How to Group Nodes in ComfyUI: Shortcuts, Colours, Bypass Groups and Subgraphs (2026)

Big ComfyUI workflows turn into a spaghetti of nodes and wires very quickly. Groups are the easiest way to tame them. A group is a coloured, titled box that holds related nodes together, so you can see at a glance which part loads models, which part samples and which part upscales.

This guide shows how to group in ComfyUI step by step: creating groups with a shortcut, renaming and colouring them, moving and resizing them, bypassing or muting a whole group, and when to use a subgraph instead. It also covers the settings that control groups and fixes for common annoyances.

Groups vs Subgraphs vs Old Group Nodes

“Grouping” in ComfyUI can mean three different things. Here is how they compare.

	Group (frame)	Subgraph	Old “group node”
What it is	A coloured box drawn around nodes	Nodes packed into one reusable node	An older way to merge nodes into one
Nodes still visible?	Yes	No, until you open the subgraph	No
Changes how the workflow runs?	No, it is just visual	No, it runs the same nodes	No
Can be reused as a node?	No (copy and paste only)	Yes, and can be published to the node library	Limited
Status in 2026	Core feature	Core feature (frontend 1.24.3+)	Superseded by subgraphs

Most people searching “how to group in ComfyUI” want the first one: a frame. That is what most of this guide covers. Subgraphs are covered in their own section below.

A group never changes your results. You can add, move or delete groups freely without affecting the images you generate.

Step 1: Select the Nodes You Want to Group

ComfyUI gives you several ways to select nodes:

• Ctrl + drag (Cmd + drag on Mac) on an empty part of the canvas draws a selection box. Everything inside it is selected.
• Ctrl + click or Shift + click adds individual nodes to the selection.
• Ctrl + A selects every node in the workflow.

Selected nodes get a highlighted outline, and a small selection toolbox appears above them with quick actions such as colour, bypass and convert to subgraph.

Tip: the newer canvas lets a selection frame catch links instead of nodes when you drag across wires only. If you keep selecting wires, hold Shift or Alt while dragging, which selects nodes and groups only.

Step 2: Create the Group

Method 1: Keyboard shortcut (fastest)

1. Select the nodes, for example Load Checkpoint, both CLIP Text Encode nodes and Empty Latent Image.
2. Press Ctrl + G on Windows and Linux, or Cmd + G on Mac.
3. A group frame appears around the nodes, with a small gap of padding around them.
4. The title shows “Group”. Double-click it to give it a real name such as “Prompt and Model”.

Method 2: Right-click menu

1. Right-click an empty part of the canvas.
2. Choose Add Group. An empty group appears where you clicked.
3. Drag the bottom-right corner to resize it, then drag nodes inside it.

When you select nodes and right-click them, the menu also offers an option to add a group for the selected nodes, which does the same thing as Ctrl + G.

Method 3: Selection toolbox

In recent frontend versions the selection toolbox above selected nodes includes a frame option as well. The exact icons change between versions, so hover over each button to see its name.

Step 3: Rename, Colour and Resize the Group

Rename

Double-click the group’s title bar and type a new name. This works because the Double click group title to edit setting is on by default. You can also select the group and use the pencil button next to the title in the right side panel.

Change colour

Select the group by clicking its title, then:

• click the colour button in the selection toolbox, or
• open the right side panel and use Node color on its Settings tab, or
• right-click the group title and pick a colour from the menu.

The right side panel shows only colour and pin controls for groups, because a group has no node state of its own.

Resize

Drag the small triangle in the bottom-right corner of the group. Right-click the group title and use the option to fit the group to its nodes if you want it to snap tightly around them again.

Pin

Press P with the group selected to pin it, so you cannot move it by accident. Press P again to unpin.

