Shortcuts for the Altium Designer Schematic & Schematic Library Editors
Created: Januar 27, 2023 | Updated: Januar 27, 2023
| Applies to versions: 23, 24 and 25
The following sections present shortcut keys that are specific to the Schematic and/or the Schematic Symbol Editors. For general information regarding shortcut keys - including access and editing, general Altium environment shortcuts, and accelerator keys - see Altium Designer Shortcut Keys.
When looking at the shortcut key listings, keep in mind the following:
- When referring to shortcuts, use of the plus (+) symbol denotes holding multiple keys down on the keyboard in the indicated sequence. For example, Shift+F1 means holding down the Shift key then pressing the F1 key. Likewise, Shift+Ctrl+PgUp means holding down the Shift key then holding down the Ctrl key at the same time and pressing the PgUp key.
- Where use of the standard mouse buttons is made, Click refers to a single click of the left-hand mouse button, Double-Click refers to two clicks of the left-hand mouse button, and Right-Click refers to a single click of the right-hand mouse button.
Standard Shortcuts
The following shortcuts are standard to the Schematic and/or Schematic Symbol Editors. They are available in general and do not require you to be performing an interactive process to access them.
General Editing |
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| Double-Click | Modify the properties of the object currently under the cursor. |
| Right-Click | Access context menu for the design space or object currently under the cursor. If currently within an interactive command, will escape from the current operation. |
| F2 | Edit selected text object in-place (direct editing). |
| Ctrl+C | Copy selection |
| Ctrl+X | Cut selection |
| Ctrl+V | Paste selection |
| Ctrl+R | Copy selected object(s) and paste repeatedly where needed in the design space (rubber stamping). |
| Shift+Ctrl+V | Access the Smart Paste dialog. |
| Delete | Delete selection |
| Ctrl+Z | Undo |
| Ctrl+Y | Redo |
Selecting |
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| Shift+F | Access the Find Similar Objects feature (click on an object to use as the base template). |
| Click | Select/deselect the object currently under the cursor. |
| Shift+Click | Change the selection status of the object currently under the cursor without affecting the status of other objects. |
| Shift+Ctrl+X | Toggle Cross Select Mode On or Off. |
| Shift+Ctrl+Y | Toggle the Cross Select Mode's Reposition selected component in PCB option On or Off. |
| Ctrl+A | Select all objects on the current document. |
| Alt+Click | On a net object to select that object, and to highlight all objects associated to that net across all sheets of the active design project. |
| Click (away from objects), Hold&Drag (left-to-right) | Select all objects that fall completely within the bounds of the selection area. |
| Click (away from objects), Hold&Drag (right-to-left) | Select all objects that fall completely inside the selection area or are touched by its boundary. |
| Ctrl+n (n = 1 to 8) | Store the current selection in memory location n. |
| Alt+n (n = 1 to 8) | Recall the selection from memory location n. |
| Shift+n (n = 1 to 8) | Add the current selection to the selection already stored in memory location n. |
| Alt+Shift+n (n = 1 to 8) | Recall selection from memory location n and add it to the current selection in the design space. |
| Shift+Ctrl+n (n = 1 to 8) | Apply filtering based on the selection set in memory location n. |
Moving |
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| Click (on an object), Hold&Drag |
Move the single object currently under the cursor (or group of selected objects if the object is part of that selection). If the Always Drag option is enabled (on the Schematic - Graphical Editing page of the Preferences dialog), then using this shortcut to move an electrical object will maintain connectivity with other electrical objects. |
| Ctrl+Click, Hold&Drag | Move the single object currently under the cursor (or group of selected objects if the object is part of that selection). If the Always Drag option is disabled (on the Schematic - Graphical Editing page of the Preferences dialog), then using this shortcut to move an electrical object will maintain connectivity with other electrical objects. |
| Left Arrow | Move the cursor to the left in the current document design space in increments of one snap grid unit. |
| Shift+Left Arrow | Move the cursor to the left in the current document design space in increments of 10 snap grid units. |
| Right Arrow | Move the cursor to the right in the current document design space in increments of one snap grid unit. |
| Shift+Right Arrow | Move the cursor to the right in the current document design space, in increments of 10 snap grid units. |
| Up Arrow | Move the cursor upwards in the current document design space, in increments of one snap grid unit. |
| Shift+Up Arrow | Move the cursor upwards in the current document design space, in increments of 10 snap grid units. |
| Down Arrow | Move the cursor downwards in the current document design space, in increments of one snap grid unit. |
| Shift+Down Arrow | Move the cursor downwards in the current document design space, in increments of 10 snap grid units. |
| Ctrl+Left Arrow | Move the current selection (one or more selected design objects) to the left in the current document design space in increments of one snap grid unit. |
| Shift+Ctrl+Left Arrow | Move the current selection (one or more selected design objects) to the left in the current document design space, in increments of 10 snap grid units. |
| Ctrl+Right Arrow | Move the current selection (one or more selected design objects) to the right in the current document design space, in increments of one snap grid unit. |
| Shift+Ctrl+Right Arrow | Move the current selection (one or more selected design objects) to the right in the current document design space, in increments of 10 snap grid units. |
| Ctrl+Up Arrow | Move the current selection (one or more selected design objects) upwards in the current document design space, in increments of one snap grid unit. |
| Shift+Ctrl+Up Arrow | Move the current selection (one or more selected design objects) upwards in the current document design space, in increments of 10 snap grid units. |
