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 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