There have been so many times that I have wished I had a quick list of the text commands in Autocad. You never know when you need one and just can’t remember what the command is.
Use this list below or download the whole thing to have them just when you need them!
To Download the list of AutoCAD Commands in a printable pdf click below to sign up for the CAD Intentions Newsletter and get the link sent right to your inbox: Sign Up here to Download the PDF
If you use AutoCAD on a daily/weekly basis or are just learning for the future, be sure to checkout my jam-packed AutoCAD Productivity Webinar, available for download right now at 25% off for CAD Intentions readers.
In the 1 hour long video I’ve curated and combined my favorite and best productivity tips, tutorials, and techniques that I’ve learned over the last 15 years of drafting in AutoCAD. I know you’ll learn a lot and will certainly come away with a bunch of great tools in your CAD toolbox.
Invest in your career and future by learning techniques that will improve your productivity and speed for years to come!
Blog readers can get 25% off right now on Gumroad: https://gumroad.com/l/oPLLa/CIBLOG1
3D Commands
3D Creates three-dimensional polygon mesh objects
3DARRAY Creates a three-dimensional array
3DCLIP Invokes the interactive 3D view and opens the Adjust Clipping Planes window
3DCORBIT Invokes the interactive 3D view and enables you to set the objects in the 3D view into continuous motion
3DDISTANCE Invokes the interactive 3D view and makes objects appear closer or farther away
3DFACE Creates a three-dimensional face
3DMESH Creates a free-form polygon mesh
3DORBIT Controls the interactive viewing of objects in 3D
3DPAN Invokes the interactive 3D view and enables you to drag the view horizontally and vertically
3DPOLY Creates a polyline with straight line segments using the CONTINUOUS linetype in three-dimensional space
3DSIN Imports a 3D Studio (3DS) file
3DSOUT Exports to a 3D Studio (3DS) file
3DSWIVEL Invokes the interactive 3D view and simulates the effect of turning the camera
3DZOOM Invokes the interactive 3D view so you can zoom in and out on the view
A
ABOUT Displays information about AutoCAD
ACISIN Imports an ACIS file
ACISOUT Exports AutoCAD solid objects to an ACIS file
ADCCLOSE Closes AutoCAD DesignCenter
ADCENTER Manages content
ADCNAVIGATE Directs the Desktop in AutoCAD DesignCenter to the file name, directory location, or network path you specify
ALIGN Aligns objects with other objects in 2D and 3D
AMECONVERT Converts AME solid models to AutoCAD solid objects
APERTURE Controls the size of the object snap target box
APPLOAD Loads and unloads applications and defines which applications to load at startup
ARC Creates an arc
AREA Calculates the area and perimeter of objects or of defined areas
ARRAY Creates multiple copies of objects in a pattern
ARX Loads, unloads, and provides information about ObjectARX applications
ATTDEF Creates an attribute definition
ATTDISP Globally controls attribute visibility
ATTEDIT Changes attribute information
ATTEXT Extracts attribute data
ATTREDEF Redefines a block and updates associated attributes
AUDIT Evaluates the integrity of a drawing
B
BACKGROUND Sets up the background for your scene
BASE Sets the insertion base point for the current drawing
BHATCH Fills an enclosed area or selected objects with a hatch pattern
BLIPMODE Controls the display of marker blips
BLOCK Creates a block definition from objects you select
BLOCKICON Generates preview images for blocks created with Release 14 or earlier
BMPOUT Saves selected objects to a file in device-independent bitmap format
BOUNDARY Creates a region or a polyline from an enclosed area
BOX Creates a three-dimensional solid box
BREAK Erases parts of objects or splits an object in two
BROWSER Launches the default Web browser defined in your system’s registry
C
CAL Evaluates mathematical and geometric expressions
CAMERA Sets a different camera and target location
CHAMFER Bevels the edges of objects
CHANGE Changes the properties of existing objects
CHPROP Changes the color, layer, linetype, linetype scale factor, lineweight, thickness, and plot style of an object
