Shortcut Rings

You can use shortcut rings for quick access to commonly used commands.

A shortcut ring is a circular arrangement of 8 shortcuts to commonly used commands, optimized for each dashboard app, feature, and tools. Each shortcut ring has 8 preset commands that correspond to the active mode:

  • Editing a sketch.
  • Editing a subdivision body.
  • When no mode is active the feature ring opens.


To open the shortcut ring, do one of the following in the work area, depending on your hardware, operating system, and Common Preferences setting:

Note: You can select the gesture and how the shortcut ring opens, see Specifying Preferences.
  • Right Mouse Button Drag - Default for SOLIDWORKS.
  • Alt + Right Mouse Button Drag - Default for CATIA and 3DEXPERIENCE and for Macintosh with Option + right mouse button drag.
Switching between the default shortcut ring gestures changes other options. For example, if you change the default SOLIDWORKS preference to Alt + Right Mouse Button Drag, then the rotate gesture becomes a Right Mouse Button Drag. See the following table more information:
Mouse Control Preference Command Alternative Gesture
SOLIDWORKS Rotate Mac/Windows mouse: Right mouse drag or middle mouse drag.
3DEXPERIENCE Zoom Mac/Windows mouse: Alt + right mouse drag.