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AutoCAD Shortcuts & Hotkey Guide

Work faster and more efficiently by using the AutoCAD shortcuts below.

One-Key Shortcuts
Below, you'll find the AutoCAD one-key shortcuts. Click on the image for a
larger view

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Toggles and Screen Management

Below, you'll find an abbreviated list of commands that can be
used in AutoCAD.

Toggle General Features

Ctrl+E Toggle coordinate display

Ctrl+G Toggle Grid

Ctrl+E Cycle isometric planes

Ctrl+F Toggle running object snaps

Ctrl+H Toggle Pick Style

Ctrl+Shift+H Toggle Hide pallets

Ctrl+I Toggle Coords

Ctrl+Shift+I Toggle Infer Constraints

Manage Screen
Ctrl+0 (zero) Clean Screen

Ctrl+1 Property Palette

Ctrl+2 Design Center Palette

Ctrl+3 Tool Palette

Ctrl+4 Sheet Set Palette

Ctrl+6 DBConnect Manager

Ctrl+7 Markup Set Manager Palette

Ctrl+8 Quick Calc

Ctrl+9 Command Line

Manage Drawings
Ctrl+N New Drawing

Ctrl+S Save drawing

Ctrl+O Open drawing

Ctrl+P Plot dialog box

Ctrl+Tab Switch to next

Ctrl+Shift+Tab Switch to previous drawing

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Ctrl+Page Up Switch to previous tab in current drawing

Ctrl+Page Down Switch to next tab in current drawing

Ctrl+Q Exit

Ctrl+A Select all objects

Toggle Drawing Modes

F1 Display Help

F2 Toggle text screen

F3 Toggle object snap mode

F4 Toggle 3DOsnap

F5 Toggle Isoplane

F6 Toggle Dynamic UCS

F7 Toggle grid mode

F8 Toggle ortho mode

F9 Toggle snap mode

F10 Toggle polar mode

F11 Toggle object snap tracking

F12 Toggle dynamic input mode

Manage Workflow
Ctrl+C Copy object

Ctrl+X Cut object

Ctrl+V Paste object

Ctrl+Shift+C Copy to clipboard with base point

Ctrl+Shift+V Paste data as block

Ctrl+Z Undo last action

Ctrl+Y Redo last action

Ctrl+[ Cancel current command (or ctrl+\)

ESC Cancel current command

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A, B, C
A
A ARC / Creates an arc

ADC ADCENTER / Manages and inserts content such as blocks, xrefs, and hatch patterns

AA AREA / Calculates the area and perimeter of objects or of defined areas

AL ALIGN / Aligns objects with other objects in 2D and 3D

AP APPLOAD / Load Application

AR ARRAY / Creates multiple copies of objects in a pattern

ARR ACTRECORD / Starts the Action Recorder

ARM ACTUSERMESSAGE / Inserts a user message into an action macro

ARU ACTUSERINPUT / Pauses for user input in an action macro

ARS ACTSTOP / Stops the Action Recorder and provides the option of saving the recorded actions

to an action macro file

ATI ATTIPEDIT / Changes the textual content of an attribute within a block

ATT ATTDEF / Redefines a block and updates associated attributes

ATE ATTEDIT / Changes attribute information in a block

B
B BLOCK / Creates a block definition from selected objects

BC BCLOSE / Closes the Block Editor

BE BEDIT / Opens the block definition in the Block Editor

BH HATCH / Fills an enclosed area or selected objects with a hatch pattern, solid fill, or gradient

fill

BO BOUNDARY / Creates a region or a polyline from an enclosed area

BR BREAK / Breaks the selected object between two points

BS BSAVE / Saves the current block definition

BVS BVSTATE / Creates, sets, or deletes a visibility state in a dynamic block

C
C CIRCLE / Creates a circle

CAM CAMERA / Sets a camera and target location to create and save a 3D perspective view of

objects

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CBAR CONSTRAINTBAR / A toolbar-like UI element that displays the available geometric

constraints on an object

CH PROPERTIES / Controls properties of existing objects

CHA CHAMFER / Bevels the edges of objects

CHK CHECKSTANDARDS / Checks the current drawing for standards violations

CLI COMMANDLINE / Displays the Command Line window

COL COLOR / Sets the color for new objects

CO COPY / Copies objects a specified distance in a specified direction

CT CTABLESTYLE / Sets the name of the current table style

CUBE NAVVCUBE / Controls the visibility and display properties of the ViewCube tool

