"One or more SHX files are missing. What do you want to do?" when opening a drawing in AutoCAD Products

• Move or add the font to one of the folders that AutoCAD can find it in:
  • The same folder as the DWG file that uses it.
  • The standard SHX fonts folder. For Windows this is C:\Program Files\Autodesk\AutoCAD 20xx\Fonts.
• If the message continues to occur after moving or adding the missing font into the drawing or Fonts folder, check for a custom folder path: 
  1. Enter OP on the command line to open the Options dialog box.
  2. On the Files tab, expand the Support File Search Path entry.
  3. Make note of the path pointing to the fonts. (This may need to be reset to the default location noted above.)
  4. Open Windows Explorer, browse to the folder, and verify that the SHX font is in that folder.
     1. If the font is not present:
        1. Place a copy of it in the folder.
        2. Close and reopen AutoCAD Products.
     2. If the font is present:
        1. Right-click the folder in Windows Explorer.
        2. Select Properties.
        3. Check the folder setting for Read-Only.
        4. If the folder is set to Read-Only, deselect the Read-Only box. 
        5. Grant permission if necessary.
        6. Close the dialog by selecting OK. 
        7. Restart AutoCAD Product and test opening the file. 
  5. The font should now appear in the Font Name drop-down menu in the Text Style dialog window and the warning should not display when the file is opened.
• If the font is not present:
  1. 1. Place a copy of it in the folder.
     2. Close and reopen AutoCAD Products.
  2. If the font is present:
     1. Right-click the folder in Windows Explorer.
     2. Select Properties.
     3. Check the folder setting for Read-Only.
     4. If the folder is set to Read-Only, deselect the Read-Only box. 
     5. Grant permission if necessary.
     6. Close the dialog by selecting OK. 
     7. Restart AutoCAD Product and test opening the file. 
• If the SHX font is still not available, try placing it in the following folder locations as well:
  • Window:  
    • C:\Users\[USERNAME]\AppData\Roaming\Autodesk\AutoCAD 20xx\Rxx.x\[LANGUAGE]\Support
    • C:\Program Files\Autodesk\AutoCAD 20xx\UserDataCache\Support
  • AutoCAD Products (except MEP): C:\Users\[USERNAME]>\AppData\Roaming\Autodesk\MEP 20xx\[LANGUAGE]\Support
  • ​AutoCAD for Mac paths:
    • /Applications/Autodesk/AutoCAD 201x/AutoCAD 201x.app/Contents/Resources/Fonts/shx/
    • /Applications/Autodesk/AutoCAD LT 201x/AutoCAD LT 201x.app/Contents/Resources/Fonts/shx/
• If the file has been received from a third party, ask to have it saved using ETRANSMIT. The font will be packed together with the drawing file.

1. When opening the drawing, on the Missing SHX Files dialog, click the option to specify a replacement.
2. In the next dialog, take not of file names displayed at the top of the window.
3. Select Cancel once the last missing SHX dialog is reached.
4. Reopen the drawing if it was closed.
5. Enter PURGE on the command line and click Find Non-Purgeable Items.
6. Expand the Shapes section. 
7. Click one or more shapes which was(were) shown as missing from step 2 above.
8. The definitions using the missing SHX will be listed on the right. For example, if it is a linetype using the SHX, the name of the linetype will be shown.
9. Click into the Linetypes section within Find Non-Purgeable Items and select the linetype in question. Objects which use that linetype will be shown and a button to highlight them can be clicked.
10. At that point, either:

• • Delete one or more objects in question, which will allow for the linetype and the SHX to be purged.
  • Assign a different linetype to one or more objects, at which point the previous linetype will no longer be in use and can then be purged, along with the associated SHX.

If the original font is missing and cannot be obtained, the font can be replaced with another one.

1. Open the affected drawing.
2. When prompted, choose Specify a replacement for each SHX file.

3. Choose a replacement font for each missing one and click OK. Repeat until all missing fonts are replaced.

Note: You may notice that even after choosing your replacements, when using the STYLE command to view the drawings text styles, the missing fonts still show a warning symbol. This is because, while the missing fonts are being replaced by another font on the current computer, AutoCAD maintains the Text Style control as separate. Therefore it is not necessary to choose a font substitution again while in the Text Style dialog.

When the issue is due to a missing specialized or custom font shape file that may not be replaced or found and specifying a replacement for each missing SHX does not work, try the following:

1. In the AutoCAD product, type STYLE and go through each text style to see what font is missing (there should be an exclamation mark next to it).
   
2. If the missing font is associated with a linetype, edit the linetype to use available fonts.
3. Replace the missing font > Save drawing.
4. Close drawing.
5. Reopen drawing. The warning will appear again.
6. Select "always perform my current choice" and "ignore the missing files and continue..." for every instance of the warning during that work session.

Note: To avoid missing fonts in drawings created by others, request an ETRANSMIT of the drawings.