03/09/2020 AutoCAD Commands List - With PDF Cheat Sheet!

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AutoCAD Commands – The Essential List

Isobel . Sep 24, 2018

CAD, Tips and Advice for Users

We probably don’t have to tell you that AutoCAD is one of the leading CAD programs
available on the market today. Whether computer aided design is in your life as a

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business or a hobby, it’s likely you rank this particular software fairly highly (if not top) in
terms of its design capabilities.

If you’ve taken the plunge and purchased it for yourself, you’ll soon ind that it takes
time to get to grips with everything AutoCAD has to offer. The sophistication of the
technology, advanced user interface and sheer range of available tools can,
understandably, be a little overwhelming at irst.

For this article we’re going to assume that you’ve had the opportunity to play around
with AutoCAD, get comfortable with the interface and establish which tools will be
most useful for your particular line of work.

Got the basics irmly under your belt? Great! Now it’s time to take advantage of the
AutoCAD commands. Yes, the folks behind the software know that there’s a lot to take
in, so they created handy shortcuts that enable you to navigate the controls with ease.
Once a few of these commands become second nature, you’ll be producing work in the
most e icient way possible.

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About AutoCAD
What are AutoCAD commands?
AutoCAD commands: The essentials
Basic actions
Drawing
Modifying
3D
AutoCAD commands: Final thoughts

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About AutoCAD

AutoCAD is the lagship product of the

software company Autodesk. Created in
1982 to enable the production of high
quality 2D and 3D technical drawings, it
was actually the irst CAD software
developed for PCs.

Though initially designed to cater to the

mechanical engineering industry, the
capabilities of AutoCAD have since
expanded to suit a wide range of
professionals including architects and
animators.

Today, AutoCAD is considered to be one of the leading design programs available and
has grown to be the most widely used CAD software out there. With new applications
facilitating mobile-friendly options and use of cloud storage services, the software
continues to evolve by integrating technological advancements.

What are AutoCAD commands?

At the bottom of the drawing screen in AutoCAD, you’ll ind the command window.
Trust us: this handy little box is a lifesaver when you have lots of work to do and you’re
up against a deadline.

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Examples of AutoCAD commands that come with shortcuts

In the most basic terms, commands and shortcuts are words or letters that you type
into the command window to produce an action. For example, if you wish to draw an
arc, rather than searching for an arc among the tools, you could just use a command. In
this case, type ‘ARC‘ or even ‘A‘ into the command window, press Enter, and an arc will
appear. 

Some commands come with shortcuts (a single letter alternative), while actions that
are a little less common tend to require a command that is 3 or more letters long.
AutoCAD recognizes hundreds of commands and, once you get more advanced, you
can even customize the toolbar—adding or prioritizing the commands you ind to be
the most useful.  

AutoCAD commands: The essentials

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As you can imagine, given the vast capabilities of AutoCAD, there are a lot of
commands available. Whether you’re sketching designs, drawing up blueprints, or
producing 3D models, there will be commands available to make the job easier. In the
interest of saving time and space, this guide includes the ones that we deem to be the
most useful. So, let’s get started! 

Basic actions

Before getting into the nitty gritty of drawing and modifying commands, it’s important
to get to grips with basic actions you require from most computer software. From
pasting to spell check, here’s a selection of commonly required instructions:

SHORTCUT/ DESCRIPTION
COMMAND

AUDIT Check and remove errors from your work

CLOSEALL Close all of the open windows in AutoCAD

CLOSEALLOTHER Close all open windows except for the one you are
currently working on

CO/ COPY Copy objects or text

DI/ DISTANCE Find the distance between two point in a drawing  

I/ INSERT Insert (existing block or drawing as a block)

LIST Access the properties of the different objects within a

drawing

MATLIB Import or export materials from a library

MULTIPLE Repeat any command without having to press Enter

each time (Press Esc key to cancel)

OOPS Restore the last object you deleted

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OP/ OPTIONS Open the options window (contains the settings for
AutoCAD)

