Skip to content
  • There are no suggestions because the search field is empty.

Troubleshoot the Revit plugin and import

Organized by the issue you're seeing rather than the root cause, so you can jump straight to a fix. Covers installation errors, frozen updates, empty designs, and zero-quantity imports.

Start here regardless of issue: close every running instance of Revit, then work through the relevant section. A large share of plugin problems come from installing or uninstalling while Revit is open, because the installer can't replace files that are in use and generally fails without saying so clearly.

Table of contents

Install and setup

  • The eTool tab doesn't appear in Revit

  1. Confirm you have a project open. The tab doesn't appear on Revit's start screen.
  2. Confirm you installed the right plugin for your Revit version. Revit 2025–2027 needs the standalone 2025 Plus build; Revit 2017–2024 needs the legacy build. Installing the wrong one  results in this exact issue — a successful install and no tab.
  3. Uninstall, then reinstall clean. Close Revit, uninstall via Settings → Apps → Installed apps, download the current installer, install again. Reinstalling over a partial install often doesn't fix it.
  4.  If you installed from the Autodesk App Store and you're on an older version of Revit, see "The App Store version won't run on my version of Revit" below. This is the most common cause. 

If none of that works, contact support with your Revit version and plugin version. The plugin reports diagnostic information automatically when something fails, which speeds this up.

 

  • The App Store version won't run on my version of Revit

We support Revit 2017 onwards. Autodesk, however, periodically drops older Revit versions from the plugin's configuration on the store — so the plugin installs successfully and then won't start in your version of Revit. 

Which versions are affected changes over time. At the time of writing it's anything below Revit 2022. 

 

The plugin itself is fine. What's out of date is the configuration file Autodesk ships alongside it. Replacing that file re-enables Revit 2017 through 2024. 

Before you start, check two things

Which version you have. Open Settings → Apps → Installed apps and find the eTool plugin — the version number is listed beside it. Make sure you're on the current release before going further.

That you don't have both versions installed. Running a standalone installer and the Autodesk store version at the same time causes problems. Uninstall one before you install the other.

Fix the configuration file

  1. Close Revit. Don't do any of this with Revit open — it locks the files you're about to move.
  2. Navigate to C:\ProgramData\Autodesk\ApplicationPlugins\eTool eToolLCD Plugin.bundle\. If you installed Revit somewhere other than the default location, go to your own installation directory instead. The quickest way to get there is to copy the path and paste it into the address bar in Windows Explorer.
  3. Inside the bundle you'll find a Contents folder, which is the plugin itself, and a file called PackageContents.xml, which controls the Revit versions the plugin is allowed to run in. The .xml extension may not be visible, depending on your Windows settings.
  4. Move PackageContents.xml out to a folder of your own — cut and paste it rather than copying, so the bundle is left without it.  Keep the original until the plugin is confirmed to be working; putting it back returns you to where you started if anything goes wrong.
  5. Download the replacement (right-click → Save Link As...): PackageContents.xml 
  6. Replace the original with the downloaded copy.
  7. Restart Revit, open a design, and confirm the eTool tab appears.

The replacement file lists Revit 2017 through 2024 and points every one of them at the same plugin, because the plugin genuinely does work across all of them. Nothing else about your installation changes.  

The above is documented in the following video: 

 

If you don't have write access to C:\ProgramData, your IT team will need to make this change — it's a protected location in most managed environments. If that isn't practical, use a standalone installer instead (below). 

If a future version of Revit isn't supported by your plugin version, we'll note it on this page and update the download link, so this is the page to check. 

If this keeps happening to you, let us know. Nothing is wrong at your end, and the steps above will get you working. We'd like to know how many people Autodesk's version restrictions actually affects, because that tells us how much to invest in keeping this route smooth. 

  • The Autodesk store version won't install at all

Use a standalone installer. These bypass the store entirely.

For Revit 2024 and earlier, each standalone installer covers a single Revit version. If you work across Revit 2023 and Revit 2024, you need two standalone installs. The store version doesn't work this way — it installs across every version Autodesk currently permits, which is why we point people there first.

The 2025–2027 installer is the exception: one installer covers all three.

Installer Revit versions
 eTool Revit Plugin 2025 Plus Standalone v8.0  2025–2027
eTool Revit Plugin 2024 Standalone V7.0 2024
eTool Revit Plugin 2023 Standalone V6.1 2023
eTool Revit Plugin 2022 Standalone V6.1 2022
 eTool Revit Plugin Standalone V6.0  2017–2021

 Revit must be closed for both installation and uninstallation.

