This article was originally published on ArchSmarter.
For all the work you do in Revit, there’s a keyboard shortcut that can help you do it faster.
Here’s a roundup featuring some of my favorite Revit keyboard shortcuts to create and organize your model. Keep reading to learn how to create your own shortcuts.
This shortcut cheat sheet is also available in a convenient pdf form; simply sign up here to download it.
Create and Modify Elements
CS – When element is selected, creates new similar element
DL – Create detail lines
DR – Create Door
M + Space – Match properties
MV – Move
UP – Unpin
RM – Create room
RT – Insert room tag
SL – Split elements
Select Elements
Arrow Keys – Nudges the selected element
Shift + Arrow – Nudges the selected element 10x.
CTRL – Select multiple elements
MD – Activate the Modify tool
TAB – Cycle through multiple overlapping elements
SHIFT + TAB – Reverse the order of TAB cycling
Views
HI – Isolate element
HH – Hide element
HC – Hide category
SD – Shaded with edges
TL – Thin Lines
VV – Visibility / Graphics dialog for the current view
WF – Wire frame
ZE – Zoom to fit
SHIFT + Middle Mouse – Orbit in 3D views or pan in 2D views. Selecting an object before pressing SHIFT + Middle Mouse will cause the orbit to rotate around the selected object.
File Operations
CTRL + O – Open a new file
CTRL + N – Create a new project file
CTRL + S – Save the current file
Miscellaneous
ALT – Activates the keyboard designation for all the items on the interface. Might be useful if your mouse kicks the bucket before you’ve saved your file.
Create Your Own Revit Shortcuts
You can easily program your own Revit keyboard shortcuts. To do so, go to View > User Interface > Keyboard Shortcuts or type “KS”.
This will open the Keyboard Shortcuts dialog box.
All of the default keyboard shortcuts are listed. Any shortcut listed in gray is a system shortcut and cannot be changed. To add a shortcut, find the command in the “Command” column or enter the command name in the “Search” field. Once you’ve selected the command, enter the shortcut combination in the “Press new keys” text box then click the “Assign” button.
You have a lot of flexibility assigning shortcuts. A single command can have multiple shortcuts. Likewise, a single shortcut can be used on multiple commands. In this case, you use the arrow keys to cycle through the commands as displayed in the status bar. Once you have the command you want, press the space bar to execute the command.
Some custom shortcuts you might want to consider are:
33 – Default 3D View
AA – Activate view
DD – Deactivate view
JJ – Join geometry
ML – Manage Links
MM – Macro Manager
SAV – Select all instances in view
SAS – Select all instances in project
WS – Worksets
WW – Create walls
Want some more suggestions? Check out this discussion on LinkedIn.
Naming Your Shortcuts
Speed is king when it comes to naming your shortcuts. Consider defining your shortcuts using the same letter or letters closely located on the keyboard. JJ for Join Geometry or AA for Activate View are two good examples.
You can even create three or four letter shortcuts if you need similarly named shortcuts. You could define WW for Create Wall and WWW for Worksets.
This method minimizes the amount of hunting and pecking required to find your shortcuts. It lets you keep one hand on the keyboard and the other on the mouse.
So how about you? How do you save time in Revit? What are your favorite shortcuts?
You can also download a convenient PDF of these shortcuts – simply sign up here to get the PDF, the ArchSmarter Newsletter, and free access to the ArchSmarter Toolbox, a library of time-saving Revit tools.
