Time Saving Keyboard Shortcuts

Assemblies

Keyboard Description
shortcut
Alt + drag  Mates. Creates a SmartMate when you Alt + drag a component.
 Motion studies. Moves multiple keys in the MotionManager.
 Triad. When using the triad (for example, in Move with Triad mode and in Exploded
Views), aligns the triad with an edge or face when you Alt + drag the center ball or handle
on the triad and drop it on an edge or face.
 Reordering components. When moving a component in the FeatureManager design
tree, ensures that the component remains at the same level in the tree and prevents it from
being moved into a subassembly.

Alt + Ctrldrag Copies the component and creates a SmartMate.

Ctrl + drag  Copies a component when you Ctrl + drag it.
 Selection. In an assembly with preselected components, inverts the selection when
you Ctrl + drag a selection box.
 Toolbox. Creates a part instead of a configuration when you drag a Toolbox component
into an assembly.
 Motion studies. Copies multiple keys in the MotionManager.

Tab  Hide/Show. Hides all components below the pointer.

 While Inserting a Component. Rotates the component 90º.

Shift + Tab  Hide/Show. Shows all components below the pointer.

 While Inserting a Component. Rotates the component -90º.

Ctrl + Shift + Temporarily displays all hidden components as transparent and lets you select
Tab which ones to show.
To show one or more components, move the pointer to the graphics area, and press and hold Ctrl
+ Shift + Tab. All hidden components are temporarily displayed as transparent. Click a hidden
component to change it to shown.

Right-click  In a blank area of the graphics area. Invokes mouse gestures.

and drag  On a component. Rotates a component relative to the assembly origin.

Alt + right- On a Component. Invokes mouse gestures instead of the Rotate Component tool.
click + drag
Shift +arrow Reorients a Routing component when you insert a Routing component into an
keys existing Routing assembly.

Copy/paste
Keyboard Description
shortcut
Ctrl + Use these keyboard shortcuts to copy and paste, similar to Windows
C and Ctrl + V functionality.
 Sketches. Copies and pastes sketch entities.
 Parts. Copies and pastes sketches.
 Assemblies. Copies and pastes parts and subassemblies. If you select a feature in the
FeatureManager design tree, you can copy and paste the feature as an assembly-level
feature.
 Drawings. Copies and pastes drawing views.

Ctrl + drag  Sketches. Copies sketch entities.

 Parts. Copies features.
 Assemblies. Copies parts and subassemblies.
 Drawings. Copies drawing views.

Dimensions and annotations

Keyboard Description
shortcut
Alt + click Turns off automatic alignment when you place dimensions and annotations.
Alt + drag Moves an annotation independently from the group in which it is contained.
Alt + specified Inserts standard Windows symbols:
values  Alt + 0176. Inserts a degree º symbol.
 Alt + 0216. Inserts a diameter Ø symbol.
 Alt + 0181. Inserts a µ symbol.

Ctrl + drag Creates additional leaders on a note when you Ctrl + drag a leader's
arrowhead.
Shift + click Snaps a dimension to the max or min location when dimensioning arcs and
circles with the Smart Dimension tool.
` key Lets you change the annotation view plane for a dimension or annotation.

Display

Keyboard shortcut Description

Alt + arrow keys
Alt + drag the middle
mouse button
Shift + arrow keys
Shift + Z
Rotates the model parallel to the viewing plane.
Rotates the model parallel to the viewing plane.
Rotates the model 90º.
Zooms the model in.
Keyboard shortcut Description
Z Zooms the model out.
Shift + drag the middle Zooms the model in and out about the screen center.
mouse button
F Zooms to fit.
Alt + click Shows a hidden body or component when you hover over the body or
component.
Alt + middle mouse Shows a section view when using the magnifying glass.
wheel
Ctrl + spacebar Opens the View Selector.
Spacebar Opens the View Selector and Orientation dialog box.
Alt + drag Opens the Appearances PropertyManager when you drag an
appearance from the Task Pane onto a model.

Drawings

Keyboard Description
shortcut
Alt + drag Lets you select anywhere in a table to move the table.
Ctrl + drag  Drawing views. Breaks the drawing view alignment when you insert a drawing view.
 Annotations. Copies annotations without snapping to the grid or to other annotations.
 Tables. Lets you select anywhere in a table to move the table.

Shift + click Lets you select one edge in a drawing view if multiple edges are collinear. In
general, when you select an edge in a drawing, the entire line is highlighted if all
of the line segments are collinear.
Shift + drag Moves a dimension to another drawing view when you drag the dimension and
drop it on another view.

