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<\/p>\nOne of the best ways to save time using the SOLIDWORKS software is to leverage the \u201cS\u201d key.\u00a0 The SOLIDWORKS \u201cS\u201d key is a customizable shortcut menu that displays when a user presses the \u201cS\u201d key on their keyboard.<\/p>\n
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Image 01 \u2013 When pressing the \u201cS\u201d key a menu will appear next to your mouse<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The 4 Modes of SOLIDWORKS<\/strong><\/p>\n Image 02 \u2013 The 4 working modes in SOLIDWORKS<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The SOLIDWORKS software can essentially be divided into 4 working modes:\u00a0 Part mode, Assembly mode, Drawing mode, and Sketch mode.\u00a0 Users will see a different set of tools available, depending on which mode they\u2019re working in.\u00a0 For example:\u00a0 When working in Drawing Mode, users can create a new PROJECTED VIEW on a sheet.\u00a0 The command to add a projected view does not exist when working in Part mode.\u00a0 Different commands in SOLIDWORKS are specific to different modes.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The \u201cS\u201d key menu is Mode Specific<\/strong><\/p>\n One of the most powerful elements of the \u201cS\u201d key menu is that it is mode specific.\u00a0 When a user working in Part mode presses the \u201cS\u201d key, they will see one set of commands.\u00a0 When that user changes to Assembly mode and presses the \u201cS\u201d key, they will see a different set of commands.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Image 03 \u2013 The 4 default layouts for the \u201cS\u201d key menus<\/em><\/p>\n The commands which appear in the default \u201cS\u201d key menu in Assembly mode will include things like \u201cInsert Component\u201d and \u201cInsert Mate\u201d.\u00a0 These are commands which are specific to Assembly mode.\u00a0 The commands which appear in the default \u201cS\u201d key menu in Sketch mode will include things like Sketch Rectangle and Smart Dimensions.\u00a0 These are commands which are specific to Sketch mode.\u00a0 SOLIDWORKS users can save time by understanding that a different \u201cS\u201d key menu will appear for each of the 4 working modes.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Customizing the \u201cS\u201d key menus<\/strong><\/p>\n To truly maximize the efficiency of the \u201cS\u201d key shortcut, users can customize these menus by bringing up the \u201cS\u201d key menu, doing a RIGHT MOUSE BUTTON on the menu, and choose CUSTOMIZE.<\/p>\n Image 04 \u2013 Customizing the \u201cS\u201d key menu for Sketch mode<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n In the above image we can see that the \u201cS\u201d key menu for Sketch mode has been customized by removing the flyout menus for Line and Rectangle, and replacing them with the explicit commands for Corner Rectangle, Line, Centerline, and Center Rectangle.\u00a0 We also see that we can customize the \u201cS\u201d key menu by adding FEATURE commands(even though we are customizing the \u201cS\u201d key menu for Sketch mode).\u00a0 In the above image we see that Boss-Extrude and Cut-Extrude (which are traditionally feature commands) have been added to the \u201cS\u201d key menu for Sketch mode.\u00a0 This can be a terrific time saver since a common workflow is to jump right from a sketch into a Boss-Extrude or Cut-Extrude command.<\/p>\n The \u201cS\u201d key shortcut menu was added in SOLIDWORKS 2008 as an enchantment to help users save time and work more efficiently.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The \u201cS\u201d key menu will be different depending on which of the 4 SOLIDWORKS modes you are working in.\u00a0 The real power of the \u201cS\u201d key menu is the ability to customize which commands show up on the menu, so that users can quickly access the commands and workflows most commonly used.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/tech\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/s20key2002.png\")
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