We all want more efficiency, especially when it comes to work. The faster you can get your job done, the faster you can move on to another task, be it the next hot project, or a little quality time with your phone. The good news is more coffee is not your only option!
The SOLIDWORKS user interface includes obvious ways to make selections and issue commands which are taught as part of the basics. However, the UI also includes some less obvious tools that can significantly speed up your workflow. This blog is a summary of those efficiency tools and a handy reference you can bookmark for later.
More coffee is not the only way!
Mouse Travel – The Efficiency Killer
Mouse travel, or how far you have to move your mouse to accomplish a task, is more important than most people realize. Moving the cursor away from the middle of the screen to select a command then back again doesn’t take long… once. But you do that time and time again, day after day, year after year. It adds up quickly.
SOLIDWORKS has lots of tools to help keep our focus on the work at hand by reducing clicks and mouse travel. I always show my SOLIDWORKS Essentials students these shortcuts and suggest they get in the habit of using them as soon as possible. Recently a student asked me if there was a list or summary he could use as a reference for later. Well, there is now! I trust you’ll find these tips useful.
Context Toolbar and Shortcut Menu
Selecting items in the graphics area or FeatureManager Tree brings up a context-sensitive toolbar near the cursor. The toolbar features a collection of potentially useful buttons based on the context of what you selected.
It gives you access to many commands and settings you’d otherwise need to go to the Command Manager, Menus, or even Options to access. In the image below you can see the Extruded Boss/Base command is right there on the toolbar so you can extrude a sketch without leaving the graphics area. The Smart Dimension tool is also right at your fingertips.
Context Toolbar and Shortcut Menu
You can customize the Context Toolbar by right-clicking on it and selecting ‘Customize…’ There are actually two Context Toolbars, one for the Graphics Area and one for the FeatureManager Tree. Both can be customized with the same drag-and-drop method as other parts of the SOLIDWORKS UI, as shown in this video.
When you right-click most places in SOLIDWORKS the Shortcut Menu, often called the Context Menu appears just below the Context Toolbar. If too can save you a lot of time by reducing clicks and mouse travel. For example, you can finish an in-progress feature by selecting OK from the Shortcut Menu instead of moving all the way to the Property Manager or Confirmation Corner.
Keyboard Shortcuts
Many SOLIDWORKS commands have keyboard shortcuts associated with them by default. Here are a few notable examples:
Q – Temporarily Show Planes, Coordinates, and Origins
R – Browse Recent Documents
D – Move Selection Breadcrumbs and Confirmation Corner to the Cursor
CTRL+Q – Force Rebuild
You can see which commands have keyboard shortcuts by going to the ‘Keyboard’ tab of the Customize dialog box. Change the ‘Show’ selection to ‘Commands with Keyboard Shortcuts’ and scroll down the list. You can add your own shortcuts by entering them in the ‘Shortcut(s)’ cell. This is a powerful efficiency tool that should not be overlooked.
Customize – Keyboard Shortcuts
Mouse Gestures
This is one of my favorite tools in SOLIDWORKS. To use them all you have to do is hold down the right mouse button and move the cursor slightly. A Mouse Gesture Guide, or ring, appears on the screen. It’s divided into equal sections, each with a command on it. While still holding down the right mouse button move to the command you want. As soon as your cursor touches that section of the guide the command is activated. Check out this video for a demonstration.
There’s a different guide for each of the 4 SOLIDWORKS environments: Part, Assembly, Sketch, and Drawing. The guide is divided into 2, 3, 4, 8, or 12 equal sections. 4 is the default, but I strongly suggest setting it to 12 to have the maximum number of commands readily available.
Go to the ‘Mouse Gestures’ tab of the Customize dialog box to make changes. Customize which commands are on the guides if you like. Use the ‘Search for’ cell to find the command you want, then drag it to the section you want it on. It will replace whatever was there before.
The image below shows my own customizations. I’ve added ‘Isometric’ in the 10 o’clock position on the Part, Assembly, and Sketch guides and ‘Save’ in the 8 o’clock position on the Part, Assembly, and Drawing guides. Get used to using this tool, make it your own, and your efficiency will skyrocket!
Customize – Mouse Gestures
Selection Breadcrumbs
When you click on a model the Selection Breadcrumbs appear in the upper left portion of the graphics area. They show your current selection in the context of the rest of the model.
In the example shown below the face of a part in a subassembly has been selected, as indicated by the blue-highlighted icon on the far right. The breadcrumbs show everything related to the current selection, including the sketch that created it, the mates attached to the part it belongs to, and the feature tree all the way up to the top-level assembly on the far left.
Selection Breadcrumbs
Everything on the breadcrumbs is selectable. This can be an easier and faster way to locate sketches, features, bodies, parts, mates, subassemblies, and top-level assemblies than digging through the FeatureManager tree. You can summon them to your cursor with the ‘D’ key to reduce mouse travel even more.
Shortcut Bars
A fantastic keyboard shortcut is the ‘S’ key. It increases your efficiency two ways at once. First, it displays a Shortcut Bar with a variety of commands available. Similar to Mouse Gestures, there’s a different Shortcut Bar for each of the four environments: Part, Assembly, Sketch, and Drawing. This can save you a lot of mouse travel by not having to go all the way up to the Command Manager.
Second, it’s the shortcut for a command search. Hit the ‘S’ key, then start typing to see a selectable list of commands.
Search from the Shortcut Bar
You can customize the Shortcut Bars from the Customize dialog box. In the example below you can see my customization of the Sketch Shortcut Bar. I added flyout toolbars for extruded bosses and cuts so I can extrude a sketch without leaving the graphics area. Check out this video for a demonstration.
Customize – Shortcut Bars
Conclusion
Take advantage of the tools listed above to get the most out of your user interface. When used together the Context Toolbar, Shortcut Menu, Keyboard Shortcuts, Mouse Gestures, Selection Breadcrumbs, and Shortcut Bars combine in an efficiency symphony. You’ll be effortlessly flying through your workday like a true power user.
