| To Perform | Command | Shortcut |
| Draw an arc with 3 points | ARC | A |
| Calculate the area | AREA | AA |
| Align an object with another | ALIGN | AL |
| Opens application load dialogue box | APPLOAD | AP |
| Make multiple copies of an object | ARRAY | AR |
| Opens Ariel view of drawing | DSVIEWER | AV |
| Opens attribute definition dialogue box | ATTDEF | ATT |
| Audit drawing for errors | AUDIT | AUDIT |
| Edit attribute values for a specific block | ATTEDIT | ATTEDIT |
| Opens block dialogue box in order to make a block | BLOCK | B |
| Closes the block editor | BCLOSE | BC |
| Opens the edit block definition dialogue box | BEDIT | BE |
| Opens block attribute manager | BATTMAN | BATTMAN |
| Displays attribute order dialogue box | BATTORDER | BATTORDER |
| Counts the blocks in a drawing | BCOUNT | BCOUNT |
| Draw a boundary | BOUNDARY | BO |
| Break a line by defining 2 points | BREAK | BR |
| Draw a circle | CIRCLE | C |
| Copy object | COPY | CO or CP |
| Chamfer between 2 non-parallel lines | CHAMFER | CHA |
| Opens select colour dialogue box | COLOR | COL |
| Copy object from one layer to another | COPYTOLAYER | COPYTOLAYER |
| Opens dimension style manager | DIMSTYLE | D |
| Opens design centre | ADCENTER | DC |
| Calculate a distance and angle | DIST | DI |
| Draw a solid donut shape | DONUT | DO |
| Single line text | TEXT | DT |
| Inserts point node a set division | DIVIDE | DIV |
| Opens point style dialogue box | DDPTYPE | DDPTYPE |
| Erase selection | ERASE | E |
| Draw an ellipse | ELLIPSE | EL |
| Extend a line to meet another | EXTEND | EX |
| Enhanced attribute extraction wizard to count blocks | EATTEXT | EATTEXT |
| Draw an arc between 2 intersecting lines | FILLET | F |
| Converts 3D to 2D | FLATTEN | FLATTEN |
| Opens object grouping dialogue | GROUP | G |
| Global attribute edit of multiple blocks | GATTE | GATTE |
| Opens hatch and gradient dialogue box | HATCH | H |
| Opens insert dialogue to insert a block | INSERT | I |
| Insert a block by name | INSERT | -I |
| Display the co-ordinate values of a point | ID | ID |
| Launches image manager | IMAGE | IM |
| Joins 2 objects to form single object | JOIN | J |
| Creates a JPEG file of current drawing | JPGOUT | JPGOUT |
| Draw a line | LINE | L |
| Opens layer manager | LAYER | LA |
| Draw a leader line | QLEADER | LE |
| Display information about objects in a text window | LIST | LI or LS |
| Creates a new layout tab | LAYOUT | LO |
| Change the line type scale | LTS scale | LTS |
| Lengthen or shorten a line | LENGTHEN | LEN |
| Leader line with annotation | LEADER | LEAD |
| Change objects to current layer | LAYERCURRENT | LAYCUR |
| Delete a layer by selecting object | LAYERDELETE | LAYDEL |
| Freeze a layer by selecting object | LAYERFREEZE | LAYFRZ |
| Isolates a layer by selecting object | LAYERISOLATE | LAYISO |
| Lock a layer by selecting object | LAYERLOCK | LAYLCK |
| Match properties of a layer | LAYERMATCH | LAYMCH |
| Moves objects from first layer to second and deletes first | LAYERMERGE | LAYMRG |
| Switches a layer off | LAYEROFF | LAYOFF |
| Switches all layers on except frozen layers | LAYERON | LAYON |
| Restores previous layer state | LAYERPREVIOUS | LAYERP |
| Thaws all layers | LAYTHW | LAYTHW |
| Walk through layers | LAYERWALK | LAYWALK |
| Access Layer manager to save and restore layer states | LMAN | LMAN |
| Move an object | MOVE | M |
| Match properties of an object | MATCHPROPERTIES | MA |
| Inserts point node at input distance | MEASURE | ME |
| Mirror an object | MIRROR | MI |
| Draw multi lines | MLINE | ML |
| Insert block in rectangular array | MINSERT | MINSERT |
| Calculate the region/mass properties of a solid | MASSPROP | MASSPROP |
| Offset an object by distance | OFFSET | O |
| Launches options dialogue box | OPTIONS | OP |
| Pan in drawing | PAN | P |
| Edit a poly line | POLYEDIT | PE |
| Draw a poly line – a complex line | PLINE | PL |
| Point marker or node | POINT | PO |
| Draw a regular polygon 3 to 1024 sides | POLYGON | POL |
| Opens properties dialogue box | PROPERTIES | PR |
| Opens purge dialogue box to remove unused elements | PURGE | PU |
| Preview a plot | PREVIEW | PRE |
| Opens plot/print dialogue box | PLOT | PLOT |
| Rotate an object | ROTATE | RO |
| Construction line in one direction | RAY | RAY |
| Draw a rectangle | RECTANG | REC |
| Region – for example, shading | REGION | REG |
| Edit a block reference in place | REFEDIT | REFEDIT |
| Opens rename dialogue box to rename blocks, layers, etc | RENAME | REN |
| Revision cloud – note can select a poly line | REVCLOUD | REVCLOUD |
| Stretch an object | STRETCH | S |
| Scale an object | SCALE | SC |
| Spell check a selection – ALL to check entire drawing | SPELL | SP |
| Spline or smooth curve along points | SPLINE | SPL |
| Multi-line text | MTEXT | T |
| Opens insert a table dialogue box | TABLE | TB |
| Trim objects | TRIM | TR |
| Displays tool palette | TOOLPALETTES | TP |
| Undo last command | UNDO | U |
| Opens units dialogue box | UNITS | UN |
| Opens view dialogue box | VIEW | V |
| Write a block – for use in other drawings | WBLOCK | W |
| Masks part of drawing for clarity | WIPEOUT | WIPEOUT |
| Displays who has a drawing open | WHOHAS | WHOHAS |
| Explode single entity to component parts | EXPLODE | X |
| Opens x-reference manager | XREF | XR |
| Construction line of infinite length | XLINE | XL |
| Lists type/block name/layer name/colour/line type of a nested object in a block or an xref | XLIST | XLIST |
| Zoom in display – A=All, E=EXTENTS, W=WINDOW | ZOOM | Z |
CAD CAM / July 27, 2021
Shortcut Keys for some common commands in Auto-CAD Drawing
To Perform Command Shortcut Draw an arc with 3 points ARC A Calculate the area AREA AA Align an object with another ALIGN AL Opens application load dialogue box APPLOAD AP Make multiple copies of an object ARRAY AR Opens Ariel view of drawing DSVIEWER AV Opens attribute definition dialogue box ATTDEF ATT Audit drawing […]