| Ctrl+Down Arrow | Move the current selection (one or more selected design objects) downwards in the current document design space, in increments of one snap grid unit. |
| Shift+Ctrl+Down Arrow | Move the current selection (one or more selected design objects) downwards in the current document design space, in increments of 10 snap grid units. |
Aligning |
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| Shift+Ctrl+L | Align selected objects by their left edges. |
| Shift+Ctrl+R | Align selected objects by their right edges. |
| Shift+Ctrl+H | Make the horizontal spacing of selected objects equal. |
| Shift+Ctrl+T | Align selected objects by their top edges. |
| Shift+Ctrl+B | Align selected objects by their bottom edges. |
| Shift+Ctrl+V | Make the vertical spacing of selected objects equal. |
| Shift+Ctrl+D | Move selected objects to the nearest point on the current snap grid. |
| Spacebar | Rotate selection counterclockwise by 90°. |
| Shift+Spacebar | Rotate selection clockwise by 90°. |
Viewing the Schematic |
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| Ctrl+PgDn | Display all design objects on the current document. |
| PgUp | Zoom-in, relative to the current cursor location.
You can also use the mouse to zoom in to a region of the document by one of the following methods (where applicable and depending on how the buttons of your mouse might be assigned):
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| PgDn | Zoom-out, relative to the current cursor location.
You can use the mouse to zoom out from a region of the document by one of the following methods (where applicable and depending on how the buttons of your mouse might be assigned):
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| Mouse Wheel | Scroll vertically within the design space. This is a default setting that can be changed from the System - Mouse Wheel Configuration page of the Preferences dialog. |
| Shift+Mouse Wheel | Scroll horizontally within the design space. This is a default setting that can be changed from the System - Mouse Wheel Configuration page of the Preferences dialog. |
| Shift+Ctrl+Mouse Wheel | Cycle through the channels in a multi-channel design. As you roll the mouse wheel upward/downward, the next/previous compiled channel tab (at the bottom of the main design window) will become the active tab. This is a default setting that can be changed from the System - Mouse Wheel Configuration page of the Preferences dialog. |
| Home | Redraw the view in the main design window, placing the location marked by the cursor - prior to launching the command - at the center of the window. |
| End | Refresh the screen, in effect performing a redraw of the current document, to remove any undesirable drawing update effects. |
| Alt+End | Redraw the current layer of the current document, to remove any undesirable drawing update effects. |
| Alt+F5 | Toggle the display of the current document's editor between maximized and not maximized. |
| F5 | Visually toggle the Net Color Override feature on or off. |
| Shift+C | Clear the filter that is currently being applied to the active document. |
| Right-Click, Hold&Drag | Display the slider (panning) hand cursor then drag to move your view of the design space. |
Grids |
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| G | Cycle forward through your predefined snap grid settings. |
| Shift+G | Cycle backward through your predefined snap grid settings. |
| Shift+Ctrl+G | Turn the visible grid on or off in the current document. |
| Ctrl+Shift | Temporarily disables the grid. |
| Shift+E | Turn the cursor electrical grid on or off. |
Finding Text |
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| Ctrl+F | Find text. |
| Ctrl+H | Find and replace text. |
| F3 | Find next occurrence of searched text. |
Quick Panel Access |
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| F11 | Toggle the display of the Properties panel. |
| F12 | Toggle the display of the SCH Filter panel or the SCHLIB Filter panel accordingly. |
| Shift+F12 | Toggle the display of the List panel (SCH List or SCHLIB List panel) accordingly. |
Commenting |
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| Alt+Ctrl+C | Add a new comment thread to a point, object, or area on the active schematic document. Before you can start using the comment feature, ensure that you have opened (checked out) a Managed Project and are working on one of its source schematic documents. |
Miscellaneous |
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| Ctrl+Double-Click |
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| Ctrl+L | Perform Board Level Annotation through use of the Board Level Annotate dialog. |
| Ctrl+W | Enter wire placement mode. |
| Ctrl+Home | Move the cursor to the absolute origin coordinate (0,0) for the current document. |
| Ctrl+Q |
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| Ctrl+M | Measure and display the distance between any two points in the current document. |
| F9 | Run a simulation for the active design using the analyses and related settings currently defined through the Simulation Dashboard panel. If this is the first time a simulation of the design is being performed, then the default analyses - Operating Point, DC Sweep, Transient Analysis, and AC Analysis - will be run, using their default settings. In the latter case, it is strongly advised to set up for simulation first, through the Simulation Dashboard panel. Note that the Run Simulation command, to which this shortcut is associated, is only available provided you have the Mixed Simulation system extension installed. This will add the Simulate menu to the Schematic Editor. For more information, see Extending & Updating Your Installation. |
 , Click |
Cross-probe from a chosen object on the current schematic document to its corresponding counterpart on the PCB document remaining in the source document (Continuous Mode). |
| , Ctrl+Click |
Cross-probe from a chosen object on the current schematic document to its corresponding counterpart on the PCB document making the target document the active document (Jump To Mode). |
Interactive Shortcuts
The following shortcuts become available when an interactive process has been launched, such as placing a new design object, or moving an existing one. Note that the shortcuts available will depend on the interactive command and the specific design object that is the focus of that command.
