Basic Feature Editing in QGIS for Beginners

Introduction

When you edit vector data in QGIS, operations such as moving, reshaping, and deleting features are essential.

This article explains the basic ways to “move,” “reshape,” “delete,” and “copy” features in QGIS, in a way that beginners can follow.

Switch to edit mode

To edit features, you need to switch to edit mode. In the Layers panel, click the layer that contains the features you want to edit, then click the Toggle Editing button.

A layer in edit mode shows a pencil icon in the Layers panel.

Move vertices

To move a point, or the vertices of a line or polygon, use the Vertex Tool.

With the Vertex Tool active, hover over a vertex of the feature you want to edit. The area around the vertex is highlighted in red. Click the vertex, and it follows the cursor. Click again where you want to move it, and the vertex moves there.

For lines and polygons, you can also move a segment (the line between two vertices) in addition to vertices.

Add vertices

To add a new vertex partway along a segment of a line or polygon, use the Vertex Tool as well.

1. Hover the mouse cursor over the segment where you want to add a vertex. A “+” appears at the center of the segment. Click the “+”.
2. Click again to add a vertex at that location.

Undo and redo edits

After you create or edit a feature, you can go back to the state before the edit with the Undo button.

Conversely, if you undo an edit and then decide you prefer the state before the undo, you can bring it back with the Redo button.

Delete features

To delete a feature, you first need to select the feature you want to delete. Here, you select the feature by clicking it on the map.

1. Click the Select Features by Area or Single Click button.
2. Click the feature you want to delete on the map.

Selected features are highlighted in yellow.

With the feature selected, click the Delete Selected button. A confirmation message appears. Click Delete N Feature(s) to delete the selected features.

Copy or cut features and paste them into another layer

You can copy or cut features from layer A and paste them as features of another layer (layer B).

Layer A and layer B must have the same geometry type.

In the figure below, polygon layer A (purple) and polygon layer B (green) have been added to the project. Paste a feature from polygon layer A into polygon layer B.

1. Switch the layer that contains the features you want to copy to edit mode.

2. Select the features you want to copy.

3. Click the Cut Features or Copy Features button.

4. Switch the destination layer to edit mode.

5. Click the Paste Features button to paste the features.

   When the paste succeeds, QGIS shows the message “Paste features: N features were pasted” at the top of the map canvas.

Save edits

To commit your edits, click the Save Layer Edits button.

Finish editing

When you finish editing, you need to exit edit mode by clicking the Toggle Editing button.

If there are unsaved edits, a message asks whether to save or discard the changes.

Conclusion

This article explained the basic ways to move, reshape, delete, and copy features in QGIS. Using these operations makes working with vector data more efficient and gives you more room to work.