• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 05:33
CEST 11:33
KST 18:33
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
[ASL21] Ro24 Preview Pt2: News Flash10[ASL21] Ro24 Preview Pt1: New Chaos0Team Liquid Map Contest #22 - Presented by Monster Energy17ByuL: The Forgotten Master of ZvT30Behind the Blue - Team Liquid History Book20
Community News
Weekly Cups (March 23-29): herO takes triple6Aligulac acquired by REPLAYMAN.com/Stego Research8Weekly Cups (March 16-22): herO doubles, Cure surprises3Blizzard Classic Cup @ BlizzCon 2026 - $100k prize pool51Weekly Cups (March 9-15): herO, Clem, ByuN win4
StarCraft 2
General
Team Liquid Map Contest #22 - Presented by Monster Energy Blizzard Classic Cup @ BlizzCon 2026 - $100k prize pool What mix of new & old maps do you want in the next ladder pool? (SC2) Aligulac acquired by REPLAYMAN.com/Stego Research Weekly Cups (March 23-29): herO takes triple
Tourneys
RSL Season 4 announced for March-April Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament StarCraft Evolution League (SC Evo Biweekly) WardiTV Mondays World University TeamLeague (500$+) | Signups Open
Strategy
Custom Maps
[M] (2) Frigid Storage Publishing has been re-enabled! [Feb 24th 2026]
External Content
Mutation # 519 Inner Power The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 518 Radiation Zone Mutation # 517 Distant Threat
Brood War
General
BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ Pros React To: JaeDong vs Queen [ASL21] Ro24 Preview Pt2: News Flash Gypsy to Korea How Can I Add Timer & APM Count?
Tourneys
[Megathread] Daily Proleagues [ASL21] Ro24 Group E [ASL21] Ro24 Group F Azhi's Colosseum - Foreign KCM
Strategy
Fighting Spirit mining rates What's the deal with APM & what's its true value Simple Questions, Simple Answers
Other Games
General Games
Starcraft Tabletop Miniature Game Nintendo Switch Thread Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread General RTS Discussion Thread Darkest Dungeon
Dota 2
The Story of Wings Gaming Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
G2 just beat GenG in First stand
Heroes of the Storm
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug Heroes of StarCraft mini-set
TL Mafia
Mafia Game Mode Feedback/Ideas TL Mafia Community Thread Five o'clock TL Mafia
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Russo-Ukrainian War Thread NASA and the Private Sector Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine Canadian Politics Mega-thread
Fan Clubs
The IdrA Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
[Req][Books] Good Fantasy/SciFi books [Manga] One Piece Movie Discussion!
Sports
2024 - 2026 Football Thread Formula 1 Discussion Cricket [SPORT] Tokyo Olympics 2021 Thread General nutrition recommendations
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
[G] How to Block Livestream Ads
TL Community
The Automated Ban List
Blogs
China Uses Video Games to Sh…
TrAiDoS
Funny Nicknames
LUCKY_NOOB
Iranian anarchists: organize…
XenOsky
FS++
Kraekkling
Shocked by a laser…
Spydermine0240
ASL S21 English Commentary…
namkraft
Electronics
mantequilla
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 10834 users

Removing units out of Hotkey groups

Forum Index > SC2 General
Post a Reply
Normal
gsbElfenLied
Profile Joined January 2011
Sweden45 Posts
August 20 2012 05:29 GMT
#1
Hey, Teamliquid!

One thing that's been bugging me for quite awhile is the unability to swiftly remove units out of a control group.

For example, I'm (Z) and if i have a hotkey with hydras, banes, roaches, and lings, and i want to send away my lings somewhere i'd simply:

Right click - Shift-ctrl click zergling portrait - Ctrl-(hotkey) and it's done!
But if i want to send 12 roaches, 10 lings and 2 banelings, then it's not that simple anymore.

