# EXPLODE in AutoCAD

> How AutoCAD's EXPLODE (X) works: a polyline into lines and arcs, a block into its objects, text into lines, a hatch into its lines. Try it free in your browser.

EXPLODE breaks a compound object into the objects it is made of. Select the objects and press Enter: a polyline becomes lines and arcs along its centreline, a block reference the objects of its block, one level down, multiline text one line of text for each line it shows, and a pattern hatch the lines of its pattern. Each piece keeps the object's layer and properties; a block's pieces keep their own. A wide polyline loses its width, and EXPLODE says so. Lines, circles, arcs, single-line text and dimensions cannot be exploded: they are refused as they are selected, and a spline, an ellipse or a solid hatch when the selection closes. The explode is one step that Undo takes back.

- **Command:** `EXPLODE`
- **Aliases:** `X`
- **Panel:** [Modify](https://mellowcad.com/docs/commands.md#modify)
- **Try it:** [Open the editor](/draw), type `X` and press Enter.

## At the command line

The engine draws it and writes its history as you would type it: the prompts in AutoCAD 2027's order, with the same option letters.

A rectangle, one polyline, exploded into four lines, and one of them then erased on its own.

```text
Command: EXPLODE
Select objects: 1 found
Select objects:
Command: ERASE
Select objects: 1 found
Select objects:
```

## What it does not do yet

Dimensions, which AutoCAD explodes into lines, arrowheads and text and MellowCAD refuses. A hatch whose pattern is not shipped here is refused as a solid one, and exploded multiline text sits where the font draws it, a hair off AutoCAD's place.

[What it does and still lacks, in detail (in English)](https://github.com/ovelilla/mellowcad/blob/main/docs/coverage/modify.md#explode--x--es-descomp--dp--pt-br-explodir--x)

## Questions

### What is the shortcut for EXPLODE in AutoCAD?

`X`, then Enter or Space. The full name works too, and `_EXPLODE` in any language of AutoCAD.

### How do I undo an explode in AutoCAD?

Type `U` or press Ctrl+Z straight away: the explode is one undo step. Later, [`JOIN`](https://mellowcad.com/docs/commands/join.md) turns lines and arcs that meet end to end back into one polyline, and [`BLOCK`](https://mellowcad.com/docs/commands/block.md) makes objects one block again.

### Can I explode text in AutoCAD?

Multiline text, yes: each line becomes a single-line text. Single-line text is already the smallest piece, and EXPLODE refuses it.

### How do I explode a block in AutoCAD?

Select the block reference and press Enter: it becomes the objects of its block, where the reference drew them. A block inside it stays a block: explode it again. Attributes come back as their definitions, without the values.

## Related commands

- [JOIN in AutoCAD](https://mellowcad.com/docs/commands/join.md)
- [BLOCK in AutoCAD](https://mellowcad.com/docs/commands/block.md)
- [PEDIT in AutoCAD](https://mellowcad.com/docs/commands/pedit.md)
- [INSERT in AutoCAD](https://mellowcad.com/docs/commands/insert.md)