Reference · Keyboard shortcuts

Inventor keyboard shortcuts and command aliases

The default keyboard shortcuts and command aliases in Autodesk Inventor, grouped by where you use them. Start with the fourteen this course relies on; the full tables are below for when you need them.

Reading 8 minBy Smit A, CAD instructorUpdated 28 October 2026

Two kinds of shortcut

Shortcut keys are the function keys and Ctrl, Shift or Alt combinations, such as F6 for the Home view or Ctrl+Shift+R for a rectangular pattern. Command aliases are letters you type while the graphics window is active, such as E for Extrude or SV for a section view. Some aliases are one letter, others two or three.

The same alias can start a different command in a different environment. C is a Center Point Circle in a sketch but the Constraint command in an assembly; CR is Corner Round in sheet metal but Crop on a drawing. That is deliberate: Inventor reads the alias in the context you are working in.

To see or change every shortcut, go to the Tools tab → Options panel → Customize, then open the Keyboard tab. Defaults can differ between releases, and your school or company may have imported its own set, so if a key below does nothing, check there first.

The shortcuts this course uses most

Learn these first. They cover nearly every step in the twelve lessons, and using them instead of the ribbon is the quickest way to model faster.

Key	Command	Where you use it
`S`	2D Sketch	Start a sketch on a plane or a flat face
`L`	Line	Draw lines and, by dragging from an endpoint, tangent arcs
`C`	Center Point Circle	Circles in a sketch
`D`	General Dimension	Sizes and distances in sketches and on drawings
`F8` or `F9`	Show / Hide All Constraints	Check what is holding a sketch in place
`TR`	Trim	Clean up overlapping circles and lines into one profile
`E`	Extrude	Turn a closed profile into a solid, or cut one
`H`	Hole	Drilled, clearance and tapped holes in standard sizes
`F6`	Home View	Return to the isometric Home view
`P`	Place Component	Bring a part into an assembly
`C`	Constraint (assembly)	Mate, Flush, Angle, Tangent and Insert
`BV`	Base View	The first view on a drawing sheet
`SV`	Section View	Section A-A and other cuts on a drawing
`CM`	Center Mark	Center marks on holes before you dimension them

View and navigation

Key	Command	What it does
`F2`	Pan	Hold the key and drag
`F3`	Zoom	Hold the key and drag
`F4`	Rotate (orbit)	Orbit the model
`F5`	Previous View	Step back to the last view
`Shift`+`F5`	Next View	Step forward again
`F6`	Home View	Isometric Home view
`Home`	Zoom All	Fit everything on screen
`End`	Zoom Selected	Zoom to the selected item
`Page Up`	Look At	Turn a selected face or plane to face you
`Shift`+`F3`	Zoom Window	Zoom to an area you drag
`Ctrl`+`W`	Steering Wheels	Show the steering wheel navigation tool
`Ctrl`+`0`	Toggle Screen	Hide the interface for more drawing space
`Ctrl`+`]`	Origin Planes	Show or hide the default origin planes
`Ctrl`+`/`	Origin Axes	Show or hide the origin axes
`Ctrl`+`.`	Origin Points	Show or hide the origin centre point
`Alt`+`]`	User Work Planes	Show or hide the work planes you created
`Alt`+`/`	User Work Axes	Show or hide your work axes
`Alt`+`.`	User Work Points	Show or hide your work points
`F10`	Sketch Visibility	Show the sketches in the model
`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`E`	Degrees of Freedom	Show what can still move
`Shift`+`middle mouse`	Rotate	Orbit with the mouse

Most people orbit, pan and zoom with the mouse: drag with the middle button to pan, roll the wheel to zoom, and hold Shift with the middle button to orbit. The ViewCube in the top-right corner does the rest.

General

Key	Command	What it does
`F1`	Help	Help for the active command or dialog
`Esc`	Cancel	Close the active tool
`Delete`	Delete	Remove the selected item
`Ctrl`+`N`	New	New file dialog
`Ctrl`+`O`	Open	Open an existing file
`Ctrl`+`S`	Save	Save the file
`Ctrl`+`P`	Print	Print dialog
`Ctrl`+`Z`	Undo	In the Line command, removes the last segment
`Ctrl`+`Y`	Redo	Undo the last undo
`Ctrl`+`C`, `Ctrl`+`X`, `Ctrl`+`V`	Copy, cut, paste	Selected items
`Ctrl`+`F`	Find	Find sketches in a part or components in an assembly
`F2`	Rename	Rename the selected item in the model browser
`Shift`+`right-click`	Select menu	Selection options

Sketch

Aliases for drawing, editing and constraining 2D geometry. They work while a sketch is active.

Key	Command	What it does
`S`	2D Sketch	Start a 2D sketch
`S3`	3D Sketch	Start a 3D sketch (part)
`L`	Line	Lines; drag from an endpoint for a tangent arc
`C` or `CE`	Center Point Circle	Circle from centre and diameter
`A3`	Three Point Arc	Arc through three points
`TC`	Tangent Circle	Circle tangent to three lines
`REC`	Two Point Rectangle	Rectangle from two corners
`REC3`	Three Point Rectangle	Rectangle at an angle
`POL`	Polygon	Inscribed or circumscribed polygon
`EL`	Ellipse	Centre, major and minor axis
`SP`	Spline	Freeform curve
`PO`	Point, Center Point	Points and hole centres
`D`	General Dimension	Dimensions
`AD`	Auto Dimension	Add the missing dimensions automatically
`O`	Offset	Copy geometry at a set distance
`TR` or `X`	Trim	Remove curve segments between intersections
`MI`	Mirror	Mirror geometry about a line
`MO`	Move	Move or copy geometry
`RP`	Rectangular Pattern	Pattern geometry in rows and columns
`CP`	Circular Pattern	Pattern geometry around a point
`T`	Text	Sketch text
`=`	Equal	Equal radius or length
`-`	Horizontal	Horizontal constraint
`I`	Vertical	Vertical constraint
`F7`	Slice Graphics	Cut away the model in front of the sketch plane
`F8`	Show All Constraints	Display constraint symbols
`F9`	Hide All Constraints	Hide them again

If a sketch will not turn solid, press F8 to show its constraints and read the status bar: it tells you how many dimensions are still missing. Lesson 2 walks through a fully constrained sketch.

