Click an empty part of the drawing so nothing is selected, and the properties panel shows a Site section. Press Add north arrow. The symbol lands on the plan; drag its body to move it and the handle at its tip to rotate it by eye.
North belongs to the site, not to a floor: there is one arrow per document and it is printed on every sheet.
Setting the bearing exactly
With the arrow on the plan, the panel gives you two fields:
- North — the bearing in degrees. 0° points up the screen.
- Size — the diameter of the symbol’s circle on the drawing, 300–10000 mm. It defaults to 1000 mm.
Remove north arrow takes it off again.
Why it is worth the ten seconds
Orientation is what makes a plan readable by someone who was not there: which rooms get the morning sun, which façade faces the street, whether the terrace is on the right side of the house. It is also assumed by anyone reviewing a plan for daylight, and it is expected on a drawing you send to a builder or a planning department.
What this doesn’t do
- It does not rotate the plan. The arrow states which way north is; it does not turn the drawing to face it.
- It does not drive the sun. The 3D view’s sun is not aimed by this bearing.
- One arrow per document. It is a site property, not a per-sheet symbol.
Next
Ground level, paving, fences and pools — the rest of the Site section — and exporting to PDF, where the arrow appears on every sheet.