Creating Custom Toolbar Buttons

By Ellen Finkelstein

(For AutoCAD 2005 and earlier. For AutoCAD 2006 and later, click here.)

Any time you would like a custom version of an AutoCAD command, you can create a toolbar button for it. It’s very easy to do and will greatly enhance your ease of work and efficiency.Let’s say that you often fillet multiple sets of lines and want to make the mUltiple option the default.

(For the macro, see my tip, Changing Multiple Options of Commands)

Here are the steps:

Back up your AutoCAD menu files. To find these files, start the OPTIONS command and click the Files tab. Double-click the Menu, Help, and Miscellaneous File Names item to find the location.
Choose Tools>Customize>Toolbars.
Click New. Name your toolbar (something short and simple) and click OK. You now see a small toolbar on the screen.
Usually, you can start from an existing toolbar button. Press and hold down the Ctrl key and drag any button to the new toolbar. (Holding down Ctrl copies the button instead of moving it.) You can also click the Commands tab of the Customize dialog box and choose a command from the list.
To start from scratch, choose User Defined from the Categories list and then drag the User Defined Button to your new toolbar. Click the button to display its properties. In the Macro Associated with This Button box, enter the macro. Most macros start with ^C^C to cancel any existing command. For information on macro format, go to Tutorial: Create a Custom Command.
Click Apply, then click Close to close the Customization dialog box.
Try out your new button. If you need to edit it, re-open the Customization dialog box and click the button to display its macro.

Author
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Ellen Finkelstein

Ellen Finkelstein is the author of the best-selling AutoCAD & AutoCAD LT Bible, which started with R14. Ellen has written extensively on AutoCAD, including articles for Autodesk’s website and features for AutoCAD’s Help system. Ellen’s first book was AutoCAD For Dummies Quick Reference.

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FARSHAD

April 30, 2012 at 6:02 pm

How can I make custom Icon for my Toolbar Menus in autocad?

Thank you.
Farshad

Ellen

April 30, 2012 at 10:11 pm

See Step 2 at the bottom of this post: https://allaboutcad.com/tutorial-create-a-custom-command/
See Steps 12 & 13 here: https://allaboutcad.com/create-a-custom-toolbar-in-autocad-2006-or-later/

Maqsood

May 2, 2012 at 5:21 am

Hi,
How can I make customize Icon for my Toolbar Menus in autocad 2006?

May 2, 2012 at 1:02 pm

Go to https://allaboutcad.com/creating-custom-toolbar-buttons/. That tip also has a link for 2006 and later.

Rob

May 24, 2012 at 9:27 am

Hello,
Is there a way to give a toolbar button either a ‘depressed’ or ‘gray’ appearance when turned on or off?

Regards

Philip

June 3, 2012 at 12:43 am

I have a customized menu in AutoCAD 2000 where I add two custom menu to the default autocad 2000 menu.My original Lisps in 2000 works also in 2012 via LOAD Application. My previous menu loads my lisps commands. Now I am using acad 2012, how to add my two v2000 menu to autocad v2012? or create a separate toolbar menu?.

Also how do I edit the autocad 2012 default short cut command, eg from “C=Circle” to “C=Copy” etc… or add in additional custom commands?

Appreciate for help

Thank you

Jackie

February 21, 2014 at 9:53 pm

Hi Ellen,
I just received ACADLT 2014 and I am switching from 2005.
I am trying to use the classic version and custom make my templates to look like the old program. I have made three new templates where I copied commands in the same order I had on 2005. The problem is that after finishing the button images do not show. If I am in the CUI I can see all images but they did not transfer to my templates. Can you please what should I do ? Thanks much.

Satheesh

April 14, 2015 at 4:14 am

Hi,

I just received AUTO CAD 2015. In this I am making drawing but in this main menu bar is not coming like (Home, Inset, Annotate, parametric, etc…). Please can you suggest me how to do for this.

Regards,
Satheesh.

العاب اندرويد مهكرة

July 24, 2015 at 5:40 pm

Hans Graveman

August 12, 2015 at 6:48 am

Jackie
Preserving CustomToolbars

When you create, or edit, your toolbars for AutoCAD the changes, or new toolbars, are written into your ACAD.MNS file (assuming your menu file is ACAD.MNU). As soon as you recompile your ACAD.MNU, AutoCAD will write over these changes when it creates a new MNC, MNR and MNS file for the associated ACAD.MNU. To preserve your new, or customized, toolbars follow these easy steps:

Using any text editor (Notepad or Write will work) open up the
ACAD.MNS, or whatever menu’s associated MNS file you are
using.
Use the SEARCH or FIND utility to go to the TOOLBARS section of
the ACAD.MNS. The Toolbars section starts with the following
couple lines:

***TOOLBARS
**STANDARD_TOOLBAR
**TB_STANDARD_TOOLBAR
Go to the toolbar(s) which you’ve either added or customized,
highlight it, then copy it to your clipboard. Usually any *new*
toolbars created will be at the end of the TOOLBARS section. For
example, if you’ve created a new toolbar named, MOSTUSED,
then go to the TOOLBARS section and search for MOSTUSED and
copy this portion to the clipboard.
Open up the ACAD.MNU file in your text editor.
Find the TOOLBARS section of the ACAD.MNU file using the
SEARCH/FIND utility. The TOOLBARS section starts with the
following lines:

//
// Begin AutoCAD ToolBars
//

***TOOLBARS
**STANDARD_TOOLBAR
Now PASTE the contents of the clipboard into the TOOLBARS
section of the ACAD.MNU. By putting your customized, or new,
toolbars in the ACAD.MNU you will preserve them forever, even
when you recompile the ACAD.MNU.
If you’ve editted, or changed, the HELPSTRINGS section you will
need to cut and paste these changes from the HELPSTRINGS
section of the ACAD.MNS to the HELPSTRINGS section of the
ACAD.MNU.
Now that you’ve successfully cut and paste your customized
toolbars into the ACAD.MNU save the file, and exit.
Whenever you need to recompile the ACAD.MNU now in AutoCAD,
the changes you’ve made will carry along without being overwritten
or lost.

Stan Madnick

June 22, 2016 at 7:21 am

After I initially commented I clicked the -Notify me when new comments are added- checkbox and now every time a remark is added I get 4 emails with the identical comment. Is there any approach you may remove me from that service? Thanks!

Thom Sullivan

August 24, 2016 at 10:57 am

Hi Ellen,
I started using ACAD with a tablet. It had angular macros in the tablet menu section (<<90-<<45- etc). When i got rid of my tablet, I added toolbar buttons with the same macros. They work fine. With ACAD2012, I tried to make ribbon buttons for the same macros. They do not work, Any help would be appreciated.

Tahnks,
Thom

Matt

February 15, 2017 at 2:54 pm

Hello, so I have this perfectly optimized toolbar(s) for AutoCad 2002 that was created using icontools. Has anyone ever been able to add an icon tool workspace to AutoCad 2014?

Thanks