Provides a quick guide to which commands are new in this release.
PDF List of AutoCAD Commands Title Block Templates: Free AutoCAD Title Blocks! How to Insert and Georeference a Google Earth Image in AutoCAD AutoCAD 2017 - What's new and a Free 30 Day Trial 10 Awesome AutoCAD Commands You Didn't Know You Needed How to Insert & Georeference Google Earth Image in AutoCAD - Plex.Earth Updated.
2020.1 New Commands and System Variables
New commands | Description | AutoCAD | AutoCAD LT |
---|---|---|---|
None | |||
New system variables | Description | AutoCAD | AutoCAD LT |
TEXTLAYER | Specifies a default layer for new text and multiline text objects in the current drawing. | X | X |
2020 New Commands and System Variables
New commands | Description | AutoCAD | AutoCAD LT |
---|---|---|---|
BLOCKSPALETTE | Opens the Blocks palette. | X | X |
BLOCKSPALETTECLOSE | Closes the Blocks Palette. | X | X |
CLASSICINSERT | Opens the classic Insert dialog box. | X | X |
COMPARECLOSE | Closes the Compare toolbar and exits the comparison. | X | X |
COMPAREEXPORT | Exports the comparison results into a new drawing, called a snapshot drawing, and opens the drawing. | X | X |
COMPAREIMPORT | Imports objects from the compared file into the current drawing. Only the selected objects that exist in the compared file and not in the current file are imported. | X | X |
New system variables | Description | AutoCAD | AutoCAD LT |
BLOCKMRULIST | Controls the number of most recently used blocks displayed in the Recent tab of the Blocks palette. | X | X |
BLOCKNAVIGATE | Controls the file and blocks that are displayed in the Other Drawing tab of the Blocks palette. | X | X |
BLOCKREDEFINEMODE | Controls whether a dialog box is displayed when inserting a block from the Blocks palette with the same name as a block in the current drawing. | X | X |
BLOCKSTATE | Reports whether the Blocks palette is open or closed. | X | X |
2019 New Commands and System Variables
New commands | Description | AutoCAD | AutoCAD LT |
---|---|---|---|
COMPARE | Compares and highlights the differences between two revisions of the same drawing or different drawings. | X | X |
-COMPARE | Using the Command window, compares and highlights the differences between two revisions of the same drawing or different drawings. | X | X |
COMPAREINFO | Allows you to insert or copy the property information about the two compared drawing files. | X | X |
OPENFROMWEBMOBILE | Opens a drawing file from your online Autodesk Web & Mobile Account. | X | X |
SAVETOWEBMOBILE | Saves a copy of the current drawing to your online Autodesk Web & Mobile Account. | X | X |
SHAREDVIEWS | Opens the Shared Views palette. | X | X |
SHAREDVIEWSCLOSE | Closes the Shared Views palette. | X | X |
SHAREVIEW | Creates a representation of the current space or the entire drawing for online viewing and sharing. | X | X |
-SHAREVIEW | Using the Command window, creates a representation of the current space or the entire drawing for online viewing and sharing. | X | X |
New system variables | Description | AutoCAD | AutoCAD LT |
COMPARECOLOR1 | Sets the color of the objects that only exists in the first drawing in the resultant compared drawing file. | X | X |
COMPARECOLOR2 | Sets the color of the objects that only exists in the second drawing in the resultant compared drawing file. | X | X |
COMPARECOLORCOMMON | Sets the color of the objects that are identical in the two drawings being compared. | X | X |
COMPAREFRONT | Controls the default display order of overlapping objects in the compare result drawing. | X | X |
COMPAREHATCH | Controls whether hatch objects are included in the drawing comparison. | X | X |
COMPAREPROPS | Controls whether a change in a non-geometric (display) property is identified as a change between two drawings revisions. | X | X |
COMPARERCMARGIN | Specifies the offset distance from the bounding box of a revision cloud that contains the object differences in the compare result drawing. | X | X |
COMPARERCSHAPE | Controls whether nearby individual changes are merged as a single large rectangle or a series of smaller rectangles in the compare result drawing. | X | X |
COMPARESHOW1 | Displays the objects that exists only in the first drawing. | X | X |
COMPARESHOW2 | Displays the objects that exists only in the second drawing. | X | X |
COMPARESHOWCOMMON | Displays the objects that are identical in both the drawings that are being compared. | X | X |
COMPARESHOWRC | Shows a revision cloud around the difference in the compare result drawing. | X | X |
COMPARETEXT | Controls whether text objects are included in the drawing comparison. | X | X |
COMPARETOLERANCE | Specifies the tolerance used when comparing two drawing files-entities are considered identical if they are below or equal to a specified decimal point value. | X | X |
FILLETPOLYARC | Determines the fillet behavior for polylines that include arcs, either current or legacy. Affects only the Polyline option of the FILLET command. | X | X |
MVIEWPREVIEW | Controls the preview behavior when inserting a named or new layout viewport. | X | X |
SECUREREMOTEACCESS | Controls whether files are restricted from being accessed from internet locations or from remote servers. | X | X |
SHAREVIEWPROPERTIES | Controls whether drawing properties are included with shared views. | X | X |
SHAREVIEWTYPE | Controls whether a shared view is created from the current view, model space or a layout, or created from the entire drawing. | X | X |
STUDENTDRAWING | Reports whether the current drawing was saved with an Autodesk Student Version product. | X | X |
2018.1 New Commands and System Variables
New commands | Description | AutoCAD | AutoCAD LT |
---|---|---|---|
NEWVIEW | Saves a new, named view from what's displayed in the current viewport, or by defining a rectangular window. (Added to AutoCAD LT) | X | X |
New system variables | Description | AutoCAD | AutoCAD LT |
LAYEROVERRIDEHIGHLIGHT | Toggles the visibility of the background color highlighting for layers that have overrides. | X | X |
THUMBSIZE2D | Controls whether thumbnail previews of drawings using the 2D Wireframe visual style are set to a display resolution of 256 x 256 pixels. | X | X |
VISRETAINMODE | Controls the behavior of the VISRETAIN system variable when it's set to 1. | X | X |
XREFLAYER | Specifies a default layer for a new xref. | X | X |
2018 New Commands and System Variables
New commands | Description | AutoCAD | AutoCAD LT |
---|---|---|---|
APPSTORE | Opens the Autodesk App Store website. Command was previously named EXCHANGE. | X | |
New system variables | Description | AutoCAD | AutoCAD LT |
PDFSHX | Converts the SHX geometry imported from PDF files into individual multiline text objects. | X | X |
MILLISECS | Stores the number of milliseconds that have elapsed since the system was started. Note: Use this system variable when you need to calculate time differences in fractions of a second. | X | X |
PDFSHXBESTFONT | When converting imported PDF geometry to text, controls whether the PDFSHXTEXT command uses the best matching font or uses the first selected font that exceeds the recognition threshold. | X | X |
REFPATHTYPE | Controls whether reference files are attached using full, relative or no path when first attached to a host drawing file. | X | X |
SELECTIONOFFSCREEN | Controls the selection of objects that are off-screen. | X | X |
XREFLAYER | Specifies a default layer for a new xref. | X | X |
XREFREGAPPCTL | Controls whether the registered application (RegApp) records stored in an xref being loaded are copied to the host drawing. | X |