Since the option to box units and hold shift-(hotkey) to add them there exists, why can't i do the opposite?
Box units and hold Ctrl-shift-(hotkey) to remove these out of the hotkey group.
This would make creating hitsquads and counterattacks alot easier since you aren't required to sit and shift-click a ton. (And possibly maneuvering through they hotkey group to find the units)

Does this seem like a great idea to anyone else or is it possible that i'm oblivious and it already exists?
If i type something interesting here, will you respect my opinion more?
R4iD
Profile Joined September 2009
Canada142 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-08-20 05:57:23
August 20 2012 05:57 GMT
#2
just box the units u want to be the hit squad and ctrl+hotkey to a different hotkey, then redo ur old one with the remaining units heres an example

you have 15 roaches 22 lings and 8 banes all on hotkey #2. select say 8 roaches and 20 lings hotkey them to #1 and send them to where u want, reslect the remaining 2 lings 8 banes and 7 roaches ctrl + 2 and ur done... at least thats how i do it

not sure if that answers your question / solves ur problem? let me know
your either pro or your noob, and thats life
Lunares
Profile Joined May 2010
United States909 Posts
August 20 2012 06:00 GMT
#3
On August 20 2012 14:57 R4iD wrote:
just box the units u want to be the hit squad and ctrl+hotkey to a different hotkey, then redo ur old one with the remaining units heres an example

you have 15 roaches 22 lings and 8 banes all on hotkey #2. select say 8 roaches and 20 lings hotkey them to #1 and send them to where u want, reslect the remaining 2 lings 8 banes and 7 roaches ctrl + 2 and ur done... at least thats how i do it

not sure if that answers your question / solves ur problem? let me know


That works, but is more complicated. His point is that you already have shift hotkey to add them. So why can't you use ctrl+shift (or more likely alt+shift since you already use ctrl+hotkey to assign hotkeys and I don't know how ctrl+shift+hotkey would be intepreted) to remove them? It would be easier than what you just said.
Cuce
Profile Joined March 2011
Turkey1127 Posts
August 20 2012 06:17 GMT
#4
some rts does now allow a unit to be in 2 control group, frustration as it is, I did sometimes wish blizzard games had that.

espaccially in wc3 I send my low healt ranned away units back to fight cause I didnt removed them from control group
64K RAM SYSTEM 38911 BASIC BYTES FREE
Msr
Profile Joined March 2011
Korea (South)495 Posts
August 20 2012 06:20 GMT
#5
does anybody know why sometimes if you try to shiftclick ~10 zerglings or whatever out of a hotkey the entire hotkey will be overridden to that one zergling? It is probably the most annoying thing in sc2 for me
Sea_Food
Profile Blog Joined May 2011
Finland1612 Posts
August 20 2012 06:23 GMT
#6
1. Select the control group by pressing X
2. Remove units from the control group by holding shift (and crtrl) and left click unit portrait with mouse.
3. Press ctrl + X

Now you have removed every unit you want from your control group with just 3 actions.
JustPlay
Profile Joined September 2010
United States211 Posts
August 20 2012 06:27 GMT
#7
You can just shift click portraits or units to remove them from a selection.

1 -> shift click the things you don't want in -> ctrl+1, it is really, really fast
BBQ`BBQKingPrime
Profile Joined August 2012
25 Posts
August 20 2012 06:35 GMT
#8
No worries, such a feature will be added in Starcraft III.
BretZ
Profile Joined May 2011
United States1510 Posts
August 20 2012 06:37 GMT
#9
Probably to add more APM. People complain about optimization more than praise it.
BretZ
Profile Joined May 2011
United States1510 Posts
August 20 2012 06:38 GMT
#10
On August 20 2012 15:37 BretZ wrote:
It's probably more actions than it needs to be to add more APM. People complain about optimization more than praise it.

Gorilla23
Profile Joined March 2012
United States339 Posts
August 20 2012 06:38 GMT
#11
To everyone explaining how to recreate the control group: he knows. He wishes it were more efficient, as do I.
bhfberserk
Profile Joined August 2011
Canada390 Posts
August 20 2012 06:39 GMT
#12
shift click is pretty fast. Shift click 1 marine from control group and then send to watch tower, then control ground again.
figq
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
12519 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-08-20 06:55:21
August 20 2012 06:51 GMT
#13
Similar wish I have: to box select units on the information panel, the same way I do on the field. Can be pretty useful for some regrouping actions.

