If you’re looking for a quick and efficient way to improve your 2D AutoCAD skills, you’re in the right place.

This 12-minute crash course covers the most essential AutoCAD shortcuts and commands you need to know.

Whether you’re:

• Just getting started
• Struggling with input
• Or coming back to AutoCAD after a break

👉 This will help you get back up to speed fast.

Who This Is For?

This is for you if:

• You rely on menus and toolbars to find commands
• You feel slow when drawing
• You’re not comfortable typing commands
• You used AutoCAD before and feel rusty

If that sounds familiar — you’re exactly who this is for.

Quick CAD Speed Quiz 🤔

Before you watch the video below, see how you do with these:

1. What’s one of the quickest ways to keep your lines straight (not skewed)?
2. What is CAD’s fastest way to accept or repeat a command?
3. How do you draw a rectangle without using the toolbar or ribbon?
4. What’s one shortcut to switch to a clean, distraction-free workspace?
5. What do you need to select first to use the spacebar shortcut for Move, Rotate, Scale, or Mirror?
6. What is the two-letter command to open your Osnap settings?
7. What does M2P do in AutoCAD?

Don’t worry if you’re not sure on these.

The 12-minute video below walks through each of these step by step.

Download the AutoCAD Shortcut Cheat Sheet

Keep the most frequently used commands right in front of you while you work.

👉 Get the Free Cheat Sheet

CAD Tips for Faster Workflow:

Here are some simple ways to immediately speed things up:

Stay with the Command Line
Use DYNMODE (set to 3) so commands can be entered right at your cursor — no need to move your mouse.

Leverage Grips
Use grips for quick edits, and tap the spacebar to cycle through move, rotate, mirror, and more.

Activate Osnaps
Make sure Osnaps are on for accurate drawing — only enable the ones you need.

Use the Status Bar
This lower strip is a shortcut in itself. Toggle settings on/off quickly without digging through menus.

Why Shortcuts Make Such a Big Difference ⚡

Most beginners rely on menus.

That works — but it’s slow.

Every time you move your mouse to find a command, you break your focus.

Shortcuts keep you:

• Moving
• Thinking ahead
• And working faster

That’s where real speed comes from.

Your 2D AutoCAD Essentials

Take a few minutes to watch the 12-minute crash course below.

Even if you’ve used AutoCAD before, revisiting these essential commands will help you work faster and more accurately.

Keyboard shortcuts and commands are your best tools in CAD.

Whether drawing or editing, they streamline your workflow and make everything easier.

Tired of searching for commands?

If you’re constantly going back to menus or forgetting what to type…

👉 Download the AutoCAD Shortcut Cheat Sheet

• Simple and easy to follow
• Covers the most-used commands
• Great for beginners and returning users

👉 Get the Free Cheat Sheet

What You’ll Learn:

• How to easily draw lines, rectangles, and circles.
• Master the power of Osnaps and Grips for precision and control.
• Essential commands for Mirror, Explode, Erase, Trim, and Offset.
• How selection sets work — and how they help you work faster

Drawing Lines, Rectangles, and Circles:

Let’s start with the basics:

• L for Line – the foundation of any drawing.
• REC for Rectangle – quickly create rectangles.
• C for Circle – an essential shape in many designs.

These are the building blocks of almost every drawing.

To work faster, enter these commands directly instead of clicking icons.

Why Selection Sets Matter

Most beginners select objects one at a time.

But using selection sets allows you to:

• Modify multiple objects at once
• Avoid repeating commands over and over
• Speed up your workflow significantly

Simple Example of Selection Sets

AutoCAD is always in a “pick mode” by default — meaning you can select objects at almost any time.

As you click objects, AutoCAD keeps adding them to your current selection.
This group of selected objects is called a selection set.

AutoCAD also remembers your last selection set until you create a new one.

Try this:

• Select a few objects in your drawing
• Press Esc
• Type M (Move) and press Enter
• Type P (for Previous) and press Enter

👉 You’ll see your previous selection set is restored.

Now try selecting a new group of objects.

That new selection replaces the old one and becomes your current selection set.

Why This Is Useful

Using selection sets lets you:

• reuse selections without starting over
• work faster with multiple objects
• avoid repeating the same steps

Once you get used to this, it becomes a natural part of your workflow.

Osnaps and Grips:

Accurate snapping is key for precise drawing, and Osnaps (Object Snaps) help with that.

Osnaps help you lock onto:

• Endpoints
• Midpoints
• Intersections

Commands you’ll need:

• OS – Adjust your Osnap Settings for smooth snapping.
• The Tap – Work with Grips to move, rotate, or scale objects with a quick spacebar tap. (more on this below)

Simple Example: Snapping to a Line

Let’s say you want to start a line exactly at the end of another line.

