Where did the Coordinate readout in the AutoCAD status bar go?

Whenever you first learned AutoCAD, there’s a good chance at least some portion of the class/book included a discussion about the Cartesian coordinate system used throughout AutoCAD. I’ll spare you the details, but to summarize coordinates help us identify the precise location of objects in our drawings. While I would argue coordinates are important for any design discipline, there is perhaps no discipline where coordinates are more critical than civil engineering. Since the x- and y-coordinates represent the precise Easting and Northing location on a project site, knowing where you are on a project site is a critical bit of information.

AutoCAD 2012 Coordinate

Ever since I started using AutoCAD with release 12 for MS-DOS, the coordinate readout has been in the lower-left corner of the Status Bar. In an attempt to save screen real estate, AutoCAD 2015 combined the Layout tab interface with the Status Bar interface. I’m not quite sure why, but the default composition of the interface omits the coordinate readout from the Status Bar.

AutoCAD 2015 Status Bar

 

While I cannot answer the question of why this was omitted from the default interface, I can answer the question of how to add it (back) to the interface. The secret is to click the Customize button (three horizontal lines) located on the far-right side of the Status Bar. Choosing that button will open a menu where you can select Coordinates.

Customize Menu

Adding the coordinate readout is as simple as that. As soon as you choose Coordinates from the Customize menu, the coordinate readout is added to the far-right side of the Status bar.

Coordinate readout

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Donnie Gladfelter
Donnie Gladfelter

Donnie is author of the book and Autodesk Official Press, AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT: No Experience Required, a columnist for AUGIWorld Magazine, Autodesk University speaker, and former member of the AUGI Board of Directors.

3 Comments

  1. Isn’t very smart. For the person with 20 years looking for coordinates for bottom-left corner, is not easy at all.
    In case like that should consider option to redesign the status bar as user like !!

  2. The bloated change for the sake of change Status Bar interface also cut in half the info that can be displayed on there. So much for the Modemacro value I’d been using the last 12 releases.

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