Selection Cycling in AutoCAD

AutoCAD is one of the most popular and powerful CAD software tools used by engineers, architects and designers around the world. As a tool that helps professionals create and modify 2D and 3D designs, AutoCAD offers a wide variety of features that can help streamline workflow and increase productivity. One of these often-overlooked features is Selection Cycling.

In this blog, we’ll dive into Selection Cycling in AutoCAD, how it works, and demonstrate how this powerful tool can improve your workflow by simplifying object selection in complex drawings.

What is Selection Cycling in AutoCAD?

Selection Cycling is a feature in AutoCAD that helps you select overlapping or stacked objects within a drawing. When you hover over a point in a dense area where multiple objects or entities overlap, AutoCAD will display a ‘cycle’ of the objects that are located beneath your cursor. This feature allows you to quickly and easily choose between multiple objects without needing to zoom in, hide objects or change layers.

This tool is incredibly useful in complex drawings where objects are stacked or close together. Instead of endlessly clicking on objects, Selection Cycling provides a more efficient way to select exactly what you need.

Here is an example to demonstrate this functionality:

• Open a new drawing in AutoCAD. Create 4 layers (lines, plines, circles and arcs) as the below example:

• Using the layers created, draw some lines on the lines layers and a polyline on the pline layer stack or overlapping each other, and following the theme with circles and arcs on top of each other, as below:

• On the status bar, select the 3 lines at the very bottom right of your screen.

• Make sure Selection Cycling is active (tick displayed next to the name).

• Once added to the Status Bar, make sure it is on:

• Hover your cursor over the line and polylines drawn on top of each other.

• Click on the object you’re hovered over. A pop-up box will appear whereby you can select the object you need from the list.

Selection Cycling is a simple but powerful feature in AutoCAD that can help streamline your drawing process, especially in complex environments. By enabling it and customising it to your workflow, you’ll be able to navigate through stacked or overlapping objects with ease, saving time and improving the overall efficiency of your design work.

So the next time you find yourself stuck selecting objects in dense areas, try turning on Selection Cycling and experience how it transforms your AutoCAD experience. Happy drafting!