Blog · · 4 min read

Revit shortcut keys: the two-letter codes worth learning

The default Revit keyboard shortcuts that cover modelling, editing and view control on Windows, how to learn and change them, and a ring for the commands without one.

Revit shortcuts are not key combinations. They are short letter codes, usually two letters, that you type while the drawing area has focus. No Enter, no command line: type WA and the Wall tool starts. Once you know a dozen of them, you stop travelling to the ribbon for every wall, door and dimension.

Every shortcut on this page is from Autodesk's own keyboard shortcut list for Revit, the reference that ships with the program. They are the out-of-the-box defaults; your office template or a colleague may have changed some of them.

Modelling

  • WA Wall
  • DR Door
  • WN Window
  • CM Place a component
  • RM Room, RT Room tag
  • LL Level
  • GR Grid
  • RP Reference plane

Editing

  • MV Move
  • CO or CC Copy
  • RO Rotate
  • AL Align
  • TR Trim/Extend to corner
  • SL Split element
  • OF Offset
  • MM Mirror, pick axis; DM Mirror, draw axis
  • AR Array
  • RE Scale
  • PN Pin, UP Unpin
  • DE Delete
  • MA Match type properties
  • CS Create similar: starts placing a new element of the same type as the one you selected.

AL deserves special mention. Align is the command that keeps a Revit model tidy, and with the shortcut it becomes something you do without thinking.

Annotation

  • DI Aligned dimension
  • TX Text
  • TG Tag by category
  • DL Detail line

Views and visibility

  • VG or VV opens Visibility/Graphics, the dialog you open many times a day.
  • ZF (also ZE and ZX) zooms to fit.
  • ZA zooms all open views to fit.
  • ZR zooms in to a region.
  • ZP goes back to the previous pan or zoom.
  • TL toggles thin lines.
  • WF Wireframe, HL Hidden line, SD Shaded with edges.
  • BX draws a section box around the selection.
  • PP or Ctrl+1 shows or hides the Properties palette.

Hiding and isolating

These are the ones that save the most clicks in a crowded model:

  • HH temporarily hides the selected element.
  • HI temporarily isolates the selected element.
  • HC temporarily hides the category, IC isolates the category.
  • HR resets the temporary hide/isolate.
  • EH hides the element in the view for good, VH hides its whole category.
  • RH toggles Reveal Hidden Elements, so you can find what someone hid.

The temporary versions (HH, HI, HC, IC) are safe to use freely; HR puts everything back. The permanent ones (EH, VH) change the view, which matters when the view goes on a sheet.

Snaps and selection

  • SE snaps to the next endpoint only, SM to the midpoint, SI to the intersection.
  • SA selects all instances of the selected type in the whole project.
  • TW shows the open views as tabs, WT tiles them.

Change them: the KS dialog

Type KS to open the Keyboard Shortcuts dialog (also under View > User Interface > Keyboard Shortcuts). You can search for any command, see its current shortcut, assign a new one and export the whole list to an XML file. Exporting is a good way to make a cheat sheet that matches your own setup, and to take your shortcuts to another computer.

Commands with no default shortcut, such as Purge Unused or the Default 3D View, can be given one here. One command can have several shortcuts, as VG and VV show. The Import button reads an exported XML file back in, which is how a team can share one set of codes.

How to remember them

  1. Many codes are the first two letters. Wall is WA and Align is AL, but Door is DR and Room is RM. Guess first, then check: the KS dialog lists every code with its command.
  2. The "five times" rule. If you use a command five times in a row, learn its code. Walls, grids, dimensions, tags.
  3. Group by first letter. H is for hide: HH, HI, HC, HR. Z is for zoom: ZF, ZA, ZR, ZP. V is for visibility: VG, VV, VH.
  4. Print your own list. Export the codes from the KS dialog, open the XML file in Excel, and print the commands you use. A sheet next to the monitor for the first two weeks helps more than you would expect.
  5. Use the left hand. Keep the left hand on the keyboard and the right on the mouse. Many two-letter codes are reachable without moving the left hand much.

A Revit ring for the rest

RadialDeck is the radial menu for Windows that we make. When Revit is in front, the hotkey or a side mouse button opens a Revit ring: hold, flick toward a slice, release. Revit's codes are fast already; the ring is for the things that have no code by default and for days when your hand is on the mouse.

The gallery has 20 ready-made Revit slices: Wall, Door, Window, Align, Trim, Move, Copy, Visibility, Zoom fit, Hide, Purge unused, Section box, Default 3D view, Level, Grid, Aligned dimension, Text, Tag by category, Thin lines and Print. The Revit page lists what each one does.

Purge unused and Default 3D view are the two worth adding first, because there is no default letter code for them.

Quick reference

  • Model: WA, DR, WN, CM, LL, GR, RP, RM
  • Edit: MV, CO, RO, AL, TR, SL, OF, MM, PN
  • Annotate: DI, TX, TG
  • View: VG, ZF, ZA, TL, BX
  • Hide: HH, HI, HR, EH, VH, RH
  • Settings: KS

RadialDeck is free for two rings and has a 14-day trial of Pro, which adds a ring per program such as Revit. It is in the Microsoft Store.

Try it in RadialDeck

Free for two rings, with a 14-day trial of everything in Pro. Windows 10 and 11, from the Microsoft Store.

Get it from Microsoft or download the installer (.exe)