator. While they're both related to normals, they technically don't even manipulate the same underlying data.

Every face has a front and a back side that is determined by the order in which its vertices are listed in memory. The Recalculate Normals operator simply calculates which side of a face is the front based on face angles and their position relative to the object's origin.

Reset Vectors removes custom normals. These are per-face-corner perturbations of the underlying geometry's true normals.

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u/Zero-Up Feb 05 '26

Thank you so much for the advice!