CAD & LINKS

Find CAD.

Track down every imported CAD instance: search, filter, group, colour by layer, pin, delete, refresh metadata and re-import from disk.

01 · THE PROBLEM

CAD brought in via Import (as opposed to Link) never shows up in Revit's Manage Links dialog — there's nowhere native that lists everything sitting in the file. It only surfaces when clicked on directly in a view, and anything buried inside a group or nested in a family is effectively invisible.

CAD imports missing from Manage Links

Manage Links only lists linked files, never imports — how many CAD imports a file holds, or when they were brought in, has no built-in inventory to answer it.

từng group một

CAD buried in groups means opening each one to check

An import instance inside a group only surfaces once you click Edit Group — a project with dozens of groups means opening each one just to check whether a stray CAD import is hiding inside.

0 bộ lọc

No filter, no grouping, no colour by layer

Selecting via Select All Instances returns a flat list only — no filter by source file name, hosting view or pin state, and no colour-by-layer to read the drawing content quickly inside Revit.

5–10 view

Deleting a CAD import that other views still rely on

A shared backdrop drawing can repeat across 5–10 different views (plans, sections, details) — native Revit gives no preview of which views reference it before you hit Delete.

02 · FEATURES

What it does

CAD Finder Plus (free, license on request) lists id, file name, link-or-import type, hosting view and workset in one grid — but it stops at viewing: no colour-by-layer, no re-import from disk. CAD Files Explorer 2026 goes further, letting you select, delete and scan CAD buried inside nested families, plus a CAD Instance Report tab to spot duplicates. Find CAD folds that discovery work together with colour-by-layer for reading the drawing content straight inside Revit, and a direct re-import from disk when the source file updates:

Track CAD down

Find every import instance, even buried inside groups
Filter and group by file name, host view and pin state
Colour by layer to read the drawing content quickly

Clean up

Delete unused CAD to shrink the file
Re-import from disk when the source drawing changes
Export the CAD list for the record

TOOL INTERFACE · RUNNING IN REVIT

Operational interface and functional overview

The interface is matched to the tool window running in Revit.

FUNCTION NOTES

Every tool follows the same structure: the real window, the functions worth knowing, and a demo video.