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How to recover drawing files which fail to open in AutoCAD Products

Technical Support

Issue:

Users reported that a drawing file (DWG) does not open completely or at all in AutoCAD products. One or more of the following may also occur:

  • AutoCAD displays the message "Drawing file is not valid" when trying to open the drawing file.
  • Drawings display a message that errors were found.
  • Drawing files hang or crash during the opening process.
  • The file opens, but freeze and have to be force closed. 
  • A drawing appears to open, but is blank or Drawing 1 opens instead.

Causes:

Drawing files and software

  • Old drawings were used repeatedly over long time periods.
  • AutoCAD Product terminated while saving the drawing.
  • Outdated software version.

Third-party software or ad-ons

  • Third-party software running inside AutoCAD Products.
  • DWG files or objects created or saved by non-Autodesk or non-RealDWG products.

Hardware

  • Storage media degradation (bad sectors on a hard drive).
  • Defective or failing RAM.

    Operating system, network, and environment

    • Network anomalies (transmission errors, file locking, latent writing of data).
    • Operating System issues.
    • Power surges.

    Solution:

    Restore from an autosave (SV$) file

    1. Open the C:\Windows\Temp folder in Windows, or the location set in Options > File tab > Automatic Save File Location if configured to be stored in a folder other than the default location.
    2. Show hidden extensions, see How to turn on hidden filename extensions in Windows.
    3. Look for a file with an SV$ extension and a similar name as the corrupted file.
    4. Copy the file to a new location.
    5. Rename the extension to DWG.
    6. Open the file in AutoCAD Products.
    7. Restore from a back up (BAK) file, see To Restore a Drawing From a Backup File.

    AutoCAD Autosave (SV$) file.

    Recover the drawing file

    1. Open a new, blank drawing.
    2. Enter RECOVER on the command line, see Have You Tried: Restore, Repair, and Recover Drawings.
    3. When complete, a report will be displayed similar to below. 

    The drawing file was recovered dialog in AutoCAD - Recover command.

    Insert the drawing in to a blank drawing

    1. Open a blank DWG template, such as acad.dwt.
    2. Enter INSERT or CLASSICINSERT on the command line. 
    3. Select the problematic file.
    4. Press OK.
    5. Save the new file. 

    Other options

    • Convert the drawing version in DWG TrueView:

      1. Open the drawing using DWG TrueView, see
        Autodesk DWG TrueView | DWG Viewer.
      2. Convert it to a previous DWG version, see Have You Tried: Restore, Repair, and Recover Drawings.
      3. Open converted drawing in AutoCAD. 

    • If a PDF of the drawing exists, import the PDF using the PDFIMPORT (Command) to recreate the drawing. 

    • If a previous version of the file exists, reopen it.

    Products:

    AutoCAD for Mac; AutoCAD LT for Mac; AutoCAD Products; DWG TrueView;

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