Revit Tutorial for Beginners: Your First Project, Step by Step

This Revit tutorial for beginners takes you through one small building from an empty file to printed sheets, in the order a real project is set up. It is written for Revit 2027 and uses plain steps: where to click, what to type, and why each step comes where it does.

Most Revit beginner tutorials teach tools one at a time: walls today, doors tomorrow, schedules some other week. Then you open a real project and don’t know what to do first. A reader, a registered planner, asked for one sequence that starts with the site, goes through True North, levels and the floor slab, and ends with a Bill of Quantities. This guide is that sequence, with the Revit basics added in front of it.

Before You Start: Revit Software, Version and Setup

Autodesk Revit is BIM software. You do not draw lines that look like a wall. You place a wall that knows its height, its layers and its materials, and Revit draws the plans, sections and schedules from it. Change the wall once and every view updates.

• Version. This tutorial uses Revit 2027. The steps also work in Revit 2024 to 2026, and the places where 2027 differs are marked.
• Computer. Revit runs on Windows only.
• Cost. Autodesk offers a 30-day free trial, and free educational access for eligible students and educators. You do not need to buy anything to follow this tutorial.
• Files. Revit models are not backwards-compatible. A file saved in Revit 2027 will not open in 2026, so agree on the version with anyone who will open your file (Autodesk help).
• A project to practise on. Use a small two-storey house, about 8 m by 10 m. Small enough to finish, big enough to need levels, a stair and a roof.

Is This a Revit Architecture Tutorial?

Yes. Revit Architecture used to be a separate product. Today there is one Revit with Architecture, Structure and Systems tabs on the same ribbon. Everything in this guide uses the Architecture tab, so if you are looking for Revit Architecture tutorials for beginners, this is the same thing under its current name.

The Revit Interface for Beginners: 8 Parts to Know

Open Revit and start any project. You only need eight parts of the screen to follow the rest of this tutorial.

New in Revit 2027: the Options Bar under the ribbon is gone. Its controls moved to the ribbon and the Properties palette, so an older video that says “on the Options Bar” now means one of those two places. Revit 2027 also has light and dark themes. The full list is in Revit 2027 interface updates.

Two keys save beginners the most time: Esc twice to leave any tool, and Tab to cycle through overlapping elements under the cursor.

The Order to Learn Revit: World, Building, Information

In AutoCAD you can draw in any order and fix it later. Revit is a database, and some early decisions are written into everything that comes after. Levels host your walls and floors. The project’s position decides where linked models land. North decides what your sun study shows. Move any of these in week ten and you will spend a day repairing views, links and dimensions.

So the rule is simple: set up the world first, then the building, then the information. The ten steps below follow it.

Step 1: Start a New Revit Project

1. Use a template. Go to File > New > Project and pick your office template or the default Architectural Template for your region. A template brings in units, line styles, view types and families. Starting from “None” means building all of that yourself.
2. Check the units. Manage tab > Settings > Project Units (shortcut UN). Make sure length is in millimetres or metres if your drawings use them. See units in Revit.
3. Fill in Project Information. Manage tab > Settings > Project Information: project name, number, client and address. These values appear in every title block automatically. See title blocks in Revit.
4. Save it with a clear name, for example 2027-001_House_ARCH.rvt, and save often with Ctrl + S.

Autodesk’s own setup page lists the same order: template, project information, then positioning, with the site plan as the next topic. That is where steps 2 and 3 come from.

Step 2: Model the Site

The survey usually arrives as a DWG, and the site is built from it. If you have no survey, skip to step 4.

1. Link the survey. Open the Site plan view and go to Insert tab > Link CAD. Choose a positioning option. Auto – Origin to Internal Origin is the usual choice for a survey drawn in real coordinates. Leave Current view only unticked if the file has 3D contours you want to build the ground from. Link it rather than importing it, so it can be reloaded when the surveyor sends a new version. See CAD to Revit.
2. Create the terrain. Go to Massing & Site tab > Model Site > Toposolid > Create from Import, then choose Create from CAD for the DWG contours or Create from CSV for a points file. On older projects you will see Toposurfaces, which Toposolids replaced in Revit 2024. See Toposolids in Revit.
3. Draw the property line from the survey: Massing & Site tab > Modify Site > Property Line. It gives you the plot boundary and its area for setback checks. See property line in Revit.
4. Mark roads, paving and landscape with Sub-Divide on the Toposolid, and set up the site plan drawing. See site plans in Revit.