2017.1 New Commands and System Variables
New commands | Description | AutoCAD | AutoCAD LT |
---|---|---|---|
HIGHLIGHTNEW | Controls whether new features in product updates are highlighted in the user interface with an orange dot. | X | X |
ONLINEDESIGNSHARE | Publishes design views of the current drawing to a secure, anonymous Autodesk A360 location for viewing and sharing in a web browser. | X | X |
PDFSHXTEXT | Converts the SHX geometry imported from PDF files into individual multiline text objects. | X | X |
-PDFSHXTEXT | Converts the SHX geometry imported from PDF files into individual multiline text objects from the command line. | X | X |
REGEN3 | Regenerates the views in a drawing to repair anomalies in the display of 3D solids and surfaces. | X | |
TXT2MTXT | Converts or combines single-line or multiline text objects into one or more multiline text objects. | X | X |
New system variables | Description | AutoCAD | AutoCAD LT |
EPDFSHX | Controls whether text objects using SHX fonts are stored in PDF files as comments when you export a drawing as a PDF file. | X | X |
PDFSHXLAYER | Controls what layer is assigned to newly created text objects when converting SHX geometry to text objects. | X | X |
PDFSHXTHRESHOLD | Sets the percentage of the selected geometry that must match a font before the geometry is converted to text objects. | X | X |
SHOWNEWSTATE | Indicates whether highlighting new features in updates is active. | X | X |
2017 New Commands and System Variables
New commands | Description | AutoCAD | AutoCAD LT |
---|---|---|---|
3DPRINTSERVICE | Sends a 3D model to a 3D printing service. | X | |
CENTERDISASSOCIATE | Removes associativity of center marks or centerlines from objects they define. | X | X |
CENTERLINE | Creates centerline geometry associated with selected lines and polylines. | X | X |
CENTERMARK | Creates an associative, cross-shaped mark at the center of a selected circle or arc. | X | X |
CENTERREASSOCIATE | Associates or reassociates a center mark or centerline object to selected objects. | X | X |
CENTERRESET | Resets the centerlines to the current value specified in the CENTEREXE system variable. | X | X |
PDFIMPORT | Imports the geometry, fills, raster images, and TrueType text objects from a specified PDF file. | X | X |
-PDFIMPORT | Imports the geometry, fills, raster images, and TrueType text objects from a specified PDF file. | X | X |
New system variables | Description | AutoCAD | AutoCAD LT |
CENTERCROSSGAP | Determines the gap between the center mark and its centerlines. | X | X |
CENTERCROSSSIZE | Determines the size of the associative center mark. | X | X |
CENTEREXE | Controls the length of the centerline extensions. | X | X |
CENTERLAYER | Specifies a default layer for new center marks or centerlines. | X | X |
CENTERLTSCALE | Sets the linetype scale used by center marks and centerlines. | X | X |
CENTERLTYPE | Specifies the linetype used by center marks and centerlines. | X | X |
CENTERLTYPEFILE | Specifies the loaded linetype library file used to create center marks and centerlines. | X | X |
CENTERMARKEXE | Determines whether centerlines extend automatically from new center marks. | X | X |
CURSORTYPE | Determines the cursor type of your pointing device. | X | X |
LTGAPSELECTION | Controls whether you can select or snap to the gaps on objects defined with non-continuous linetype. | X | X |
PDFIMPORTFILTER | Controls what types of data is imported from the PDF file and converted to AutoCAD objects. | X | X |
PDFIMPORTIMAGEPATH | Specifies the folder where referenced image files are extracted and saved when importing PDF files. | X | X |
PDFIMPORTLAYERS | Controls what layers are assigned to objects imported from PDF files. | X | X |
PDFIMPORTMODE | Controls the default processing when importing objects from a PDF file. | X | X |
PDFSHX | Controls whether text objects using SHX fonts are stored in PDF files as comments when you export a drawing as a PDF file. Renamed from EPDFSHX for consistency. | X | X |
PDFSHXLAYER | Controls what layer is assigned to newly created text objects when converting SHX geometry to text objects. | X | X |
PDFSHXTHRESHOLD | Sets the percentage of the selected geometry that must match a font before the geometry is converted to text objects. | X | X |
PLINEGCENMAX | Sets the maximum number of segments that a polyline can have for the application to calculate the geometric center. | X | X |
SHOWNEWSTATE | Indicates whether highlighting new features in updates is active. | X | X |
TEXTEDITMODE | Controls whether the TEXTEDIT command repeats automatically. | X | X |
2016 New Commands and System Variables
New commands | Description | AutoCAD | AutoCAD LT |
---|---|---|---|
CLOSEALLOTHER | Closes all other open drawings, except the current active drawing. | X | X |
CMATTACH | Inserts references to coordination models such as NWD and NWC Navisworks files. | X | |
DIGITALSIGN | Provides a separate command to add a digital signature to a drawing. Removes the Digital Signature tab from the SECURITYOPTIONS command. | X | X |
GOTOSTART | Switches from the current drawing to the Start tab. The Start tab is a successor to the New tab and has a different behavior. | X | X |
PCEXTRACTCENTERLINE | Draws a centerline for a cylindrical segment of a point cloud. | X | |
PCEXTRACTCORNER | Marks the point of the intersection between three detected planes in a point cloud. | X | |
PCEXTRACTEDGE | Infers the edge between two planes and draws a line to mark the edge. | X | |
PCEXTRACTSECTION | Generates 2D geometry from a point cloud that contains section objects. | X | |
POINTCLOUDCROPSTATE | Controls saving, restoring, and deleting point cloud crop states. | X | |
RENDERENVIRONMENTCLOSE | Closes the Render Environment & Exposure palette. | X | |
RENDEREXPOSURECLOSE | Closes the Render Environment & Exposure palette. | X | |
RENDERWINDOW | Displays the Render window. Replaces the RENDERWIN command. | X | |
RENDERWINDOWCLOSE | Closes the Render window. | X | |
SCRIPTCALL | Executes a sequence of commands the same as the SCRIPT command, with the additional capability of also executing nested scripts. | X | X |
SECTIONSPINNERS | Sets the default increment value for the Section Offset and Slice Thickness controls in the Section Plane Contextual Ribbon tab. | X | |
SYSVARMONITOR | Displays the System Variable Monitor dialog box. | X | X |
New system variables | Description | AutoCAD | AutoCAD LT |
CMFADECOLOR | Controls the amount of black blended on all attached coordination models. | X | |
CMFADEOPACITY | Controls the amount of dimming through transparency for all attached coordination models. | X | |
CMOSNAP | Determines whether object snapping is active for geometry in coordination models that are attached to the drawing. | X | |
DIMLAYER | Specifies a default layer for new dimensions. | X | X |
DIMPICKBOX | Sets the object selection target height, in pixels within the DIM command. | X | X |
DIMTXTRULER | Controls the display of ruler when editing a dimension text. | X | X |
EXPVALUE | Specifies the exposure value to apply during rendering. | X | |
EXPWHITEBALANCE | Specifies the Kelvin color temperature (white balance) value to apply during rendering. | X | |
GALLERYVIEW | Controls the type of preview in the ribbon drop-down galleries. | X | X |
IBLENVIRONMENT | Enables image-based lighting and specifies the current image map. | X | |
LEGACYCODESEARCH | Controls whether searching for executable files includes the current and drawing folders. | X | |
