Secret Right-Clicks & Macro Keys on the Revit Platform

Secret Right-Clicks & Macro Keys on the Revit Platform

Just like any other program, the Revit platform has secret commands that a lot of people during the day will miss or not see it until some light is shined on it. In this Click Saver article we will look at the some of the best right-click or keyboard short-cuts that the Revit platform has to offer.

The first one is the Quick Access Toolbar. Most people like having it at the top so it mimics Microsoft Office but most don’t realize that it doesn’t have to be at the top. If you right-click on it, a menu pops up and you can select “Show Quick Access Toolbar below the Ribbon”. Having it below the Ribbon is a nice touch, as it creates more room so you can add more tools. To add a tool, just right-click on it and choose “Add to Quick Access Toolbar”.

Now talking about adding tools to the Quick Access Toolbar you can also add the “Type Selector” from the “Properties” command. Now if that is too small to your liking then you can also add to the Ribbon.

When working with Curtain Panels, there are times when you need to select all of the panels vertically or horizontally so you can change them all out at the same time. Remember, you have to use the “tab” key to get your hands on the panel. Once you do that, right-click and choose the “Select Panels” option.

Just like Curtain Panels, Mullions are ones that you will often want to swap out a row or column all at the same time.

Select All Instances seems to be everyone’s favorite, but make sure you are choosing the correct one depending on what you are trying to select. This tool can be a huge time saver when it comes to swapping families or types and, as an added bonus, it is super easy to use. First, select an element in a project; then, right-click to choose either “Visible in View” or “In Entire Project”.

On that same right-click don’t forget to use “Create Similar”. This saves you from having to go through the Ribbon to start a certain command to draw the same type of element.

 

A nice one to use when inserting doors and windows is typing “SM” (snap to midpoint). This helps center the door or window in the wall. Another click-saver is using the “Space Bar” for flipping Walls as you draw them, or you can use this feature even after you have drawn them. This same feature can be done with Doors, which is much faster than having to pick those little dinky flip arrow grips. One last one to talk about when using the “Space Bar,” is when inserting “Components”. Unfortunately, this doesn’t work on all of different types of components.

 

Sometimes, you might not want walls to cleanup with other walls. This might be a situation when you have column wraps and you want the walls to look like they butt up to them. If you select a wall, and right-click on the grip that is at the end, you will see “Disallow Join” on the right-click menu.

If you have added a string of dimensions, and now realize that you need to delete one of the extension lines, just right-click over the center grip on the extension line to find “Delete Witness Line”.

If you create a schedule, and now want it in your template or another project, just right-click on the name of it in your “Project Browser,” clicking “Save to New File”. In the other project or template, go to the “Insert” tab and choose “Insert from File”. And, finally, select “Insert Views from File”.