PASTECLIP Paste copied objects from clipboard into your work

PREVIEW See how your work will be presented when printed

QSAVE Autosave the ile you’re working on

RECOVERALL Recover and repair a corrupted or damaged drawing

RO/ ROTATE Rotate an object

SAVEALL Save all of the open drawings in AutoCAD

SP/ SPELL Perform spell check on selected text

ST/ DDSTYLE Open the text style window

TIME Access information such as the date you created a

certain piece of work, or time spent editing a drawing

Drawing

This software is speci ically designed with technical drawing in mind, so you’ll ind a
wide range of geometric shapes and sketching capabilities at your disposal when
working in AutoCAD. To save yourself the time of scrolling through the library every
time you need a particular line or solid, learn some of these commands:

SHORTCUT/ DESCRIPTION
COMMAND

A/ ARC Create an arc

AREA Find the area of closed or open shapes in a drawing

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AR/ ARRAY Make a rectangle, polar or path array

B/ BLOCK Create a block

BCOUNT Count the number of blocks in your drawing

C/ CIRCLE Create a circle

DS/ DDOSNAP Open the Drafting Settings window

GROUP Group multiple objects into a single unit

HIDEOBJECTS Hide selected objects in a drawing

HIGHLIGHT Highlight a selected object in a drawing

ISOLATE Hide all objects in a drawing except the one you have
selected

L/ LINE Create a simple line

MI/ MIRROR Produce a mirror copy of an object

MLINE Create multiple parallel lines

PL/ PLINE Make a polyline

PO/ POINT Create a single point within a drawing

POL/ POLYGON Produce a polygon (you select the number of sides,

from 3 to 1024)

QSELECT Make a particular selection from your drawing

according to applied ilters, i.e – select all lines below a
particular length

REC/ Create a rectangle

RECTANGLE
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SKETCH Draw a freehand sketch within a piece of work

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AutoCAD: Learn the Basics in 1 Hour

Bethany . April 24, 2017

Modifying

Your irst draft is complete—now it’s time to play around with the properties and tweak
your designs where necessary. For this stage, the following commands are sure to
come in handy:

SHORTCUT/ DESCRIPTION
COMMAND

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

BURST Explode a block but retain its attribute settings and

layer de inition

CHA/ CHAMFER Add slanted edges to sharp corners of objects

COPYBASE Copy an object according to a base point

DIVIDE Divide objects into multiple equal parts

F/ FILLET Add rounded corners to the sharp edges of objects

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LA/ LAYERS Open the Layer Properties Manage Palette (which

allows you to tweak the settings for layers)

MA/ Copy the properties of one object onto another

MATCHPROPERTIES

MOCORO Move, copy, rotate and scale an object in one

command

OVERKILL Remove overlapping or unnecessary objects from

your work

PURGE Remove unused objects from a drawing

SC/ SCALE Change the scale of an object

SCALETEXT Change the scale of text

TEXTFIT Alter the size of a piece of text so that it its into the
required space

TEXTTOFRONT Bring annotations to the front

TORIENT Change the orientation of text

TR/ TRIM Trim a shape or line

UNITS Alter the unit settings of your drawing

X/ EXPLODE Break up an object into its individual components—

i.e., a polyline into simple lines

3D

Fear not—the commands are not exclusive to 2D work! If you’re taking your AutoCAD
project to another dimension, there are plenty of commands that can speed up the
process. Here’s a brief taster:

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SHORTCUT/ DESCRIPTION
COMMAND

3DALIGN Align a 3D object with another 3D solid

BOX Create a 3D box

FLATSHOT Convert a 3D drawing into a 2D image and view it from

multiple angles

HELIX Create a helix

IMPRINT Imprint a 2D drawing onto the face of a 3D surface

within your work

INTERFERE Locate points in a drawing where 3D solids intersect

with one another 

POLYSOLID Create a 3D wall-like object

SECTIONPLANE Section 3D objects along different planes 

SURFPATCH Fill open areas of a surface

SURFTRIM Trim surfaces within a piece of work

AutoCAD commands: final thoughts

There you have it—an introduction to some of the most useful AutoCAD commands.
They really can transform your experience of working with this software and improve
overall productivity signi icantly. Plus, if you reach the level where you’re able to
customize the quick access toolbar, you’ll end up with a program tailored to your
particular style of work. Mastering the commands is therefore one of the best ways to
get the most out of your investment in AutoCAD.

