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The 7 Best SolidWorks Keyboard Tricks

by Josh on May 28, 2008 · Comments

Yes, it happens to all of us. We’re cruising along with the mouse, clickin’ this way and that, and typing some notes with the keyboard. Life is simple. Then, we take our hand off the keyboard for a sip of coffee or a little stretch and… suddenly our finger shoots straight into our eye with a repeated jabbing motion and 2 hours of work are lost as you regain your sight.

A sad state of affairs my friend. We need to get back to keeping that hand on the keyboard. So, while engineer restraining systems are still being developed, here’s a few keyboard tricks you can use in SolidWorks to make sure you won’t be tempted to take your hand off the keyboard and risk permanent ocular impairment.

We’re going to have keyboards with us for a while longer I imagine, and using some of the buttons can just make modeling things go a lot faster. Here’s my favorite.

Ctrl
Hold down Ctrl, while sketching or after selecting an point to disable automatic relations
Hold down Ctrl, before selecting a sketch or feature to drag and copy a sketch or feature

Shift
Hold down Shift, while sketching some entities to increment in .05 increments
Hold down Shift, to move an unconstrained feature or group of sketch entities
Hold down Shift, to toggle selection through transparent objects, (better performance)

Alt
Hit Alt, to toggle the flyout menu in SolidWorks 2008
Hold down Alt, to move a part/assembly below an assembly in the FeatureManager

Hmm, but are there only seven?! What tricks do you have?

(3 votes, average: 3.33 out of 5)
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Comments

Tagged as: keyboard, solidworks, tips

  • Ivan
    *sigh* sorry, issues here. these comments won't show anything in a 'sharp parenthesis' i guess. it's the ones above the comma and period. then you type MOD-DEG... MOD-DIAM... MOD-BOX... etc
  • Ivan
    uh oh... somethin didn't work.





    let's see if that posts correctly... no spaces of course
  • Ivan
    @Josh, tom, I find it much easier to remember this for degree symbol , and diameter , and square ... the list goes on.
  • tom
    Thanks Josh, I was looking so hard to make Solidworks do it that Alt codes never occured to me. Great post.
  • Josh
    Yes! I did a post on Alt Codes that give you all the special symbols you'll ever need! hit Alt + 0176 to get a degree symbol.
  • tom
    Any way to add the degree symbol when typing a text note with a keyboard shortcut?
  • Jason
    I belive the key to shortcuts is making them logical to the user so they are easy to remember. For instance, I use "T" for viewing the top view. Certain keys may make sense to one person and not to another. I use so many that if I didn't make them logical, it would be too hard to remember everything.

    Another key to shortcuts is to make them as simple as possible by using as few of keys as possible. Most of my more frequently used keys are a single key instead of having to hit two or three keys at the same time. I only have one three-key shortcut and I don't need to use it very often. But since I rotate my model many times in a day, most all of my views are set to a single key. I apologize to all of those who may use a Space Pilot type of device, but I don't think I would ever use one even if it was given to me. I can do most of my rotation very quickly with my left hand on the keyboard and still have my hand in position to access many shortcuts that make sense (at least to me). I still do freehand rotation with my middle mouse button, but usually sketches and other viewing needs are done on orthogonal views, so the single shortcut keys are very quick.

    Here are some of my shortcuts I use with the logic I used to pick it. I've used many of them for about 10 years. Many of my co-workers use some of them too.

    Viewing: T-top view, B-bottom view, F-fit to screen (SW default), C-front view (F was already taken by fit to screen), X-left view (to the left of C), V-right view (to the right of C), Shift+B-back view (not used as much as bottom view), I-isometric view, O-orientation box(only need for saved views), Spacebar-zoom to area(quick zoom to specific area), A-previous view (to the left of the keyboard like going back when reading), W-wireframe (great for quick picking of edges without rotating), Q-shaded with edges (next to W), Cntrl+N-norma to view (not needed much with other ortho views keyed), R-toggles RealView

    Sketching usually has Shift with it (both start with "S"): Shift+R-rectangle, Shift+C-circle, Shift+A-arc, Shift+E-ellipse, Shift+X-centerline, Shift+F-sketch fillet, Shift+S-spline, Shift+V-view sketch relations, Shift+M-mirror, L-line, D-smart dimension

