AutoCAD 2021

New and/or enhanced functions

Streamlined Trim and Extend Option

Instead of having to first select boundaries for the Trim and Extend commands, the default Quick mode selects all potential boundaries by default. Other effects include the following:

• After you start the TRIM or EXTEND commands, simply select the objects to be trimmed or extended.
• The default options for selecting the segments to be trimmed or extended are individual selection, freehand selection, and two-point fence selection.
• Start a freehand selection by holding down the left mouse button and dragging the cursor through one or more objects.
• Start a fence selection by clicking two points that define a segment crossing through the objects.
• Selected objects that cannot be trimmed are deleted instead.

For example, it's not apparent in the illustration below whether the two wall lines continuing upward and the two lines blocking the doorway are either individual line segments and need to be erased, or part of longer lines that need to be trimmed. Trimming with Quick mode, using a freehand selection for the wall lines and two fence points for the doorway, trims or erases the objects as required.

Likewise, extending objects is also faster and more convenient. In the following example, a doorway is being closed up and a wall is being lengthened.

When using TRIM with boundaries that include hatches, the trim and Shift+trim operations in Quick mode use only the boundaries of hatches, not the hatch geometry itself. For example, in this trim operation, rolling over the object that crosses the hatch object highlights the portion to be trimmed, and selecting the object trims it as shown. The internal hatch geometry is excluded from the trim operation.

This behavior is controlled by the TRIMEDGES system variable.

Note: We think you'll like the Quick mode better, but if you want to restore the previous default trim and extend behavior, use the TRIMEXTENDMODE system variable.

Changed Commands

EXTEND - Extends objects to meet the edges of other objects.

TRIM - Trims objects to meet the edges of other objects.

New System Variables

TRIMEDGES - Controls whether trimming and extending to hatches with Quick mode is limited to the edges of the hatches or includes the objects within hatch patterns.

TRIMEXTENDMODE - Controls whether the TRIM and EXTEND commands use streamlined inputs.

Revision Cloud Enhancements

Revision clouds now include a single value for their approximate arc chord lengths, the distance between the endpoints of each arc segment.

The first time a revision cloud is created in a drawing, the size of the arcs are determined based on percentage the diagonal length of the current view. This ensures that the revision cloud starts at a reasonable size.

You can change the arc chord length of a selected revision cloud object either in the Properties palette, from its shortcut menu, or with the new REVCLOUDPROPERTIES command.

You can control whether the chord lengths of the arcs can have greater variation or are generally more uniform with the REVCLOUDARCVARIANCE system variable. Turning this system variable OFF restores the previous way that revision clouds are created, while leaving it ON results in a more hand-drawn appearance.

When a revision cloud object is selected, the Properties palette now displays Revcloud as the object type instead of Polyline. Revision clouds are still basically polylines, but they have an additional arc property and the option to switch between grip styles (REVCLOUDGRIPS system variable).

New Commands

REVCLOUDPROPERTIES - Controls the approximate chord length for the arcs in a selected revision cloud.

Changed Commands

REVCLOUD - Creates or modifies a revision cloud.

New System Variables

REVCLOUDARCVARIANCE - Controls whether revcloud arcs are created with varying or generally uniform chord lengths.

Break Objects at a Single Point

With the new BREAKATPOINT command, the Break at Point tool on the ribbon can now be repeated by pressing Enter. This command directly separates a line, arc, or open polyline into two objects at a specified point.

New Commands

BREAKATPOINT - Breaks the selected object into two objects at a specified point.

Measure Geometry Option: Quick Measure

The Quick option of the MEASUREGEOM command now supports measuring the area and perimeter within a space enclosed by geometric objects in the plan view of a drawing.

Clicking within a closed area highlights it in green and displays the calculated values in the Command window and in a dynamic tooltip in the current units format. If you use Shift+click to select several areas, the cumulative area and perimeters are calculated. The perimeters of enclosed islands as shown in the following illustration are also included.

Shift+click also deselects areas. To clear the selected area, simply move the mouse a small distance.

Ribbon Access

Home tab > Utilities panel > Measure/Quick.

Changed Commands

MEASUREGEOM - Adds the Quick option for real-time measurements of dimensions, distances, angles, and areas.

Drawing History Support (Subscription Benefit)

If you save drawing files to a OneDrive, Dropbox, or Box account, additional versions of these drawing files are created as you work, creating a version history. The previous versions will be listed in the new Drawing History palette so you can compare them with the current version of your drawing.

Note: The cloud storage provider that you choose sets the number of versions stored and manages their expiration dates.

