Similar to the others, SOLIDWORKS also comes with some common shortcuts that most user familiar with:

Aside from the above common shortcut, here are some popular SOLIDWORKS shortcut-keys often used by users. How many of them do you know?

1.   “F”: Zoom to Fit

Figure 1: The Zoom to Fit function

The designed model will zoom to fit the screen whenever users are in Assembly or Part interface. For Drawings, there is now a separate button for zoom to sheet, which ignores anything (views, annotations, etc.) outside the sheet itself.

2.   “CTRL+Spacebar”: View Orientation

Pressing spacebar will call out the View Orientation and View Selection menu.

Figure 2: The View Orientation function

3.   ” Ctrl + number1-8”: Different Orientation View

Pressing Ctrl and a random number ranged 1 to 8 allow users to look at a face or plane from different direction. Such as, “Ctrl”plus a number “1” will change the selected face or plane into  Front view, “2” was Back view, “3”  was Left view, “4” was Right View, “5” was Top view, “6” was Bottom view, “7” was Isometric view. Aside from them, the function “Ctrl+8” was  “Normal to” function, an important shortcut to let users view their sketch straight on(a.k.a perpendicularly).

Figure 3: The Normal To function.

4.   ” CTRL+S”: Context Sensitive Shortcut Bar

This function allows user to reach to the most recent commands they use frequently.

Figure 4: The Context Sensitive Shortcut Bar menu

5.   “CTRL+F5”: Filter menu.

This function helps user to make selection based on specific criterion, such as planes, lines and bolts.  Alternatively, if users wish to filter based on one specified criterion, pressing E will helps user to directly reached to the Filter Edges, V for Filter Vertices, N for Next Edge, Y for Accept Edge and X for Filter Faces.

Figure 5: The Filter Menu

6.   “CTRL+D”: Selection Breadcrumbs

This function allow user to access the selected piece of geometry in hierarchy form, leading the sketch of the feature and the mates attached to that component. Alternatively, the Selection Breadcrumbs will also appear if left click on a part or assembly.

Figure 6: The Selection Breadcrumbs function

7.   “CTRL+↑” or “CTRL+↓”: Zoom In or Zoom Out

To read the designed model in detailed or view from a distance, users could selectively zoom their model up (zoom in) or down (zoom out). Aside from these keyboard short-cuts, spinning the mouse’s wheel forward and backwards also allows you to zoom in and out. It centers on wherever the cursor is on screen.

8.   “CTRL+Arrow Key”: Rotate in 3D

Users always need to rotate to check the appearance of the designed model.  Therefore, pressing CTRL or holding down the wheel (a.k.a wheel click) while move the mouse pointer in any direction will let users to view the model in 360°. However, if users applied this function in Drawing interface, the function will become “Pan the View”.

9.   “SHFT+ Arrow Keys”: Rotate the model 90º

If user would like to view the model in 90°, pressing “shift+arrow” will change the view of the model with respect to different arrow direction.

10.   “ALT+ Arrow Keys”

Meanwhile, this  function allow users to selectively rotate the designed model in Clockwise or Counter Clockwise direction.

11.   “Ctrl+ B”: Rebuild

After some changes were made on the associated children features in a part or a new file was imported, a rebuilt function is a must to update the image processor or geometry processor, so that the files were checked and geometry or sketch will accommodated with the changes.

Figure 7: The Rebuild Icon at the standard toolbar.

12.   “Ctrl+ Q”: Forced Rebuild

Different from Rebuild function, Force rebuild will  rebuild everything from the beginning of the FeatureTree. It serves as a diagnostic tool for Support to make sure any new features do not break or introduce errors into earlier features.