CIRCLE Creates a circle
CLOSE Closes the current drawing
COLOR Defines color for new objects
COMPILE Compiles shape files and PostScript font files
CONE Creates a three-dimensional solid cone
CONVERT Optimizes 2D polylines and associative hatches created in AutoCAD Release 13 or earlier
COPY Duplicates objects
COPYBASE Copies objects with a specified base point
COPYCLIP Copies objects to the Clipboard
COPYHIST Copies the text in the command line history to the Clipboard
COPYLINK Copies the current view to the Clipboard for linking to other OLE applications
CUTCLIP Copies objects to the Clipboard and erases the objects from the drawing
CYLINDER Creates a three-dimensional solid cylinder
D
DBCCLOSE Closes the dbConnect Manager
DBCONNECT Provides an AutoCAD interface to external database tables
DBLIST Lists database information for each object in the drawing
DDEDIT Edits text and attribute definitions
DDPTYPE Specifies the display mode and size of point objects
DDVPOINT Sets the three-dimensional viewing direction
DELAY Provides a timed pause within a script
DIM AND DIM1 Accesses Dimensioning mode
DIMALIGNED Creates an aligned linear dimension
DIMANGULAR Creates an angular dimension
DIMBASELINE Creates a linear, angular, or ordinate dimension from the baseline of the previous dimension or a selected dimension
DIMCENTER Creates the center mark or the centerlines of circles and arcs
DIMCONTINUE Creates a linear, angular, or ordinate dimension from the second extension line of the previous dimension or a selected dimension
DIMDIAMETER Creates diameter dimensions for circles and arcs
DIMEDIT Edits dimensions
DIMLINEAR Creates linear dimensions
DIMORDINATE Creates ordinate point dimensions
DIMOVERRIDE Overrides dimension system variables
DIMRADIUS Creates radial dimensions for circles and arcs
DIMSTYLE Creates and modifies dimension styles
DIMTEDIT Moves and rotates dimension text
DIST Measures the distance and angle between two points
DIVIDE Places evenly spaced point objects or blocks along the length or perimeter of an object
DONUT Draws filled circles and rings
DRAGMODE Controls the way AutoCAD displays dragged objects
DRAWORDER Changes the display order of images and other objects
DSETTINGS Specifies settings for Snap mode, grid, and polar and object snap tracking
DSVIEWER Opens the Aerial View window
DVIEW Defines parallel projection or perspective views
DWGPROPS Sets and displays the properties of the current drawing
DXBIN Imports specially coded binary files
E
EDGE Changes the visibility of three-dimensional face edges
EDGESURF Creates a three-dimensional polygon mesh
ELEV Sets elevation and extrusion thickness properties of new objects
ELLIPSE Creates an ellipse or an elliptical arc
ERASE Removes objects from a drawing
EXPLODE Breaks a compound object into its component objects
EXPORT Saves objects to other file formats
EXPRESSTOOLS Activates the installed AutoCAD Express Tools if currently unavailable
EXTEND Extends an object to meet another object
EXTRUDE Creates unique solid primitives by extruding existing two-dimensional objects
F
FILL Controls the filling of multilines, traces, solids, all hatches, and wide polylines
FILLET Rounds and fillets the edges of objects
FILTER Creates reusable filters to select objects based on properties
FIND Finds, replaces, selects, or zooms to specified text
FOG Provides visual cues for the apparent distance of objects
G
GRAPHSCR Switches from the text window to the drawing area
GRID Displays a dot grid in the current viewport
GROUP Creates a named selection set of objects
H
HATCH Fills a specified boundary with a pattern
HATCHEDIT Modifies an existing hatch object
HELP (F1) Displays online help
HIDE Regenerates a three-dimensional model with hidden lines suppressed
HYPERLINK Attaches a hyperlink to a graphical object or modifies an existing hyperlink
HYPERLINKOPTIONS Controls the visibility of the hyperlink cursor and the display of hyperlink tooltips
I
ID Displays the coordinate values of a location
IMAGE Manages images
