Assemblies

The Assembly toolbar is active when an Assembly tab is active.

The types of mates shown on the toolbar (Fastened mate, Slider mate, etc) are collectively referred to as Mates.

Access the Assembly shortcut toolbar with the S key while in an Assembly:

Customize the toolbar through your Onshape account Preferences page.

You can customize the Onshape toolbars in Part Studios, Assemblies and Feature Studios - shown below in a Part Studio:

• Hover anywhere in the toolbar and right-click, then select Customize toolbar...

  

  This activates the ability to edit the toolbar:

  

• Tools are highlighted in tool sets within the toolbar; you can drag and drop these tool sets to new locations on the toolbar:

  

• Create a new tool set by dragging a tool icon to the New toolset box that appears when you begin to drag the icon:

  

• Drag and drop an individual tool out of the toolbar to the Tools box to remove it from the toolbar (you can always drag and drop it back onto the toolbar). Shown below during the drag operation:

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  After drag is completed:

  

• Click Save to save your changes, Cancel to close without saving, or Reset to default to undo all changes in that type of toolbar (Part Studio, Assembly, or Feature Studio) and restore the toolbar to Onshape original order and content.

When tools are part of a group, you must move the entire group. Once an entire group is removed, you can select individual tools to move back to the toolbar, if desired. To reform the entire group, select Reset to default, which will reset the entire toolbar.

Search toolsCopy link

Shortcut: alt+C

In Onshape, you can search for tools in the Assembly toolbar as well as the Feature toolbar and Sketch toolbar: see Document Toolbar and Document Menu, Feature tools and Sketch tools for more information on those specific topics.

1. Insert Parts and Assemblies.
2. Create Mate Connector: Desktop.
3. Create Mates: Desktop.
4. Create Relations: Desktop if desired.

The tools and functionality available for Assemblies include:

• Insert Parts and Assemblies: Desktop dialog - For selecting parts and subassemblies to include in an assembly
• Triad Manipulator: Desktop - For moving parts and assemblies around the graphics areas and for movement between parts
• Mates: Desktop - For defining movement between parts
• Mate Connector: Desktop - For defining where parts connect to each other
• Snap Mode: Desktop - Drag and drop parts to create Mate connectors and Mates on the fly.
• Group: Desktop - For defining spatial relationships between parts
• Assembly List: Desktop - A list of part instances and mate features in an Assembly
• Context Menus in Assemblies - Select from a list of actions
• Measure tool: Desktop - Acquire measurement information about part edges and faces

Right-click on an Assembly tab to access the context menu:

• Delete - the tab, even if it is active. The last remaining tab cannot be deleted.
• Open in new browser tab - Open this Assembly in a new browser tab.
• Rename... - Rename this Assembly.
• Properties... - Access the dialog to provide information about the Assembly. In the Properties dialog, you can provide meta data for the entire Assembly. Properties that are grayed out (inactive) are defined and populated through the Company’s properties in Account management. See Manage Companies > Properties for more information.
• Duplicate - Copy this Assembly tab and insert the copy into this same document. All references to the original Assembly or other Assemblies are maintained.
• Copy to clipboard - Make a copy of this Assembly tab on the clipboard. You can then use the menu in another document and the Paste tab command to add the Assembly tab into that document. When an Assembly tab is copy/pasted into another document, the Part Studio and Assemblies from which it was created are also pasted into the other document. No references to the original document are maintained.
• Create Drawing of x... - Automatically create a drawing of the entire Assembly (solid bodies/parts only). This creates a new Drawings tab in the document.
• Select as document thumbnail - Use this assembly image as the thumbnail for the document on the Documents page.
• Move to document... - Move the Assembly to a new document, creating the document during this operation. If any part or assembly is used in any tab of the original document, a link between the two documents is created. Note that, only the Assembly tab will move to the new document. This action is prevented if it would result in a document with no tabs.

  

• Export - Export parts in the Assembly in a variety of formats with options of where to download or keep in a separate Onshape tab.
• Release - For user who have the ability to create release packages, this command opens the Release candidate dialog.
• Create task - Create a task that can be assigned to another user (or the current user), that can reference the Assembly, and have a due date. Users specified in a task are notified of the task. You can create tasks from any Onshape Part Studio, Assembly, and Drawing tab, and from the Tab manager, through the context menu on a tab in the Tab manager list.

