AutoCAD Most-Used Commands

A comprehensive vocabulary collection of the most-used AutoCAD commands, shortcuts, and functions across essential, draw, modify, layers, annotation, measure, and setup categories.

ESC

Cancels the active command or clears the current selection.

ENTER / SPACEBAR

Accepts input. When no command is active, repeats the previous command.

CTRL+Z

Reverses the previous action.

CTRL+S

Saves the current drawing.

F3

Turns running Object Snap on or off.

F8

Restricts cursor movement horizontally or vertically.

F10

Tracks the cursor along specified angle increments.

F12

Shows command prompts and coordinate input near the cursor.

L (LINE)

Draws separate straight-line segments.

PL (PLINE)

Draws connected line and arc segments as one polyline.

C (CIRCLE)

Draws a circle using center/radius, diameter, or other construction options.

A (ARC)

Draws an arc using selected points, center, angle, or radius.

REC (RECTANG)

Draws a rectangle as a closed polyline.

XL (XLINE)

Creates an infinite construction line.

BO (BOUNDARY)

Creates a closed polyline or region inside an enclosed area.

REVCLOUD

Creates a revision cloud around changed drawing content.

E (ERASE)

Deletes selected objects.

M (MOVE)

Moves selected objects from a base point to a second point.

CO (COPY)

Creates one or more copies of selected objects.

O (OFFSET)

Creates parallel or concentric copies at a specified distance.

TR (TRIM)

Removes unwanted portions of objects at boundaries.

EX (EXTEND)

Extends objects until they meet selected boundaries.

RO (ROTATE)

Rotates selected objects around a base point.

SC (SCALE)

Enlarges or reduces objects proportionally; Reference can match a known length.

MI (MIRROR)

Creates a reversed copy across a mirror line.

S (STRETCH)

Moves vertices captured by a crossing selection while maintaining connections.

F (FILLET)

Connects two objects with an arc. Radius $0$ creates a sharp corner.

CHA (CHAMFER)

Connects two objects with an angled corner.

J (JOIN)

Combines compatible connected objects into one object.

X (EXPLODE)

Separates a compound object into its components.

PE (PEDIT)

Edits polylines; join, close, change width, or edit vertices.

MA (MATCHPROP)

Copies properties from one object to other objects.

AL (ALIGN)

Moves, rotates, and optionally scales objects using reference points.

AR (ARRAY)

Creates rectangular, polar, or path-based patterned copies.

DR (DRAWORDER)

Moves objects in front of or behind other objects.

OVERKILL

Deletes duplicate geometry and combines overlapping objects.

LA (LAYER)

Opens the Layer Properties Manager.

CTRL+1 / PR

Opens or closes the Properties palette.

LAYISO

Isolates the layers of selected objects.

LAYUNISO

Restores layers hidden or locked by LAYISO.

LAYMCH

Moves selected objects to the layer of another object.

BYLAYER

Makes an object inherit color, linetype, and lineweight from its layer.

MT (MTEXT)

Creates multiline formatted text.

MLD (MLEADER)

Creates a leader with attached annotation.

DIM

Creates a suitable dimension based on selected geometry.

DLI (DIMLINEAR)

Creates horizontal or vertical linear dimensions.

DAL (DIMALIGNED)

Creates a dimension aligned with two selected points.

D (DIMSTYLE)

Creates and manages dimension styles.

H (HATCH)

Fills an enclosed area with a pattern or solid fill.

B (BLOCK)

Creates a reusable block definition in the current drawing.

I (INSERT)

Inserts a block or drawing.

BE (BEDIT)

Opens a block definition in the Block Editor.

XR (XREF)

Opens the External References palette.

XATTACH

Attaches another DWG as an external reference.

XCLIP

Limits the displayed area of an Xref or block.

DI (DIST)

Measures distance, angle, and coordinate differences between two points.

AA (AREA)

Calculates area and perimeter; can add or subtract areas.

LI (LIST)

Displays detailed database information about selected objects.

QSELECT

Selects objects using type and property filters.

SELECTSIMILAR

Selects objects that share properties with a chosen object.

Z (ZOOM)

Changes magnification. Options include E for Extents, W for Window, and P for Previous.

P (PAN)

Moves the view without moving drawing objects.

MV (MVIEW)

Creates a viewport on a paper-space layout.

MS / PS

Activates model space through a viewport or returns to paper space.

CTRL+P (PLOT)

Prints the current model view or layout.

PAGESETUP

Saves printer, paper, orientation, scale, and plot-style settings.

UN (UNITS)

Sets drawing units, precision, angle format, and insertion scale.

OP (OPTIONS)

Opens AutoCAD preferences and configuration settings.

DWGUNITS

Reviews or changes drawing units and controls scaling of inserted objects.

INSUNITS

Sets the drawing units used for automatic scaling of inserted blocks and Xrefs.

LIMITS

Sets the rectangular working limits used by the grid and certain display operations.

REGEN

Recalculates the current viewport and refreshes object display accuracy.

PU (PURGE)

Removes unused layers, blocks, linetypes, and other definitions.

-PURGE

Provides detailed command-line purge options, including unused registered applications.

AUDIT

Checks the current drawing for database errors and can repair them.

RECOVER

Opens a damaged drawing and repairs detectable database errors.

RECOVERALL

Repairs a drawing and its attached external references.

FLATTEN

Projects selected geometry onto a $2\text{D}$ plane, typically setting elevation to zero.

SETBYLAYER

Changes selected object properties to ByLayer for consistent standards.

SCALELISTEDIT

Adds, deletes, resets, and manages annotation scales stored in the drawing.

REN (RENAME)

Renames layers, blocks, linetypes, text styles, and other named objects.

LAYTRANS

Maps current layers to a selected drawing or company layer standard.

CHECKSTANDARDS

Checks the drawing against an associated CAD standards file.

DWGPROPS

Reviews and edits title, subject, author, keywords, and custom drawing properties.

ETRANSMIT

Packages a DWG with Xrefs, fonts, images, and plot files.

STANDARDS

Associates one or more CAD standards files with the current drawing.

SYSVARMONITOR

Monitors important system variables and warns when their values change.

SETVAR

Lists or changes the value of a named AutoCAD system variable.

GRAPHICSCONFIG

Reviews hardware acceleration and other graphics-performance settings.

DRAWINGRECOVERY

Opens the Drawing Recovery Manager after an unexpected program or system failure.