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It’s one thing to have a 24″ or 30″ monitor to spread your work across, but when you’re working on a smaller monitor the toolbars and sidebars can take up half the screen. This little tip can change that and make a big difference in how you work.
Quick Usability
I like quick ways to get more usability. This is about as easy as it gets. If you hit F11 when you’re in SolidWorks you can toggle between Full Screen mode. Now, by default your Toolbars, FeatureManager and Taskbar are showing. If you hit F9 and F10 you can hide the FeatureManager and Toolbars, respectively. To hide the Task Pane and get the maximum possible reach, hit Ctrl-F1.
By the way
Once you set which ones you want to show up, SolidWorks remembers this the next time you toggle to full screen. You can easily toggle out, but if you like you can also hit Alt-Tab to switch between other programs. Most other programs also have a Full Screen mode. F11 is a fairly standard quick key for this. If that doesn’t work, it’s usually located in the View menu.
In SolidWorks 2008, working in Full Screen mode is even better. They’ve added a pop-up toolbar (Shortcut bar) you can activate with a quick key. I currently am not using the typical toolbars in 2008 at all.
Fun ways to use this
- To get maximum real estate for working on stuff
- To use in SolidWorks demos
- To use in product or design reviews
- To play a trick on someone that doesn’t know about it
Quick keys for Instant Space
F9 - FeatureManager Toggle
F10 - Toolbar Toggle
F11 - Full Screen Toggle
Ctrl-F1 - Task Pane Toggle
Full Screen Toggled Off
Full Screen Toggled On
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This is the only forum that I could find that goes as far as this; but not as far as I’d like it to go. So I’d like to add this and see if you guys can figure it out.
I’m using SW08 sp3.1 (the latest) and use the s-key functionality for everything. You know, to clear my screen of all the buttons that you use occasionally. BUT, there is that one day when you need that one button to do that one thing you do maybe once a month. You know?
When I press F10 to hide the toolbar, I would like it to stay hidden until I press F10 again. When I open a document, it returns. I spoke with SW tech support a few months ago and he said that it was not meant to act that way. So, I assumed that they were fixing it. That conversation took place during SP2.0. 2.1 came out and nothing; then 3.0, nothing; and now with 3.1… I’m forced to leave it open just for that occasional button that I don’t want to map to my s-bar.
**Yes, I am aware that you can right-click the toolbar and disable the CommandManager all-together; but that triggers the toolbars that are currently visible to undock and clobber you desktop - everytime.
Any suggestions on how to hide the toolbar without it coming back everytime?