Method for aligning a workpiece in the working space of a machine tool having a numerical control means using a probe, comprising the steps of: providing 3D models of the working space, the probe and the workpiece and displaying these models as a virtual workpiece (vWS) and a virtual probe (vT) in a virtual working space (vA) on a screen of the numerical control means, positioning the workpiece in the working space of the machine tool and the virtual workpiece (vWS) in the virtual working space (vA), so that a position of the workpiece in the working space and the position of the virtual workpiece (vWS) in the virtual working space (vA) initially match, manually positioning the probe relative to the workpiece, thereby automatically selecting a planned probing point and a probing direction based on a distance between the virtual probe (vT) and the virtual workpiece (vWS), and displaying the planned probing point and the probing direction in the virtual working space (vA), determining a quality of the planned probing point and enabling probing at a sufficient quality, the quality being determined at least on the basis of the local curvature of the virtual workpiece (vWS) at the planned probing point, triggering the probing by an operator when probing is enabled, providing feedback to the operator on the progress of the aligning process and determining coordinates of the probing point, recalculating the position of the workpiece using the coordinates of the probing point and updating the position of the virtual workpiece (vWS) in the virtual working space (vA), repeating steps - until a final match between the position of the virtual workpiece (vWS) in the virtual working space (vA) and the position of the workpiece in the working space is achieved. providing 3D models of the working space, the probe and the workpiece and displaying these models as a virtual workpiece (vWS) and a virtual probe (vT) in a virtual working space (vA) on a screen of the numerical control means, positioning the workpiece in the working space of the machine tool and the virtual workpiece (vWS) in the virtual working space (vA), so that a position of the workpiece in the working space and the position of the virtual workpiece (vWS) in the virtual working space (vA) initially match, manually positioning the probe relative to the workpiece, thereby automatically selecting a planned probing point and a probing direction based on a distance between the virtual probe (vT) and the virtual workpiece (vWS), and displaying the planned probing point and the probing direction in the virtual working space (vA), determining a quality of the planned probing point and enabling probing at a sufficient quality, the quality being determined at least on the basis of the local curvature of the virtual workpiece (vWS) at the planned probing point, triggering the probing by an operator when probing is enabled, providing feedback to the operator on the progress of the aligning process and determining coordinates of the probing point, recalculating the position of the workpiece using the coordinates of the probing point and updating the position of the virtual workpiece (vWS) in the virtual working space (vA), repeating steps - until a final match between the position of the virtual workpiece (vWS) in the virtual working space (vA) and the position of the workpiece in the working space is achieved.