Access context menus on individual instances and subassemblies in the Assemblies list to rearrange them into new subassemblies and/or move them to new subassemblies. Note that when copying and moving subassemblies, all mates are maintained.

If the action (of moving or copying) would result in the modification of a linked (external) document, the action will fail. Linked (external) documents are immutable versions and are not able to be modified.

If you want to replace a part instance in the assembly with a different part instance not yet in the assembly, use the Replace instance tool.

1. Right-click on the part to move and select Move to new subassembly.
2. A new Assembly appears in the list and a new Assembly tab appears in the document. The part is placed within the new Assembly in the list, and the Assembly is automatically named Assembly X <x> where X is the next consecutive Assembly number in the document and <x> is the instance of that assembly in the current Assembly tab.

   A new Assembly tab is created. Use the context menu on the tab to rename the assembly, if desired.

   A new Mate Features entity is also created and placed directly within the new Assembly in the list. If the part had no mates, this new Mate Feature is empty.

   

1. Right-click in the Assembly list and select Create new subassembly.
2. A new Assembly appears in the list, without any parts or mate features. The new assembly is automatically named Assembly X <x> where X is the next consecutive Assembly number in the document and <x> is the instance of that assembly in the current Assembly tab.

   A new (empty) Assembly tab is created. Use the context menu on the tab to Rename the assembly, if desired.

   

You are also able to drag and drop entities to reconfigure subassemblies (into and out of other subassemblies) and to rearrange the order of entities in the list.

Dissolving a subassembly moves all subassembly parts and their mate connections into the parent assembly, without deleting the subassembly. This is useful to quickly reorganize the assembly structure from the top level down.

To dissolve a subassembly, you must be on its parent assembly tab. You cannot dissolve a subassembly if it is the parent. Right-click on the subassembly and select Dissolve subassembly. In the example below, the Subassembly <1> is merged back into Assembly 1.

To close the document and return to the documents page, tap the arrow in the upper left corner.

To create immutable versions and branch versions to create new workspaces, tap the Versions icon in the upper left.

See Version Manager for more info.

To view every point of change in the history of the document and restore to any point in that history:

1. Tap the icon in the upper left.

   On a smaller screen, access the Document information panel and then select History from there:

2. Tap the More icon.

   

3. Select History.

See History for more info.

To communicate with collaborators, tap the Comments icon in the upper right.

On a smaller screen, access the Document information panel and then select Comments from there:

1. Tap the More icon.

2. Select Comments.

See Comments for more info.

To see who you are collaborating with and to access Follow mode, tap the Collaborators icon in the upper right.

See Collaboration and Follow mode for more info.

The Collaborators icon is only available when you are collaborating with someone in real time.

To access the Help and other resources such as Videos, Feedback, and About, tap the icon in the upper right.

On a smaller screen, access the Document information panel and then select Help:

1. Tap the More icon.

2. Select Help.

Select one of the following:

• Help - to view the documentation for the device you are using.
• Videos - open the videos page of the documentation.
• Contact Support - ask a question, log a bug, or log an improvement.
• About - see which version of Onshape you are running.

Access the Document information panel which allows you access to any tools (listed above) that do not fit in the navigation bar as well as some other tools listed below.

To access the Document information panel, tap the More icon in the upper right corner.

The Document information panel opens. From here, select from the following:

• Properties - to view document properties.
• Copy - to make a copy of the workspace you are in.
• Units - to view and set default measurement units for the document (such as length, angle, and mass units).
• Document name - tap the edit icon in the upper right corner to edit the document name.
• Document description - tap Add description to add or edit the document description.
• Share - tap the share icon to share the document with individuals, Teams, Companies, or Onshape support. You are also able to set your document to Private or Public.

Tap the Insert tool to insert a part or assembly into the active Assembly.

See Insert Parts and Assembles for more info.

Tap the Mates tool to view the list of mates, relations, and other Assembly tools.