• When you're signed into your Autodesk Account, a notification appears the first time you access a drawing saved in your Dropbox, Box, or Microsoft OneDrive account. For example, if you previously saved a drawing to your Dropbox account, the following notification displays:
  

  When you sign in, the Drawing History palette displays with a list of any previous versions of that drawing.

• In the Drawing History palette, you can filter the versions listed by a date range, by a user name, or by a specified minimum time increment between versions.
  
• You can use the Drawing Compare feature to compare the current version of a drawing with any of the previous versions in the drawing history. If one of several people that have cloud access to a drawing makes a change, a notification displays that includes the name of the person who made the change and a link that enables you to compare the changes.
  

The Compare control opens the Drawing Compare feature to identify geometric or text differences between the versions. See About Comparing Differences Between Drawings for more information.

Once you have signed in to a provider and enabled DWG History you might notice some slowdown in some cases. If you find this not acceptable here is a tip: There is no command or UI to revoke AutoCAD DWG History permission from reading OneDrive or other providers DWG History. You would have to manually remove the provider token from the "Providers" registry location in HKCU\Software\Autodesk\AutoCAD\R24.0\ACAD-4101:409\WebServices\Providers\.

Ribbon Access

View tab > History panel > DWG History.

New Commands

DWGHISTORY - Opens the Drawing History palette, which displays a version history of the current drawing as maintained by a supported cloud storage provider.

DWGHISTORYCLOSE - Closes the Drawing History palette.

New System Variables

DWGHISTORYSTATE - Reports whether the Drawing History palette is open or closed.

Blocks Palette Enhancements

The Blocks palette has been enhanced to provide more convenient access to blocks anytime and anywhere. Use your Autodesk account with a supported cloud storage provider (Box, Dropbox, or Microsoft OneDrive) to get quick and anytime access to your recent blocks and block library drawings.

The Recent tab of the Blocks palette displays snapshots of the recently inserted or created blocks in the current drawing. You can sync the recent blocks in a drawing to a cloud storage location and access them from any device using AutoCAD desktop or the AutoCAD web app. Click Sync Your Blocks, sign in to your Autodesk account, and then specify a cloud storage location to start syncing your blocks.

The Sync Your Blocks option may not display in the Blocks palette if there are already recent blocks in your current drawing or if you did not use the Blocks palette to sign in to your Autodesk account.

In this case, you can change the recent blocks folder location in the Files tab of the Options dialog box and specify a cloud storage location to sync your blocks.

When choosing folders for block libraries and recent blocks, it is recommended to use folders located within a supported cloud storage provider (Box, Dropbox, or Microsoft OneDrive). Although you can specify any folder location, blocks will only be accessible across devices and on the AutoCAD web app if you use cloud storage.

The Other Drawings tab of the Blocks palette has been renamed to the Libraries tab. You can now specify a folder, a drawing file, or any block definition stored in a drawing to insert as a block in the current drawing. The Libraries tab includes a drop-down list that displays the 5 most recently used block libraries (folder or drawing file) for faster access. If you choose a block library in a cloud storage location, you can use the same blocks on the AutoCAD web app.

New Commands

-INSERTCONTENT - Inserts a drawing or block into the current drawing. This is similar to the -INSERT command.

Changed Commands

BLOCKSPALETTE - Displays the Blocks palette, which you can use to insert blocks and drawings into the current drawing.

-INSERT - Inserts a drawing or block into the current drawing.

New System Variables

BLOCKSRECENTFOLDER - Sets the path where the recently inserted or created blocks are stored.

Changed System Variables

BLOCKNAVIGATE - Controls the folder, file, and blocks that are displayed in the Libraries tab of the Blocks palette.

XREF Compare

Similar to the drawing compare feature, you can now compare the changes made to a drawing file attached as an external reference (xref) in the current drawing. Any changes to the referenced drawing or a compared drawing are highlighted using revision clouds.

If a referenced drawing has changed, a balloon message is displayed in the lower-right corner of the application window (the status bar tray). Click the link in the balloon message to reload the modified xref or compare the changes. You can also compare the xref changes in the External References palette.

New Commands

XCOMPARE - Compares an attached xref with the latest state of the referenced drawing file.

XCOMPARECLOSE - Closes the Xref Compare toolbar and ends the comparison.

XCOMPARERCNEXT - Zooms to the next change set of the xref comparison result.

XCOMPARERCPREV - Zooms to the previous change set of the xref comparison result.

New System Variables

COMPARESHOWCONTEXT - Controls the visibility of objects that are not used in the xref comparison.