| F1 | Access the Graphical Editing Hot key List dialog that provides a listing of the shortcuts available (but that cannot be launched) as well as access to the documentation for the currently running command. |
| Shift+F1 | Access a menu that lists all valid shortcuts for the present stage of the currently running interactive command. |
| Enter | Acts like a Click of the mouse when placing/moving an object. |
| PgUp | Zoom in. |
| PgDn | Zoom out. |
| End | Refresh the screen. |
| Home | Change display to have the cursor (with the attached object being placed/moved) at the center of the design window. |
| Left Arrow | Move the cursor (with the attached object being placed/moved) to the left in the current document workspace, in increments of one snap grid unit. |
| Shift+Left Arrow | Move the cursor (with the attached object being placed/moved) to the left in the current document workspace, in increments of 10 snap grid units. |
| Right Arrow | Move the cursor (with the attached object being placed/moved) to the right in the current document workspace, in increments of one snap grid unit. |
| Shift+Right Arrow | Move the cursor (with the attached object being placed/moved) to the right in the current document workspace, in increments of 10 snap grid units. |
| Up Arrow | Move the cursor (with the attached object being placed/moved) upwards in the current document workspace, in increments of one snap grid unit. |
| Shift+Up Arrow | Move the cursor (with the attached object being placed/moved) upwards in the current document workspace, in increments of 10 snap grid units. |
| Down Arrow | Move the cursor (with the attached object being placed/moved) downwards in the current document workspace, in increments of one snap grid unit. |
| Shift+Down Arrow | Move the cursor (with the attached object being placed/moved) downwards in the current document workspace, in increments of 10 snap grid units. |
| Tab | Pause the interactive task and access the associated mode of the Properties panel in which properties for the object being placed/moved can be changed on-the-fly. Continuing to use Tab when in the Properties panel (or any dialog for that matter) will cycle through the fields in the panel. |
| X | Mirror the object being placed/moved along the X-axis. |
| Y | Mirror the object being placed/moved along the Y-axis. |
| Alt | Constrain the direction of movement to the horizontal or vertical axis depending on the initial direction of movement. |
| Shift | When auto-panning while placing/moving an object, use to pan at higher speed. |
| Esc (or Right-Click) |
Escape from the current process - either a stage of the currently running interactive command or the command itself. |
| Spacebar |
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| Shift+Spacebar |
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| Ctrl+Spacebar | Changes the wiring mode for any connected wires, buses, or signal harnesses when dragging an electrical object. |
| Insert |
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| Click&Hold+Insert | On a selected segment of a placed Wire, Line, Bus, or Signal Harness or an edge of a placed Polygon to add a vertex at that point. |
| Click&Hold+Delete | On a vertex of a placed Wire, Line, Bus, Signal Harness or Polygon to remove that vertex. |
| Backspace or Delete | Remove the last placed vertex, while placing a Wire, Line, Bus, Signal Harness, or Polygon. |
| + (on the numeric keypad) | Enlarges the size of the IEEE Symbol currently being placed/moved. |
| - (on the numeric keypad) | Reduces the size of the IEEE Symbol currently being placed/moved. |
| S | Relocate the currently selected Sheet Entry (or entries) that are being moved, to the directly opposite side of the parent Sheet Symbol. |
| V | Reverse order while moving two or more selected Sheet Entries. |
| T |
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Pop-up Menu Shortcuts
The following shortcuts give access to specific pop-up menus of commands, directly from within the design space itself. Some of these will be familiar as they are sub-menus found within the main menus for the editor. Each of the main menus also have a defined pop-up key for quick access from within the design space, see Accelerator Keys for more information.
| A | The Align sub-menu (from the main Edit menu). |
| B | The Toolbars sub-menu (from the main View menu). |
| J | The Jump sub-menu (from the main Edit menu). |
| K | The Panels sub-menu (from the main View menu). |
| M | The Move sub-menu (from the main Edit menu). |
| O | A pop-up menu offering quick access to options and preferences. |
| S | The Select sub-menu (from the main Edit menu). |
| X | The DeSelect sub-menu (from the main Edit menu). |
| Y | A pop-up menu with filtering commands. |
| Z | A pop-up menu with zoom commands. |