Tech Tip: Changing Your Default Units in Onshape

One of the most common questions encountered from someone just starting in Onshape is, “How can I set my units?”

Unit System for a Document

Your unit system is set individually per Document. If you have the Document open, click the Document menu in the top-left corner, and select Workspace units:

From here, you can change each unit and the displayed decimal precision.

Changing the Default Units for New Documents

You can also change the default units used by Onshape.

Clicking your avatar in the top-right corner, select My account. Select Preferences on the left side, and then scroll down until you find Units:

Changing the default units uses your unit system of choice for any new Documents you create. Any previously created Documents maintain their unit system selections.

Since default units are account preferences, they are per-user settings. Each user at a company can set their default units individually.

If you are new to Onshape, it is highly encouraged that you explore some of the other options in My account > Preferences section. For example, you may want to change your mouse controls to match your experience with a previous CAD tool or customize your keyboard shortcuts.

Interested in learning more Onshape Tech Tips? You can review the most recent technical blogs here.