Keyboard Shortcuts
One key per tool, as CAD programs do. Every key is listed below and can be changed. A key does nothing while you are typing in a box, while Ctrl, Alt or Cmd is held, or when its tool is not available right now. A sketch tool needs a sketch open and a feature tool needs modeling open. When a sketch key is pressed with modeling open but no sketch, a message says to pick Sketch first.
The Keys
| Key | Action | Needs |
|---|---|---|
| A | Arc (3 points) | a sketch open |
| C | Circle | a sketch open |
| K | Sketch corner (round or chamfer) | a sketch open |
| X | Cut | modeling open |
| D | Smart Dimension | a sketch open |
| E | Extrude | modeling open |
| F | Fit the view | anywhere |
| L | Line | a sketch open |
| N | Node (move points) | a sketch open |
| P | Perspective on or off | anywhere |
| R | Rectangle | a sketch open |
| G | Round or chamfer part edges | modeling open |
| S | Select | a sketch open |
| Space | View picker (Front, Top, Right, ...) | anywhere |
Click a tool's name here for how it works: Fit, Perspective, Views, Line, Circle, Rectangle, Arc, and Construction, Smart Dimension, Extrude and Cut, Round and Chamfer.
Step by Step: Change a Key
- Click File, then Settings, then the Shortcuts tab.
- Find the action. Each row shows its key on a button.
- Click the button. It says press a key...
- Press the new key: a letter, a number, Space, or F1 to F12.
- The button shows the new key. Press Esc instead to leave the old key as it was, or Backspace to give the action no key.
- If another action already used that key, it loses it and shows none. Set a new key for that one if you want one.
- To go back to the standard keys, click Reset to the standard keys at the bottom of the tab.
Changes save with your other settings in this browser.
Other Keys
- Arrow keys: turn the view, 15 degrees a press; Shift makes it 90 degrees; Alt with Left or Right rolls it. See Arrow Keys Turn the View
- F1: opens Help on the page of the window or tool you are using. See Using Help. It is left alone while you type in a box, and if you give F1 to a tool here, F1 runs that tool instead.
- Ctrl+Z (or Cmd+Z): Undo
- Ctrl+Y, or Ctrl+Shift+Z (Cmd on a Mac): Redo. See Undo and Redo
- Esc: closes whatever is open, in order. In a sketch that means an open tool's flyout, a drawing in progress (it finishes an open chain of lines rather than deleting it, and cancels an unfinished single shape), a selection, and then a pop-up window
- Delete / Backspace: deletes the current selection
- F2: renames the selected Model tree row. See Model Tree
- Alt+PageDown and Alt+PageUp: next and previous tab. See Tabs: Several Files at Once
- Enter: accepts a size or name you typed in a box
Tips and Common Problems
- A key does nothing. You may be typing in a box, holding Ctrl or Alt, or the tool is not available. Click the 3D view first, then press the key.
- F fits only after I click the page. The viewer needs the keyboard focus. Click once on the 3D view.
- I pressed a sketch key and got a message. Start a sketch first. See Planes and Faces.
- I broke my keys. Click Reset to the standard keys.