LINEFADING | Controls whether line displays are faded when hardware acceleration is on and you have exceeded the line density limits. | X | X |
LINEFADINGLEVEL | When hardware acceleration is on, controls the intensity of the line fading effect. | X | X |
POINTCLOUD2DVSDISPLAY | Turns off or on the bounding box and text message when viewing a point cloud in the 2D Wireframe visual style. | X | |
RENDERENVSTATE | Indicates whether the Render Environment & Exposure palette is open or closed. | X | |
RENDERLEVEL | Specifies the number of iterations, or levels, the render engine performs to create the rendered image. | X | |
RENDERLIGHTCALC | Controls the rendering accuracy of lights and materials. | X | |
RENDERTARGET | Controls the duration to use for rendering. | X | |
RENDERTIME | Specifies the number of minutes that the render engine uses to iteratively refine a rendered image. | X | |
REVCLOUDCREATEMODE | Specifies the default input for creating revision clouds. | X | X |
REVCLOUDGRIPS | Controls the number of grips displayed on a revision cloud. | X | X |
SECTIONOFFSETINC | Sets the default increment value for the section object slice thickness control. | X | |
SECTIONTHICKNESSINC | Sets the default increment value for section object offset control. | X | |
SELECTIONEFFECTCOLOR | Sets the color of the glowing highlighting effect on object selection. | X | X |
STARTINFOLDER | Stores the drive and folder path from where the product was started. | X | X |
STARTMODE | Controls whether the Start tab is displayed. | X | X |
SYSMON | Specifies whether changes to system variables values are monitored. | X | X |
WORKINGFOLDER | Stores the drive and folder path of the operating system's working folder or current directory for the process, which can be of interest to developers. | X | X |
XREFOVERRIDE | Controls the display of object properties on referenced layers. | X | X |
2015 New Commands and System Variables
New commands | Description | AutoCAD | AutoCAD LT |
---|---|---|---|
GEOMAPIMAGE | Captures a portion of the online map to an object known as a map image, and embeds it in the drawing area. | X | X |
GEOMAPIMAGEUPDATE | Reloads map images from the online maps service and optionally resets their resolution for optimal on-screen viewing. | X | X |
ISODRAFT | Turns isometric drafting on or off along with all related settings, and specifies the current 2D isometric drafting plane. | X | X |
NEWTAB | Obsolete. Displays a New Tab which allows direct access to files, learning resources, Autodesk A360 and more. | X | X |
ONLINEAUTOCAD360 | Obsolete. Launches AutoCAD 360 in your default browser. | X | X |
PMTOGGLE | Controls whether the Performance Recorder is turned on or off. The Performance Feedback tool can be used to record performance issues for analysis by Autodesk. | X | |
POINTCLOUDCOLORMAP | Displays the Point Cloud Color Map dialog box, used to define settings for Intensity, Elevation, and Classification point cloud stylizations. | X | |
POINTCLOUDCROP | Crops a selected point cloud to a specified polygonal, rectangular, or circular boundary. | X | |
POINTCLOUDMANAGER | Displays the Point Cloud Manager palette, used to control display of point cloud projects, regions, and scans. | X | |
POINTCLOUDMANAGERCLOSE | Closes the Point Cloud Manager. | X | |
POINTCLOUDSTYLIZE | Controls the coloration of point clouds. | X | |
POINTCLOUDUNCROP | Permanently removes all cropped areas from selected point clouds. | X | |
PTYPE | Specifies the display style and size of point objects. | X | X |
RECAP | Launches Autodesk ReCap from within AutoCAD. | X | |
TEXTALIGN | Aligns multiple text objects vertically, horizontally, or obliquely. | X | X |
New system variables | Description | AutoCAD | AutoCAD LT |
COLORTHEME | Sets the color theme of the ribbon, palettes, and several other interface elements to dark or light. | X | X |
COMMANDPREVIEW | Controls whether a preview of the possible outcome of the command is displayed. | X | X |
COMPLEXLTPREVIEW | Controls whether a preview of the complex linetype is displayed during interactive operations. | X | X |
CURSORBADGE | Determines whether the cursor badge are displayed in the drawing area. | X | X |
HIGHLIGHTSMOOTHING | Controls the anti-aliasing effect on object highlighting. | X | X |
HPLINETYPE | Controls how non-continuous linetypes are displayed in hatch patterns. | X | X |
LAYOUTTAB | Controls whether Model and Layout tabs are displayed or not. | X | X |
MTEXTAUTOSTACK | Controls autostacking for the MTEXT command. | X | X |
MTEXTDETECTSPACE | Controls whether the keyboard spacebar is used to create list items in the MTEXT command. | X | X |
NEWTABMODE | Obsolete. Specifies whether clicking the plus sign (+) on the file tab bar displays the New Tab or opens a new drawing. | X | X |
ORBITAUTOTARGET | Controls how the target point is acquired for the 3DORBIT command. | X | |
OSNAPOVERRIDE | Determines whether the object snap settings in the OSNAP dialog are enforced. | X | X |
PCMSTATE | Indicates whether the Point Cloud Manager is open or closed. | X | |
POINTCLOUDLIGHTING | Controls the way lighting effects are displayed for a point cloud. | X | X |
POINTCLOUDLIGHTSOURCE | Determines the light source for point clouds when lighting is turned on. | X | X |
POINTCLOUDLOD | Sets the level of density of point display for point clouds. | X | X |
POINTCLOUDPOINTMAXLEGACY | Applies only to legacy (pre-2015) point clouds. Sets the maximum number of points that can be displayed for all legacy point clouds attached to the drawing. | X | X |
POINTCLOUDPOINTSIZE | Controls the size of the points for new point cloud objects. | X | X |
POINTCLOUDSHADING | Specifies whether the brightness of the points in the point cloud are diffuse or specular. | X | X |
POINTCLOUDVISRETAIN | Controls whether a legacy drawing (created in AutoCAD 2014) retains the on or off status of individual scans (RCS files) and regions referenced by an attached point cloud project (RCP file). | X | X |
SELECTIONEFFECT | Specifies the visual effect used when objects are selected. | X | X |
SORTORDER | Specifies whether the layer list is ordered using a natural sort order or ASCII values. | X | X |
TEXTALIGNMODE | Stores the alignment option for aligned text. | X | X |
TEXTALIGNSPACING | Stores the spacing option for aligned text. | X | X |
TEXTALLCAPS | Converts all new text created by TEXT or MTEXT commands to uppercase. | X | |
TEXTAUTOCORRECTCAPS | Corrects common text errors that result from accidentally leaving the Caps Lock turned on. | X |
2014 New Commands and System Variables
New commands | Description | AutoCAD | AutoCAD LT |
---|---|---|---|
DESIGNFEEDCLOSE | Obsolete. Closes the Design Feed palette. | X | X |
DESIGNFEEDOPEN | Obsolete. Opens the Design Feed palette. | X | X |
FILETAB | Displays the File tabs at the top of the drawing area. | X | X |
FILETABCLOSE | Hides the File tabs at the top of the drawing area. | X | X |
GEOLOCATEME | Displays or hides an indicator that shows your current position. | X | X |
GEOMAP | Displays a map from an online maps service, in the current viewport. | X | X |
GEOMARKLATLONG | Places a position marker at a location defined by a latitude and longitude. | X | X |
GEOMARKME | Places a position marker in model space at the spot corresponding to your current position. | X | X |
GEOMARKPOINT | Places a position marker at a specified point in model space. | X | X |
GEOMARKPOSITION | Places a position marker at a location you specify. | X | X |
GEOREMOVE | Removes all geographic location information from the drawing file. | X | X |
