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5 Essential Archicad shortcuts every beginner should know

Andrea Polgar
Graphisoft
Graphisoft

 

Whether you’re just starting with Archicad or looking to sharpen your workflow, these five tips will help you work smarter and faster.

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1. The Shift key: more than multi-select

 

  • Select Multiple Elements: Hold Shift and click to select or deselect multiple objects.
  • Quick Selection Preview: Hover over an element and press Shift—the element highlights, so you know exactly what will be selected.
  • Lock Drawing Direction: While drawing or moving, hold Shift to constrain your cursor to horizontal, vertical, or set angles for precise placement.
  • 3D Orbit: In the 3D window, hold Shift and the middle mouse button to instantly activate orbit mode for easy model navigation.

 

2. Set the center of 3D orbit

 

  • When orbiting in 3D, you can change the rotation center by clicking on any element—Archicad will use your selection as the new pivot point for smoother navigation.

 

3. Snap Points and Guides: precision placement

 

  • Automatic Snap Points: Hover your mouse over edges and nodes to see snap points appear for precise drawing and editing.
  • Instant Snap Reference: Press Q to immediately highlight an edge or node as a snap reference, regardless of any delay settings. Make sure Snap Guides and Points are enabled in the View menu for this to work.
  • Customize Snap Settings: Adjust snap intervals and behaviors in the Snap Points menu for even more control.

 

4. The Reference Line: control wall placement

 

  • The bold line on walls and other elements is the Reference Line—it determines how elements are positioned and joined.
  • To switch the reference line’s position (e.g., inside, outside, or center), simply tap C while drawing or editing. This cycles through available reference line locations for flexible modeling.

 

5. The Tab key: control selection and input

 

  • Cycle Through Stacked Elements: When multiple elements overlap (like slabs, finishes, or zones), press Tab to cycle through and select the exact one you want.
  • Jump Between Tracker Fields: While entering values in the tracker, use Tab to move quickly between input fields for efficient data entry.

How many of these did you already know? Try them out and check out the New to Archicad! program for more!

 

 

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Last update:
‎2025-07-11 12:57 PM
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