The linked survey will show in other plans. Hide it there with Visibility/Graphics (shortcut VG) on the Imported Categories tab.

Step 3: Coordinates, True North and Project North

This is the step beginners skip and professionals don’t. Revit tracks four things here, and each one has a job.

1. Acquire coordinates from the survey. Manage tab > Project Location > Coordinates > Acquire Coordinates, then click the linked survey DWG. Your model now shares its coordinate system.
2. Set True North. In the Site view, set Orientation to True North in Properties, then use Manage tab > Project Location > Position > Rotate True North and type the angle from the survey. The angle box is on the Options Bar in Revit 2026 and earlier. In 2027, look on the ribbon or in the Properties palette.
3. Square up Project North if the building sits at an angle. Use Rotate Project North > Align selected line or plane with a reference plane along a main wall. Your plans turn square on the sheet, and the model stays where it is.

Autodesk’s advice is to model with Project North at the top of the drawing area and define True North once you have reliable survey coordinates (Autodesk help). Either way, do it before you link consultants’ models. Once structure and MEP are positioned by shared coordinates, the pinned links will block Rotate Project North.

Step 4: Create Levels and Grids

Levels are the floors of your building in data form. Every wall, floor and door is hosted by one, so get them right before you model anything else.

1. Open an elevation or section view. Levels can’t be drawn in plan.
2. Go to Architecture tab > Datum > Level (shortcut LL) and keep Make Plan View ticked. In Revit 2027 it is on the ribbon’s contextual tab. In 2026 and earlier it is on the Options Bar.
3. Draw each level, then rename it (Ground Floor, First Floor, Roof) and type the exact elevation. When Revit asks whether to rename the corresponding views, say yes.
4. Watch the level heads. A blue head has a plan view and a black head is only a datum. Copied or arrayed levels come out black, so create their plans with View tab > Plan Views > Floor Plan.

Add grids in a plan view right after the levels (Architecture tab > Datum > Grid, shortcut GR), and place the project base point on a key grid intersection. The full walkthrough is in how to add levels in Revit.

Step 5: Model the Ground Floor Slab

1. Open the Ground Floor plan and go to Architecture tab > Build > Floor > Floor: Architectural. Use Floor: Structural if the slab is a structural element in your project.
2. Choose the floor type in the Type Selector before you sketch. A type with real layers (screed, slab, insulation, membrane) gives you real quantities later. Duplicate and edit a type if none fits.
3. Sketch the boundary as one closed loop, with Pick Walls if the walls exist or with lines if they don’t. Check Height Offset From Level in Properties.
4. Click Finish Edit Mode (the green tick).
5. If the slab sits in the terrain, cut the Toposolid so ground and slab don’t overlap. In Revit 2025 and later, select the Toposolid, click Excavate and pick the floor. Older versions use Cut Geometry. Both are covered in Toposolids in Revit.

Step 6: Draw the Walls

1. In the Ground Floor plan, go to Architecture tab > Build > Wall (shortcut WA).
2. Pick a wall type in the Type Selector. Use a type with real layers and materials, not “Generic – 200mm”.
3. In Properties, set Base Constraint to Ground Floor and Top Constraint to Up to level: First Floor. Do not type a height. When the floor-to-floor height changes, constrained walls follow.
4. Set Location Line, the face of the wall your clicks follow. Finish Face: Exterior is a common choice for outside walls.
5. Click point to point, clockwise, so the exterior face ends up outside. Press Spacebar while drawing to flip a wall. Press Esc twice to finish.
6. Draw the interior walls the same way with an interior type. Use Trim/Extend to Corner (TR) and Align (AL) to clean up.

