About Orthogonal Locking (Ortho Mode)

You can restrict cursor movement to horizontal and vertical directions for convenience and precision when creating and modifying objects.

As you create or move objects, you can use Ortho mode to restrict the cursor to the horizontal or vertical axis. As you move the cursor, the rubber-band line follows the horizontal or vertical axis, whichever is nearest the cursor.

The orientation of the current user coordinate system (UCS) determines the horizontal and vertical directions. In 3D views, Ortho mode additionally restricts the cursor to the up and down directions. In that case, the tooltip displays a +Z or -Z for the angle.

Tip: Use direct distance entry with Ortho mode turned on to create horizontal and vertical lines of specified lengths, or to move or copy objects horizontally or vertically for specified distances.

You can turn Ortho on and off at any time during drawing and editing. Ortho is ignored when you enter coordinates or specify an object snap.

For drawing or editing objects at angles other than 90 degrees, use polar tracking.

If turned on, the isometric snap setting takes priority over the UCS in determining horizontal and vertical directions.

Note: Ortho mode and polar tracking cannot be turned on at the same time. Turning on Ortho turns off polar tracking.