Vias without traces (eg signal return vias, thermal vias)

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Hello,

I am trying to use KiCad for a design where I would like to place return vias (for high frequency signal nets). However, it seems that I can’t place a via without starting a trace first. What is the right way to add return vias (or any standalone via with no traces attached)? The other use case I have for this is stitching gnd planes together.

Another place I need to use standalone vias is for thermal vias on thermal pads. However, in the short term, I have gotten around this by modifying the footprint and adding pins on the thermal pad. I really don’t like this and would like to know if there is a better way to do this.

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What version of Kicad are you using? I don’t know what you mean by return vias but I just placed three as a test that were attached to nothing using V5.

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I was on v4.0.6. I just updated to v5.0.1 and it works! Thanks.

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