OSNAP & Snap Override in AutoCAD

AutoCAD has many features that simplify the drawing process, such as OSNAP, ORTHO, and more.

This article will explain the function of OSNAP and two related features: OSNAP Tracking and Temporary OSNAP.

Let’s start from the first one.

A. OSNAP

OSNAP or Object Snap is used to help the cursor find a specific point on the object, such as endpoint, midpoint, etc.

We can find a specific point accurately and easily because OSNAP has a magnetic effect when approaching the target.

For example, let’s say we want to draw a straight line from the center point of a circle to the midpoint of the line next to it. We can do this easily and accurately if OSNAP is active.

See the image below:

We can activate and deactivate this feature by clicking the OSNAP icon in the Status Bar or by pressing the F3 key on the keyboard.

OSNAP has several snap modes for finding different targets. We can choose to enable certain snap modes and disable others.

To do this, right-click the OSNAP icon in the status bar, then click “Object Snap Settings.” This will open the Drafting Settings dialog box under the Object Snap tab.

It will look like the image below:

Check frequently used snap modes and uncheck those you don’t need.
Enabling all snap modes can sometimes make drawing more difficult.

Therefore, only enable frequently used snap modes. For snap modes that are only used occasionally, you can use Temporary OSNAP when needed.

B. Object Snap Tracking

OSNAP Tracking is used to tracks the cursor along vertical and horizontal alignment paths from object snap points.

The tracking line will appear when we point to a specific snap point (without clicking) and then move the cursor away from that point.

We can use this tracking line for various purposes, such as:

• Moving an object to a position aligned with a specific point.
• As a guide to create a new object aligned with the selected snap point as a reference.
• Finding the intersection point between two snap points.

OSNAP Tracking can be enable and disable by clicking its icon in the Status Bar, or by pressing the F11 key on the keyboard. This feature cannot be used if OSNAP is OFF.

C. Temporary OSNAP / Snap Override

Temporary OSNAP allow you to use specific object snap modes for a single use, without permanently changing your running OSNAP settings.

This feature is also called Snap Override because when we use it, all active snap modes will be temporarily disabled, so the cursor only focuses on the snap mode that we activated from Temporary OSNAP.

This is useful when you need a specific snap for a single operation for various reasons, such as needing a snap mode that is rarely used and set to disable, or because there are too many snap points close together, making it difficult to find the intended snap target.

Temporary OSNAP also has snap modes that are not available in Regular OSNAP, such as “From” and “Mid Between Two Point” modes. For more details, see the image below:

To use Temporary OSNAP, press Shift + Right Click, then select the snap mode we need.