Once plain walls feel easy, try curtain walls and stacked walls. Revit 2027 can also host one wall on another, for example a finish wall on a structural wall.

Step 7: Place Doors and Windows

Doors and windows are hosted. They need a wall, and they cut their own opening in it.

1. Doors: Architecture tab > Build > Door (DR). Pick a size in the Type Selector, hover over a wall, press Spacebar to flip the swing, and click.
2. Windows: Architecture tab > Build > Window (WN). Set Sill Height in Properties, then click on the wall from the outside face.
3. Need another size or style? Go to Insert tab > Load Autodesk Family and load it. Doors, windows and furniture are families, which are files you load into the project.
4. Position exactly. Select the door and type a new value into the blue temporary dimension.

Step 8: Upper Floors, Stairs and Roof

1. Upper floor. Open the First Floor plan and use the Floor tool again with Pick Walls. Leave a hole in the sketch for the stair, or cut it later with Architecture tab > Opening > Shaft.
2. First floor walls. Select the ground floor walls, copy them (Ctrl + C), then Modify tab > Paste > Aligned to Selected Levels and pick First Floor.
3. Stair. Architecture tab > Circulation > Stair. Set Base Level and Top Level in Properties, click the start and the end of the run, and finish. Revit works out the number of risers and adds railings.
4. Roof. Open the Roof plan and go to Architecture tab > Build > Roof > Roof by Footprint. Set an overhang, pick the exterior walls, and tick or untick Defines Slope on each edge to choose hip, gable or flat. Finish.
5. Attach walls to the roof. Select the top-floor walls, click Attach Top/Base, then click the roof. The walls now follow its slope.
6. Ceilings and rooms. In a ceiling plan use Architecture tab > Build > Ceiling. In a floor plan use Architecture tab > Room & Area > Room (RM) to name each space and get its area. See rooms and area calculation.

Open the default 3D view from the Quick Access Toolbar and check the model. For shapes a footprint roof can’t make, see complex roofs.

Step 9: Views, Dimensions and Sheets

Plans, sections and elevations are not separate drawings. They are views of the one model, so you set them up once and they stay correct.

1. Add a section. View tab > Create > Section, then click two points across the plan. See sections in Revit.
2. Make the views consistent. Use view templates so every plan looks the same, scope boxes to crop them identically, and view range to control what each plan cuts.
3. Dimension and tag. Annotate tab > Aligned (DI) for dimensions and Tag by Category (TG) for doors, windows and rooms. Add a north arrow to every plan.
4. Create a sheet. View tab > Sheet Composition > Sheet, choose a title block, then drag views from the Project Browser onto it.
5. Export a PDF. File > Export > PDF (Revit 2022 and later), and choose the sheets to include.

Step 10: Schedules and Quantities

Schedules turn the model into lists other people can use: door and window schedules, room areas, the drawing list. They are live, so a door deleted in plan disappears from the list.

1. View tab > Create > Schedules > Schedule/Quantities, then pick a category such as Doors.
2. Add fields, then use Sorting/Grouping (untick Itemize every instance for one line per type) and Formatting (Calculate totals).
3. For material areas and volumes (concrete, blockwork, screed), use Schedules > Material Takeoff. This is why steps 5 and 6 asked for real layered types.
4. Export with File > Export > Reports > Schedule and add rates in Excel.

Revit measures and Excel prices. There is no BOQ button, but every quantity a Bill of Quantities needs is already in the model you just built. Full guides: how to create a schedule in Revit, BOQ in Revit and export Revit schedules to Excel.

Revit Beginner Checklist: All 10 Steps

Tick off each row on your first project. To keep it as a PDF, print this page with Ctrl + P and choose Save as PDF.

12 Revit Shortcuts Used in This Tutorial

Revit shortcuts are two letters typed one after the other, with no Enter. These twelve cover this whole tutorial.

The full list, with a printable sheet, is in Revit keyboard shortcuts.

