Do you think something is missing from your Revit project or user interface? Sometimes we hide elements and tools by mistake. Don’t worry, you can unhide all again by following the steps below.
Method 1 – UnHide All
Details: Activate the Reveal hidden elements command. All hidden elements will turn magenta. Select everything, right-click and choose Unhide.
Steps
- In the View control bar, click the bulb icon (Shortcut: RH).
- Left-Click and drag selection to select all hidden elements in magenta.
- Mouse Right-Click > Unhide in View > click Elements (Shortcut: EU).
✨ Tip: If “Elements” is grayed out, select “Category” or “By Filter”. This means that an entire category can be hidden, not just the selected element(s).
Method 2 – New View Template
Details: If you have a large view where it is difficult to manually hide certain elements, it is best to create a new view and copy the view template (keeping the properties of the old view).
Steps
- In the Project Browser, right-click on the view title.
- Click Create View Template From View.
- Assign a name to the template > click OK.
- Right-click the old view title > Duplicate View menu > click Duplicate.
- Right-click the duplicate view under Names panel > Apply View Template.
- Select the new view template > click OK.
Learn more about view templates
Rebuild the view only if you are working on a medium to large project with linked files and a large number of elements and categories.
The advantage is that you no longer need to see certain elements that you intentionally hid in the old view. This saves you the time of checking a list of categories and imported files one by one.
However, if you want to unhide certain categories via THE list, proceed to the next step…
Method 3 – Remove Filters
Details: Enable all categories in the Graphics and Visibility settings to show all elements in the view.
Steps
- Go to the View tab > Graphics panel > click Visibility /Graphics (Shortcut: VG).
- Within the pop-up window, navigate between tabs and tick all categories.
- Click OK.
The last tab is the Filters tab, open it to check if the view has a filter assigned to it and how it affects it. To disable a suspicious filter, uncheck the checkbox under Enable Filter > click Apply.
Method 4 – Restore Missing Windows
Details: Restore a missing window in the Revit user interface.
Steps
- View tab > Windows panel > drop-down User Interface.
- Check the prompt box of the missing window.
Reset changes made to the User Interface by deleting the UIState.dat file located at: C:\Users\Username\AppData\Roaming\Autodesk\Revit\Autodesk Revit 20XX\ENU. When you delete the file and restart Revit, the Ribbon is reset to its default state.
The Project Browser is useful for finding missing families and components.
At this point, all of the elements in your model and the tools in your user interface should be visible.
Mohamed Fakhry has helped thousands of architects and designers find their next project with step-by-step guidance on his blog, mashyo.com. About Mohamed
His journey began during his university years when he recognized the need for information-rich 3D models to accelerate learning and improve production processes. Now, Mohamed shares his expertise through Revit tutorials that are accessible to all.
