AutoCAD
Commands
BASIC AUTOCAD COMMANDS
Shortcut/Command Description
BEDIT/ BE Open the block definition in the Block Editor
BCLOSE/ BC Close the Block Editor
CLOSEALL Close all of the open windows in AutoCAD
COPY/ CO Copy objects or text
DISTANCE/ DI Find the distance between two points in a drawing
ERASE/ E Remove or erase objects from a drawing
INSERT/ I Insert (existing block or drawing as a block)
MATLIB Import or export materials from a library
Repeat any command without having to press Enter each time
MULTIPLE (Press Esc key to cancel)
OOPS Restore the last object you deleted
OPTIONS/ OP Open the options window (contains the settings for AutoCAD)
BASIC AUTOCAD COMMANDS
Shortcut/Command Description
PASTECLIP Paste copied objects from the clipboard into your work
PREVIEW See how your work will be presented when printed
QSAVE Autosave the file you’re working on
RECOVERALL Recover and repair a corrupted or damaged drawing
ROTATE/ RO Rotate an object
SAVEALL Save all of the open drawings in AutoCAD
SPELL/ SP Perform a spell check on selected texts
DDSTYLE/ ST Open the text style window
Access information such as the date you created a certain piece
TIME of work, or time spent editing a drawing
DRAWING COMMANDS
Shortcut/Command Description
ARC/ A Create an arc
AREA Find the area of closed or open shapes in a drawing
ARRAY/ AR Make a rectangle, polar, or path array
BLOCK/ B Create a block
CIRCLE/ C Create a circle
DDOSNAP/ DS Open the Drafting Settings window
ELLIPSE Make an ellipse with the major and minor axis
GROUP Group multiple objects into a single unit
HIDEOBJECTS Hide selected objects in a drawing
LINE/ L Create a simple line
MIRROR/ MI Produce a mirror copy of an object
DRAWING COMMANDS
Shortcut/Command Description
MLINE Create multiple parallel lines
PLINE/ PL Make a polyline
POINT/ PO Create a single point within a drawing
POLYGON/ POL Produce a polygon (you select the number of sides, from 3 to 1024)
Make a particular selection from your drawing according to applied filters, i.e –
QSELECT select all lines below a particular length
RECTANGLE/ REC Create a rectangle
SKETCH Draw a freehand sketch within a piece of work
SPLINE Create a smooth curve that passes through or near specified points
XLINE/ XL Create a line of infinite length
MODIFYING COMMANDS
Shortcut/Command Description
ALIGN/ AL Align objects with other objects in 2D and 3D
BASE Alter the base point of a drawing without changing its origin
BREAK Create a break (or gaps) in objects at one or two points
BSAVE Save the current block definition
Explode a block but retain its attribute settings and layer
BURST definition
CHAMFER/ CHA Add a slanted edges to sharp corners of objects
COPYBASE Copy an object according to a base point
DIVIDE Divide objects into multiple equal parts
FILLET/ F Add rounded corners into multiple equal parts
Open the Layer Properties Manage Palette (which allows you to
LAYERS/ LA tweak the settings for layers
MATCHPROPERTIES/ MA Copy the properties of one object onto another
MODIFYING COMMANDS
Shortcut/Command Description
MOCORO Move, copy, rotate and scale an object in one command
PURGE Remove unused objects from a drawing
SCALE/ SC Change the scale of an object
SCALETEXT Change the scale of text
Alter the size of a piece of text so that it fits into the required
TEXTFIT space
TORIENT Change the orientation of the text
TRIM/ TR Trim a shape or line
UNITS Alter the unit settings of your drawing
Break up an object into its individual components—i.e., a
EXPLODE/ X polyline into simple lines
Bind the definitions of named objects in an ref to the current
XBIND/ XB drawing