7 Revit Beginner Mistakes That Cost Days Later

1. Typing wall heights. Unconnected walls don’t move when a level moves. Constrain the top to a level.
2. Modelling with generic types. The model looks fine and every quantity comes out meaningless.
3. Copying levels and wondering where the plans went. Copied levels are datums only, so create their floor plans.
4. Rotating the building instead of Project North. The normal Rotate tool moves the geometry off the survey. Rotate Project North instead.
5. Importing the survey instead of linking it. Imports bloat the file and can’t be reloaded when the survey changes.
6. Hiding things with “Hide in View” and losing them. Click the light bulb on the View Control Bar to reveal hidden elements, and prefer Visibility/Graphics or a view template.
7. Typing schedules by hand in Excel. They go out of date the moment the design changes. Schedule from the model and export.

Best Free Revit Tutorials for Beginners: What to Do Next

One pass through this page gives you the map. These free Revit tutorials for beginners fill in the detail, and each does a different job.

• To watch someone do it: Autodesk’s free course Learn Revit in 90 minutes models a simple house on video, with metric and imperial practice files. It does not cover the site, coordinates or quantities.
• To go lesson by lesson: the free Mashyo Revit course has 98 lessons in 7 modules, in the same order as this page. Module 2 builds a cube house with the tools from steps 4 to 8.
• To practise on a real file: the Revit projects for practice are the .rvt and .rfa files from the tutorials ($5.5/month on Patreon).
• To build the habit: 5 tips to learn Revit quickly.

Where Autodesk Forma Fits for a Beginner

Steps 2 and 3 are changing. Autodesk Forma is the browser tool for early site and massing studies, and Revit 2027 is the first desktop application to become a Forma Connected Client (a Tech Preview in 2027). In practice a site or massing study can pass between Forma and Revit with less manual file exchange. Everything from step 4 onwards still happens in Revit. If you are starting now, learn this sequence in Revit first and add Forma at the front of it later. More in Will Forma Replace Revit?

Teaching or recording this workflow? On Windows, SHARA highlights your cursor and shows your shortcuts on screen, so students can follow every click.

Revit for Beginners: FAQs

What should I learn first in Revit?

Learn the interface and navigation first, then project setup in order: template and project information, levels and grids. Walls, floors and doors make much more sense once the levels they sit on are set up correctly.

Is Revit hard to learn for beginners?

The tools are not hard. The difficulty is the logic: Revit is a database where early decisions such as levels, coordinates and types affect everything later. Learning the project setup order first removes most of the frustration.

How long does it take to learn Revit?

Plan a weekend to work through this tutorial on a small house. Expect a few weeks of regular practice before the basic tools feel natural, and a few months of real project work before you are fast.

Can I learn Revit for free?

Yes. Autodesk offers a 30-day free trial and free educational access for eligible students and educators. This tutorial, the Mashyo Revit course and Autodesk’s Learn Revit in 90 minutes course are all free.

Do I need to know AutoCAD before Revit?

No. Revit works differently from AutoCAD: you place building elements, not lines. AutoCAD experience helps with drawing conventions, but some AutoCAD habits, such as drawing in any order, have to be unlearned.

Is Revit Architecture different from Revit?

Not any more. Revit Architecture was once a separate product. Today one Revit includes the Architecture, Structure and Systems tools, so a Revit Architecture tutorial for beginners and a Revit tutorial for beginners cover the same software.

Which Revit version should a beginner learn?

Learn the version your school or office uses, because files do not open in older versions. If you have a free choice, use the current release, Revit 2027. Tutorials made for Revit 2024 to 2026 still apply, except that 2027 has no Options Bar and its controls are on the ribbon and in the Properties palette.

How do I start a new project in Revit?

Go to File > New > Project and choose a template. Check Project Units, fill in Project Information, then create levels in an elevation view before you draw any walls. If you have a survey, link it and set coordinates and True North first.

Can Revit create a Bill of Quantities?

Revit produces the quantities through schedules and material takeoffs, but not a priced BOQ. Export the quantities with File > Export > Reports > Schedule and add descriptions and rates in Excel or an estimating tool.

Mohamed Fakhry

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.