Move

Keyboard shortcut Description

Ctrl + arrow keys Pans a model.
Ctrl + drag the middle Pans a model.
mouse button
Shift + drag  Sketches. Moves a set of sketch entities.
 Parts. Moves a feature.
 Drawings. Moves the selected drawing view and any related views together as
if they are one entity. You can also move a dimension to a different view.
Selection

Keyboard Description
shortcut
Alt + click Lets you select the back faces in the View Selector cube.
Ctrl + click Lets you select multiple entities.
Shift Lets you select a transparent face on a part.
Shift + click Selects everything within the two selected items in the FeatureManager
design tree.

Sheet metal

Keyboard Description
shortcut
Tab Flips the direction of the forming tool when dragging the forming tool onto
a face.

Sketching

Keyboard shortcut Description

Alt + drag Symmetrically adjusts both handles of a control point in a
spline.
Ctrl + drag Suppresses inference lines when dragging an endpoint.
Pressing Ctrl while sketching Turns off automatic sketch relations.
Shift + click Turns on snapping.
Shift + drag When sketching a line, the line snaps to specific lengths.
Tab Changes the XYZ plane when sketching in a 3D sketch.

User interface

Keyboard shortcut Description

Ctrl + B Rebuilds the model.
Ctrl + R Redraws the screen.
Ctrl + Tab Moves among open
documents.
Enter Repeats the last command.
S Opens the shortcut bar.
Customize Keyboard
You can specify shortcut keys from the Keyboard tab of the Customize dialog box.

To customize shortcut keys:

1. With a document open, click Tools > Customize, or right-click in the window border and select Customize.
2. Select the Keyboard tab.
Category Displays All Commands, one of the main menus, or Others. Others includes orientations,
FeatureManager design tree commands, relations, etc. Macro icons with shortcuts appear
in Tools.

Show Controls the display of commands within the selected category.

Search for Filters the Command field as you type.

Print List Click to open the Microsoft Print Setup dialog box and print the selected list with columns
for Category, Command, and Shortcut(s).

Copy List Click to copy the selected list to the clipboard so you can paste it into documents such as
Word or Excel.

Reset to Returns keyboard options to the system defaults.

Defaults

Remove Removes a selected shortcut.

Shortcut

PARENT TOPICUser Interface Customization

RELATED CONCEPTS

Customize Menus

Shortcut Menus

Time Saving Keyboard Shortcuts

User Interface Customizations for Macros

RELATED TASKS

Customizing Context-Sensitive Toolbars

Assigning a Macro to a Keyboard Shortcut or Mouse Gesture

RELATED REFERENCE
Keyboard Shortcuts

Customize Options

Assign Shortcuts
1. Select a command.

2. Press a key or key combination.

If a shortcut key is already assigned, a message informs you. If you choose to use the shortcut for the new
command, it is removed from the old command.

Letters are shown in uppercase.

When executing keyboard shortcuts, Caps Lock does not imply Shift and does not affect the shortcuts.
You can assign a keyboard shortcut for the Escape command so that a second key or key combination invokes the
command in the same way as the Esc key. This assignment does not remove the behavior of the Esc key itself.
Assigning a keyboard shortcut for the Escape command on the right side of the keyboard might be useful, for
example, if you use your left hand to control the mouse.

Recommendation: Choose one of the function keys (F1-F12) as these keys will work even if a text field of a dialog
has focus. The SOLIDWORKS software interprets other keystrokes as text entry when a text field has focus, so
other keys will not dismiss the dialog.

Keyboard Shortcuts
Shortcuts in SOLIDWORKS are either accelerator keys or keyboard shortcuts.

Accelerator Keys
Accelerator keys are available for most menu items and in dialog boxes and are indicated by underlined letters. They
cannot be customized.

To display the underlined letters for menus or on a dialog box:

Press Alt.

To access a menu:
Press Alt plus the underlined letter.

For example Alt+F for the File menu.

To execute a command:
After displaying the menu, with Alt still pressed, press the underlined letter
For example, Alt+F, then C to close the active document.

Accelerator keys might be used more than once. Continue to press the key to cycle through all possibilities.

Keyboard Shortcuts
Keyboard shortcuts are key combinations such as those displayed at the right of the menu, which can be customized.

Print or copy a list of shortcut keys from the Keyboard tab of the Customize dialog box.