--- title: Introduction to TransformHandle API product: Unity Editor version: '6000.3' latest_version: '7000.0' status: This page documents version 6000.3. The latest version is 7000.0. canonical: https://docs.unity.com/en-us/engine/6000.3/manual/class-transform-handle latest_url: https://docs.unity.com/en-us/engine/7000.0/manual/class-transform-handle.md last_updated: 2026-11-08 generated_at: 2026-11-09T18:27:31.426Z locale: en-us --- # Introduction to TransformHandle API > Introduction to the TransformHandle API and the key differences from the Transform API. The [`TransformHandle`](/engine/6000.3/script-reference/unityengine/transformhandle.md) API is an alternative to the [`Transform`](/engine/6000.3/script-reference/unityengine/transform.md) API. Unlike the `Transform` component (a managed class), `TransformHandle` is an unmanaged `struct`, which makes it fully compatible with the [Burst](http://docs.unity3d.com/Packages/com.unity.burst@latest) compiler. While the `TransformHandle` API covers the same core operations as the `Transform` API, its design introduces several key differences described on this page. ## Differences with Transform API The `TransformHandle` API functionality is equivalent to the `Transform` API, the key differences are in the way you access it, and in the implementation details. **Transform API (Unity 6.2 and earlier):** * You access the transform using the `GameObject.transform` property. * The `transform` property returns a `Transform` component reference (managed type). * The API is managed and not compatible with the Burst compiler. * The API works alongside `TransformHandle` API in Unity 6. **TransformHandle API (Unity 6.3 and later):** | **Transform API** | **TransformHandle API** (added in Unity 6.3) | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | You access the transform using the `GameObject.transform` property. | You access the transform using `gameObject.transformHandle` or `transform.GetTransformHandle` (where `transform` is the `Transform` component). | | Returns a `Transform` component reference (managed type). | Returns a `TransformHandle` struct (unmanaged type). | | The API is managed and not compatible with the [Burst](https://docs.unity3d.com/Packages/com.unity.burst@latest) compiler. | Is compatible with the [Burst](https://docs.unity3d.com/Packages/com.unity.burst@latest) compiler in Burst-compiled code that runs on the main thread. The `TransformHandle` struct isn't thread-safe and throws a safety exception if you access it from a job that implements an interface such as `IJobParallelForTransform`. To read or write transform values from jobs, use the [`TransformAccessArray`](/engine/6000.3/script-reference/unityengine/jobs/transformaccessarray.md) struct, which you can construct from a `NativeArray` collection. For more information, refer to [Using TransformHandle with Burst](/engine/6000.3/manual/transformhandle-burst.md). | | Editor and runtime API. | Runtime-only API. | ### Transform APIs that are not available in the TransformHandle API The following methods and properties from `Transform` APIs are not available in `TransformHandle` API: * `GetSiblingIndex` / `SetSiblingIndex` * `Find` * `hasChanged` property ### TransformHandle API without an equivalent in the Transform API The following `TransformHandle` API elements don't have an equivalent in the `Transform` API. * [`TransformHandle.DirectChildrenEnumerable`](/engine/6000.3/script-reference/unityengine/transformhandle/directchildrenenumerable.md) represents an enumerable of the direct children of a transformHandle, and this enumerable returns a DirectChildrenEnumerator when enumerated. * [`TransformHandle.DirectChildrenEnumerator`](/engine/6000.3/script-reference/unityengine/transformhandle/directchildrenenumerator.md) is an enumerator that goes through the direct children of a transform. * [`TransformHandle.DirectChildren`](/engine/6000.3/script-reference/unityengine/transformhandle/directchildren.md) returns a DirectChildrenEnumerable of this transform, which you can use to iterate over direct children with a foreach loop. * [`TransformHandle.GetDirectChildrenEnumerator`](/engine/6000.3/script-reference/unityengine/transformhandle/getdirectchildrenenumerator.md) returns a DirectChildrenEnumerator of this transform, which you can use to manually iterate over direct children. ### Differences in common operations The following common operations have a different implementation in `TransformHandle` API. Check if a transform is valid: * **Transform**: `transform != null` * **TransformHandle**: `TransformHandle.IsValid` Iterate the direct children of the transform: * **Transform**: `foreach (Transform t in transform)` * **TransformHandle**: `foreach (TransformHandle t in handle.DirectChildren)` Set a parent of a transform to `None`: * **Transform**: `transform.SetParent(null)` * **TransformHandle**: ```lang-cs transformHandle.SetParent(TransformHandle.None) ``` or ```lang-cs TransformHandle h = transformHandle; h.parent = TransformHandle.None; ``` For specific examples on how to use the API, refer to [TransfromHandle API examples](/engine/6000.3/manual/working-with-gameobjects/transformhandle-examples.md). ### Methods with different argument or return types The following methods are functionally equivalent, but have different argument types or return types (`Transform`, or `TransformHandle` depending on the API they are called from). Different argument types: * `IsChildOf` * `LookAt` * `SetParent` * `Translate` (overload) Different return types: * `GetChild` * `parent` * `root` ## Additional resources * [TransformHandle API examples](/engine/6000.3/manual/working-with-gameobjects/transformhandle-examples.md) * [Using TransformHandle with Burst](/engine/6000.3/manual/transformhandle-burst.md)