XCOMPAREBAKPATH - Specifies the path where the backup xref file is stored.

XCOMPAREBAKSIZE - Sets the size of the folder where the backup xref file is stored.

XCOMPARECOLORMODE - Switches the visual effect of objects in the host drawing during an xref comparison.

XCOMPAREENABLE - Enables the comparison between an xref and the referenced drawing file.

API and more for Programmers

For developers, this is an API-breaking release.

For LISP and VBA, most all apps should work on AutoCAD 2021 without change.

The Registry has changed from "R23.1" to "R24.0".

This bug has been fixed: Lisp bug with strcase where some characters are not handled as expected:
Command: (strcase "AÁBCČDĎEÉĚFGHIÍJKLMNŇOÓPQRŘSŠTŤUÚŮVWXYÝZŽ" T)
"aábcČdĎeéĚfghiíjklmnŇoópqrŘsŠtŤuúŮvwxyýzŽ"

These functions were updated to support Unicode character strings/codes:

• ascii - Returns the conversion of the first character of a string into its Unicode character code (an integer).
• chr - Converts an integer representing a Unicode character code into a single-character string.
• load - Evaluates the AutoLISP expressions in a file.
• open - Opens a file for access by the AutoLISP I/O functions. A new optional argument has been added which allows for the specification of the character encoding to be used when reading/writing the file. When the argument isn't provided, the file is assumed to contain a multibyte character set (MBCS) which is the legacy behavior.
• read-char - Returns the integer representing the Unicode character read from the keyboard input buffer or from an open file.
• read-line - Reads a string from the keyboard or from an open file, until an end-of-line marker is encountered.
• strlen - Returns an integer that is the number of characters in a string.
• substr - Returns a substring of a string.
• vl-directory-files - Lists all files in a given directory.
• vl-file-copy - Copies or appends the contents of one file to another file.
• vl-file-delete - Deletes a file.
• vl-file-directory-p - Determines if a file name refers to a directory.
• vl-file-rename - Renames a file.
• vl-file-size - Determines the size of a file, in bytes.
• vl-file-systime - Returns last modification time of the specified file.
• vl-filename-mktemp - Calculates a unique file name to be used for a temporary file.
• vl-list->string - Combines the Unicode characters associated with a list of integers into a string.
• vl-mkdir - Creates a directory.
• vl-string->list - Converts a string into a list of Unicode character codes.
• vl-string-elt - Returns the Unicode representation of the character at a specified position in a string.
• vl-string-mismatch - Returns the length of the longest common prefix for two strings, starting at specified positions.
• vl-string-position - Looks for a character with the specified Unicode code in a string.
• vl-string-search - Searches for the specified pattern in a string.
• vl-string-subst - Substitutes one string for another, within a string.
• vl-string-translate - Replaces characters in a string with a specified set of characters.
• vl-vbaload - Loads a VBA project.
• vlisp-compile - Compiles AutoLISP source code into a FAS file.
• write-char - Writes one Unicode character to the screen or an open file.
• write-line - Writes a string to the screen or to an open file.

Obsolete Visual LISP IDE (Windows Only) - The Visual LISP (VL) IDE has been retired and will be removed in a future release. It is recommended to use the AutoCAD AutoLISP Extension for Visual Studio (VS) Code creating new and updating existing AutoLISP programs. LISPSYS must be set to 0 before the VL IDE can be used to edit and debug AutoLISP files.

AutoCAD 2021 System requirements

FlexNet version 11.16.2.0 for Autodesk Network License Manager. 

Update October 2021: Autodesk Customers with Multi-user subscription or Token-flex implementation using Autodesk Network License Manager (NLM) are required to upgrade the Network License Manager to the latest version v11.18.x to support Autodesk 2020 and newer version products on and after April 1st, 2022.

Autodesk recommends installing the Network License Manager in the default installation folder. Starting with version v11.13.1.2, the default installation folder has changed to C:\Autodesk\Network License Manager.

Supported operating systems for the license manager are:

• Microsoft® Windows® Server 2016 64-bit
• Microsoft Windows Server 2012 64-bit
• Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 64-bit
• Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 64-bit
• Windows 10 (32-bit and 64-bit)
• Windows 8 / 8.1 (32-bit and 64-bit)
• Windows 7 (32-bit and 64-bit)
• Apple® macOS® High Sierra 10.13
• Apple macOS Sierra 10.12
• Apple Mac® OS X® El Capitan 10.11
• Red Hat® Enterprise Linux® 7
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
• SUSE Linux Enterprise 12
• SUSE Linux Enterprise 11

More details here.