Oh, and one more: to have the option to sort units on the information panel by health %. (: Then with the above, you select your hurt units with one move of the mouse.
If you stand next to my head, you can hear the ocean. - Day[9]
SickeL
Profile Blog Joined June 2012
110 Posts
August 20 2012 07:05 GMT
#14
Why are you making Hydras?!
+ Show Spoiler +
Also, I don't quite get what you're asking but ctrl-clicking stuff will remove them from your grouping. Same with adding them if they're not selected.
A wise man once said "Oppa Gangnam style."
aka_star
Profile Blog Joined July 2007
United Kingdom1546 Posts
August 20 2012 07:08 GMT
#15
I think whats more important for zerg is blizzard to improve the nydus worm UI, its quite difficult to see whats actually in their and getting it out again in the order you want is rather a tricky task. Its unfortunate we don't see more of the play but its quite a difficult thing to use.
FlashDave.999 aka Star
Kaleidos
Profile Joined October 2010
Italy172 Posts
August 20 2012 07:46 GMT
#16
Right now it is possible to, select a group, ctrl-shift click the actual unit on the field (ye not the unit frame) and it is removed from the group. It would be useful if they improved it so that you could deselect a box, i agree.
gsbElfenLied
Profile Joined January 2011
Sweden45 Posts
August 20 2012 09:02 GMT
#17
On August 20 2012 15:00 Lunares wrote:
Show nested quote +
On August 20 2012 14:57 R4iD wrote:
just box the units u want to be the hit squad and ctrl+hotkey to a different hotkey, then redo ur old one with the remaining units heres an example

you have 15 roaches 22 lings and 8 banes all on hotkey #2. select say 8 roaches and 20 lings hotkey them to #1 and send them to where u want, reslect the remaining 2 lings 8 banes and 7 roaches ctrl + 2 and ur done... at least thats how i do it

not sure if that answers your question / solves ur problem? let me know


That works, but is more complicated. His point is that you already have shift hotkey to add them. So why can't you use ctrl+shift (or more likely alt+shift since you already use ctrl+hotkey to assign hotkeys and I don't know how ctrl+shift+hotkey would be intepreted) to remove them? It would be easier than what you just said.


Don't think alt-shift can work since it is the shortcut for changing the language on the keyboard
If i type something interesting here, will you respect my opinion more?
JustPassingBy
Profile Blog Joined January 2011
10776 Posts
August 20 2012 09:06 GMT
#18
On August 20 2012 14:29 gsbElfenLied wrote:
Hey, Teamliquid!

One thing that's been bugging me for quite awhile is the unability to swiftly remove units out of a control group.

For example, I'm (Z) and if i have a hotkey with hydras, banes, roaches, and lings, and i want to send away my lings somewhere i'd simply:

Right click - Shift-ctrl click zergling portrait - Ctrl-(hotkey) and it's done!
But if i want to send 12 roaches, 10 lings and 2 banelings, then it's not that simple anymore.

Since the option to box units and hold shift-(hotkey) to add them there exists, why can't i do the opposite?
Box units and hold Ctrl-shift-(hotkey) to remove these out of the hotkey group.
This would make creating hitsquads and counterattacks alot easier since you aren't required to sit and shift-click a ton. (And possibly maneuvering through they hotkey group to find the units)

Does this seem like a great idea to anyone else or is it possible that i'm oblivious and it already exists?


The way I shift-box my units to add to a selected group, I always tend to overlap the box with some already selected units,
so if your proposal gets implemented, this would screw it up majorly.
Not saying that this is a reason against your proposal, just pointing out that a change like that would have an impact on more things than you might want.
Probe1
Profile Blog Joined August 2010
United States17920 Posts
August 20 2012 09:07 GMT
#19
I run in front of my opponents base with the entire control group and kill off the ones I didn't want. It strikes fear into my enemy and makes my units work harder not to face my wrath.
우정호 KT_VIOLET 1988 - 2012 While we are postponing, life speeds by
FeyFey
Profile Joined September 2010
Germany10114 Posts
August 20 2012 09:32 GMT
#20
haha and people want to keep the mineral trick in at the same time, because it raises the skill ceiling. I really like reading from these 2 groups. On topic, grabbing out such an specific amount of units out of a group you will probably take longer then simply selecting a random bit of your army that suits this role and remake the groups.
Of course issuing the order to the main army and then doing the deselect work sounds nice, but you don't really save alot with it and risk your army getting out of position. But everyone has their taste. I can understand why they saw no use for this, but it also hurts no one if it would be inside.