Try this:

• Type L and press Enter
• Move your cursor near the end of an existing line
• Wait for the Endpoint snap to appear
• Click

Your new line starts exactly at that point

No guessing, no being slightly off.

Pro tip:
Only turn on the Osnaps you need — too many slows you down.

Mirror, Explode, Erase, Trim, and Offset:

These are fundamental commands for modifying your drawings:

• MI – Mirror your objects with ease.
• X – Explode complex objects back into their parts.
• E – Erase elements with a simple command.
• TR – Trim excess lines for a cleaner design.
• O – Offset to create parallel lines and walls quickly.

Mastering these commands will help you finish your drawings much faster than using dialogs and even constantly using toolbars and Ribbons, which can really slow things down.

Using shortcuts instead of toolbars and ribbons makes a big difference over time.

Simple Move Example Using Grips

Click on a rectangle.

You’ll see blue squares appear at the corners and midpoints.

Now click one of those grips and move your mouse.

You’re already modifying the object — no command needed.

The key thing to remember: click a grip first. Everything starts there.

One of the Fastest CAD Shortcuts Most Users Miss

Here’s one of my favorite shortcut methods in CAD because it can dramatically speed up everyday editing.

Start by selecting an object and then clicking on one of its grips.

From there:

• Click a grip and drag right away = Stretch
• Press the spacebar once = Move
• Press the spacebar twice = Rotate
• Press the spacebar three times = Scale
• Press the spacebar four times = Mirror

This works on almost any object that displays a grip, and it’s one of the fastest ways to edit objects without constantly going back to separate commands.

Once you get used to this, you may find yourself using this method instead of going to Move, Rotate, Scale, or Mirror from menus and toolbars.

You Don’t Need More Commands — You Need Better Workflow

Most users don’t struggle because they don’t know commands.

They struggle because they click too much, move their mouse all over the screen, and constantly break their flow. It doesn’t seem like much at first, but over time it slows everything down.

AutoCAD was originally built around the command line. That’s how it was meant to be used. You type a command, execute it, and move right into the next step. The ribbon and toolbars came later to make things more visual, especially for beginners, but they’re not the fastest way to work once you start getting comfortable.

When you rely on the ribbon, you end up:

• Searching for commands instead of just using them
• Moving your mouse across the screen over and over
• Breaking your focus away from the drawing

When you use commands, it feels completely different:

• Your hands stay in one place
• Your eyes stay on the drawing
• Your workflow stays smooth and continuous

That’s really the difference between someone who just knows a few commands and someone who works fast in CAD. It’s not about knowing more, it’s about using what you know in a better way.

A simple shift is to start typing your commands instead of clicking them. Use L for Line, TR for Trim, O for Offset, and press the spacebar to keep things moving. It doesn’t take long before it starts to feel natural.

You don’t need more tools. You just need fewer distractions. The command line is where the real speed comes from.

AutoCAD Shortcuts FAQ

What’s one of the quickest ways to keep your lines straight (not skewed)?
Use F8 to turn on Ortho mode. This locks your cursor to horizontal and vertical directions, helping you draw clean, straight lines.

What is CAD’s fastest way to accept or repeat a command?
Press the spacebar. It acts like Enter to accept a command and also repeats your last command, which saves time during repetitive work.

How do you draw a rectangle without using the toolbar or ribbon?
Type REC and press the spacebar or Enter. Then click two points to define the rectangle.

What shortcut gives you a clean, distraction-free workspace?
Press Ctrl + 0 to toggle Clean Screen mode. This hides toolbars and panels so you can focus on your drawing.

What do you need to select first to use the spacebar shortcut for Move, Rotate, Scale, or Mirror?
You need to select an object and click on one of its grips. From there, pressing the spacebar cycles through Move, Rotate, Scale, and Mirror.

What is the two-letter command to open your Osnap settings?
Type OS and press Enter. This opens the Object Snap settings so you can control how your cursor snaps to points.

What does M2P do in AutoCAD?
M2P means “Mid Between 2 Points.” It lets you snap to the exact midpoint between any two selected points, even if there’s no object there.

Ready to move beyond basic CAD shortcuts?

If you want to stop relying on menus and take it to the next level…

👉 The ShortcutCAD Full Course shows you how to use shortcuts in real workflows.

• Step-by-step lessons
• Built for beginners and returning users
• Focused on real-world drawing
• Pays for itself over and over

Now it’s time to start implementing these shortcuts in your drawing!