Don't install a standalone version alongside the Autodesk store version for the same Revit release. For example, don't run the standalone 2022 installer if you already have the 2017–2024 App Store version installed. Having both on the same machine causes problems. Uninstall the store version first. 

  • Windows blocks the installer as an "Unrecognised App"

Select More info → Run anyway. SmartScreen flags installers it hasn't seen widely distributed, which includes most specialist engineering plugins.

  • The download is blocked, or the zip won't open

Some browsers block zipped installer files automatically. Try Firefox, Safari or Microsoft Edge. If it still fails it's more likely your organisation's network policy than the browser, and support can supply the file another way.

  • The login pop-up shows old eToolLCD branding

Cosmetic only, and expected on plugins for Revit 2024 and earlier. The plugin works normally. The 2025–2027 plugin shows current eTool branding.

Linking and pushing

  • I can't find my project in the link dialog

The most likely reason is that the project and design don't exist in eTool yet. The plugin links to a design that already exists — it can't create one. Create the project and design in eTool first, then link.

If it does exist, check two things.

  • Where it sits in the list. Projects are grouped by organisation, newest organisation first, with personal projects at the bottom; newest project first within each group. There are no headings, so it reads as one long list.

  • Whether you have edit access. You'll only see structures and designs you can edit, because adding an import counts as editing. Open the project in eTool and look for the orange message at the top of the page — it explains what access you have and why. Contact your organisation administrator(s) to have them adjust your access permissions.

  • Nothing happened when I clicked Link

Link records the connection but doesn't move any data and gives no visible confirmation. Click Update eTool — that's the step that transfers components, and it does show progress.

  • Update seems to have frozen

Check your other windows and your other monitor. The confirmation window — "Your eTool model was successfully updated" — doesn't always come to the front, and with two screens it very often ends up behind Revit or on the other display, waiting for you to click OK.

This is the most common cause of an update that appears to hang. Genuine processing is usually near-instantaneous, or 10–30 seconds on a large model.

  • Launch eTool didn't take me to my project

Launch eTool opens a new browser window at your eTool home page, not at the design you pushed to. If you already have eTool open on the right design, switching to that tab and refreshing is quicker.

  • I imported the wrong file

Go to the Import tab, select the import, and delete it. This removes everything that came with it, including any templates you'd already matched, and leaves the rest of your design untouched.

Matching and quantities

  • My design is empty after importing

The import needs to be matched and confirmed before anything reaches your design. Go to the Import tab, select the import, click Edit, match the components, and click Reviewed.

An import sitting in the Import tab is staged, not applied.

  • Items imported with a quantity of zero

The template you matched to uses a unit that your import has no quantity for. If the template is m³ and your volume column is empty, eTool takes the zero.

Check the Template Unit column against the quantity columns on the affected rows. Then either convert the quantity into the template's unit in your source data, or clone the template and change its unit.

A row with a mismatched unit still looks complete, so it's worth checking as you match rather than waiting for a result to look wrong. See Review your import in Excel before matching.

  • The matching screen is frozen or won't load

This is frequently a size issue. A few hundred rows takes time — an import of around 700 rows might take a couple of minutes, and larger ones longer.

Let it finish before you touch anything. Don't start matching while it's still loading, and don't load two imports at the same time — that makes it slower, not faster. The row count is shown on screen, so you can judge in advance whether to step away.

  • I lost my matching work

Matching is saved when you click Reviewed. If you close the screen without clicking it, the work isn't kept.

On a large import, match a batch, click Reviewed, and come back later — your saved matches will still be there when you click Edit again, and won't be duplicated.

  • I don't want to match hundreds of irrelevant rows

Match the rows you need, then click Reviewed. The Manage unselected matches window appears and offers ignore remaining, which handles everything you haven't matched in one action.

  • My quantities look wrong and the file came from IFC

Revit doesn't measure elements from a converted IFC the way it measures native geometry, so quantities exported from a converted IFC aren't reliable — even though the process appears to work. Use the native Revit file, or import via CSV instead.

Still stuck

Email lcdsupport@cerclos.com or raise a support request. Include:

  • Your Revit version and year
  • Your plugin version
  • Whether you installed from the Autodesk App Store or a standalone installer
  • Any error code the plugin displayed

An alternative if the plugin won't work

You don't have to wait. Export a materials schedule from Revit and import it into eTool as a CSV instead — the matching workflow is identical. See Import data from a CSV file.

Related articles