GEOREORIENTMARKER | Modifies the orientation and position of the geographic marker without changing its latitude and longitude properties. | X | X |
INPUTSEARCHOPTIONS | Controls settings for working with AutoComplete and AutoCorrect suggestions on the command line. | X | X |
ONLINEOPENFOLDER | Obsolete. Opens your local Autodesk A360 folder in Windows Explorer. | X | X |
WEBLOAD | Loads a JavaScript file from a URL, and then executes the JavaScript code contained in the file. | X | |
New system variables | Description | AutoCAD | AutoCAD LT |
CGEOCS | Stores the name of the GIS coordinate system assigned to the drawing file. | X | X |
CLAYOUT | Sets the current layout. | X | X |
DESIGNFEEDSTATE | Obsolete. Indicates whether the Design Feed palette is open or closed. | X | X |
DIMCONTINUEMODE | Determines whether the style of a continued dimension is based on the dimension that is being continued or on the current dimension style. | X | X |
FILETABPREVIEW | Controls the type of preview, list view or thumbnail view, when you hover over a file tab. | X | X |
FILETABSTATE | Indicates the display status of the file tabs at the top of the drawing area. | X | X |
FILETABTHUMBHOVER | Specifies whether the corresponding model or layout loads in the drawing window when you hover over a file tab thumbnail. | X | X |
GEOMARKPOSITIONSIZE | Specifies the scale factor to use for point objects and multiline text objects when creating position markers. | X | X |
HPPICKMODE | Sets whether the default method for identifying what to hatch is to select a point or to select an object. | X | X |
INPUTSEARCHDELAY | Sets the number of milliseconds to delay before the command line suggestion list is displayed. | X | X |
POINTCLOUDCACHESIZE | Specifies amount of memory the reserved to display for point clouds. | X | X |
POINTCLOUDVISRETAIN | Controls whether the drawing retains the on or off status of point cloud scan files that are referenced by an attached RCP file. | X | |
SAFEMODE | Indicates whether executable code can be loaded and executed in the current AutoCAD session. | X | |
SECURELOAD | Controls whether AutoCAD loads executable files based on their location. | X | |
TEXTJUSTIFY | Displays the default justification used by the TEXT command to create single-line text. | X | X |
TOUCHMODE | For those using a touch-enabled screen or interface, controls the display of the Touch panel on the ribbon. | X | X |
TRUSTEDDOMAINS | Controls the domain names or URLs from which AutoCAD can run JavaScript code. | X | |
TRUSTEDPATHS | Controls the folders from where AutoCAD can load and execute files that contain executable code. | X |
Autodesk
2013 New Commands and System Variables
New commands | Description | AutoCAD | AutoCAD LT |
---|---|---|---|
ARRAYCLASSIC | Displays the legacy Array dialog box. | X | X |
ONLINECOLNOW | Obsolete. Starts an online session with AutoCAD WS, in which people that you invite can simultaneously view and edit your current drawing. | X | X |
ONLINEDOCS | Obsolete. Opens your Autodesk A360 documents list and folders in a browser. | X | X |
ONLINEOPTIONS | Obsolete. Opens the Online tab of the Options dialog box. | X | X |
ONLINESHARE | Obsolete. Designates who can access the current document from Autodesk A360. | X | X |
ONLINESYNC | Obsolete. Starts or stops syncing your custom settings with Autodesk A360. | X | X |
ONLINESYNCSETTINGS | Obsolete. Displays the Choose Which Settings Are Synced dialog box where you can specify selected settings to be synced. | X | X |
OPENFROMCLOUD | Obsolete. Opens an existing drawing file from your local Autodesk A360 sync folder. | X | X |
POINTCLOUDCLIP | Obsolete. Crops the display of a selected point cloud to specified boundaries. | X | |
POINTCLOUDINTENSITYEDIT | Obsolete. Opens the Point Cloud Intensity Color Mapping dialog box that specifies intensity color mapping for eligible point clouds. | X | |
SAVETOCLOUD | Obsolete. Saves an existing drawing file to your local Autodesk A360 sync folder under a new file name. | X | X |
SURFEXTRACTCURVE | Extracts isolines curves from a surface. | X | |
VIEWCOMPONENT | Selects drawing view components for editing. | X | |
VIEWDETAIL | Supports the creation of detail views by selecting an existing drawing view | X | |
VIEWSECTION | Supports the creation of section views by selecting a drawing view to cut. | X | |
VIEWDETAILSTYLE | Supports the creation or modification of detail view styles. | X | |
VIEWSECTIONSTYLE | Supports the creation and editing of section view styles. | X | |
VIEWSYMBOLSKETCH | Activates model space for a view and enters a “view sketching” state to edit and constrain a section line or detail boundary | X | |
VIEWSKETCHCLOSE | Exits a “view sketching” state and makes paper space current. | X | |
New system variables | Description | AutoCAD | AutoCAD LT |
ANNOMONITOR | Turns the annotation monitor on and off. | X | X |
ARRAYASSOCIATIVITY | Sets the default behavior of new arrays to be associative or non-associative. | X | X |
CACHEMAXFILES | Sets the maximum number of graphics cache files saved in the local configured temporary folder for the product. | X | X |
CACHEMAXTOTALSIZE | Sets the maximum total size of all graphics cache files saved in the local configured temporary folder for the product. | X | X |
CLIPROMPTLINES | Sets the number of lines displayed in the temporary prompt history when an undocked command window is set to display just the prompt line. | X | X |
CLIPROMPTUPDATE | Controls whether the command line displays the messages and prompts generated while an AutoLISP or script file is being executed. | X | X |
ONLINEDOCMODE | Obsolete. Indicates whether a copies of your drawings and linked files are uploaded automatically to Autodesk A360. | X | X |
ONLINESYNCTIME | Obsolete. Controls the time interval for synchronizing current customization settings with a local cache, which is then stored in Autodesk A360. | X | X |
PLINEREVERSEWIDTHS | Controls the appearance of a polyline when it is reversed. | X | X |
POINTCLOUDBOUNDARY | Turns the display of a point cloud bounding box on and off. | X | X |
POINTCLOUDCLIPFRAME | Controls whether clipping boundaries on legacy point clouds are visible on screen and in printouts. | X | X |
POINTCLOUDPOINTMAX | Sets the maximum number of point cloud points that can exist in a drawing. | X | |
PROPERTYPREVIEW | Controls whether you can preview the changes to currently selected objects when you roll over drop-down lists and galleries that control properties. | X | X |
PROPPREVTIMEOUT | Sets the maximum number of seconds for a property preview to display before the preview is automatically cancelled. | X | |
SELECTIONPREVIEWLIMIT | Limits the number of objects that can display preview highlighting during a window or crossing selection. | X | X |
SNAPGRIDLEGACY | Specifies whether the grid snap is active only when specifying a point, or also during object selection. | X | |
THUMBSAVE | Controls whether BMP preview images are saved with the drawing. | X | X |
VIEWSKETCHMODE | Turns the view sketching state on or off. | X | |
VIEWUPDATEAUTO | Specifies whether Model Documentation views are updated automatically when changes are pending. | X | |
WIPEOUTFRAME | Controls the display of frames for wipeout objects. | X | X |
Related Concepts
Related Reference
In this massive list of approximately 150 AutoCAD commands, I have tried to include some of the most useful commands, Keyboard Shortcuts and Tools which every AutoCAD user must know. Some of the commands in this list are very basic which are used very frequently and also there are commands and tools which are not often used despite their great features.