CYL CYLINDER / Creates a 3D solid cylinder

D, E, F
D
D DIMSTYLE / Creates and modifies dimension styles

DAN DIMANGULAR / Creates an angular dimension

DAR DIMARC / Creates an arc length dimension

DBA DIMBASELINE / Creates a linear, angular, or ordinate dimension from the baseline of the

previous or selected dimension

DBC DBCONNECT / Provides an interface to external database tables

DCE DIMCENTER / Creates the center mark or the centerlines of circles and arcs

DCO DIMCONTINUE / Creates a dimension that starts from an extension line of a previously

created dimension

DCON DIMCONSTRAINT / Applies dimensional constraints to selected objects or points on objects

DDA DIMDISASSOCIATE / Removes associativity from selected dimensions

DDI DIMDIAMETER / Creates a diameter dimension for a circle or an arc

DED DIMEDIT / Edits dimension text and extension lines

DI DIST / Measures the distance and angle between two points

DIV DIVIDE / Creates evenly spaced point objects or blocks along the length or perimeter of an

object

DJL DIMJOGLINE / Adds or removes a jog line on a linear or aligned dimension

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DJO DIMJOGGED / Creates jogged dimensions for circles and arcs

DL DATALINK / The Data Link dialog box is displayed

DLU DATALINKUPDATE / Updates data to or from an established external data link

DO DONUT / Creates a filled circle or a wide ring

DOR DIMORDINATE / Creates ordinate dimensions

DOV DIMOVERRIDE / Controls overrides of system variables used in selected dimensions

DR DRAWORDER / Changes the draw order of images and other objects

DRA DIMRADIUS / Creates a radius dimension for a circle or an arc

DRE DIMREASSOCIATE / Associates or re-associates selected dimensions to objects or points on

objects

DRM DRAWINGRECOVERY / Displays a list of drawing files that can be recovered after a program

or system failure

DS DSETTINGS / Sets grid and snap, polar and object snap tracking, object snap modes, Dynamic

Input, and Quick Properties

DT TEXT / Creates a single-line text object

DV DVIEW / Defines parallel projection or perspective views by using a camera and target

DX DATAEXTRACTION / Extracts drawing data and merges data from an external source to a

data extraction table or external file

E
E ERASE / Removes objects from a drawing

ED DDEDIT / Edits single-line text, dimension text, attribute definitions, and feature control

frames

EL ELLIPSE / Creates an ellipse or an elliptical arc

EPDF EXPORTPDF / Exports drawing to PDF

ER EXTERNALREFERENCES / Opens the External References palette

EX EXTEND / Extends objects to meet the edges of other objects

EXIT QUIT / Exits the program

EXP EXPORT / Saves the objects in a drawing to a different file format

EXT EXTRUDE / Extends the dimensions of a 2D object or 3D face into 3D space

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F FILLET / Rounds and fillets the edges of objects

FI FILTER / Creates a list of requirements that an object must meet to be included in a selection

set

FS FSMODE / Creates a selection set of all objects that touch the selected object

FSHOT FLATSHOT / Creates a 2D representation of all 3D objects based on the current view

G, H, I
G
G GROUP / Creates and manages saved sets of objects called groups

GCON GEOCONSTRAINT / Applies or persists geometric relationships between objects or points on

objects

GD GRADIENT / Fills an enclosed area or selected objects with a gradient fill

GEO GEOGRAPHICLOCATION / Specifies the geographic location information for a drawing file

H
H HATCH / Fills an enclosed area or selected objects with a hatch pattern, solid fill, or gradient
fill

HE HATCHEDIT / Modifies an existing hatch or fill

HI HIDE / Regenerates a 3D wireframe model with hidden lines suppressed

I
I INSERT / Inserts a block or drawing into the current drawing

IAD IMAGEADJUST / Controls the image display of the brightness, contrast, and fade values of

images

IAT IMAGEATTACH / Inserts a reference to an image file

ICL IMAGECLIP / Crops the display of a selected image to a specified boundary

ID ID / Displays the UCS coordinate values of a specified location

IM IMAGE / Displays the External References palette

IMP IMPORT / Imports files of different formats into the current drawing

IN INTERSECT / Creates a 3D solid, surface, or 2D region from overlapping solids, surfaces, or

regions

INF INTERFERE / Creates a temporary 3D solid from the interferences between two sets of

selected 3D solids

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IO INSERTOBJ / Inserts a linked or embedded object

J, K, L
J
J JOIN / Joins similar objects to form a single, unbroken object

JOG DIMJOGGED / Creates jogged dimensions for circles and arcs

K
L
L LINE / Creates straight line segments

LA LAYER / Manages layers and layer properties

LAS LAYERSTATE / Saves, restores, and manages named layer states

LE QLEADER / Creates a leader and leader annotation

LEN LENGTHEN / Changes the length of objects and the included angle of arcs

LESS MESHSMOOTHLESS / Decreases the level of smoothness for mesh objects by one level

