Are you not sure how to do something in SketchUp? Can’t remember where the button for a tool or option is? In SketchUp for Web, you can use an on-demand search to look up and activate SketchUp tools or commands.
You can activate Search using the button at the top of the left-hand tool tray or use the keyboard shortcut Shift + / (?, on most QWERTY keyboards). You can also use the shortcut Shift + S to activate search.
Table of Contents
Find and Activate Commands
After calling up search, start typing to call-up results. SketchUp matches ‘partial’ queries so that you don’t have to type an entire tool name or phrase to get useful results.
When you see what you’re looking for, you can use your mouse cursor to manually activate commands. If the first command in your results list is what you want to activate, simply hit Return to activate the command. (See more keyboard controls for search below).
If your search result is a display command (like X-ray mode, Hide Rest of Model, View Hidden Geometry, View Shadows), you can activate these commands from search without switching from your current tool choice. Many display commands can be seamlessly activated while in the middle of a tool operation (like drawing, moving, or scaling). Or, you can use the toggles in the search results to manually turn off/on display options before clicking out of the search box to continue modeling.
Default Keyboard Shortcuts in SketchUp for Web
SketchUp for Web’s default keyboard shortcuts are nearly identical to those of desktop SketchUp. If you find yourself using a tool frequently, you can simply look up its shortcut by searching in SketchUp for Web.
While not every tool has a default shortcut, the shortcuts that are available are displayed with each search result. You can also customize shortcuts in SketchUp for Web using Search by clicking on a shortcut key in a search result.
Keyboard controls
Searching for and activating commands can be done pretty quickly using keyboard controls. Here’s an overview of the relevant keyboard controls for searching in SketchUp.
- Shift + / is a default keyboard shortcut to activate on-demand search
- Shift + S is another default shortcut for on-demand search, ideal for keyboard layouts where “/” is not easily accessible. It’s also a good alternative if you prefer to call up search with your left hand.
- Up/Down Arrows can be used to navigate the search results list. Using these keys is the equivalent of hovering over a search result with your mouse.
- Return activates the currently highlighted search result. Return also activates the first search result if you are in the midst of typing a query.
Concept Searching
Searching in SketchUp for Web is a good way to find and activate tools or commands that you know exist, but it’s also a good way to find tools that are relevant to your 3D modeling, even if you don’t quite know what they are called.
Because this search supports concepts, you can type in what you think a tool is called, and SketchUp will serve results that we think are most related to your query. So, if you’re new to SketchUp and you’re sure how to ‘raise’ or ‘lower’ something, the Move tool will show up pretty high for that query when you search for those words. If you know there’s a way to isolate a group or component while editing it but don’t remember what it’s called, a search for ‘isolate’ will display “Hide rest of model” or “Hide similar components.”
This concept matching is subjective. We develop concepts based on common questions from beginners, parallel functionality in software you might use with SketchUp, and a bit of team flair.