IMAGEADJUST Controls the image display of the brightness, contrast, and fade values of images
IMAGEATTACH Attaches a new image to the current drawing
IMAGECLIP Creates new clipping boundaries for an image object
IMAGEFRAME Controls whether AutoCAD displays the image frame or hides it from view
IMAGEQUALITY Controls the display quality of images
IMPORT Imports files in various formats into AutoCAD
INSERT Places a named block or drawing into the current drawing
INSERTOBJ Inserts a linked or embedded object
INTERFERE Creates a composite 3D solid from the common volume of two or more solids
INTERSECT Creates composite solids or regions from the intersection of two or more solids or regions and removes the areas outside of the intersection
ISOPLANE Specifies the current isometric plane
L
LAYER Manages layers and layer properties
LAYOUT Creates a new layout and renames, copies, saves, or deletes an existing layout
LAYOUTWIZARD Starts the Layout wizard, in which you can designate page and plot settings for a new layout
LEADER Creates a line that connects annotation to a feature
LENGTHEN Lengthens an object
LIGHT Manages lights and lighting effects
LIMITS Sets and controls the drawing boundaries and grid display
LINE Creates straight line segments
LINETYPE Creates, loads, and sets linetypes
LIST Displays database information for selected objects
LOAD Makes shapes available for use by the SHAPE command
LOGFILEOFF Closes the log file opened by LOGFILEON
LOGFILEON Writes the text window contents to a file
LSEDIT Edits a landscape object
LSLIB Maintains libraries of landscape objects
LSNEW Adds realistic landscape items, such as trees and bushes, to your drawings
LTSCALE Sets the linetype scale factor
LWEIGHT Sets the current lineweight, lineweight display options, and lineweight units
M
MASSPROP Calculates and displays the mass properties of regions or solids
MATCHPROP Copies the properties from one object to one or more objects
MATLIB Imports and exports materials to and from a library of materials
MEASURE Places point objects or blocks at measured intervals on an object
MENU Loads a menu file
MENULOAD Loads partial menu files
MENUUNLOAD Unloads partial menu files
MINSERT Inserts multiple instances of a block in a rectangular array
MIRROR Creates a mirror image copy of objects
MIRROR3D Creates a mirror image of objects about a plane
MLEDIT Edits multiple parallel lines
MLINE Creates multiple parallel lines
MLSTYLE Defines a style for multiple parallel lines
MODEL Switches from a layout tab to the Model tab and makes it current
MOVE Displaces objects a specified distance in a specified direction
MSLIDE Creates a slide file of the current viewport in model space, or of all viewports in paper space
MSPACE Switches from paper space to a model space viewport
MTEXT Creates multiline text
MULTIPLE Repeats the next command until canceled
MVIEW Creates floating viewports and turns on existing floating viewports
MVSETUP Sets up the specifications of a drawing
N
NEW Creates a new drawing file
O
OFFSET Creates concentric circles, parallel lines, and parallel curves
OLELINKS Updates, changes, and cancels existing OLE links
OLESCALE Displays the OLE Properties dialog box
OOPS Restores erased objects
OPEN Opens an existing drawing file
OPTIONS Customizes the AutoCAD settings
ORTHO Constrains cursor movement
OSNAP ets object snap modes
P
PAGESETUP Specifies the layout page, plotting device, paper size, and settings for each new layout
PAN Moves the drawing display in the current viewport
PARTIALOAD Loads additional geometry into a partially opened drawing
PARTIALOPEN Loads geometry from a selected view or layer into a drawing
PASTEBLOCK Pastes a copied block into a new drawing
PASTECLIP Inserts data from the Clipboard
PASTEORIG Pastes a copied object in a new drawing using the coordinates from the original drawing
PASTESPEC Inserts data from the Clipboard and controls the format of the data
PCINWIZARD Displays a wizard to import PCP and PC2 configuration file plot settings into the Model tab or current layout
PEDIT Edits polylines and three-dimensional polygon meshes
PFACE Creates a three-dimensional polyface mesh vertex by vertex