AutoCAD 2021.1

AutoCAD Updates can be applied to AutoCAD including specialized toolsets installed as standalone apps as well as Autodesk Civil 3D and Autodesk Advance Steel. You can install the AutoCAD update in addition to any applicable updates for the products and their included services listed below.

• AutoCAD 2021
• AutoCAD Architecture 2021 specialized toolset
• AutoCAD Electrical 2021 specialized toolset
• AutoCAD Map 3D 2021 specialized toolset
• AutoCAD Mechanical 2021 specialized toolset
• AutoCAD MEP 2021 specialized toolset
• AutoCAD Plant 3D 2021 specialized toolset
• Autodesk Advance Steel 2021
• Autodesk Civil 3D 2021

After applying this latest patch, the Product Version in the About box will be listed as R.117.0.0 AutoCAD 2021.1. For specialized toolsets, Autodesk Civil 3D or Autodesk Advance Steel, the Built On version will be listed as R.117.0.0 AutoCAD 2021.1.

Fixed Issues

Problems Reported Through the Customer Error Reporting Utility

As a result of the detailed information that we received from customers who used the Customer Error Reporting Utility, we were able to identify and fix several defects including the following:

General Update Content

The following defects have been fixed:

Still missing. Wish list for the next time.

Unfortunately there is no tooltip or preview image when holding the mouse over a layout tab name in the vertical layout list. This makes it hard to see layout names that are too long to show completely.

Support multi-line text in Sheet Set Manager or allow to enter Unicode \U+000A to force a new line (line feed).

Add the ability to create custom subset properties in Sheet Set Manager. Subset custom properties.

A wish for future updates to AutoCAD is that DXEVAL settings would be used to automatically update also the Sheet List Table.

Add support for Sheet Revision Number, Sheet Revision Date, Sheet Purpose, Sheet Category as Sheet List Table Data types.

MEASUREGEOM yellow color needs to be customizable as it is very hard to see against a white background. 

Existing bugs, defects, feature limitation or other issues.

WBLOCK dialog box is not handling blocks containing dots correctly. The file name is cut after the dot. 

HIGHLIGHTSMOOTHING is missing. 

Personal Mtext Symbols functionality is broken. The first one is not working, the second one takes the value from the first one, etc.

Plotting through accoreconsole.exe is not updating Sheet Set Manager callouts and labels in xrefs

If either of the Sheet title, Layout name or File name includes # (number sign, hash, or pound sign) then you will be in trouble. First of all the Sheet Number may be incorrect, second the Sheet Title may be incorrect and third if you click through on the hyperlink you can get the “Hyperlink destination cannot be found.” error. Workaround is to use this similar looking character ＃. 
Either copy it from here ＃ or press and hold down the Alt key, type on the numeric keypad 065283 and then release the Alt key.

Following a hyperlink from one drawing to another drawing will change the size of the AutoCAD window if it is maximized.

When opening a drawing with lost set association the dialog box shows the text %PathToSheetSetAndFileName% instead of the actual path and file name.

When trying to change height of ATTEDIT dialog box it looks like the height can be changed because the cursor changes.

In ATTEDIT dialog box there is a lot of extra space below the buttons.

APPAUTOLOAD set to 0 still loads .NET apps.

Enhanced Attribute Editor (EATTEDIT) is missing & in block names and tag names (at the top) containing &. For example a block named a&b shows up as ab. Similar problem with ATTEDIT dialog box.

On the Start tab the Recent Documents preview icons are not scaled correctly. Make a drawing with a circle and notice how it is compressed to an ellipse in the preview.

EXPORTLAYOUT command to support wipeout objects. (Export Layout to Model/Save Layout as Drawing)

Isolating layer from Layer Properties Manager and then running LAYUNISO results in "No layers to restore from LAYISO command.".

(osnap (getpoint) "QUI,END") will always return nil because quick osnap is not available in AutoCAD 2016 or newer.

BROWSER command should not force open Internet Explorer, it should open the web browser that is set as default like Microsoft Edge or Chrome or whatever. (possibly fixed by an update) 

Installer still force opens Internet Explorer when clicking on links like the help.

Compare is not handling attribute definitions correctly. 

Renaming category of sheet category name in SSM is not working. The old name returns after opening the view once. 

Text justification issue with attributes in block based multiline leaders. Detailed information. 

Unicode characters (possibly Sheet Set Manager related) not resolving in fields in simple Text. Detailed information. 

Tips & Tricks

AutoCAD 2021 also is referred to as ACAD2021 or ACAD 2021.