Part features

Key	Command	What it does
`E`	Extrude	Add depth to a profile, or cut
`R`	Revolve	Turn a profile around an axis
`H`	Hole	Placed hole feature
`F`	Fillet	Round edges
`CH` or `Ctrl`+`Shift`+`K`	Chamfer	Bevel edges
`TH`	Thread	Thread on a cylinder or in a hole
`SH`	Shell	Hollow out a part to a wall thickness
`MI` or `Ctrl`+`Shift`+`M`	Mirror	Mirror features about a plane
`RP` or `Ctrl`+`Shift`+`R`	Rectangular Pattern	Pattern features in rows and columns
`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`O`	Circular Pattern	Pattern features around an axis
`LO` or `Ctrl`+`Shift`+`L`	Loft	Blend between profiles
`SW` or `Ctrl`+`Shift`+`S`	Sweep	Run a profile along a path
`D`	Face Draft	Taper faces
`DE`	Direct Edit	Quick edits to an existing solid
`]`	Work Plane	New work plane
`/`	Work Axis	New work axis
`.`	Work Point	New work point
`;`	Grounded Work Point	Work point fixed in space

Sheet metal

Key	Command	What it does
`FA`	Face	First sheet metal face from a profile
`CF`	Contour Flange	Flange that follows an open profile
`HEM`	Hem	Fold an edge back on itself
`FO`	Fold	Fold along a sketched line
`BE`	Bend	Bend between two faces
`CR`	Corner Round	Round sheet metal corners
`CC`	Corner Chamfer	Chamfer sheet metal corners
`CS`	Corner Seam	Close or define a corner gap
`PT`	Punch Tool	Punch a shape into a face
`ST`	Sheet Metal Defaults	Rule, material, thickness and unfold method

Autodesk’s published list has no default alias for Flange, Unfold, Refold or Flat Pattern. Use the Sheet Metal tab, or assign your own key in Customize. Lesson 8 uses all four.

Assembly

Key	Command	What it does
`P`	Place Component	Bring a part or sub-assembly in
`C`	Constraint	Mate, Flush, Angle, Tangent, Insert
`Alt`+`drag`	Mate	Quick mate while dragging
`N`	Create Component	New part in place
`CO`	Copy Components	Copy components
`MI`	Mirror Components	Mirrored copies
`PC`	Pattern Component	Pattern components
`IA`	Analyze Interference	Find parts that overlap
`Ctrl`+`H`	Replace Component	Swap one component for another
`RA`	Replace All	Replace every occurrence
`Shift`+`Tab`	Promote	Move a part out of a sub-assembly
`Q`	Create iMate	Reusable constraint definitions

Move Component and Rotate Component have had different default aliases in different releases (M or V, and RO or G). Check the Keyboard tab in Customize to see which one your installation uses.

Drawings

Key	Command	What it does
`BV`	Base View	First view from the model
`PV`	Projected View	Views projected from the base view
`SV`	Section View	Cut views such as A-A
`DV`	Detail View	Enlarged detail
`AV`	Auxiliary View	View square to a sloped face
`BRV`	Break	Shorten long parts
`BO`	Break Out	Cut away material locally
`CR`	Crop	Crop a view
`D`	General Dimension	Dimensions
`BD`	Baseline Dimension	Dimensions from one datum
`O`	Ordinate Dimension Set	Ordinate dimensions from one origin
`HN`	Hole/Thread Notes	Hole and thread notes
`CN`	Chamfer Note	Chamfer notes
`BN`	Bend Notes	Sheet metal bend notes
`CM`	Center Mark	Center marks
`CL`	Centerline	Centerlines
`CB`	Centerline Bisector	Centerline between two edges
`LE` or `Ctrl`+`Shift`+`T`	Leader Text	Notes with a leader
`T`	Text	Text on the sheet
`ST`	Surface Texture Symbol	Surface finish symbols
`DI`	Datum Identifier Symbol	Datum letters
`B`	Balloon	Item balloons
`BA`	Auto Balloon	Balloon many components at once
`PL`	Parts List	Parts list table
`RD`	Retrieve Dimensions	Bring model dimensions onto the drawing
`HTV`	Hole Table	Hole table for a view
`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`N`	New Sheet	Add a drawing sheet

Tools

Key	Command	What it does
`SE`	Edit Styles	Style and Standard Editor
`OP`	Application Options	Inventor settings
`M`	Measure	Measure distances, angles and loops
`LA`	Edit Layers	Drawing layers
`Alt`+`F8`	Macros	Macros dialog
`Alt`+`F11`	Visual Basic Editor	VBA editor

Make the list your own

Add keys for commands you use often that are missing from the default list, such as Project Geometry. In the Keyboard tab of Customize, pick the command and type the key or letters you want to use for it.

The same dialog can export your shortcuts to a file and import them on another computer, so your setup follows you from the lab to your laptop.

A good way to practise: rebuild the plate from Lesson 2 using only L, C, D, E and F8, without touching the ribbon.

Based on Autodesk’s Inventor Help (Keyboard Shortcut Reference) and Autodesk’s Inventor keyboard shortcuts guide; default aliases can change between releases. Spotted an error? Tell us.