Shortcut to select whole collection from outliner

As a workaround you can:

Assign a Shortcut KEY to this operation, by pressing RMB on Select Objects menu item (yes, right click menu on already opened right click menu) and choosing Assign Shortcut , then entering some keyboard combination. As a quick test Ctrl-A works well.

Or go into Preferences - Keymap - Outliner - Add New and manually create a shortcut to operator identifier "outliner.collection_objects_select" , assigning a mouse/keyb shortcut to this. It seems, that Shift + Double Click works well here. But Alt + DoubleClick doesn't work at all :)

I tested this more, and it needs one additional click, like:

1. click on a collection (to deselect previously selected object/s)
2. Shift + Double Click to select all objects from that collection

One of Blender's biggest weaknesses compared to other software is it requires more clicks to achieve identical results, in many cases. By making it a single click on the little icon, you reduce clicks to the minimum.

Single click means select. It'd make sense for single clicking the collection ICON to select the collection.

Double clicking the icon should isolate the collection into a local view, which is basically the same thing as opening it.

Single click name to make active collection. Double click name to rename.

yea i was thing about this while ago

Would be very useful

I have written below addon to select all objects in a collection, by simply LMB clicking the collection in Outliner Editor.

bl_info = { "name": "Outliner Collection Select Objects", "blender": (2, 80, 0), "category": "Object", "description": "Select all objects in a collection when left-clicking on a collection name in the Outliner", "author": "Your Name", "version": (1, 0), "location": "Outliner", }

import bpy

class OUTLINER_OT_select_objects_in_collection(bpy.types.Operator): """Select all objects in a collection when left-clicking on a collection name in the Outliner""" bl_idname = "outliner.select_objects_in_collection" bl_label = "Select Objects in Collection" bl_options = {'REGISTER', 'UNDO'}

def invoke(self, context, event):
    # Ensure this only runs in the Outliner
    if context.area.type == 'OUTLINER':
        # Activate the clicked item
        selected_tree = bpy.ops.outliner.item_activate('INVOKE_DEFAULT', extend=False, deselect_all=True)

        # Check if the active item is a collection
        if selected_tree == {'FINISHED'} and context.collection:
            bpy.ops.outliner.collection_objects_select()
            return {'FINISHED'}
        else:
            return {'PASS_THROUGH'}
    else:
        return {'PASS_THROUGH'}

def register(): bpy.utils.register_class(OUTLINER_OT_select_objects_in_collection)

# Modify the keymap for the Outliner
wm = bpy.context.window_manager
kc = wm.keyconfigs.addon
if kc:
    km = kc.keymaps.new(name='Outliner', space_type='OUTLINER')
    km.keymap_items.new(
        OUTLINER_OT_select_objects_in_collection.bl_idname,
        type='LEFTMOUSE',
        value='CLICK'
    )

def unregister(): bpy.utils.unregister_class(OUTLINER_OT_select_objects_in_collection)

# Remove the custom keymap entry
wm = bpy.context.window_manager
kc = wm.keyconfigs.addon
if kc:
    km = kc.keymaps.get('Outliner')
    if km:
        for kmi in km.keymap_items:
            if kmi.idname == OUTLINER_OT_select_objects_in_collection.bl_idname:
                km.keymap_items.remove(kmi)

if name == " main ": register()

Collection manager provided such an ability (as well as the ability to select several collections)

After the wise feedback from @natecraddock I'm thinking about using double click to "open the collection" that would mean isolate in local view it's object or in case it's a Collection Instance, isolate the object of the source collection.

I've reached @natecraddock on twitter and here's his reply: This sounds reasonable to me, though I'd like to consider what else could be done on double click alongside it.