Keyboard shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts in Tekla Structural Designer are described in the tables below.

General keyboard shortcuts

Keys that perform general functions in Tekla Structural Designer are listed below.

Key	Function
F1	Displays the Tekla Structural Designer Help.
Ctrl	Holding down Ctrl while selecting entities adds the new entities to the current selection.
Esc	Cancels the current command.
Ctrl F	Opens the Find dialog
Ctrl O	Open a file
Ctrl N	Starts a new file

The following keys function as described below in the Structural View and other graphical views.

Key	Function
ZA	Zooms to the extents of the model.
ZS	Zooms to the selected entities. Note: Prior to using this shortcut, at least one entity must be selected in order for the command to zoom to it.
Z1	Zooms to 1m (3ft) area around the cursor.
Z2	Zooms to 2m (6ft) area around the cursor.
Z3	Zooms to 3m (9ft) area around the cursor.
Up/Down arrow keys	Allows you to scroll between entities in the Select Entity tooltip when Tekla Structural Designer has detected multiple entities.
Ctrl	Holding down Ctrl while selecting entities adds the new entities to the current selection.
F2	Whenever you are prompted to pick a point, the Data Entry tooltip displays the co-ordinates at the cursor position. Pressing F2 enables keyboard input of the exact co-ordinates required.
F3	The active co-ordinate system is indicated in the Status bar: ABS (Absolute) REL (Relative) POL (Polar) Press F3 to cycle between them.
F8	Switches between displaying and hiding the ViewCube in 3D views.

Keys that perform specific functions in any Properties window are described below.

Key	Function
Up/Down arrow keys	Move between different properties and navigate within combo-box drop-down lists.
Tab	Tab - Enter or leave (and save) property editing mode.
Space	Space - Toggle check-boxes and expand combo-boxes.
Enter	Select and save property editing.

When a Review View is active, the following Properties window shortcuts are also available for [A]ttibute and [M]ode.

Key	Function
A	Press A to cycle through attributes in the [A]ttibute list. Tip: If this doesn't work it is probably because the focus is in the Properties window. Click the Review View to makes it active and try again.
M	Press M to cycle through modes in the [M]ode list. Tip: If this doesn't work it is probably because the focus is in the Properties window. Click the Review View to makes it active and try again.

Keys that perform specific functions in any tree structure are described below.

Key	Function
Right/Left arrow keys	Expand and collapse headings.

The Quick Access Toolbar is normally displayed as below.

If you press the Alt key letters are superimposed to enable each command to be accessed directly from the keyboard.

Command	Shortcut
New	Alt N (or, you can also use Ctrl N)
Open	Alt O (or, you can also use Ctrl O)
Save	Alt SA
Undo	Alt U
Redo	Alt RD
Find	Alt FI (or, you can also use Ctrl F)
Validate	Alt V
Delete	Alt DE

All commands on the ribbon toolbars can be accessed from the keyboard after pressing the Alt key.

Press Alt then the appropriate letters (summarized in the table below) to open the required ribbon toolbar.
Press the appropriate letter(s) for the command you want to run.

Example: Press Alt HFN to open the Home toolbar and run the Find command shown above.

Toolbar	Shortcut
File	Press Alt AP then the letter(s) shown against the required command.
Home	Press Alt H then the letter(s) shown against the required command.
BIM Integration	Press Alt B then the letter(s) shown against the required command.
Model	Press Alt M then the letter(s) shown against the required command. .
Edit	Press Alt E then the letter(s) shown against the required command.
Load	Press Alt LO then the letter(s) shown against the required command.
Analyze	Press Alt AN then the letter(s) shown against the required command.
Design	Press Alt DE then the letter(s) shown against the required command.
Slab Deflection	Press Alt SL then the letter(s) shown against the required command.
Foundations	Press Alt FO then the letter(s) shown against the required command.
Report	Press Alt RE then the letter(s) shown against the required command.
Draw	Press Alt DR then the letter(s) shown against the required command.
Windows	Press Alt W then the letter(s) shown against the required command.
Loading Analysis	Press Alt LA then the letter(s) shown against the required command.
Results	Press Alt RS then the letter(s) shown against the required command.
Review	Press Alt RV then the letter(s) shown against the required command.
Review Data	Press Alt RV then the letter(s) shown against the required command.