How to Duplicate Objects in SketchUp — Copy Array & Components

When you want to duplicate multiple same objects in SketchUp, use the following basic trick

How to duplicate objects in SketchUp — Tutorial video

Steps by steps :

• Select models – move tool click – hold the ctrl key on the keyboard – catch points on models
• Drag models to another position with your number models

  

Turn one copy into an evenly spaced array

The real power of SketchUp’s copy array comes after you place that first copy. Without clicking anything else, type *5 and press Enter to get 5 evenly spaced copies (an “external” array that repeats the same gap), or type /5 to fit copies into the gap you just made (an “internal” array that subdivides the distance). Either modifier works whether you type it before or after the number — 5* and *5 both work.

• The array stays editable as long as you don’t start another command. Type *3, then change your mind and type *8 — SketchUp redraws the whole row with 8 copies. The moment you pick a new tool or click elsewhere, the array is committed and the multiplier is gone.
• On Mac the copy modifier is the Option key, not Ctrl — and you only need to tap it once to toggle copy mode, not hold it for the whole drag.

Make every duplicate a true component first

A duplicate that is just loose geometry is dead weight — it doesn’t know it’s a copy. If you make the original a SketchUp Component (press G) before duplicating, every copy in the array becomes a linked instance: edit one and all of them update at once, and the model file stays small because SketchUp stores the geometry only once no matter how many copies you place. This is the difference between a wall of 50 identical railings that bloats your file and 50 instances that edit together. Use plain Groups only when you want the copies to be independent.

Because SketchUp has been a named-user subscription since 2020 (current line is SketchUp 2026), this Move-tool duplicate array workflow is identical across the web, desktop, and iPad versions — there’s no add-on or perpetual-license feature gate on it.

Nguyen Huu Khanh

Architect turned developer