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While our list is fairly comprehensive, should you wish to ind more, Autodesk include
a full guide to shortcuts on their website. 

MORE ON AUTOCAD:

Top Tips & Tricks For AutoCAD Newbies

Bethany . March 8, 2017

Isobel

I’ll be covering a range of topics, from conversion tips to the latest tech news.
When I’m not exploring the world of CAD, you’ll ind me discovering new
restaurants or exhausting my Net lix subscription.

TAGS:

AutoCAD

25 Responses

KT RAVIKUMAR  — Nov 14, 2018 at 5:17 AM

Thanks for your valuable information

REPLY

luke  — Nov 14, 2018 at 5:56 PM

You’re welcome!

REPLY

Leo Richard  — Nov 16, 2018 at 1:27 AM

Good

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REPLY

luke  — Nov 16, 2018 at 3:19 PM

Great 😀

REPLY

suraj kushwaha  — Nov 19, 2018 at 5:45 PM

THANK YOU

GREAT WORK

REPLY

luke  — Nov 19, 2018 at 6:21 PM

I’m pleased that you’ve found this list of AutoCAD

commands useful, Suraj

REPLY

devesh  — Dec 15, 2018 at 12:37 AM

how we can divide area of trapezium into n numbers of equal

parts?

REPLY

luke  — Dec 17, 2018 at 10:55 AM

I’d recommend asking a question like this to the

community at CADAnswers.

REPLY

narendran  — Dec 31, 2018 at 5:13 AM

Thanks,Its useful . Do u have any youtube channel or video

tutorials.

REPLY

luke  — Dec 31, 2018 at 1:48 PM

You can ind a selection of guides and video tutorials in

our post Learn AutoCAD in 1 hour

REPLY

Vikas reddy  — Jan 3, 2019 at 2:49 AM

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Thank-you so much .it’s very useful.

REPLY

sufyan azam  — Jan 21, 2019 at 3:48 AM

sir i have to know all commound of 2d and 3d

with examople

REPLY

Shameer  — Jan 29, 2019 at 8:40 AM

Thanksfull,. Great

REPLY

Atif Ullah  — Feb 8, 2019 at 4:18 PM

Thank you so much bro.it’s very useful.

REPLY

Softgudam  — May 3, 2019 at 3:50 PM

thank you very much admin for your important news to share
with us. And more thanks for i get best idea read this article
about this topics. many more days i was searched this topics,
inally i got it.

REPLY

icha  — May 9, 2019 at 3:28 AM

thank you, this is very useful

REPLY

Aarif Ali  — Jun 19, 2019 at 9:53 AM

Can we able to convert either image drawing (or) pdf drawing

into AutoCAD ? if so, how we can do, pl. help in this regard,

REPLY

Luke  — Jun 19, 2019 at 11:22 AM

You can convert your PDF to AutoCAD format (DXF/DWG)

with Scan2CAD.

REPLY

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Althea Erica  — Aug 6, 2019 at 6:20 AM

Thank you!!

REPLY

Charlene G. Caadlawon  — Sep 10, 2019 at 1:14 PM

What are the different methodsin entering coordinates in

Autocad?

REPLY

Luke  — Sep 12, 2019 at 1:19 PM

I’d recommend asking a question like this at CAD

Answers

REPLY

Krishna Mohan  — Feb 18, 2020 at 12:43 AM

What is difference between AutoCAD dwg ile and AutoCAD dxf

ile

REPLY

Luke  — Feb 18, 2020 at 9:55 AM

Here’s a past post that explains the difference: DXF vs

DWG.

REPLY

anuradha  — Feb 21, 2020 at 5:00 PM

how we can remove watermark before plot any process please

give me the steps

REPLY

Luke  — Feb 22, 2020 at 3:50 PM

I recommend asking that question on CAD Answers

REPLY

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