See Mates for more info.

See Relations for more info.

Tap the Measure tool to measure any selected entities.

See Measure tool for more info.

Tap the Mass Properties tool to view the properties of selected parts.

See Mass Properties for more info.

• Tap the Assembly list handle to open the Assembly list.
• Touch and drag horizontally or vertically to adjust the size of the Assembly list.

See Assembly list for more info.

Tap the 3D Rotate lock button to lock the graphics area rotate feature. This is particularly helpful when trying to drag an entity.

Tap the View cube to access a list of views to choose from.

See View Cube for more info.

When you open a document, the most recently opened tab is active.

Tap the up-facing chevron (up arrow) to open the Create tab menu.

• Tap a tab to activate it. When you switch tabs, any open feature will be committed.
• Swipe left or right to scroll, horizontally, through the list.
• Filter tabs by Assembly or Part Studio.
• Search for a Part Studio or Assembly by name.
• Create, rename, duplicate, and delete a Part Studio or Assembly. There is no limit to how many Part Studios or Assemblies a document can have.

Duplicate adds a copy of a Part Studio within the document.
You are unable to delete a Part Studio or Assembly if it is the only tab in the document.
A document must have at least one Part Studio or Assembly (at least one tab).

To close the document and return to the documents page, tap the arrow in the upper left corner.

To create immutable versions and branch versions to create new workspaces, tap the Versions icon in the upper left.

See Version Manager for more info.

To view every point of change in the history of the document and restore to any point in that history:

1. Tap the More icon to access the Document information panel.
2. Tap History.

See History for more info.

To communicate with collaborators, tap the Comments icon in the upper right.

See Comments for more info.

To see who you are collaborating with, tap the Collaborators icon in the upper right.

See Collaboration for more info.

The Collaborators icon is only available when you are collaborating with someone in real time.

To access the Help and other resources such as Videos, Feedback, and About, tap the icon in the upper right.

Select one of the following:

• Help - to view the documentation for the device you are using.
• Videos - open the videos page of the documentation.
• Contact Support - ask a question, log a bug, or log an improvement.
• About - see which version of Onshape you are running.

Access the Document information panel which allows you access to any tools (listed above) that do not fit in the navigation bar as well as some other tools listed below.

To access the Document information panel, tap the More icon in the upper right corner.

The Document information panel opens. From here, select from the following:

• Properties - to view document properties.
• Copy - to make a copy of the workspace you are in.
• Units - to view and set default measurement units for the document (such as length, angle, and mass units).
• Document name - tap the pencil icon in the upper right corner to edit the document name.
• Document description - tap the pencil icon to add or edit the document description.
• Share - tap the share icon to share the document with individuals, Teams, Companies, or Onshape support. You are also able to set your document to Private or Public.

Tap the Insert tool to insert a part or assembly into the active Assembly.

See Insert Parts and Assembles for more info.

Tap the Mates tool to view the list of mates, relations, and other Assembly tools.

See Mates for more info.

See Relations for more info.

Tap the Measure tool to measure any selected entities.

See Measure tool for more info.

Tap the Mass Properties tool to view the properties of selected parts.

See Mass Properties for more info.

• Tap the Assembly list handle to open the Assembly list.
• Touch and drag horizontally or vertically to adjust the size of the Assembly list.

Tap the 3D Rotate lock button to lock the graphics area rotate feature. This is particularly helpful when trying to drag an entity.

Tap the View cube to access a list of views to choose from.

See View Cube for more info.

When you open a document, the most recently opened tab is active.

Tap the up-facing chevron (up arrow) to open the Create tab menu.

• Tap a tab to activate it. When you switch tabs, any open feature will be committed.
• Swipe left or right to scroll, horizontally, through the list.
• Filter tabs by Assembly or Part Studio.
• Search for a Part Studio or Assembly by name.
• Create, rename, duplicate, and delete a Part Studio or Assembly. There is no limit to how many Part Studios or Assemblies a document can have.

Duplicate adds a copy of a Part Studio within the document.
You are unable to delete a Part Studio or Assembly if it is the only tab in the document.
A document must have at least one Part Studio or Assembly (at least one tab).