Ansys Mechanical Keyboard Shortcuts: Complete List + Free PDF (2026)
Quick answer: Ansys Mechanical keyboard shortcuts let you switch selection filters, navigate the 3D view, manage the tree (Outline pane), and run solutions without touching the ribbon. The most-used hotkey is N (create a Named Selection); Ctrl+F activates face selection, F7 zooms to fit, and F5 starts the solve. All shortcuts below are verified against the official Ansys 2025 R1 Mechanical User’s Guide.
How do you speed up your Ansys Mechanical simulations? Many engineers reach for faster hardware, better solvers, or cloud compute to cut solve time. But a large share of your day is spent before the solve, building geometry selections, naming bodies, navigating the view, and managing the tree. That is exactly where keyboard shortcuts pay off. Learn ten or fifteen of these and you will shave real minutes off every model you touch.
This guide lists every default hotkey in Ansys Mechanical, grouped by what it does, with a free downloadable PDF cheat sheet at the bottom. It also covers the single most important hotkey most users miss (N) and how to customize shortcuts to fit your own workflow.
What Are Ansys Mechanical Hotkeys?
A hotkey in Ansys Mechanical is a key or key combination that instantly triggers an action, such as changing the selection filter, hiding a body, or opening the Named Selection dialog, without clicking through the ribbon or right-click menus. Mechanical ships with a set of default hotkeys, and you can view, modify, import, or export them from the Key Assignments pane in the Tools group of the Home tab.
Most-Used Ansys Mechanical Shortcuts (Quick List)
If you only memorize a handful, make it these.
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Create a Named Selection (Geometry window focused) | N |
| Activate Face selection | Ctrl + F |
| Activate Edge selection | Ctrl + E |
| Activate Body selection | Ctrl + B |
| Zoom to Fit | F7 |
| Start the solution (solve) | F5 |
| Rename a tree object | F2 |
| Save the project | Ctrl + S |
Selection Filter Shortcuts
These switch which type of entity you are picking in the Geometry window. They are the workhorses of any Mechanical session.
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Activate Vertex selection | Ctrl + P |
| Activate Edge selection | Ctrl + E |
| Activate Face selection | Ctrl + F |
| Activate Body selection | Ctrl + B |
| Activate Node selection | Ctrl + N |
| Activate Element selection | Ctrl + L |
| Activate Element Face selection | Ctrl + K |
| Merge virtual topologies (after selecting edges/faces) | Ctrl + M |
| Add current clipboard selection to existing selection | Ctrl + Q |
| Remove current clipboard selection from existing selection | Ctrl + W |
| Clear all clipboard selections | Ctrl + R |
| Select all entities (per active filter) | Ctrl + A |
Extend Selection Shortcuts
After picking a face or edge, extend the selection intelligently instead of clicking each neighbor.
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Extend to Adjacent | Shift + F1 |
| Extend to Limits | Shift + F2 |
| Extend to Connection | Shift + F3 |
| Extend to Instances | Shift + F4 |
The “N” Named Selections Hotkey (Don’t Skip This One)
Ansys’s own documentation calls N the popular hotkey, and for good reason. Select any geometric or mesh entity in the Geometry window, press N, and the Named Selection dialog opens immediately so you can name and store that selection. Named Selections are how you apply loads, boundary conditions, and contacts cleanly, so building them fast directly speeds up model setup.
A few related navigation hotkeys that work in the Geometry window:
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Open Named Selection dialog for the current selection | N |
| Open the Select Mesh By ID dialog | M |
| Zoom in on the selected entity | Z |
| Return view to default Isometric | H |
| Toggle the Selection Information window | I |
| Create a local probe at the largest result value | K |
| Create a local probe at the smallest result value | L |
| Show the Graph window content in the Geometry window | G |
View, Graphics & Visibility Shortcuts
Control how the model is displayed and which bodies are visible.
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Toggle Shaded Exterior and Edges / Shaded Exterior / Wireframe | F6 |
| Zoom to Fit | F7 |
| Hide selected faces | F8 |
| Show hidden faces | Shift + F8 |
| Hide selected bodies | F9 |
| Hide all other bodies | Ctrl + F9 |
| Show all bodies | Shift + F9 |
| Maximize / minimize the Ribbon | F10 |
| Toggle full-screen display (Geometry window focused) | F11 |
| Copy Geometry window image to clipboard (Windows only) | Ctrl + C |
| Display / hide the Details pane | Ctrl + D |
| Pan the model | Arrow Keys |
| Rotate the model about its axes | Ctrl + Arrow Keys |
Anti-Aliasing (MSAA) Quality
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Anti-Aliasing Off | Shift + 1 |
| Anti-Aliasing Low (2x) | Shift + 2 |
| Anti-Aliasing Medium (4x) | Shift + 3 |
| Anti-Aliasing High (8x) – default | Shift + 4 |
Number Pad View Shortcuts
With NumLock enabled, the number pad jumps to standard views.
| Key | View |
|---|---|
| 0 | Isometric |
| 1 | +Z Front |
| 2 | −Y Bottom |
| 3 | +X Right |
| 4 | Previous View |
| 5 | Default Isometric |
| 6 | Next View |
| 7 | −X Left |
| 8 | +Y Top |
| 9 | −Z Back |
| . (dot) | Set Isometric |
Tree / Outline Pane Shortcuts
These require an object selected in the Outline pane, or that the pane has focus.