PLAN Displays the plan view of a user coordinate system
PLINE Creates two-dimensional polylines
PLOT Plots a drawing to a plotting device or file
PLOTSTYLE Sets the current plot style for new objects, or the assigned plot style for selected objects
PLOTTERMANAGER Displays the Plotter Manager, where you can launch the Add-a-Plotter wizard and the Plotter Configuration Editor
POINT Creates a point object
POLYGON Creates an equilateral closed polyline
PREVIEW Shows how the drawing will look when it is printed or plotted
PROPERTIES Controls properties of existing objects
PROPERTIESCLOSE Closes the Properties window
PSDRAG Controls the appearance of a PostScript image as it is dragged into position with PSIN
PSETUPIN Imports a user-defined page setup into a new drawing layout
PSFILL Fills a two-dimensional polyline outline with a PostScript pattern
PSIN Imports a PostScript file
PSOUT Creates an encapsulated PostScript file
PSPACE Switches from a model space viewport to paper space
PURGE Removes unused named objects, such as blocks or layers, from the drawing database
Q
QDIM Quickly creates a dimension
QLEADER Quickly creates a leader and leader annotation
QSAVE Quickly saves the current drawing
QSELECT Quickly creates selection sets based on filtering criteria
QTEXT Controls the display and plotting of text and attribute objects
QUIT Exits AutoCAD
R
RAY Creates a semi-infinite line
RECOVER Repairs a damaged drawing
RECTANG Draws a rectangular polyline
REDEFINE Restores AutoCAD internal commands overridden by UNDEFINE
REDO Reverses the effects of the previous UNDO or U command
REDRAW Refreshes the display in the current viewport
REDRAWALL Refreshes the display in all viewports
REFCLOSE Saves back or discards changes made during in-place editing of a reference (an xref or a block)
REFEDIT Selects a reference for editing
REFSET Adds or removes objects from a working set during in-place editing of a reference (an xref or a block)
REGEN Regenerates the drawing and refreshes the current viewport
REGENALL Regenerates the drawing and refreshes all viewports
REGENAUTO Controls automatic regeneration of a drawing
REGION Creates a region object from a selection set of existing objects
REINIT Reinitializes the digitizer, digitizer input/output port, and program parameters file
RENAME Changes the names of objects
RENDER Creates a photorealistic or realistically shaded image of a three-dimensional wireframe or solid model
RENDSCR Redisplays the last rendering created with the RENDER command
REPLAY Displays a BMP, TGA, or TIFF image
RESUME Continues an interrupted script
REVOLVE Creates solids by revolving two-dimensional objects about an axis
REVSURF Creates a revolved surface about a selected axis
RMAT Manages rendering materials
ROTATE Moves objects about a base point
ROTATE3D Moves objects about a three-dimensional axis
RPREF Sets rendering preferences
RSCRIPT Creates a script that repeats continuously
RULESURF Creates a ruled surface between two curves
S
SAVE Saves the drawing under the current file name or a specified name
SAVEAS Saves an unnamed drawing with a file name or renames the current drawing
SAVEIMG Saves a rendered image to a file
SCALE Enlarges or reduces selected objects equally in the X, Y, and Z directions
SCENE Manages scenes in model space
SCRIPT Executes a sequence of commands from a script
SECTION Uses the intersection of a plane and solids to create a region
SELECT Places selected objects in the Previous selection set
SETUV Maps materials onto objects
SETVAR Lists or changes the values of system variables
SHADEMODE Shades the objects in the current viewport
SHAPE Inserts a shape
SHELL Accesses operating system commands
SHOWMAT Lists the material type and attachment method for a selected object
SKETCH Creates a series of freehand line segments
SLICE Slices a set of solids with a plane
SNAP Restricts cursor movement to specified intervals
SOLDRAW Generates profiles and sections in viewports created with SOLVIEW
SOLID Creates solid-filled polygons
SOLIDEDIT Edits faces and edges of 3D solid objects
SOLPROF Creates profile images of three-dimensional solids