Moving, Copying and Deleting Groups

• Move a group and its nodes: drag the group’s title bar. All nodes inside move with it.
• Move a node out: drag the node itself outside the frame.
• Copy a group with its nodes: select the group (enable “Select group children on click” to grab everything in one click, see Settings below), press Ctrl + C, then Ctrl + V. Use Ctrl + Shift + V to keep incoming links from unselected nodes.
• Delete only the frame: right-click the group title and choose the remove option. The nodes stay.
• Delete the frame and its nodes: select the group and its nodes, then press Delete.
• Collapse nodes inside: select them and press Alt + C to shrink them to title bars, which saves space.

How to Bypass or Mute a Whole Group

A popular trick is to build one workflow with optional sections, such as an upscaler or face detailer, and switch them on or off by group.

Built-in method

1. Select all nodes in the group (click the title with “Select group children on click” enabled, or drag a selection box over them).
2. Press Ctrl + B to bypass them. Bypassed nodes turn purple and pass their input straight through.
3. Or press Ctrl + M to mute them. Muted nodes are skipped completely, and anything after them will not run.
4. Press the same shortcut again to turn them back on.

You can also set Node state to Normal, Bypass or Mute in the right side panel for the whole selection. Right-clicking a group title in many versions also offers options to set all its nodes to bypass or back to always run.

State	What happens	Use it when
Normal	Nodes run	Default
Bypass (Ctrl + B)	Node is skipped and its input is passed through to the next node	Optional steps like upscalers, LoRAs or filters
Mute (Ctrl + M)	Node and everything that depends on it do not run	Switching off a whole branch, such as a second output

One-click group switches (custom node)

The free rgthree-comfy pack adds Fast Groups Bypasser and Fast Groups Muter nodes. Each one lists every group in your workflow with a toggle, so you get a little control panel for turning sections on and off. Install it through ComfyUI Manager.

Run only one section

If you just want to test the end of one branch, select its output node (such as Preview Image) and click the blue triangle in the selection toolbox. This partial execution runs only the nodes that feed that output.

When to Use a Subgraph Instead

A group keeps every node on screen. A subgraph hides a set of nodes inside one node, with only the inputs and outputs you choose showing on the outside. It needs ComfyUI frontend 1.24.3 or newer.

1. Select the nodes you want to pack.
2. Click the subgraph icon in the selection toolbox. ComfyUI creates a subgraph node with inputs and outputs based on your selection.
3. Double-click an empty area inside the subgraph node, or click its edit button, to open it. Right-click the slots to rename or delete them.
4. Press Esc or use the navigation bar to go back to the main workflow.
5. To undo it, right-click the subgraph and choose Unpack subgraph.

With frontend 1.27.7 or newer you can also publish a subgraph to your node library as a Subgraph Blueprint, then drop it into any workflow like a normal node.

Rule of thumb: use groups to organise a workflow you are still editing, and subgraphs for finished building blocks you reuse often, like “upscale and sharpen” or “load Flux model”. Our ComfyUI workflows guide covers subgraphs and sharing in more detail.

Older tutorials mention “Convert to Group Node”. That was the earlier way to merge nodes into one. In current ComfyUI, subgraphs do this job and are the option to use.

A Simple Group Layout for Any Workflow

If you are not sure how to split a workflow, this layout works for most image workflows:

Group	Typical nodes	Suggested colour
1. Models	Load Checkpoint or Load Diffusion Model, Load VAE, text encoder loaders, LoRA loaders	Blue
2. Prompt	CLIP Text Encode (positive and negative), guidance nodes	Green
3. Generate	Empty Latent Image, KSampler, VAE Decode	Purple
4. Upscale (optional)	Upscale model loader, upscale nodes	Yellow
5. Save	Save Image, Preview Image	Red

Keep the flow left to right, and keep the colours the same across all your workflows. Once your brain learns “green is prompts”, big workflows become much easier to read.

For a deeper look at the parts of a workflow, see our ComfyUI beginners guide, and for LoRA loader placement see how to use LoRAs in ComfyUI.