    Alt key for viewing alternate things: Alt+A-toggle axis view, Alt+O-toggle origin view, Alt+S-toggle shown sketches, Alt+N-toggle shown planes, Alt+V-tile windows vertically, Alt+H-tile windows horizontally

    Again, the key is to choose shortcuts that are logical and simple in your own mind, no matter how twisted it may be.
  • Not precisely a keyboard shortcut, but I've mapped the Control key to one of the thumb buttons on my mouse. The other thumb button is mapped to the Escape key (which is annoying for those all-too-often "The current operation cannot be interrupted or the document is not accessible at this time" messages). On top of that, the three additional buttons on my mouse are mapped to keystrokes "f", "d", and "m"... which are, of course, "zoom to fit," "smart dimension," and "measure," respectively. This leaves even more buttons open to customizing keystrokes on my SpaceExplorer.
  • erica
    can anyone tell me how to avoid or get out of those "operation cannot be interrupted or document is not accessible at this time" other than force-quitting solidworks? it's happening every 10-20 minutes and it's driving me nuts.
  • hmmm, that could be cause by a few things. In 2009, you may be able to hit Esc to cancel the operation. To avoid them we would have to look at all the possible causes.

    It could be the computer - make sure your temp folder is empty, do a defrag
    It could be the graphics card - make sure it's an approved card
    It could be the model - make sure there are no circular references (parts referencing parts)
    It could be a combination - complicated library features and surfaces can increase rebuild times.

    Hope this gives you a place to start looking Erica!
  • John
    I have a few basic ones but my favorites are using the number pad on the keyboard:

    5-top view
    0-bottom view
    4-left view
    6-right view
    +-isometric view
    2-front view
    8-back view

    It really speeds things up.
  • Sammy Mah
    - Hold CTRL and arrow keys to pan your model across the screen.
    - Ctrl+(1-7) for different views.
    - L for line in Sketch mode.
    - CTRL-W close window. (this is become universal across Windows)
  • Not only do I have tons of shortcut, I have a keyboard with extra programmable buttons for more shortcuts, and a second keyboard extentsion with even more buttons and programmed with shortcuts.
  • Tom Cross
    I put the collapse command on one of the buttons of my 3D Connexion Space Pilot spaceball. I wrote an instruction sheet in WORD format that I would be glad to post on this site, if someone can tell me how to do that.

    Tom Cross
  • George Tylinski
    I wear glasses, so no arm restraint needed.
    I do like #7, where was I when that came along?
    I also didn't know you could shortcut the "Collapse"...

    I use CTRL+SHIFT+Z a lot: zoom to preveious view.
    I have CTRL and ESC programmed onto the thumb buttons on the side of my mouse (for all programs).
  • Jason Q
    One that I use often is in assembly, hold alt before you grab a part to start a mate, drag the component to what you want to mate it to, and it will automatically mate the parts, if you need to switch the alignment, the tab key accomplishes this if you press it before releasing the mouse button.
  • @marijn Yeah, me too. And thats why I have c for mate, because I learned constrain first.
  • marijn
    @kyle thats why i have extrude under e like inventor has :)
  • Tom Cross
    Steve and all,

    I'm with you....if I'm not leaning on my left elbow, then that hand is definitely on my Space Pilot. I have the "Collapse" command (for the browser) programmed to button #5. Very handy. I wish SW had an "Expand" command like IV.

    Tom Cross
  • Yeah, shortcuts are great but try using 5 different CAD programs and keeping them straight.
  • Steve_Calvert
    Josh, I'm holding out for the direct mind interface so I don't have to use the keyboard. ;-)

    I use (and cheerish) my SpacePilot and I'd like to keep my left hand there, so I would tend to have some shortcut keys mapped to one of the seems like endless number of buttons. What a great tool...

    Steve
  • BRS
    I love the shortcuts on the keyboards.. The only problem I have have is I'll forget and try to use some of those shortcuts in other programs..and I'll keep trying till I remember..all these amazing shortcuts I have only work on SW.. =/..
  • Josh
    Wow! you guys are just scrapin' the keyboard shortcut jar till there's nothin left! I love it!

