Is there an easy way to remove unused material slots in an object?

Question

I have recently been importing and modifying models from sites such as CGTrader. When I work on the materials for models, it often seems that objects have unused material slots.

At the moment, I'm just going into Edit mode, clicking the "Select" button for each slot, then scouring the object to see if any faces are selected, before deleting the slot if it is unused.

However, it seems there should be a more efficient way of doing this. Can anyone enlighten me please?

For a python way you may want to consider BSE How to remove all unused material slots from all objects? — Ratt, Apr 13 '21 at 03:09
On the right of the material list, there's a dropdown menu > Remove Unused Slots — moonboots, Apr 13 '21 at 06:01
Isn't python a bit overkill for this simple task? Just hit A in the viewport to select all objects and use the Clean Up > Remove Unused Material Slots function like the answer suggests. — Gordon Brinkmann, Apr 13 '21 at 08:53

score 10 · Accepted Answer · edited Apr 13 '21 at 09:05

10

In the 3D Viewport, in Object Mode, with the object selected, pick Object > Clean Up > Remove Unused Material Slots.

This also works with multiple or all objects selected.

edited Apr 13 '21 at 09:05

Gordon Brinkmann

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answered Apr 13 '21 at 02:58

scurest

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Thanks @Gordon Brinkmann - that's exactly what I needed. – Thailandian Apr 13 '21 at 13:53
I just added the last sentence for completion, @scurest gave the answer ;) – Gordon Brinkmann Apr 13 '21 at 13:58
Well thank you both ;-) – Thailandian Apr 13 '21 at 15:01

Is there an easy way to remove unused material slots in an object?

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