Subscribe to download this AutoCAD command list as PDF eBook
This is the list of some of the most basic AutoCAD commands which every AutoCAD user should know. These are some of the Draw and Modify commands which make the very basics of AutoCAD and if you are just starting to learn AutoCAD then you should know all of these basic commands.
L
It can be used for making simple lines in the drawing.
C
It is the command used for making a circle in AutoCAD.
PL
This command can be used to make a Polyline in your drawing.
REC
This command will make a rectangle in AutoCAD.
POL
This command can be used to make a polygon with minimum of 3 sides and a maximum of 1024 sides.
ARC
As the name suggests, this command can be used to make an arc in AutoCAD.
ELLIPSE
As the name suggests, this command can be used to make an ellipse with the major and minor axis.
REG
This command can be used to make a region geometry in AutoCAD.
CO
This command is used to copy object(s) in AutoCAD.
ARRAY
Using this command you can make Rectangular, polar or Path array.
TR
This command is used for trimming a geometry.
OP
Using this command you can open options window which contains most of the settings of AutoCAD.
SC
This command is used to change the scale of an object.
B
This command is used for creating a block, the properties of the block can be defined using the block definition window.
I
This command can be used to insert an existing block or a drawing as a block in AutoCAD.
ST
Using this command you can open text style window which controls properties of the default AutoCAD text style.
X
This command can be used to explode objects like Polyline to simple lines, an array or a block to a simple geometry etc.
F
This command can be used to add rounded corners to the sharp edges of the geometry, these round corners are also called fillets.
CHA
This command can be used to add slant edges to the sharp corners, these slant edges are also called chamfers.
LA
This command can be used to open layer properties manage palette which is a tool for creating and managing layers in a drawing.
Keyboard shortcuts or hotkeys are the shortest and quickest way of activating some of the common AutoCAD operations or commands. In this list I have included some of the most frequently used and useful keyboard shortcuts.
Ctrl + N
You can use this shortcut to open a new drawing a tab in AutoCAD.
Ctrl + S
You can use this keyboard shortcut to save a drawing file.
Ctrl + Shift + S
You can use this keyboard shortcut to save the drawing as a new file, in short, this is the hotkey for “save as” command.
Ctrl + 0
Clears screen to show only the drawing area and hides palettes and tabs. Press it again to reset default AutoCAD interface.
Ctrl + 1
Select and object and press Ctrl + 1 to open the properties palette which lists properties of the object. You can use this palette to modify most of the properties of the object too. You can also use PR command to open the property palette.
Related: Increase productivity by modifying quick properties in AutoCAD
Ctrl + 2
You can use it to open design center palette which contains many AutoCAD blocks that can be used directly in your drawing.
Ctrl + 9
You can use this keyboard shortcut to toggle the visibility of the command line. If for some reason your command line is hidden from the drawing area, then use this keyboard shortcut to bring it back.
Ctrl + C
Select objects from the drawing area and press Ctrl + C to copy to objects to the clipboard.
Ctrl + V
To paste the copied objects of the clipboard in the drawing keeping their original properties, you can use this keyboard shortcut.
Ctrl + Shift + V
To paste the copied objects as a block you can use this keyboard shortcut, the block thus created will have a random set of characters as is name. You can use this keyboard shortcut to make blocks quickly without going through the create block window.
Ctrl + Z
This keyboard shortcut can be used to undo last action in your drawing. You can press this shortcut key multiple times to undo many actions.
Ctrl + Y
This keyboard shortcut can be used to redo the last undo action which you have performed.
Ctrl + Tab
You can use this keyboard shortcut to cycle through all open drawing tabs in AutoCAD.
The status bar is an important feature of AutoCAD user interface and its tools are required quite frequently while making or editing your drawing hence they are available on status bar for easy access. You can activate or deactivate status bar icons using keyboard shortcuts, commands or by clicking on its respective icon.
In this section, I have listed the most frequently used status bar options along with their properties and uses.
F7
This status bar tool will toggle the visibility of background grid which is often visible in your drawing area.
F9
Toggle Snap mode, when snap mode is active AutoCAD cursor will jump to specific points in the drawing area which is defined in snap mode.
DYNMODE
By default the value of this system variable is set to -3 which keeps it off you change this system variable to 3 to make dynamic input active. Dynamic input allows you to add information dynamically on the cursor tooltip.
F8
Toggles Ortho mode on/off. When ortho mode is on you can make lines either horizontally or vertically only.
F10
Toggles Polar tracking on/off. With polar tracking active you can make lines inclined to any angle which is defined in the polar tracking increment angle.
ISODRAFT
Using this toggle you can activate the isometric drawing plane in AutoCAD. You can select from Isoplane Left, Isoplane Top and Isoplane Right. You can also toggle between different isoplanes using F5 function key. The default value of ISODRAFT option is orthographic.
More about making isometric drawing using this tool here: How to make isometric drawing in AutoCAD
F11
Toggles Object snap tracking on/off. Using this option you can track snap points of geometries like center, midpoint, endpoint etc and make geometries with their reference.
