Explore the AutoCAD user interface

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After startup, you’ll see the Start tab.

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Here you can use the Open button to open a drawing

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or the drop-down to open a sheet set

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or explore the sample drawings.

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Use the New button to create a drawing from the default drawing template file

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or the New drop-down to browse available templates,

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get more templates online or use the Create sheet set wizard.

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View the most recently used documents, open and save files to your connected drives,

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and explore various online learning content.

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We also provided easy access to important online resources like the What’s New,

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Online help, AutoCAD mobile app, AutoCAD web app, and more.

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In the Announcements area you’ll receive information about product updates,

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surveys, and Have You Tried articles.

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And in Connect you can sign into your Autodesk account

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to access online services or send us feedback.

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The drawing area is where you create and modify objects to represent your design.

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In the upper-left corner of the drawing area are the Viewport controls.

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Here you toggle the display of the ViewCube and other viewing tools,

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control the number of viewports,

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select a named or preset view,

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or select a visual style.

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The ViewCube allows you to rotate the view of your drawing

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to see it from a different viewpoint.

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The Navigation bar provides access to the Steering Wheel, Pan,

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Zoom and Orbit tools and ShowMotion.

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Use the Menu button in the lower-right corner to customize the Navigation Bar.

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The drawing area also contains the UCS icon which displays the

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positive directions of the X, Y and Z axes.

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When you hover over a drawing file tab you’ll see preview images of the model and layouts.

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Right-click on any drawing file tab for additional options.

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Drag a file tab from the application window, creating a floating window.

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This makes it easy to move the drawing onto another monitor.

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To return a floating window to the application, drag the title bar to the files tab.

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Above the file tab is the ribbon.

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The ribbon organizes commands and tools into tabs and panels.

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For example, the Draw panel on the Home tab contains tools to create objects,

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such as lines, circles, and ellipses; while the Modify panel contains tools to modify objects,

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such as Move, Copy, and Rotate.

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The Quick Access toolbar displays frequently used tools.

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You can easily customize this to include the tools you like to use.

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Click the application button to create, open, or publish drawings, or to search for commands.

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In the lower-left corner of the drawing area are the controls to switch between model space –

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where you’ll do most of your drawing – and paper space:

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the Layout tabs that allow you to control which area of the drawing to publish,

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and at which scale. You can add more layouts by clicking on the plus sign.

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Use the command line to start a command and provide input for the current command.

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As you enter a command, AutoComplete will suggest a list of matching commands.

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From the command line you can access other content such as layers,

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blocks, hatch patterns and more.

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After typing a command name or input, press Enter.

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Dynamic input, displays the command prompts next to the cursor.

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At the bottom of the application window is the application status bar.

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The status bar displays common drafting aids, annotation scaling tools,

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and workspace customization tools.

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Use the Workspace control to change to a 3D modeling workspace

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where you can create solid, surface, or mesh models.

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Tool Palettes contain tools to aid in the creation of your design.

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Tool Palettes can also be customized with additional tools and content.