Group Settings Worth Knowing

Open Settings (gear icon) and look in the Lite Graph section under Group:

Setting	Default	What it does
Double click group title to edit	On	Lets you rename a group by double-clicking its title
Group selected nodes padding	10 (range 0 to 100)	Space between the nodes and the frame when you press Ctrl + G
Select group children on click	Off	When on, clicking a group selects every node and item inside it

Turning on Select group children on click makes bypassing, copying and deleting whole sections much faster. Under the Minimap settings you can also choose whether groups are drawn on the minimap.

Shortcut Cheat Sheet

Action	Windows / Linux	Mac
Add group around selected nodes	Ctrl + G	Cmd + G
Select all nodes	Ctrl + A	Cmd + A
Add node to selection	Ctrl + click or Shift + click	Cmd + click or Shift + click
Bypass / unbypass selected	Ctrl + B	Cmd + B
Mute / unmute selected	Ctrl + M	Cmd + M
Collapse / expand selected	Alt + C	Opt + C
Pin / unpin selected	P	P
Fit view to selection	.	.
Hide or show links on selected nodes	L	L

All shortcuts can be changed in Settings under Keybinding, where you can also save your own preset.

Troubleshooting

Problem	Cause	Fix
Ctrl + G does nothing	No nodes selected, or the shortcut was changed or taken by a browser extension	Select nodes first; check Settings > Keybinding; try right-click > Add Group
Ctrl + G opens the browser’s “find next”	Focus is outside the canvas	Click an empty part of the canvas first, then press Ctrl + G
Moving the group leaves some nodes behind	Those nodes are not fully inside the frame	Drag them fully inside, or resize the group to cover them
Clicking a group does not select its nodes	Setting is off by default	Turn on “Select group children on click”
Can’t rename by double-click	Setting turned off	Turn on “Double click group title to edit”, or use the right side panel pencil
Muting a group stops the whole workflow	Muted nodes block everything downstream	Use bypass instead if later nodes still need to run
No subgraph option	Frontend too old	Update ComfyUI; subgraphs need frontend 1.24.3+. See how to update ComfyUI
Group moved by accident	Not pinned	Select it and press P to pin

My Take

Learn Ctrl + G, double-click to rename and Ctrl + B to bypass, and you have 90% of what groups can do. Turn on “Select group children on click” too, because it makes whole-section actions one click.

Once a section is finished and you reuse it everywhere, turn it into a subgraph and publish it as a blueprint. Your main workflows stay short and readable.

FAQ

What is the shortcut to group nodes in ComfyUI?

Ctrl + G on Windows and Linux, Cmd + G on Mac, with the nodes selected first.

Do groups change my images?

No. Groups are visual only. They do not change how nodes run or what they produce.

How do I ungroup in ComfyUI?

Right-click the group title and choose the remove option. The frame is deleted and the nodes stay where they are. For a subgraph, right-click it and choose Unpack subgraph.

How do I bypass a whole group?

Select all nodes in the group and press Ctrl + B. For one-click toggles, use the Fast Groups Bypasser node from rgthree-comfy.

Can a group be inside another group?

Yes, you can draw a smaller group inside a larger one to organise sub-sections. Subgraphs can also be nested inside other subgraphs.

What is the difference between a group and a subgraph?

A group is a visible frame around nodes. A subgraph packs nodes into one node with chosen inputs and outputs, and can be reused or published as a blueprint.

Why can’t I see the Convert to Group Node option?

That older feature has been replaced by subgraphs in current ComfyUI. Select your nodes and use the subgraph icon instead.

Sources

• ComfyUI docs: Keyboard shortcuts
• ComfyUI docs: Lite Graph settings (Group section)
• ComfyUI docs: Subgraph
• ComfyUI docs: Right side panel
• ComfyUI docs: Partial execution
• rgthree-comfy (Fast Groups Bypasser and Muter)