F3
One the most important status bar toggles. This function key activates/deactivates object snap option, when object snap is active you will be able to snap your cursor to some exact points in the geometry like End, center, quadrant, tangent etc. This option allows you to make precise AutoCAD drawings.
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LWDISPLAY
This system variable toggles the visibility of lineweight in a drawing. The default value of this system variable is OFF which keeps the lineweight display off you can change its value to ON to keep lineweight visible in the drawing area.
TRANSPARENCYDISPLAY
Just like lineweight this status variable allows you to toggle the visibility of transparency of an object. You change the value of this system variable to 1 to make transparency visible or 0 if you want to make it invisible.
SELECTIONCYCLING
Using this system variable you can select overlapping objects very easily. When the value of this system variable is set to 2, an overlapping icon and a menu containing a list of overlapping objects appear and you can select the required object from this list.
If you set the value of this system variable to 1, only the overlap icon appears not the menu. You can turn this off by changing the value of this system variable to 0.
F6
Dynamic UCS can be activated or deactivated using this function key. Using dynamic UCS you can make geometries directly of the face or another 3D object irrespective of the position of UCS. You can also toggle dynamic UCS using UCSDETECT system variable, the values of this system variable can be 1 for ON and 0 for OFF.
GRAPHICSCONFIG
Using this status bar option you can open Graphics configuration window which is used to change settings related to display and graphics properties of AutoCAD. You can also use 3DCONFIG for opening the graphics performance window.
These are some of the commands which can be frequently used in your drawing workflow to improve your overall efficiency. You might be familiar with many of these commands but there are also some commands which are really helpful still they remain largely unused.
BCOUNT
This command is useful for counting the number of blocks in your drawing. It reports the number of each instance of block used in the drawing along with its name. To count the block it should be visible in the drawing area.
TXTEXP
Using this command you can convert single line as well as multiline text into geometries.
XLINE (XL)
Using this command you can make infinite lines starting from the point of selection. When you trim or break this infinite line to a finite length it becomes a simple line geometry.
POINT (PO)
This command makes a single point geometry in the drawing. To modify the type of point created by this command you can use PTYPE command and choose the desired point type from Point Style window.
REVCLOUD
Using this command you can make a revision cloud geometry by freehand sketching.
SKETCH
You can make a freehand sketch using this command. You can use Line, Polyline or Spline as the object type for making this freehand sketch.
MULTIPLE
If you want to repeat any command without pressing enter key then use MULTIPLE command. To cancel repetition of command press ESC key.
NCOPY
Use this command to copy nested objects from a block or Xref without exploding them.
‘CAL
Using this subcommand you can perform calculations directly on the AutoCAD command line even when you are in the middle of a command. You can start this subcommand by entering ‘CAL (don’t forget to add an apostrophe before CAL) while running any other command.
To know more about this subcommand refer the related article.
Related:Six tips to make you more productive in AutoCAD
BURST
Explodes the block containing attributes retaining the attribute setting and its layer definition. This is especially helpful if you want to retain the text of attribute after exploding the block.
SP
Using this command you can check the spelling of selected text and correct the spellings from Check Spelling window.
ARCTEXT
This command can be used to write arc aligned text in AutoCAD. You can use this command to even write text aligned to a circle. More about this command can be found in this related article.
Related: How to curve text in AutoCAD, along Arc and Circle
OOPS
This command can be used to restore the last deleted object in your drawing. After deleting an object if you made many other changes in the drawing and realized that you might need to restore the deleted object then simply type OOPS and press enter.
CHSPACE
This command can be used to change the space of an object from model space to paper space and vice versa. See the animated image shown below for reference.
DIVIDE
You can use this command to divide any 2D geometry into many equal parts. At each point of division, a point geometry will be added on the 2D curve. More about this command can be found in this related article.
Related: Divide AutoCAD objects into equal parts
RENAME
If you need to rename any named object like layer, block or linetype simply use this command to rename it. More about this command can be found in this related article.
Related: How to rename named objects in AutoCAD
BREAK
This command can be used to break 2D geometries at one or two points. It is helpful if you want to break a curve at the point of intersection with other curve or if you want to create a gap by breaking a part of the geometry.
TIME
Using this command you can find a lot of information about your drawing like the date when the drawing was created and total editing time consumed on the drawing.
QSELECT
This command can be used to make the selection from your drawing with filters. As an example, you can use quick select to make a selection set containing all circles of the drawing with the radius of a particular value.
DI
It can be used to find the distance between two points in the drawing.
COPYBASE
Using this command you can copy any object using a base point.
PASTECLIP
You can paste the copied objects from clipboard to your drawing using this command. If you use COPYBASE to copy the objects then you will be able to paste it in the same or another drawing with the selected base point.
LIST
Using this command you can find lots of properties of an object like the layer they are on, area, length or radius, perimeter or circumference and a lot more. To use this command simply type LIST on the command line then press enter and select the object from drawing area about which you want to know and press enter again.
DIM
This command was introduced in AutoCAD 2016 version and it can be used to make most of the dimensions like Linear, aligned, radius, diameter and baseline. To access this command you can use DIM command or select the DIM tool from dimensions panel of Annotate tab.
TOLERANCE
If you want to add a feature control frame representing tolerance related information in your drawing then you can use this command.
SCALETEXT
Using this command you can change the scale of existing Text or Mtext object in the drawing. To use this command type SCALETEXT on the command line press enter and select the text from drawing area and press Enter again.
Now select “Existing” option from the command line and then select “scale factor” option and then type the scale in which you want to convert the text height and press enter. When the scale of these text entities are changed the base point will remain fixed.
BASE
Using this command you can change the base point of a drawing without changing its origin. This is especially helpful in the situation where you want to insert the drawing into another as a Xref. By default, AutoCAD takes origin as the base point which can be modified using this command without changing the origin.
DWGPREFIX
If you have a drawing open in AutoCAD and you don’t know the location where it is saved you can simply type DWGPREFIX command to look it. This command can be used to quickly find the location of Xref’s attached in the drawing.
TJUST
Using this command you can change the text justification of Text and Mtext elements in the drawing.
UNITS
Using this command you can set the drawing units and other settings like the precision of linear and angular dimensions and default rotation angle.
ML
Using this command you can make a multiline geometry which contains multiple parallel lines.
TINSERT
You can insert a block or a drawing as a block in the table using this command. You can also fit the block in the table cell and also justify its location automatically with TINSERT dialogue box. I have made a simple table by importing blocks of design center as shown in the image below.
Autodesk Autocad Commands
MIRRTEXT
By default, AutoCAD does not mirror text in the drawing but if you want to mirror the text of your drawing then change the value of MIRRTEXT system variable to 1.
AREA
As the name suggests this command can be used to find the area of closed or open shapes in the AutoCAD drawing. To know more about finding the area in AutoCAD drawings refer to this related article.