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Open Mechanical User’s Guide for the selected object | F1 |
| Rename a selected object | F2 |
| Open Find In Tree (search) dialog | F3 |
| Group objects | Ctrl + G |
| Ungroup objects | Shift + Ctrl + G |
| Display / hide the Outline pane | Ctrl + O |
| Save the project | Ctrl + S |
Solution & Results Shortcuts
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Start the solution for the selected environment (or all) | F5 |
| Retrieve current result data (Result Plot Trackers) | Ctrl + U |
| Move a vertex or node to a new location (Node Move) | F4 |
| Display a dialog to select and run a macro file | Ctrl + F7 |
“Go To” Highlight Shortcuts
Quickly highlight related objects in the tree.
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Highlight corresponding Bodies in tree | Ctrl + 1 |
| Highlight contacts for selected bodies | Ctrl + 2 |
| Highlight contacts common to selected bodies | Ctrl + 3 |
| Highlight corresponding Named Selections in tree | Ctrl + 4 |
| Highlight Named Selections common to a given one | Ctrl + 5 |
| Highlight Mesh Controls associated with selected bodies | Ctrl + 6 |
Animation Shortcuts
Available when the Geometry window has focus.
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Play / pause animation | P |
| Stop animation | S |
| Step animation frame by frame | Shift + Right / Left Arrow |
| Abort Standard Animation creation | Esc |
How to Customize Ansys Mechanical Shortcuts
You are not stuck with the defaults. To view or change hotkeys:
- Go to the Home tab and open the Tools group.
- Open the Key Assignments pane. Hotkeys are listed by group, or you can show all assignments at once.
- Use the pane’s toolbar to open the Customize dialog and reassign a key.
- Use the Reset option to restore defaults, or the Import / Export options to share a key-assignment file across machines or with teammates.
Note: Not all shortcuts are customizable, and some are platform-specific (for example, Ctrl + C to copy the Geometry window image is Windows-only).
Ansys Mechanical Shortcuts PDF (Free Download)
Want the full list offline or printed beside your monitor? Download the complete Ansys Mechanical shortcut keys cheat sheet:
Download the Ansys Mechanical Shortcuts PDF →
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the N hotkey in Ansys Mechanical?
With the Geometry window in focus, pressing N after selecting a geometric or mesh entity opens the Named Selection dialog, letting you create a named selection on the spot. Ansys documents it as the most popular hotkey because Named Selections drive loads, supports, and contacts.
What is the shortcut to activate face selection in Ansys?
Press Ctrl + F to switch the selection filter to faces. Vertex is Ctrl + P, edge is Ctrl + E, body is Ctrl + B, node is Ctrl + N, and element is Ctrl + L.
How do I start a solution using a keyboard shortcut?
Press F5 to start the solve for the selected environment. If you select a tree object above all defined environments, all branches are solved.
Can I customize keyboard shortcuts in Ansys Mechanical?
Yes. Open the Key Assignments pane from the Tools group on the Home tab, then use the Customize dialog to reassign keys. You can also reset to defaults or import and export your assignments. Note that not all shortcuts are customizable.
Do Ansys Mechanical shortcuts work on Mac?
Ansys Mechanical runs on Windows and Linux. The shortcuts in this guide are for the Windows desktop application; a few, such as Ctrl + C to copy the Geometry window image to the clipboard, are explicitly Windows-only.
Which Ansys version do these shortcuts apply to?
This list is verified against the Ansys 2025 R1 Mechanical User’s Guide. The core selection, view, and tree hotkeys have been stable across recent releases (2023 R1 through 2025 R2).
What is the zoom to fit shortcut in Ansys?
Press F7 to execute Zoom to Fit. If you press Z with no entity selected, it behaves the same as F7; with an entity selected, Z zooms in on that entity.
Key Takeaways
- The N hotkey (create Named Selection) is the single biggest time-saver in model setup.
- Selection filters live on Ctrl + P / E / F / B / N / L / K for vertex, edge, face, body, node, element, and element-face.
- View control: F6 display mode, F7 zoom to fit, F8/F9 hide faces/bodies, number pad for standard views.
- Solve with F5; save with Ctrl + S; rename tree objects with F2.
- Customize everything from Home → Tools → Key Assignments.
Looking for shortcuts in other engineering software? See our SolidWorks Shortcuts guide.
