This was the favorite tech tip voted by the students from our SOLIDWORKS Assembly Modeling training class this August. When working with a complex assembly in SOLIDWORKS that contains multiple levels of subassemblies, it is important to be able to select all instances of a component instantaneously.
While this can be done using the “Select Identical Components” from the Advanced Selection dropdown menu (figure 1), it is much more effective to designate a keyboard shortcut to access this tool.
To do that, right-click on any icon on the screen and select Customize or use the drop-down shown in Figure 2.
In the Customize toolbar, select the Keyboard tab and search for Select Identical Components (Figure 3).
I suggest using “C” as the keyboard shortcut.
Once the shortcut is defined, select one or more components from the graphics area or the FeatureManager Tree and press “C”. You will notice that all instances of the preselected components are selected, regardless of where they are in the structure of the assembly.
For more use cases of this tool, including the creation and usage of Selection Sets and Display States please watch this video.
About the Author
As an Elite AE and Senior Training and Process Consultant, working for TriMech Solutions, Alin Vargatu is a Problem Hunter and Solver.
He has presented 33 times at 3DEXPERIENCE World and SOLIDWORKS World, twice at SLUGME and tens of times at SWUG meetings in Canada and the United States. His blog and YouTube channel are well known in the SOLIDWORKS Community.
In recognition for his activity in the SOLIDWORKS Community, at 3DEXPERIENCE World 2021, the SWUGN (SOLIDWORKS User Group Network) awarded the SOLIDWORKS AE of the Year title to Alin Vargatu.