Related: How to find area in AutoCAD drawings, here are three different ways
TORIENT
Using this command you can reorient text entities in a best readable position. In image A below the text is oriented at different angles and in some of the situations, the text is not properly readable. Whereas in image B below TORIENT command has been used to make the text readable for all angles.
ID
This command can be used to find the coordinate values of a point in AutoCAD drawing.
MINSERT
Using this command you can insert existing blocks of a drawing as a rectangular array component. An array added using MINSERT command can’t be exploded.
BOUNDARY
Using this command you can extract closed boundaries from any enclosed area. This boundary can be used to find the area of the enclosed region or for many other applications. In the image below the boundary of the area mentioned as A has been extracted as a polyline using BOUNDARY command.
DIMROTATED
This command can be used to make a dimension line inclined to a particular angle with respect to the positive side of the X-axis. In the example shown below the dimensions are made with DIMROTATED command.
BREAKLINE
You can use this tool to make a Breakline symbol on a line. Type BREAKLINE on the command line and press enter then click on scale option of the command line and apply an appropriate scale to the breakline.
Select the starting and end points of the breakline then click at any point on the line to specify the location of breakline or directly press enter to place it exactly at the center of the line.
TXT2MTXT
Using this command you can convert a text object into a Mtext object and you can also combine multiple separate Mtext objects into a single Mtext unit.
SAVEALL
As the name suggests this command can be used to save all of the open drawings in AutoCAD window.
There are many best practices that you follow to keep your AutoCAD software and PC in great working condition and there are also many inbuilt tools and commands in AutoCAD that help you in keeping the performance of your software properly optimized. In this section, you will find all those performance and optimization related commands which you can use in your daily workflow.
PURGE
This command can be used to remove unused named objects like layers, blocks and dimension styles from the drawing.
LAYDEL
Using this command you can delete some of the most stubborn layers from your drawing which can’t be removed using PURGE command. This command can also remove Defpoints layer and also layer containing objects but I would not recommend that.
FILLMODE
Using this system variable you can turn off or on the visibility of filled area in hatches or wide polylines by changing its value to 0 or 1 respectively. By turning the FILLMODE to off you can enhance the performance of AutoCAD by limiting resources consumed on regenerating the filled geometries.
You need to regenerate the drawing using REA command after changing this system variable to see its effect on the drawing.
APERTURE
This system variable controls the area of influence of object snap. The aperture size as defined by this system variable is the area of the square under which the point will be selected if the cursor is brought into it. The default value of this aperture is 10 but depending on the complexity of the drawing you can change this value between 1-50.
The size of the aperture is relative to the current scale of the screen and it is not an absolute value. In the image below the red box (not visible in AutoCAD) is the aperture size for two values 10 and 50 respectively.
OVERKILL
Use this command to remove overlapping or unnecessary geometries from the drawing.
ISAVEPERCENT
You can change the value of this system variable to reduce the time it takes to save a drawing. This system variable also affects file size of AutoCAD drawings and its compatibility with other softwares.
By decreasing the value of this system variable you can increase its compatibility with other softwares and it also decreases the size of the CAD file but the time consumed in save operation generally increases. When you increase the value of this system variable opposite happens.
The default value of this system variable is 50 and it can be changed from 0 to 100.
SELECTIONPREVIEW
When hovering the cursor over any object a preview will appear if the value of this system variable is set to 3. You can remove this preview thereby improve the performance by changing the value of this system variable to 0.
HIGHLIGHT
This system variable is also similar to SELECTIONPREVIEW but in this case, the object will appear highlighted when selected. Its default value is 1 but you can turn off this highlight effect by changing its value to 0.
RECOVERALL
This command repairs a corrupted or damaged drawing along with all of its attached Xref’s.
LAYMCH
Using this command you can change the layers of selected objects. To use this command type LAYMCH on the command line and press enter key then select objects whose layer assignment you want to change and press enter then select any object of the layer which you want to apply on selected objects and press enter key again.
PICKBOX
Using this system variable you can change the size of Pickbox which appears at the cursor of AutoCAD. The default value of this system variable is 3 and you can change its value from 0 to 50.
In the image below the size of Pickbox is 3 for first cursor and 10 for the second cursor.
STARTMODE
This system variable will toggle the visibility of start tab at the beginning of the AutoCAD application. By default the value of this system variable is 1 which allows start screen to appear, you can change this value to 0 if you don’t want to see the start screen.
CLOSEALL
If you have multiple tabs open in your AutoCAD window and you don’t want to manually close them one by one then you can simply use CLOSEALL command to close all the open windows. AutoCAD will prompt you with the save dialogue box before closing all unsaved drawings and it will take you to start screen after closing all of the drawings.
SELECTIONCYCLING
Using this system variable you can make a selection of overlapping objects very easily. When the value of this system variable is set to 2, an overlapping icon and a menu containing a list of overlapping objects appear and you can select the required object from this list.
If you set the value of this system variable to 1, only the overlap icon appears not the menu. You can turn this off by changing the value of this system variable to 0.
AUDIT
This command should be used for removing errors from your drawing. It is always a good practice to keep checking your drawing file with AUDIT tool for errors.
RECOVER
This command is similar to the AUDIT command but it is useful for the drawings which are corrupted to such an extent that you can’t even open it. More about drawing repair tools can be found in this related article.
Related: How to repair corrupt AutoCAD drawings and fix its errors
MA
This command is a great time saver if you want to copy properties of one object on other without changing its geometry or contents.
CLOSEALLOTHER
Using this command you can close all open drawing windows except the current drawing window.
TEXTFIT
Using this command you can shrink or expand the text entities in a drawing to fit in the required area. In the example below I have fitted the AutoCAD text within the rectangle using TEXTFIT command.
WIPEOUT
Using wipeout command you can clean background in a crowded drawing to make overlaying objects clear against the background. In the image shown below Wipeout command has been used to clean the area around the second hook. You can use WIPEOUTFRAME system variable and change its value to 0 to remove wipeout frame boundary also.
-DWGUNITS
Using this command you can convert your AutoCAD drawing from one unit to another and you can also scale the existing drawing to new scales automatically, you can know more about this command in the related article.
Related:How to change units of drawing in AutoCAD
TEXTMASK
Using this command you can automatically create a masking behind the text to make it clearly visible against the crowded background. In the image below Textmask has not been applied for the first case and in the second case, it has been applied.
LAYMRG
If you want to merge layers of multiple objects then this command is for you. Type LAYMRG press enter key then select the objects whose layers you want to change then press enter again. Select any object of target layer on which you want to transfer the selected objects and press enter again.
All the objects of the selected layer will be transferred to the end layer and also the selected layer will be removed.
DS
Using this command you can open the drafting settings window which can be used to change settings related to status bar options like object snap, polar tracking, snap and grid settings.
LAYWALK
Using this command you can check all the objects which are on a particular layer. When you use LAYWALK command a list with all layers appears on the screen and you can click on any of the layer(s) from the list and objects from that layer(s) will only become visible in the drawing area. The original status of layer and object visibility is restored once you close LAYWALK window.
