Thursday, April 09, 2026

Autodesk 2026 Crashes Trying to open an AutoDesk 2023 file

I did a system upgrade of a Autodesk Revit Machine where the upgrade was a significant one  The system was 10 years old an Intel i7 2600K to an AMD Ryzen 5 9600X.  The CPU boost alone is significant but everything was just better.  Going from 32GB DDR3 to 64GB DDR4 and upgrading from an ATI FirePro 4800 to a Nvida RTX 5060.  The Storage also got a huge boost moving from a 1TB SATA SSD to a Gen4 M.2 2tb WD Black.

CPU Comparision

The system came together great, it loaded autocad, revit extremely quickly and rending files that would normally take hours took just a few minutes.  Then the SNAG happened.

A particular file that they were working with did not work on the new system.  It opened fine on the old system but it took a while to make changes and they wanted to migrate the job file to the new system and the new version of REVIT.  Given the generational changes in processing not to mention it being completely different CPU architectures, upgraded software, windows 11 pretty much anything could be causing the issue.  There was no other file that had an issue like this file.



With no other files seemingly being affected, and the old system did not have the problem with opening or rendering the file so I started looking into differences in the software and the system.  We even got autodesk involved, and they didn't have any trouble opening the file; however no one tried to render it.

We did as they asked and tried the following:

Please try this
1. Install all the updates for windows, and video card driver, restart computer
2. Close all Autodesk programs.
3. Run "Autodesk Access", sign in as your email
4. Install all the updates listed from bottom towards up
5. Restart computer.

If still not working, try the following 3 things:

1. https://www.autodesk.com/support/technical/article/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/Clear-a-corrupt-damaged-C4R-model-from-the-system.html

2. https://www.autodesk.com/support/technical/article/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/How-to-Disable-Add-Ins-for-Revit-Products.html

3. https://www.autodesk.com/support/technical/article/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/How-to-reset-Revit-to-the-installation-defaults.html

Hope this helps, let me know.

When none of that worked; did some more research but came up empty.  Below are some of the things I tried to get the system to open the file.  Really the file opened but no changes could be made and the file would not render it was quite the issue.

Troubleshooting:

For Revit 2026, you can disable add-ins by using the built-in Add-Ins Manager, its standalone application, or by manually moving the add-in files from their installation directory. These methods allow you to manage add-ins individually, as a group, or disable them entirely. 
How to use the Add-Ins Manager
  • Inside Revit: Click on the Manage tab, then find the Extensions panel and click Add-Ins Manager. From here, you can enable or disable individual add-ins, all add-ins, or macros. The changes will take effect after restarting Revit.
  • Standalone Application: Search for "Revit Add-Ins Manager" in the Windows Start menu or navigate to the installation folder at <Revit installation folder>AddInsManager\RevitAddInsManager.exe. This is useful if a faulty add-in prevents Revit from launching.
  • Cloud Models: If you are working with cloud models, you may need to deselect all items in the Add-Ins Manager and then recheck only the Autodesk Collaborate add-in before restarting Revit. 
How to disable all add-ins at once
For users who need to disable all third-party add-ins at once, you can modify the Revit.ini file. 
  • Add a section called [API].
  • Add the line DisableUserAddinsAndMacros=1.
  • To re-enable the add-ins, change the value to 0.
  • Restart Revit for the changes to take effect.
3. General System and Software Troubleshooting
  • Disable Add-ins: Temporarily disable all third-party add-ins in Revit 2026 to see if a conflict is causing the crash.
  • Update Graphics Drivers: Ensure your graphics card drivers are updated to the latest certified version from the manufacturer's website.
  • Check System Resources: Verify your system meets the Revit 2026 System Requirements (16 GB RAM minimum, 100 GB free disk space for temp files recommended).
  • Clean Reinstallation: If all else fails, a clean uninstall and reinstall of Revit 2026 may be necessary to resolve a corrupted installation.
  • Check Windows Event Viewer: This can provide clues about the crash details. 
If the problem persists, gather your Revit journal files and submit a support ticket to Autodesk with the crash report number for further investigation. 
The default location for Revit journal files is: C:\Users\%USERNAME%\AppData\Local\Autodesk\Revit\<Autodesk Revit version>\Journals. This folder can be accessed by typing %LOCALAPPDATA%\Autodesk\Revit\<Autodesk Revit version>\Journals into the File Explorer address bar. If you cannot find the folder, it may be hidden, so you will need to enable "Show hidden files, folders, and drives" in Windows' folder options.  
  • Default location: 
    C:\Users\%USERNAME%\AppData\Local\Autodesk\Revit\<Autodesk Revit version>\Journals. 
  • To find it quickly: 
    Type %LOCALAPPDATA%\Autodesk\Revit\<Autodesk Revit version>\Journals into the File Explorer address bar. 
  • Replace the placeholder: 
    Replace <Autodesk Revit version> with your specific version, such as Autodesk Revit 2024 or Autodesk Revit 2023. 

Crashes when opening of a Revit model

Note: See the following for Revit and AutoCAD links: 

More Troubleshooting

See the following link for more troubleshooting: Crash AND open.

For Revit 2019 and older

  1. Rename or Delete the Flexnet files:

Close all Autodesk software, then rename or delete the following three files from this location: C:\ProgramData\FLEXnet

    • adskflex_<number>_tsf.data

    • adskflex_<number>_event.log

    • adskflex_<number>_tsf.data_backup.00

Note: Check if the files are not hidden using these steps: How to turn on hidden files and folders on Windows.

  1. Locate and rename the ADUT folder:

    1. Go to C:\User\username\AppData\Roaming\Autodesk\ADUT.

    2. Rename the folder (for example, to "ADUT2").

  2. Delete the contents of the folder: C:\ProgramData\Autodesk\CLM\LGS.


The Fix

The fix ended up being an issue with SteelConnections.  I paid careful attention to what the system was doing when it was trying to render and noticed it was crashing bringing up steelconnections.  So what I had to do was manually remove steelconnections from the addins folder.
  • Close Revit.
  • Browse to the folder C:\ProgramData\Autodesk\Revit\Addins\[Version].
    eg      %PROGRAMDATA%\Autodesk\Revit\Addins\2026
  • Move the add-in files to another location to temporarily disable them. Renaming the files will not work. (eg moving steelconnections2026.addin to the desktop)
  • Restart Revit to confirm the add-ins are no longer available. 
And that fixed the issue with the file.  The file rendered very fast taking only a few minutes on settings that use to take the older system hours.

*Note to re-enable the addin move it back to the addins directory

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Autodesk 2026 Crashes Trying to open an AutoDesk 2023 file

I did a system upgrade of a Autodesk Revit Machine where the upgrade was a significant one  The system was 10 years old an Intel i7 2600K to...