49 Hidden SOLIDWORKS Keyboard Shortcuts & Productivity Tips (2026)

Discover the shortcuts, mouse gestures, selection techniques, and productivity tricks that can help you work faster in SOLIDWORKS.

If you use SOLIDWORKS every day, you probably already know the basics: Ctrl + S to save, Ctrl + Z to undo, and Ctrl + C / Ctrl + V to copy and paste.

But SOLIDWORKS has dozens of lesser-known keyboard shortcuts and mouse modifiers that can make an even bigger difference to your daily workflow.

From holding Shift while sketching to using Ctrl + Alt to copy and mate components, these small techniques can eliminate repetitive clicks, reduce mouse movement, and help you keep your focus on your design.

We’ve compiled some of our favorite SOLIDWORKS shortcuts and productivity tips for sketches, parts, assemblies, drawings, and general workflow.

Note: Some commands and behaviors can vary depending on your SOLIDWORKS version, document type, or customization settings.

Before getting into specific modeling shortcuts, let’s start with a few techniques that can improve almost every SOLIDWORKS workflow.

Press S to open the customizable Shortcut Bar directly beside your cursor.

Instead of moving your mouse across the screen to reach the CommandManager or menus, you can keep your most frequently used commands right where you need them.

Even better, the Shortcut Bar is context-sensitive. You can create different shortcuts for:

• Sketches

• Parts

• Assemblies

• Drawings

For example, you could add Extruded Boss/Base to your sketch Shortcut Bar so it’s immediately available when you’ve finished sketching.

Tip: Don’t try to put every command on the S Bar. Keep only the commands you use frequently so it remains quick and easy to navigate.

The Shortcut Bar can also provide quick access to command search.

Instead of hunting through menus to find a command, type what you’re looking for and launch it directly.

This can be particularly useful when you know what you want to do but don’t remember exactly where SOLIDWORKS puts the command.

Ever finish a command and move your mouse all the way to the other side of the screen just to click the green checkmark?

Add OK to your Shortcut Bar.

Now you can finish commands without leaving the area where you’re already working.

It’s a tiny change, but if you confirm dozens of operations every day, those mouse movements add up.

If your mouse has programmable buttons, consider assigning frequently used keyboard commands such as:

• Esc

• Ctrl

• Delete

This can reduce the amount of reaching between your keyboard and mouse and keep your dominant hand focused on your primary tools.

Have several SOLIDWORKS files open?

Hold Ctrl and press Tab to cycle through your open documents.

This is much faster than searching through windows or tabs with your mouse.

If a context toolbar disappears while you’re working, try holding Shift to bring it back to its original position.

This can be especially useful when working with selections and context-sensitive commands.

Sketching is one of the areas where keyboard modifiers can save an enormous amount of time.

When dimensioning an arc or circle, hold Shift to control whether SOLIDWORKS uses the minimum, maximum, or center-to-center condition.

This gives you more control over exactly what you’re dimensioning without having to restart the command.

Hold Shift while creating sketch entities to temporarily enable grid snapping.

This is useful when laying out geometry quickly and you want predictable positioning.

SOLIDWORKS automatically adds sketch relations as you create geometry.

But sometimes you don’t want them.

Hold Ctrl while sketching to temporarily disable automatic relations.

This is particularly useful when creating geometry that needs to remain unconstrained until later.

When working with splines, hold Alt while dragging a spline control.

This lets you modify the controls symmetrically, making it easier to create smooth, controlled curves.

When creating geometry in a 3D sketch, press Tab to cycle through the available XYZ sketch directions.

This is much faster than stopping to manually change the sketch orientation.

Select your sketch geometry, then hold Ctrl while dragging it to another location.

SOLIDWORKS creates a copy instead of moving the original.

Need to reposition a group of sketch entities?

Select them and hold Shift while dragging.

This lets you move the geometry without recreating it.

You don’t always have to select two entities individually to create a sketch relation.

For example, selecting the intersection point of two lines can allow you to apply a perpendicular relation quickly.

Similarly, selecting the intersection of two splines can help you apply a tangent relation.

Look for opportunities to select the geometry’s intersection instead of selecting each entity separately.

Need to divide a line into multiple equal sections?

The Segment tool can split sketch geometry into a specified number of dynamic segments.

Because the segments remain associated with the original geometry, they can update when the length changes.

This can be especially useful for creating evenly spaced geometry.

When using the Line tool, double-click to finish the current line chain while keeping the Line tool active.

This is a simple way to create separate line chains without repeatedly activating the command.

Trying to figure out why a sketch isn’t behaving the way you expect?

Right-click an entity and choose Select Chain.

This can help identify where connected geometry stops, making it easier to find gaps or disconnected entities.

SOLIDWORKS provides visual feedback while you’re sketching.

Pay attention to the relation icons that appear beside your cursor:

• Yellow indicates that a relation is about to be created.

• White indicates a visual guide that won’t create a relation.

Understanding these visual cues can help prevent unwanted sketch relations.

Working with customers, suppliers, or drawings that use different unit systems?

SOLIDWORKS can display both Metric and Imperial units simultaneously in the status bar.

This can save you from constantly switching document units or manually converting measurements.

Select a feature in the FeatureManager design tree and hold Ctrl while dragging it.

SOLIDWORKS creates a copy of the feature.

This works particularly well for repetitive features such as holes, bosses, and cuts.

