How Do You Select All in AutoCAD?

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How Do You Select All in AutoCAD?

AutoCAD is a powerful software used by professionals in various industries such as architecture, engineering, and design. One of the essential tasks in AutoCAD is selecting objects.

While you can select individual objects one by one, there are times when you need to select all objects within a drawing quickly. In this tutorial, we will explore different methods to select all in AutoCAD.

Selecting All Objects using the Selection Box

If you have a large number of objects scattered throughout your drawing, using the selection box can be an efficient way to select all objects at once.

  1. Click on the Selection tool from the toolbar or type “SELECT” in the command line and press Enter.
  2. In the command line, type “All” and press Enter. This option selects all visible objects within your drawing.
  3. Drawing a selection box: Click and hold the left mouse button at one corner of your drawing area, then drag diagonally to create a box that encompasses all objects you want to select. Release the mouse button to make the selection.

Selecting All Objects using Keyboard Shortcuts

If you prefer using keyboard shortcuts, there are two commonly used shortcuts to select all objects quickly:

  • Ctrl + A: Press and hold the Ctrl key on your keyboard and then press A. This shortcut selects all visible objects within your drawing.
  • Pick Add: Type “PICKADD” in the command line and press Enter.

    Set its value to 1. Now, whenever you select an object, it gets added to the selection set. You can then press Enter to select all objects in the drawing.

Selecting All Objects on Specific Layers

In some cases, you may want to select all objects on specific layers while excluding others. AutoCAD provides a straightforward method for this:

  1. Type “LA” in the command line and press Enter. This opens the Layer Properties Manager.
  2. Select the layer(s) you want to include in your selection by clicking on them while holding down the Ctrl key.
  3. Click on the Show Selected button to hide all other layers.
  4. Type “LAYDEL” in the command line and press Enter.

    This deletes all visible objects from hidden layers, leaving only the objects on selected layers.

  5. Finally, type “SELECT” in the command line and press Enter. Type “All” and press Enter again. AutoCAD will select all visible objects on the selected layers.

Selecting All Objects using Quick Select

The Quick Select tool is a powerful feature that allows you to create complex selection criteria based on object properties such as color, layer, linetype, etc. Here’s how to use it:

  1. Type “QSELECT” in the command line and press Enter. This opens the Quick Select dialog box.
  2. In the dialog box, specify your desired criteria by selecting different property filters such as color, layer, etc.
  3. Click on the “OK” button to apply your selection criteria and select all objects that match the specified properties.

These are some of the methods you can use to select all objects in AutoCAD. Whether you prefer using the selection box, keyboard shortcuts, layer filtering, or the Quick Select tool, AutoCAD provides multiple options to suit your workflow and selection requirements.