OTHER COMMANDS & FUNCTIONS
Shortcut/Command Description
Ctrl + d Toggle coordinate display
Ctrl + g Toggle grid
Ctrl + f Toggle running object snaps
Ctrl + Shift + h Toggle Hide pallets
Ctrl + i Toggle Coords
Ctrl + Shift + i Toggle Infer Constraints
Ctrl + 0 Clean screen
Ctrl + 1 Property palette
Ctrl + 7 Markup Set Manager Palette
Ctrl + 8 Quick Calc
Ctrl + 9 Command Line
OTHER COMMANDS & FUNCTIONS
Shortcut/Command Description
F1 Display Help
F2 Toggle text screen
F3 Toggle object snap mode
F4 Toggle 3DOsnap
F5 Toggle Isoplane
F6 Toggle Dynamic UCS
F7 Toggle grid mode
F8 Toggle Ortho mode
F9 Toggle Snap mode
F10 Toggle polar mode
F11 Toggle object snap tracking
F12 Toggle Dynamic input mode
OTHER COMMANDS & FUNCTIONS
Shortcut/Command Description
Ctrl + c Copy object
Ctrl + x Cut object
Ctrl + v Paste object
Ctrl + Shift + c Copy to clipboard with base point
Ctrl + Shift + v Paste data as block
Ctrl + z Undo last action
Ctrl + y Redo last action
Ctrl + [ Cancel current command (or ctrl +\)
ESC Cancel current command
Ctrl + n New drawing
Ctrl + s Save drawing
OTHER COMMANDS & FUNCTIONS
Shortcut/Command Description
Ctrl + o Open drawing
Ctrl + p Plot dialog box
Ctrl + Tab Switch to next
Ctrl + Shift + Tab Switch to previous drawing
Ctrl + Page Up Switch to previous tab in current drawing
Ctrl + Page Down Switch to next tab in current drawing
Ctrl + q Exit
Ctrl + a Select all objects
COMMANDLINE/ CLI Displays the Command line window
DIST/ DI Measure the distance and angle between two points
EXTEND/ EX Extend objects to meet the edges of other
OTHER COMMANDS & FUNCTIONS
Shortcut/Command Description
DONUT/ DO Creates a filled circle or a wide ring
TEXT/ DT Creates a single-line text object
EXPORTPDF/ EPDF Exports drawing to PDF
EXPORT/ EXP Saves the objects in a drawing to a different file format
Creates a list of requirements that an object must meet to be
FILTER/ FI included in a selection set
Fills an enclosed area or selected objects with a hatch pattern,
HATCH/ H solid fill, or gradient fill.
Controls the image display of the brightness, contrast, and fade
IMAGEADJUST/ IAD values of images
IMPORT/ IMP Import files of different formulas into the current drawing
JOIN/ J Joins similar objects to form a single, unbroken object
LAYER/ LA Manages layers and layer properties
QLEADER/ LE Creates a leaders and leader annotation
OTHER COMMANDS & FUNCTIONS
Shortcut/Command Description
LINETYPE/ LT Loads, sets, and modifies linetypes
Sets the current lineweight, line weight display options, and
LWEIGHT/ LW lineweight units.
MOVE/ M Moves objects a specified distance in a specified direction
OFFSET/ O Creates concentric circles, parallel lines, and parallel curves
OSNAP/ OS Sets running object snap modes
PAN/ P Adds a parameter with grips to a dynamic block definition
PEDIT/ PE Edits polylines and 3D polygon meshes
REGEN/ RE Regenerate the entire drawing from the current viewport
RECTANG/ REC Creates a rectangular polyline
ROTATE/ RO Rotates objects around a base point
STYLE/ ST Creates, modifies, or specifies text styles
OTHER COMMANDS & FUNCTIONS
Shortcut/Command Description
TABLE/ TB Creates an empty table object
TOOLBAR/ TO Displays, hides, and customizes toolbars
Saves and restores named views, camera views, layout views,
VIEW/ V and present views
Displays a wheel that contain a collection of view navigation
NAVSWHEEL/ WHEEL tools
XATTACH/ XA Inserts a DWG file as an external reference (xref)
Binds one or more definitions and named objects in an ref to
XBIND/ XB the current drawing
Crops the display of a selected external reference or block
XCLIP/ XC reference to a specified boundary