CENTERMARK
This tool was added in the AutoCAD 2017 version and it allows you to create center mark easily on a circle or arc.
CENTERLINE
As the name suggests you can add a centerline easily between parallel or intersecting lines using this tool. See the related article for more on Centermark and Centerline tools.
Related: The Center Mark and Centerline tools of AutoCAD
TABLET
If for some reasons you are looking to use Tablet as pointing and navigation device in AutoCAD then you can use this command to turn the Tablet input on and off. The Tablet can be turned on and off using TABMODE system variable also.
You can learn more about this command on this AKN page.
These commands will help you in making your overall drawing workflow faster and efficient by eliminating the need for using many repetitive tasks. It is always a great practice to use as fewer steps as possible to keep the drawing workflow easy and also to avoid unnecessary data in your drawing, and the commands of this section will help you in achieving just that.
TEXTSCR
This command will open a text window which has a history of recently used commands.
BATTMAN
This tool can be used to modify the attribute information of blocks containing attributes.
3DCONFIG
You can use this command to Turn on/off hardware acceleration or change the graphics related properties of AutoCAD like smooth line display and high-quality graphics display.
SEEK
This command will redirect you to BIMobject.com page (formerly Autodesk seek) which is a CAD and BIM object catalog. It is one of the great places to get blocks for your projects.
FS
Using this command you can select objects which are connected to the selected object in the drawing area. The behavior of this command is controlled by FSMODE system variable, if the value of FSMODE is OFF then FS command will select only the selected object and one object that is directly connected to the selected object.
If the value of FSMODE is ON then FS command will select the selected object as well as all the objects connected to it and its next connected object in the series. This selection series continues as long as the command finds connected objects.
TEXTTOFRONT
Using this command you can bring TEXT, Dimensions and Leader lines on the front of all underlying objects like hatches. This command is especially helpful if you want to bring multiple annotations to the front of all drawings objects without changing their draw order selectively.
PUBLISH
Using this command you can print multi-sheet files directly, unlike PLOT command which only plots single sheet this command will allow you to plot multiple sheets or even all of the sheets of the drawing directly.
ISOLATE
Using this command you can hide all objects from the drawing area except the selected objects. By hiding unnecessary objects from drawing you can get a clean work area. To bring back all the hidden object back to the drawing select UNISOLATE or UNHIDE command.
HIDEOBJECTS
This command is similar to ISOLATE command but in this case, you can hide selected objects keeping remaining objects visible. In this case, also you can bring back hidden objects by using UNHIDE or UNISOLATE command.
GROUP
Using this command you can group multiple objects as a single unit. This command is great for making groupings of the similar type of objects like a group of similar blocks. To break this group you can use UNGROUP command.
ADCENTER
This command can be used to bring Design Center palette in the drawing area. You can also use CTRL+2 key to open the design center palette. To know more about the design center go to the related article.
Related:Search Objects like Blocks and Layers within AutoCAD drawings
IMPORT
Using this command you can import drawings of many different formats in AutoCAD, the list of all supported formats is shown in the image below.
FIELD
Fields are dynamic text information which can add a lot of intelligence to your drawing by keeping data interlinked and updated. Fields are extensively used in the sheet set and layout drawings and they can be used to automate a lot of information in AutoCAD drawings.
You can start the Field window using FIELD command of AutoCAD.
WBLOCK
If you want to export a certain part of your drawing or any of its blocks to an external file then you can use write block tool or its command equivalent WBLOCK.
This section has some noteworthy AutoCAD 3D commands related to solid, surface and mesh modelling. You might be familiar with many of these commands but there are also many commands which are not frequently used despite their great features.
THICKEN
Using this command you can convert a surface into a 3D solid by adding thickness to it.
CONVTOSOLID
Using this command you can convert 3D mesh and watertight objects made with surfaces to 3D solid and you can also control whether converted solid is smooth or faceted.
POLYSOLID
Using this command you can make a 3D wall-like shape as shown in the image here, you can also define height and thickness of this poly solid using command line options.
DELOBJ
This system variable controls the behaviour or 2D curves when 3D tools like Extrude, Presspull and Sweep is used. You can change the value of this system variable so that AutoCAD either retains or deletes curves after converting them to 3D.
More about this system variable can be found in this AKN article.
VOLUME
Using this command you can find the volume of a 3D solid as well as lots of other information like its moment of inertia, radius of gyration, centroid, and products of inertia.
XEDGES
You can extract edges of a 3D solid as 2D geometries using this tool. In the image shown here the XEDGES tool has been used to extract the edges of the 3D solid and then the solid geometry has been moved to reveal the edges only.
REGEN3
This command was introduced in AutoCAD 2017.1 update and it is especially helpful in removing the 3D graphics related anomalies and surface tessellations.
SECTIONPLANE
Using this command you can create a section plane in the drawing that can be used to see the 3D drawings by sectioning them along different planes.
FLATSHOT
This command is great for converting a 3D drawing into 2D and using this command you can also create multiple views of a single 3D drawing like the front, top and isometric on a single plane. To know more about this command follow the related article.
Related: How to make 2D from 3D drawing in AutoCAD
INTERFERE
This command can be used to detect intersecting 3D solids. The command is especially useful in situations where you want to detect clashes between different solids like pipes and walls.
PROJECTGEOMETRY
Using this command you can project a 2D curve on a 3D surface, solid or region as shown in the animated image below.
Shell (SOLIDEDIT)
Using this command you can convert a 3D solid into a hollow solid with a wall thickness. To use this command type SOLIDEDIT on the command line press enter type B press enter again type S and press enter again. Alternatively, you can also select the shell tool from Solid editing panel of the Solid tab.
SURFPATCH
Using this command you can fill the open areas of a surface like the top of a cylinder as shown in the animated image below.
HELIX
As the name suggests this command can be used to make a helix in AutoCAD drawing.
Moveface (SOLIDEDIT)
Using this tool you can move faces like a groove of a 3D solid from one point to other as shown in the animated image below. For using this tool type SOLIDEDIT on the command line press enter then type F press enter then type M and press enter again.
SURFTRIM
This command is similar to the trim command of 2D drawings but in this case, it will trim surfaces instead of 2D geometries.
3DALIGN
Using this command you can align a 3D solid object with respect to another 3D solid, this video explains the use of this command in detail.
SURFOFFSET
Using this command you can offset any surface inside, outside or on both sides of the surface as shown in the animated image below.
SOLIDHIST
Using this tool you can record the history of solids on which boolean operations are performed and you can modify these solids later.
In the image below Subtract operation is performed on two solids and then the amount of removed part is changed by selecting the Cone by pressing CTRL key then changing its base radius.
By default, the value of this system variable is 0 which keeps this feature off but you can turn it on by changing its value to 1.
IMPRINT
Using this command you can imprint 2D drawings on planar faces of a 3D solid or a surface to create additional faces for 3D tools like Presspull.
Did we miss any command or tool which should be included in this list? Let us know in the comments below.