{"id":14061,"date":"2016-08-11T11:00:09","date_gmt":"2016-08-11T15:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/tech\/?p=14061"},"modified":"2023-09-20T18:58:57","modified_gmt":"2023-09-20T22:58:57","slug":"copy-paste-solidworks-features","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/tech\/2016\/08\/copy-paste-solidworks-features.html","title":{"rendered":"How to Copy and Paste SOLIDWORKS Features"},"content":{"rendered":"

Author: Jim Peltier, CSWE – Javelin Technologies\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s say you\u2019ve created a feature in SOLIDWORKS that you really like. If you really like something, you want more of it; so rather than re-creating it, we are going to copy and paste it. Copying SOLIDWORKS features is as easy as copying text in a document or files in Windows Explorer. Let\u2019s take a simple example:<\/p>\n

\n

\"Feature<\/a><\/p>\n

SOLIDWORKS Feature to copy<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Two methods of copying SOLIDWORKS features:<\/h2>\n
    \n
  1. The first is to hold down the CTRL key, then drag & drop the feature to where you want to copy it to.<\/li>\n
  2. The second method is to use CTRL+C, then pick where you want it to paste to and use CTRL+V.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Behold the result:<\/p>\n

    \n

    \"Copied<\/a><\/p>\n

    Copied SOLIDWORKS features onto planar faces<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    I should point out that they are not parametrically linked. If I make a change to the original feature it has no effect on the newly copied feature. This works for Boss-Extrudes<\/strong>, Cut-Extrudes<\/strong>, Fillets\u00a0and Chamfers<\/strong>,Revolves<\/strong>, and Hole Wizard Holes<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

    Copying from one part\u00a0to another<\/h3>\n

    But, perhaps more excitedly, I am not limited to using them in a single part file. I can copy them from one part file to another! If I want to use the CTRL+Drag method, I need to have both windows shown simultaneously (Window<\/strong> > Tile Horizontally<\/strong>, or Window<\/strong> > Tile Vertically<\/strong>):<\/p>\n

    \n

    \"Copying<\/a><\/p>\n

    Copying SOLIDWORKS features from one document to another<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    In the screenshot I show CTRL+Drag, but you could also CTRL+C, then switch to the other part file, pick your target surface and CTRL+V.<\/p>\n

    Copying Assembly Features<\/h3>\n

    Now you probably go to try this with assemblies, but realize that it doesn\u2019t work exactly the same way, but it does still work, but with limited functionality:<\/p>\n

    Firstly, I can\u2019t use CTRL+Drag to copy a feature in an assembly. CTRL+Drag already copies components within an assembly. I can, however, use CTRL+C and CTRL+V to copy certain features. I can\u2019t copy a feature that adds material (such as Boss-Extrude), but I can do most of the other features. It adds them as Assembly Features, which is why it won\u2019t allow Boss-Extrude. When it adds the assembly feature, by default it will not propagate to parts (although you can toggle the\u00a0propagate feature to parts\u00a0setting<\/a>).<\/p>\n

    \n

    \"Copy<\/a><\/p>\n

    Copy Assembly Features<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    But wait,\u00a0you can also move features<\/h3>\n

    In addition to copying features, I can also move features using SHIFT+Drag & Drop or using CTRL+X, CTRL+V under the same circumstances as described above.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Author: Jim Peltier, CSWE – Javelin Technologies\u00a0 Let\u2019s say you\u2019ve created a feature in SOLIDWORKS that you really like. If you really like something, you want more of it; so rather than re-creating it, we are going to copy and<\/p>\n... Continued<\/a>","protected":false},"author":149,"featured_media":14065,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[929,35],"tags":[156,1212,467,889,60,453],"class_list":["post-14061","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-solidworks-2016","category-tips-tricks","tag-assembly","tag-features","tag-part","tag-solidworks","tag-tech-tip","tag-tips-and-tricks"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14061","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/149"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14061"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14061\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14066,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14061\/revisions\/14066"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14065"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14061"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14061"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14061"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}