On August 20 2012 16:08 aka_star wrote:
I think whats more important for zerg is blizzard to improve the nydus worm UI, its quite difficult to see whats actually in their and getting it out again in the order you want is rather a tricky task. Its unfortunate we don't see more of the play but its quite a difficult thing to use.


what goes in first comes out first, couldn't be easier. Unless you right click on the nydus with your whole army, because then all the lings go inside first, which is a move you don't want to happen.
Existor
Profile Joined July 2010
Russian Federation4295 Posts
August 20 2012 10:05 GMT
#21
Ctrl + Shift + click on group of units, then reassign group. Is it that hard?
mRandy
Profile Joined March 2011
Sweden146 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-08-20 10:30:17
August 20 2012 10:29 GMT
#22
On August 20 2012 19:05 Existor wrote:
Ctrl + Shift + click on group of units, then reassign group. Is it that hard?

I have to agree with the point made here. I mean is this really something to talk about? There is a way its just harder then you like it to be. Deal with it.
http://sv.twitch.tv/ulfkennethz
Normal
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
RSL Revival
07:00
Season 4: Playoffs Day 7
Maru vs RogueLIVE!
MaxPax vs TBD
Tasteless4382
ComeBackTV 621
Rex133
CranKy Ducklings126
3DClanTV 86
LiquipediaDiscussion
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
Tasteless 4382
Rex 133
ProTech117
LamboSC2 79
MindelVK 29
Codebar 2
StarCraft: Brood War
Zeus 3043
firebathero 1111
Shuttle 472
Larva 377
Pusan 118
Shinee 82
NaDa 59
Sharp 57
Dewaltoss 54
sSak 47
[ Show more ]
Hm[arnc] 41
Free 41
zelot 36
Sacsri 20
NotJumperer 20
ajuk12(nOOB) 12
Movie 6
Dota 2
XaKoH 845
XcaliburYe278
NeuroSwarm133
Counter-Strike
olofmeister7719
oskar71
Heroes of the Storm
Khaldor91
Other Games
singsing1399
Organizations
Counter-Strike
PGL15135
Other Games
BasetradeTV102
StarCraft: Brood War
UltimateBattle 36
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
sctven
[ Show 13 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• CranKy Ducklings SOOP3
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Migwel
• sooper7s
StarCraft: Brood War
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
League of Legends
• Jankos1180
• Stunt504
Upcoming Events
uThermal 2v2 Circuit
4h 27m
BSL
9h 27m
Afreeca Starleague
1d
Wardi Open
1d
Replay Cast
1d 14h
Sparkling Tuna Cup
2 days
Kung Fu Cup
3 days
The PondCast
4 days
Replay Cast
4 days
Replay Cast
5 days
[ Show More ]
CranKy Ducklings
6 days
BSL
6 days
Replay Cast
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Escore Tournament S2: W1
WardiTV Winter 2026
NationLESS Cup

Ongoing

BSL Season 22
CSL Elite League 2026
ASL Season 21
CSL Season 20: Qualifier 2
StarCraft2 Community Team League 2026 Spring
RSL Revival: Season 4
Nations Cup 2026
PGL Bucharest 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 1
BLAST Open Spring 2026
ESL Pro League S23 Finals
ESL Pro League S23 Stage 1&2
PGL Cluj-Napoca 2026
IEM Kraków 2026
BLAST Bounty Winter 2026

Upcoming

CSL 2026 SPRING (S20)
IPSL Spring 2026
Acropolis #4
BSL 22 Non-Korean Championship
CSLAN 4
Kung Fu Cup 2026 Grand Finals
HSC XXIX
uThermal 2v2 2026 Main Event
IEM Cologne Major 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 2
CS Asia Championships 2026
Asian Champions League 2026
IEM Atlanta 2026
PGL Astana 2026
BLAST Rivals Spring 2026
CCT Season 3 Global Finals
IEM Rio 2026
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2026 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.