SOLVIEW Creates floating viewports using orthographic projection to lay out multi- and sectional view drawings of 3D solid and body objects while in a layout
SPELL Checks spelling in a drawing
SPHERE Creates a three-dimensional solid sphere
SPLINE Creates a quadratic or cubic spline (NURBS) curve
SPLINEDIT Edits a spline object
STATS Displays rendering statistics
STATUS Displays drawing statistics, modes, and extents
STLOUT Stores a solid in an ASCII or binary file
STRETCH Moves or stretches objects
STYLE Creates or modifies named styles and sets the current style for text in your drawing
STYLESMANAGER Displays the Plot Style Manager
SUBTRACT Creates a composite region or solid by subtraction
SYSWINDOWS Arranges windows
T
TABLET Calibrates, configures, and turns on and off an attached digitizing tablet
TABSURF Creates a tabulated surface from a path curve and a direction vector
TEXT Displays text on screen as it is entered
TEXTSCR Opens the AutoCAD text window
TIME Displays the date and time statistics of a drawing
TOLERANCE Creates geometric tolerances
TOOLBAR Displays, hides, and customizes toolbars
TORUS Creates a donut-shaped solid
TRACE Creates solid lines
TRANSPARENCY Controls whether background pixels in an image are transparent or opaque
TREESTAT Displays information about the drawing’s current spatial index
TRIM Trims objects at a cutting edge defined by other objects
U
U Reverses the most recent operation
UCS Manages user coordinate systems
UCSICON Controls the visibility and placement of the UCS icon
UCSMAN Manages defined user coordinate systems
UNDEFINE Allows an application-defined command to override an internal AutoCAD command
UNDO Reverses the effect of commands
UNION Creates a composite region or solid by addition
UNITS Controls coordinate and angle display formats and determines precision
V
VBAIDE Displays the Visual Basic Editor
VBALOAD Loads a global VBA project into the current AutoCAD session
VBAMAN Loads, unloads, saves, creates, embeds, and extracts VBA projects
VBARUN Runs a VBA macro
VBASTMT Executes a VBA statement on the AutoCAD command line
VBAUNLOAD Unloads a global VBA project
VIEW Saves and restores named views
VIEWRES Sets the resolution for objects in the current viewport
VLISP Displays the Visual LISP interactive development environment (IDE)
VPCLIP Clips viewport objects
VPLAYER Sets layer visibility within viewports
VPOINT Sets the viewing direction for a three-dimensional visualization of the drawing
VPORTS Divides the drawing area into multiple tiled or floating viewports
VSLIDE Displays an image slide file in the current viewport
W
WBLOCK Writes objects or a block to a new drawing file
WEDGE Creates a 3D solid with a sloped face tapering along the X axis
WHOHAS Displays ownership information for opened drawing files
WMFIN Imports a Windows metafile WMFOPTS Sets options for WMFIN
WMFOUT Saves objects to a Windows metafile
span style=”font-size:180%;”>x
XATTACH Attaches an external reference to the current drawing
XBIND Binds dependent symbols of an xref to a drawing
XCLIP Defines an xref or block clipping boundary and sets the front or back clipping planes
XLINE Creates an infinite line
XPLODE Breaks a compound object into its component objects
XREF Controls external references to drawing files
Z
ZOOM Increases or decreases the apparent size of objects in the current viewport
Brandon is a Civil Designer, Aspiring Blogger/Creator, Husband, Father to two Amazing Kids and Tech Aficionado from a small town in Canada. He has been obsessed with design and technology since he can remember and working as a Civil Designer for nearly as long. Brandon’s blog and Youtube channel, CADIntentions.com has been his outlet and excuse for keeping up with new tech and trends in the CAD design world for the last 10 years growing to more than 60,000 subscribers and over 15,000,000 views, while also being the source of many great friendships and unique opportunities. If you would like to Sponsor CAD Intentions or Work together in some way, Please visit my About Page and send me an email: http://cadintentions.com/about-me/
