This paper presents a numerical and analytical study of the behavior of thin-walled plates connected by multiple bolts under shear. A validated finite element model has been used to perform a comprehensive set of parametric studies to investigate the effects of different design parameters on the connected plate behavior, including initial stiffness, ultimate resistance and maximum deformation at the ultimate resistance. The design parameters include edge and end distances, bolt spacing, number of bolts along and perpendicular to the loading direction and elongation limit of steel. It has been found that the existing methods for calculating the stiffness and ultimate resistance are directly applicable. The main focus of this paper is the maximum plate deformation at the ultimate plate resistance. Based on the parametric study results, it has been found that strain distributions around the bolt holes for different failure modes, as proposed by the authors for plate connected by a single bolt, are still applicable. However, it is necessary to modify the plate dimension ranges within which the different strain distributions apply to recognize the difference in failure modes for plates with different bolt arrangements. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd.