AutoCAD Keyboard Shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts make life so much easier! They help you save time on projects, which helps you save money. Here's a quick rundown and a graphic to explain them:

• F1: Help
• F2: Text Screen
• F3: Object Snap
• F4: 3DOsnap
• F5: Isoplane
• F6: Dynamic UCS
• F7: Grid
• F8: Ortho
• F9: Snap
• F10: Polar
• F11: Object Snap Tracking
• F12: Dynamic Input

• Q: QSAVE - Saves your current drawing.
• W: WBLOCK - Writes object/block to a new drawing file.
• E: Erase - Erases object from a drawing.
• R: Redraw - Refreshes the display in your current viewport.
• T: MTEXT - Creates text object.
• U: Undo
• I: Insert - Inserts drawing/block into your current drawing.
• O: Offset - Creates parallel lines, parallel curves and concentric circles.
• P: Pan - Adds parameter with grips to a dynamic block.
• A: Arc - Creates arcs.
• S: Stretch - Stretches objects that are crossed by polygon or a selected window.
• D: DIMSTYLE - Creates and modifies dimension styles.
• F: Fillet - Fillets and rounds edges.
• G: Group - Creates and manages group (saved sets of objects).
• H: Hatch - Fills area/objects with hatch pattern, gradient fill or solid fill.
• J: Join - Joins several objects together to form one unified object.
• L: Line - Creates straight lines.
• Z: Zoom - Increases/decreases magnification of the viewport.
• X: Explode - Separates compound objects into its component objects.
• C: Circle - Creates circle.
• V: View - Saves and restores named views, layout views, preset views and camera views.
• B: Block - Creates block definitions from objects.
• M: Move - Moves objects in a specified direction for a specific distance.

• Ctrl + A: Selects all objects.
• Ctrl + C: Copies object(s).
• Ctrl + Shift + C: Copies to clipboard with base point.
• Ctrl + K: Inserts hyperlink.
• Ctrl + N: Opens a new drawing tab.
• Ctrl + S: Saves a drawing file.
• Ctrl + Shift + S: "Save as" command.
• Ctrl + X: Cuts object(s).
• Ctrl + V: Pastes object(s).
• Ctrl + Shift + V: Pastes copied objects as a block.
• Ctrl + Y: Redo last 'undo' action.
• Ctrl + Z: Undo previous command.
• Ctrl + [ or Ctrl + \: Cancels current command.
• Ctrl + 0 (zero): Clears screen by hiding palettes and tabs, leaving only drawing area. Press again to resent to default interface.
• Ctrl + 1: Select object and press Ctrl + 1 to open the properties palette.
• Ctrl + 2: Opens design center palette.
• Ctrl + 9: Toggles the command line's visibility.
• Ctrl + Tab: Cycles through open drawing tabs.

And there you have it! AutoCAD programs can be pretty tricky to learn, so hopefully this helps. Are there any we missed?