    @Charles, yeah, I saw the windows 7 video and it looks great. Like Microsoft Surface but on a laptop. Hope it goes over better than the tablet computer, but I guess we'll see in 2010 or so. I'm thinkin more touchscreen tech will be out before Microsoft gets 7 up and out. The infrared stuff is really picking up steam and allows for some 3D manipulation that a flat screen may not be able to employ as well. exciting stuff!!
  • Justin Burton
    a simple one that I use all the time...

    Hold down control to break alignment whilst placing a drawing view.
    Works nice for sections and iso views

    Justin
  • keith
    My keyboard may be fully mapped, but why stop there? My favorite trick is fairly unknown - alt key sequences. No custom settings required!

    Press the first key combo, release and sequentially hit the next letter(s). Roll your hand into it and you can do it as quick as hitting a cord on the piano.

    Alt+F,A = Save As
    Alt+F,1 = most recent document
    Alt+H,A = About SW (find what version you have)

    Some favorite windows sequences:

    Right click on desktop,W,F = Create New Folder
    Right click on desktop,R,CTRL+SHIFT+TAB = Display Properties
    Right click on my computer,G = Management Console
    Right click on taskbar,K = Task Manager
    Richt click on a item in the taskbar,C = close task

    What I really love about these is how quick they are. You don't have to click on something precisely, you can just get close and choose the options you need with the left hand.

    It helps to show underlined shortcut keys by default - right click on the desktop,R,C,CTRL+SHIFT+TAB,CTRL+SHIFT+TAB,Alt+E,Shift+Tab,Shift+Tab,Shift+Tab,spacebar,enter
  • Charles
    Looks like we might be able to get rid of those keyboards sooner rather than later. Just announced: http://money.cnn.com/2008/05/28/technology/micr...

    Also,
    "S" is for shortcut, "L" is for Line Properties toolbar, "A" is for Alignment toolbar, "CTRL+E" is for sketch, "CTRL+3" is for 3D Sketch, "CTRL+SHFT+S" toggles snapping, "CTRL+SHFT+C" is for coincident, "CTRL+SHFT+L" is for coLinear, etc for all sketch constraints. Plus all the typical windows/SW shortcuts, F, F5, CTRL+P, etc.
  • Tom Cross
    Man Kevin, You are definitely an ex autocad 11 guy, aren't you?

    Tom Cross
  • You might want to poke your eyes out after seeing all of my shortcuts.
    a=zoom all; s=sketch; d=dimension; g=project geometry; l=line; e=extrude(shift e for cut); r=revolve; x=trim; c=mate(constrain); v=view box; b and mouse button=shortcut menu; n=view normal; m=measure; F5=prev view; F6=isometric: F7=section
    NumPad is for sketch constraints. 0=concentricl; 1=vertical; 4=perpendicular; 5=midpoint; 7=collinear; 8=tangent; /=parallel; -=horizontal; +=intersection; .=coincident

    ctrl+MMB=pan
  • Josh
    Very nice guys. I have some of those shortcuts set up as well. I use 'V' for the shortcut bar though and 'S' for going in and out of sketch mode.
  • marijn
    I have
    e for extrude
    s is the s menu
    d is normal to
    q is for edit selected part (there is no edit selected assembly :( )
    It like fps game control but then for solidworks
    I think a gaming keyboard would be nice for solidworks :)
  • Ivan
    Not to shabby, I must say I learned a few myself, even after years of SW experience... thanks! Ditto with Bruce, but I use 'Q' even more for Trimetric view, 'D' for Dimension, 'B' Break View, Shift+'B' Balloons, 'T' Trim... I love the keyboard but covet the SpaceExplorer.
  • Tom Cross
    I agree, but I prefer to keep my left hand on my "Space Pilot" spaceball. I programmed the "S" key menu to one of the function keys on the spaceball. Now I never poke myself in the eye (or nostril) anymore.

    Tom Cross
  • My favorites. "F" to zoom fit, Spacebar to get the views box, and "M" to open the Measure tool. Have to program some of these, but worth it.
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