Blender shortcuts worth the muscle memory
The default Blender 4.x keymap, in the order you end up reaching for it.
Switch to Edit Mode
Tab. The same key brings you back to Object Mode: one shortcut, both ways.
Add an object
Shift+A. It appears at the 3D cursor, never at the world origin by default.
Move an object
G, then X, Y or Z to lock an axis. Esc drops the move and puts the object back.
Rotate
R, with the same axis keys. A second R switches to free trackball rotation.
Orthographic views
Numpad 1 front, 3 right, 7 top. Holding Ctrl gives the opposite side.
Extrude
E in Edit Mode. Pulls a face, an edge or a vertex out of the surface.
Scale
S. Typing a number mid-gesture applies that exact factor.
Frame the selection
Numpad period. The Home key frames the whole scene instead.
Pick vertices, edges or faces
Keys 1, 2 and 3 in Edit Mode, quicker than the buttons in the header.
Duplicate
Shift+D makes a real copy; Alt+D makes a linked one that follows the original.
Inset a face
I. A smaller face inside the selection, ready to be extruded.
Bevel
Ctrl+B, then scroll to add segments. The wheel is half the tool.
Cut a loop
Ctrl+R. Hovering an edge previews the cut before you click to place it.
Select a whole loop
Alt+click an edge. Ctrl+Alt+click takes the perpendicular ring instead.
Camera view
Numpad 0. The render will never show anything but this frame.
Change the shading mode
Z opens the pie menu: wireframe, solid, material preview, rendered.
Join objects
Ctrl+J merges the selection into the object clicked last, the highlighted one.
Snap
Shift+S opens the pie menu for the 3D cursor and for snapping the selection.
Show the side panels
N opens the properties sidebar, T the toolbar.
Isolate the selection
Numpad slash: the rest of the scene disappears for as long as the work takes.