LI LIST / Displays property data for selected objects

LO LAYOUT / Creates and modifies drawing layout tabs

LT LINETYPE / Loads, sets, and modifies linetypes

LTS LTSCALE / Changes the scale factor of linetypes for all objects in a drawing

LW LWEIGHT / Sets the current lineweight, lineweight display options, and lineweight units

M, N, O
M
M MOVE / Moves objects a specified distance in a specified direction

MA MATCHPROP / Applies the properties of a selected object to other objects

ME MEASURE / Joins similar objects to form a single, unbroken object

MEA MEASUREGEOM / Measures the distance, radius, angle, area, and volume of selected

objects or sequence of points

MI MIRROR / Creates a mirrored copy of selected objects

ML MLINE / Creates multiple parallel lines

MLA MLEADERALIGN / Aligns and spaces selected multileader objects

MLC MLEADERCOLLECT / Organizes selected multileaders that contain blocks into rows or

columns, and displays the result with a single leader

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MLD MLEADER / Creates a multileader object

MLE MLEADEREDIT / Adds leader lines to, or removes leader lines from, a multileader object

MLS MLEADERSTYLE / Creates and modifies multileader styles

MO PROPERTIES / Controls properties of existing objects

MORE MESHSMOOTHMORE / Increases the level of smoothness for mesh objects by one level

MS MSPACE / Switches from paper space to a model space viewport

MSM MARKUP / Opens the Markup Set Manager

MT MTEXT / Creates a multiline text object

MV MVIEW / Creates and controls layout viewports

N
NORTH GEOGRAPHICLOCATION / Specifies the geographic location information for a drawing file

NSHOT NEWSHOT / Creates a named view with motion that is played back when viewed with

ShowMotion

NVIEW NEWVIEW / Creates a named view with no motion

O
O OFFSET / Creates concentric circles, parallel lines, and parallel curves

OBJECTSELECTION LIMIT OPTIONS / Customizes the program settings

OFFSETSRF SURFOFFSET/ Creates a parallel surface or solid by setting an offset distance from a

surface

OP OPTIONS / Customizes the program settings

OPENPROJECT SURFOFFSET / Creates a parallel surface or solid by setting an offset distance from a

surface

ORBIT 3DORBIT / Rotates the view in 3D space, but constrained to horizontal and vertical orbit only

OS OSNAP / Sets running object snap modes

P, Q, R
P
P PAN / Adds a parameter with grips to a dynamic block definition

PA PASTESPEC / Pastes objects from the Clipboard into the current drawing and controls the

format of the data

PAR PARAMETERS / Controls the associative parameters used in the drawing

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PARAM BPARAMETER / Adds a parameter with grips to a dynamic block definition

PATCH SURFPATCH / Creates a new surface by fitting a cap over a surface edge that forms a closed

loop

PCATTACH POINTCLOUDATTACH / Inserts an indexed point cloud file into the current drawing

PE PEDIT / Edits polylines and 3D polygon meshes

PL PLINE / Creates a 2D polyline

PO POINT / Creates a point object

POFF HIDEPALETTES / Hides currently displayed palettes (including the command line)

POL POLYGON / Creates an equilateral closed polyline

PON SHOWPALETTES / Restores the display of hidden palettes

PR PROPERTIES / Displays Properties palette

PRE PREVIEW / Displays the drawing as it will be plotted

PRINT PLOT / Plots a drawing to a plotter, printer, or file

PS PSPACE / Switches from a model space viewport to paper space

PSOLID POLYSOLID / Creates a 3D wall-like polysolid

PU PURGE / Removes unused items, such as block definitions and layers, from the drawing

PYR PYRAMID / Creates a 3D solid pyramid

Q
QC QUICKCALC / Opens the QuickCalc calculator

QCUI QUICKCUI / Displays the Customize User Interface Editor in a collapsed state

QP QUICKPROPERTIES / Displays open drawings and layouts in a drawing in preview images

QSAVE QSAVE / Saves the current drawing

QVD QVDRAWING / Displays open drawings and layouts in a drawing using preview images

QVDC QVDRAWINGCLOSE / Closes preview images of open drawings and layouts in a drawing

QVL QVLAYOUT / Displays preview images of model space and layouts in a drawing

QVLC QVLAYOUTCLOSE / Closes preview images of model space and layouts in the current drawing

R
R REDRAW / Refreshes the display in the current viewport

RA REDRAWALL / Refreshes the display in all viewports

RC RENDERCROP / Renders a specified rectangular area, called a crop window, within a

viewport

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RE REGEN / Regenerates the entire drawing from the current viewport

