How to Delete Geometry in AutoCAD With a Keyboard

Deleting AutoCAD geometry via the keyboard is often faster than mouse deletions.

AutoCAD provides the mouse and abundant buttons and menus to run its commands visually. However, the program never stopped supporting the extensive keyboard functionality that users of AutoCAD's early versions had to use. It's therefore not surprising to learn that AutoCAD's functions for deleting geometry are fully accessible via the keyboard. The keys used to perform the deletions are the same as those used to delete items in other applications. However, a less intuitive step in deleting AutoCAD geometry is selecting that geometry.

Instructions

2-D Deletion

1. Type "Pline", which runs AutoCAD's "Polyline" command. Polylines are chains of an arbitrary number of curved and straight line segments. You'll delete segments of a polyline with your keyboard.

2. Click and drag at least four times at different places on the drawing canvas to produce a polyline. Press "Enter" when you're done drawing.

3. Type "Pedit", the AutoCAD command for editing polylines. The program will prompt you to select a polyline to edit.

4. Click the polyline you drew in Step 3 to select it. AutoCAD will display a context menu with options for editing the polyline.

5. Press "E" to run the "Edit vertex" command. AutoCAD will display an "X," indicating the current polyline segment to be edited.

6. Press "Enter" repeatedly until the "X" is over the segment you want to delete.

7. Press "B" to tell AutoCAD you want to break the polyline where it's displaying the "X."

8. Press "X" to exit the current context menu, and then "Escape" to close the remaining context menus.

9. Click the polyline segment you broke in Step 7, and then press "Delete" or press "Control" and "X" simultaneously to remove the segment.

3-D Deletion

1. Type "Box" to enter AutoCAD's mode for drawing boxes. You'll use a duplicate of the box to cut away a portion of the box.

2. Click anywhere in the drawing window to plot the box's first point, and then drag to grow the box's base.

3. Click again to finish the base, and then drag to raise the height of the box.

4. Click again to complete the box.

5. Click the box to select it, and then press "Ctrl" and "C" simultaneously to copy the box to the clipboard. Press "Ctrl" and "V" simultaneously to create a duplicate of the box.

6. Click the duplicate to select it, then drag it toward the first box until it intersects the first box.

7. Type "Subtract," then click the first box to tell AutoCAD that you want to subtract the duplicate from this box.

8. Click the second box to tell AutoCAD you want to use the duplicate to do the subtraction.

9. Press "Enter." AutoCAD will remove the duplicate and the portion of it that intersected with the first box. This removal is one way to delete 3-D geometry.

References

• "AutoCAD 2011 and AutoCAD LT 2011 Bible"; Ellen Finkelstein; 2011