Hold Shift while dragging a feature to move it to another location.

This can be a much faster alternative to recreating the feature.

Need another plane parallel to an existing reference plane?

Hold Ctrl and drag the existing plane.

SOLIDWORKS creates a new plane based on it.

Having trouble selecting a transparent face?

Hold Shift while selecting the face.

The same modifier can help you select through transparent geometry when Select Through Transparency is disabled.

Hold Alt while dragging an appearance or scene from the Task Pane.

Instead of simply applying it, SOLIDWORKS opens the advanced appearance or scene settings.

This is useful when you’re looking for more control over the result.

Need to quickly rotate your model?

Use Shift + Arrow Keys to rotate the view in 90° increments.

Use Alt + Arrow Keys to rotate the model clockwise or counterclockwise.

Use Ctrl + Arrow Keys to pan the model without reaching for the middle mouse button.

The reference triad isn’t just for clicking.

Hold Ctrl, Shift, or Alt while interacting with the triad to change the model’s orientation in different ways.

When dragging a formed feature onto a face in sheet metal, press Tab to flip its direction.

This lets you change the feature orientation without restarting the command.

Assemblies are where some of these techniques can produce the biggest productivity gains.

Hold Alt, then drag an edge or face from one component onto another.

SOLIDWORKS automatically creates a compatible Smart Mate.

Want to place another copy of a component while mating it at the same time?

Hold Ctrl + Alt and drag the component.

This combines copying and mating into one operation.

Hover over a component and press Tab to hide it.

Press Shift + Tab to show a hidden component again.

Need to find something you’ve hidden?

Press Ctrl + Shift + Tab to temporarily display hidden components as translucent geometry.

You can then select the components you want to show.

Hold Ctrl while dragging a component to create another instance.

This works within an assembly and can also be useful when copying components between assemblies.

Hold Shift while window-selecting components to add them to your existing selection.

Hold Ctrl while window-selecting components to invert the selection.

Components already selected become deselected, while unselected components are added.

When you’ve carefully selected multiple components, right-clicking can sometimes interfere with your selection.

Hold Shift while right-clicking to help preserve your current selection while accessing context commands.

Instead of manually selecting every instance of a component, use Select Identical Components.

For example, if your assembly contains dozens of instances of the same bolt, you can select them all at once—including instances inside subassemblies.

Frequently selecting the same group of components?

Right-click your selection and choose Save Selection.

SOLIDWORKS creates a selection set that you can return to later.

This is especially useful for large assemblies where the same group of components needs to be selected repeatedly.

Need to understand why a component is moving—or isn’t moving?

Use View Mates on the component to see which mates connect it to other components.

It’s a great troubleshooting tool when working with complex assemblies.

If a bolt, shaft, or other component keeps spinning when you don’t want it to, use Lock Rotation on its concentric mate.

You can also right-click the Mates folder to lock the rotation of multiple concentric mates.

The Multi-mate function lets you mate multiple components to a common reference in one operation.

Look for the paperclip icon when creating mates.

This can significantly speed up repetitive assembly work.

If several components already have mates between them, select them together and Ctrl + drag them into the assembly.

SOLIDWORKS can copy the group while preserving the relative mates between those components.

This is particularly useful for repeating mechanisms or hardware groups.

Patterns can be extremely useful, but excessive use of patterns can affect assembly performance.

If a pattern is creating unnecessary overhead, consider whether it can be simplified or, where appropriate, dissolved/decomposed.

Reducing unnecessary feature calculations can make large assemblies more responsive.

The productivity tricks don’t stop once your model is finished.

Use the View Palette to quickly drag standard model views onto a drawing sheet.

It’s often faster than creating and positioning each view manually.

Double-click the boundary of a drawing view.

When you see the four brackets around the view, it is active.

Any notes you create while the view is active can automatically attach to that drawing view.

This can save a surprising amount of cleanup later.

You don’t always have to return to the model to find the perfect orientation.

You can manipulate the 3D orientation of the model directly within the drawing view boundary to create the angle you need.

When working with cameras or walkthroughs, use combinations of:

• Ctrl

• Shift

• Alt

• Middle Mouse Button

These modifiers give you additional control over camera orientation and movement.

One of the most powerful productivity tips is also one of the easiest to overlook:

You don’t have to use SOLIDWORKS exactly as it comes out of the box.

Go to:

Tools → Customize → Keyboard

From here, you can assign keyboard shortcuts to commands you use frequently.

You can also customize your Shortcut Bars and mouse gestures to create a workflow that matches the way you actually work.

For example, if you use the same three commands dozens of times every day, give them easy-to-reach shortcuts rather than repeatedly searching through menus.

The best SOLIDWORKS shortcut isn’t necessarily the one everyone else uses.

It’s the one that eliminates a repetitive action from your workflow.

The biggest productivity gains in SOLIDWORKS don’t always come from learning another complicated feature.

Sometimes, they’re as simple as holding Shift while sketching, pressing S instead of searching through menus, or using Ctrl + Drag to duplicate something you’ve already created.

Try incorporating a few of these shortcuts into your daily workflow. Once they become muscle memory, you’ll wonder how you ever worked without them.

And if you’re ready to take your SOLIDWORKS skills even further, the Solidxperts team can help with certified training, technical support, implementation, and consulting.

Want to become a SOLIDWORKS expert? Contact our team to learn more.