REA REGENALL / Regenerates the drawing and refreshes all viewports

REC RECTANG / Creates a rectangular polyline

REG REGION / Converts an object that encloses an area into a region object

REN RENAME / Changes the names assigned to items such as layers and dimension styles

REV REVOLVE / Creates a 3D solid or surface by sweeping a 2D object around an axis

RO ROTATE / Rotates objects around a base point

RP RENDERPRESETS / Specifies render presets, reusable rendering parameters, for rendering an

image

RPR RPREF / Displays or hides the Advanced Render Settings palette for access to advanced

rendering settings

RR RENDER / Creates a photorealistic or realistically shaded image of a 3D solid or surface

model

RW RENDERWIN / Displays the Render window without starting a rendering operation

S, T, U
S
S STRETCH / Stretches objects crossed by a selection window or polygon

SC SCALE / Enlarges or reduces selected objects, keeping the proportions of the object the

same after scaling

SCR SCALESCRIPT / Executes a sequence of commands from a script file

SEC SECTION / Uses the intersection of a plane and solids, surfaces, or mesh to create a region

SET SETVAR / Lists or changes the values of system variables

SHA SHADEMODE / Starts the VSCURRENT command

SL SLICE / Creates new 3D solids and surfaces by slicing, or dividing, existing objects

SN SNAP / Restricts cursor movement to specified intervals

SO SOLID / Creates solid-filled triangles and quadrilaterals

SP SPELL / Checks spelling in a drawing

SPE SPLINEDIT / Edits a spline or spline-fit polyline

SPL SPLINE / Creates a smooth curve that passes through or near specified points

SPLANE SECTIONPLANE / Creates a section object that acts as a cutting plane through 3D objects

SPLAY SEQUENCEPLAY / Plays named views in one category

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SPLIT MESHSPLIT / Splits a mesh face into two faces

SPE SPLINEDIT / Edits a spline or spline-fit polyline

SSM SHEETSET / Opens the Sheet Set Manager

ST STYLE / Creates, modifies, or specifies text styles

STA STANDARDS / Manages the association of standards files with drawings

SU SUBTRACT / Combines selected 3D solids, surfaces, or 2D regions by subtraction

T
T MTEXT / Creates a multiline text object

TA TEXTALIGN / Aligns multiple text objects vertically, horizontally, or obliquely

TB TABLE / Creates an empty table object

TEDIT TEXTEDIT / Edits a dimensional constraint, dimension, or text object

TH THICKNESS / Sets the default 3D thickness property when creating 2D geometric objects

TI TILEMODE / Controls whether paper space can be accessed

TO TOOLBAR / Displays, hides, and customizes toolbars

TOL TOLERANCE / Creates geometric tolerances contained in a feature control frame

TOR TORUS / Creates a donut-shaped 3D solid

TP TOOLPALETTES / Opens the Tool Palettes window

TR TRIM / Trims objects to meet the edges of other objects

TS TABLESTYLE / Creates, modifies, or specifies table styles

U
UC UCSMAN / Manages defined user coordinate systems.

UN UNITS / Controls coordinate and angle display formats and precision.

UNHIDE / UNISOLATE UNISOLATEOBJECTS / Displays objects previously hidden with the

ISOLATEOBJECTS or HIDEOBJECTS command.

UNI UNION / Unions two solid or two region objects.

V, W, X
V
V VIEW / Saves and restores named views, camera views, layout views, and preset views.

VGO VIEWGO / Restores a named view.

VP DDVPOINT / Sets the 3D viewing direction.

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VPLAY VIEWPLAY / Plays the animation associated to a named view.

VS VSCURRENT / Sets the visual style in the current viewport.

VSM VISUALSTYLES / Creates and modifies visual styles and applies a visual style to a viewport.

W
W WBLOCK / Writes objects or a block to a new drawing file.

WE WEDGE / Creates a 3D solid wedge.

WHEEL NAVSWHEEL / Displays a wheel that contains a collection of view navigation tools.

X EXPLODE / Breaks a compound object into its component objects.

XA XATTACH / Inserts a DWG file as an external reference (xref).

XB XBIND / Binds one or more definitions of named objects in an xref to the current drawing.

XC XCLIP / Crops the display of a selected external reference or block reference to a specified
boundary.

XL XLINE / Creates a line of infinite length.

XR XREF / Starts the EXTERNALREFERENCES command.

Y-Z
Y
Z
Z ZOOM / Increases or decreases the magnification of the view in the current viewport.

ZEBRA ANALYSISZEBRA / Projects stripes onto a 3D model to analyze surface continuity.

ZIP ETRANSMIT / Creates a Self-Extracting or Zipped Transmittal Package.

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