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So, I've managed to do something accidentally (I think). When I go to the eyeball drop down (don't know the official SW name, visibility?)...the one where you can turn on and off the visibility of planes/axes/sketches/etc....everything is grayed out but a few things (decals, grid and sketch relations). I've tried closing everything down and reopening to no avail.

This is in an assembly that I've been working on for a little while. I just checked with a part and a separate assembly file and it seems to work fine there. So, it appears to be this assembly specific. I assume (hope) it's something stupid and easy.

Go to View > Hide/Show. It sounds like "Hide All Types" is selected.

See, I knew it was something stupid and easy. I don't recall ever trying to use that feature. Suppose there's a hotkey combination or something that I accidentally triggered. Thanks!

jmongi wrote: ↑Fri Apr 22, 2022 9:06 am See, I knew it was something stupid and easy. I don't recall ever trying to use that feature. Suppose there's a hotkey combination or something that I accidentally triggered. Thanks!

If you accidentally click the actual eyeball instead of the down arrow next to it, then you turn everything off. You need to either do what Glenn shows or click the actual eyeball again.

I have done it hundreds of times. The distance between clicking the eyeball and clicking the down arrow is 1 pixel...I swear it is...

Yes, and sometimes clicking the eyeball just to hide everything all together is a lot less trouble, especially if you want to keep it shown

@Dan made a good point. If you click directly on the eyeball instead of the drop-down beside it it will have the same effect as the method I mentioned above. When that happens it will be shaded (see below). That's probably what happened.

That's actually super handy. I like to leave a lot of references on but larger assemblies do get a bit cumbersome over time. Handy tip. Thanks!

jmongi wrote: ↑Fri Apr 22, 2022 11:59 am That's actually super handy. I like to leave a lot of references on but larger assemblies do get a bit cumbersome over time. Handy tip. Thanks!

It's a double edged sword. Remember, if you leave the references on but use the eye to hide them, they will still show up in drawings, and you can't do the same thing in drawings or you'll end up hiding things you do not want hidden.

So, basically, know when and what to hide, and when to use the eye to hide temporarly all!

DanPihlaja wrote: ↑Fri Apr 22, 2022 9:27 am If you accidentally click the actual eyeball instead of the down arrow next to it, then you turn everything off. You need to either do what Glenn shows or click the actual eyeball again.

I have done it hundreds of times. The distance between clicking the eyeball and clicking the down arrow is 1 pixel...I swear it is...

I clicked the eyeball many times, not knowing that it did that. I kept thinking it would expand the drop-down menu, and then I couldn't figure out why I couldn't get my datum planes to show. I finally figured it out after a few days. The things they don't teach you in beginner Solidworks school...

Sometimes it's handy sometimes not...

Which is why I have the key-combo memorized to toggle it on or off.
Just link a key combo to the command "hide all types"

jmongi wrote: ↑Fri Apr 22, 2022 11:59 am That's actually super handy. I like to leave a lot of references on but larger assemblies do get a bit cumbersome over time. Handy tip. Thanks!

Personally, I dislike that button. Primarily because it takes precedence over the individual 'View....Hide/Show' selections. If you have hot keys to toggle the display of things like temporary axes, they no longer work when the 'Hide All Types' button is enabled. Also, for some bizarre reason, SOLIDWORKS decided to make this setting a document level thing. So, if a co-worker saves a file with 'Hide All Types' toggled on, when I open it, it is still toggled on.