AutoCAD 2021 product key is 001M1.

Network License Feature code for AutoCAD 2021: 87393ACD_2021_0F

AutoCAD Package Feature Code (perpetual on maintenance plan): 64300ACD_F

AutoCAD Package Feature Code - Term (subscription with multi-user access): 64300ACD_T_F

Full list of FlexNet feature codes and descriptions.

DWG 2018 file format is used just as in AutoCAD 2018, 2019 and 2020.

Default command line to start AutoCAD 2021: "C:\Program Files\Autodesk\AutoCAD 2021\acad.exe" /product ACAD /language "en-US"

In vanilla AutoCAD without service pack:
Command: _vernum
_VERNUM = "R.47.0.0 (UNICODE)" (read only)

AutoCAD 2021.1 - _VERNUM = "R.118.0.0 (UNICODE)" (read only)

AutoCAD 2021.1.1 - _VERNUM = "R.154.0.0 (UNICODE)" (read only)

AutoCAD 2021.1.2 - _VERNUM = "R.163.0.0 (UNICODE)" (read only)

AutoCAD 2021.1.3 - _VERNUM = "R.172.0.0 (UNICODE)" (read only)

Readme

Release notes available online here.

DWG Convert, Etransmit, and Archive

The ZIP option of the DWGCONVERT, ETRANSMIT, and ARCHIVE commands now create UTF-8 ZIP files, which uses the popular 8-bit form of Unicode for file names. This means that you can package files that have names with extended font characters. The file names will not display correctly if you use ZIP utilities that don't support UTF-8 ZIP files. Use a ZIP utility such as 7-Zip to correctly display and extract these files.

Feature-Specific Requirements

• Starting with AutoCAD 2017-based products, BMP files no longer support the color value of 192,192,192 as a transparent color. Custom images that need to support transparency must now be saved as a PNG file.

• AutoCAD’s Data Extraction workflow will now automatically use Microsoft’s Access Database Engine by default when it’s available on your system. If the Access Database Engine is not available, the Jet Database Engine will be used as with previous releases.

Updates & Service Packs & Hotfixes

AutoCAD 2021.1.3 2022-10-06

AutoCAD 2021.1.2 2022-06-02

AutoCAD 2021.1.1 2021-04-26

Autodesk Docs Extension for AutoCAD plug-in released 2021-01-18

AutoCAD 2021.1

Autodesk AutoCAD Plant 3D 2021 Object Enabler

Other downloads:

Scale List Cleanup Utility for AutoCAD® 2021

Regapp ID Cleanup Utility for AutoCAD® 2021

AutoCAD 2021 Language Packs - English, Brazilian Portuguese (Português - Brasil), Czech (Čeština), French (Français), German (Deutsch), Hungarian (Magyar), Italian (Italiano), Korean (한국어), Polish (Polski), Russian (Русский), Simplified Chinese (简体中文), Spanish (Español), Traditional Chinese (繁體中文)

AutoCAD 2021 Templates

Download & Install AutoCAD 2021 Product Help

Download the Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications Module (VBA)

Cascading Sequences for Autodesk 2021 Products

Understanding Cascade Licensing for Autodesk Products 

Links.

Autodesk's AutoCAD Discussion Group:
http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/AutoCAD-2013-2014-2015/bd-p/706

AutoCAD 2021 Help online:  http://help.autodesk.com/view/ACD/2021/ENU/ 

VBA Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications Module can be downloaded here.

Autodesk App Store

Compare AutoCAD versions

AutoCAD subscription members can download AutoCAD 2021 from the Autodesk Account page.

Download a free trial of AutoCAD 2021: http://www.autodesk.com/products/autodesk-autocad/free-trial

Find the certified and recommended computer hardware for the products or suites you are planning to install. For more information, go to www.autodesk.com/hardware.

To download and install the latest hardware certification XML file, visit http://www.autodesk.com/autocad-graphicscard.

For developers: http://www.autodesk.com/developautocad and http://help.autodesk.com/view/OARX/2021/ENU/

About DXF format.

If you want to participate in the Beta testing for the next release of AutoCAD (AutoCAD 2022) visit http://beta.autodesk.com.

JTB World Blog posts about AutoCAD 2021.

New and Updated Commands:

The following commands are new and updated in AutoCAD 2021.

Creates a block definition from selected objects. ​

Removed or Obsolete Commands and System Variables:

No commands were designated as obsolete during this release.

No systems variables were designated as obsolete during this release.

New and Updated System Variables:

The following system variables are new in AutoCAD 2021.

And updated system variables.