This section covers the fundamentals of Unreal Engine 5 (UE5) and its tools. If you are new to UE5, you should become familiar with the Unreal Editor interface, Blueprint visual scripting, and the types of content you can use inside an Unreal project.
Refer to the sections below to see what kind of UE5 skills you can learn.
Installing Unreal Engine
Learn how to download and install Unreal Engine, and get acquainted with the Unreal Engine 5 system requirements for Windows, macOS, and Linux.
Install Unreal Engine
Download and update Unreal Engine from the Epic Games Launcher.
Foundational Knowledge
Become familiar with the major components of the Unreal Editor interface, the various tools and editors you can use, and the most common Unreal Engine terms.
Unreal Engine Terminology
Covers the most commonly used terms when working with Unreal Engine.
Tools and Editors
An overview of the different types of Editors contained within Unreal Engine 5.
Editor Preferences
Settings for configuring general editor behavior for controls, viewports, source control, and much more.
Directory Structure
Overview of the directories that make up the engine and game projects.
Working with Plugins
Installing, enabling, and disabling plugins in Unreal Engine
Customizing Keyboard Shortcuts
Change keyboard shortcuts for common commands in Unreal Engine and create new shortcuts to suit your workflows.
Color Picker
Tool for interactively choosing colors to assign to color properties of actors.
Coordinate System and Spaces
Introduction to the coordinate system and different coordinate spaces.
Units of Measurement
Measure quantities of interest.
Content Browser
Learn how to work with Assets in the Content Browser, which is the primary area of the Unreal Editor for creating, importing, organizing, viewing, and managing content.
Content Browser
A tool you can use to view, manage, and work with all of the Assets in your project.
Content Browser Interface
Describes the Content Browser interface and functionality.
Developers Folder
Iterate and collaborate with other developers using the Developers folder.
Sources Panel Reference
Reference for working with the Sources panel inside the Content Browser
Content Browser Settings Reference
Adjust thumbnail display, Asset filtering, and other areas of the Content Browser.
Filters and Collections
Use filters and Collections to sort and group Assets within the Content Browser.
Advanced Search Syntax
Reference for advanced search operators you can use in the Content Browser.
Customizing Unreal Engine
Customize Unreal Engine's layout, keybindings, and behavior, and learn how to add useful features by enabling plugins.
Customizing Unreal Engine
Customize Unreal Engine's layout, keybindings, and functionality to better suit your workflows.
Working with Projects and Templates
Learn how to work with Unreal projects, which hold the contents of anything you build in Unreal Engine. You can also read about two of the basic project templates that Unreal Engine offers, which serve as starting points for a first-person or third-person experience.
Projects and Templates
Describes creating and managing Unreal Engine projects, using templates as a starting point, and creating custom templates.
Creating a New Project
Describes how to create and configure a new project in Unreal Engine.
Opening an Existing Project
Describes how to access and open an existing project in Unreal Engine.
Templates Reference
Templates available with Unreal Engine and how to use them.
Updating Projects to Newer Versions of Unreal Engine
Learn how to update projects to a newer version of Unreal Engine.
Recovery Hub
Plugin to help recover an Unreal Engine session after a crash or abnormal exit.
Creating Custom Templates
Steps for converting an existing project to a template
Levels
Levels (sometimes called Maps) contain everything a player can see and interact with, like environments, usable objects, other characters, and so on. Every Unreal Engine project contains at least one Level. Read more about how to create and manage Levels on the pages below.
Working with Levels
How to create, save, and open level assets.
Managing Multiple Levels
Use the Levels window to manage your persistent level and sublevels.
World Settings
The World Settings panel is where you set and override Level-specific settings.
Changing the Default Level
How to set the default editor and game Levels for your project
Assets and Content Packs
Any piece of content in an Unreal Engine project is called an Asset. Read more about how to work with Assets on the pages below.
Importing Assets Directly
Describes two methods of importing small sets of Assets into your Unreal Engine project.
Working with Assets
How to create, delete, and manage Assets from the Content Browser.
Migrating Assets
How to copy Assets from one project to another.
Fab in Unreal Engine
Access Fab directly from within Unreal Engine
Asset Metadata
Describes how to create, read, and modify metadata on your Unreal Engine Assets.
Reimporting Assets Automatically
This document outlines how to the auto-reimport functionality of UE4 works, and how to set it up to get the most out of the feature.
Reference Viewer
Use the Reference Viewer tool to find and organize Asset references.
Consolidating Assets
Remove duplicate Assets by consolidating multiple Assets into a single one and fixing up references.
Class Viewer
Tool for examining Unreal Engine classes and creating child classes.
Global Asset Picker
Use the Global Asset Picker to quickly find Assets from any folder in the Asset Tree.
Property Matrix
Tool for viewing and editing multiple properties of multiple actors at the same time.
Actors and Components
At a more granular level, Unreal projects contain Actors (individual pieces of content) which can have one or more Components attached to them. The pages below can teach you more about Actors and Components.
Actors and Geometry
Defines Actors and describes how to use them in level design. Also includes a rundown of the most common types of Actors.
Placing Actors
Shows how you can place Actors such as props, lights, and cameras into your Level.
Selecting Actors
Overview of methods available for selecting Actors in the Level Editor viewport.
Transforming Actors
How to modify the location, rotation, and scale of Actors in a Level.
Actor Snapping
Overview of Actor snapping in Unreal Engine.
Actor Mobility
Setting that controls whether an Actor can move or change in some way during gameplay.
Grouping Actors
How to create and work with groups of Actors in Unreal Engine.
Merging Actors
How to merge two or more Static Mesh Actors into a single Actor in Unreal Engine.
Actors Reference
Describes the most common types of Actors in Unreal Engine and where you can learn more about them.
Basic Components
Describes the most common types of Components in Unreal Engine and where you can learn more about them.
Playing and Simulating
Learn how to test your content directly inside Unreal Editor.
Playing and Simulating
Play-testing and simulating your game inside the Unreal Editor.
Building Your Application
Package your application for different platforms.
Packaging Unreal Engine Projects
Packaging Unreal game projects for distribution.
