Copy Families & Types
Copy loadable families and system types from one project, a linked model or a file into several open projects at once, with a preview that shows exactly what changes.
Pick a source, tick the target projects and the types, decide what happens when a type already exists (skip, update, or keep both), and preview. The preview runs the real transfer and rolls it back, so it shows Revit’s own renames and every parameter value that would change. Transfer writes one undo step per project.
“Copy Families & Types is coming soon.”
Workflow
How it works
- 1
From
Any open project, a linked model (read only) or Open file… for a .rvt / .rte opened in the background, never changed or saved. Workshared files open detached.
- 2
To
Tick one or more open projects. The list of types shows Family / type, Category, Placed and In target: new, new type, exists, exists in 1 of 2, exists in all.
- 3
Existing types
Skip it, Update it from the source (parameter values and wall/floor/roof/ceiling layers; id and placed instances stay), or Keep both, naming the copy “Name 2” or with your own suffix. Optionally reload family definitions from the source.
- 4
Preview and Transfer
Statuses Will copy, Will add, Will update, Will copy as new, Will reload family, Identical, Skipped, Failed, with the changed values (Width: 762 → 955). The button says what it will do: “Transfer 7 types to 2 projects (1 left out)”.
Capabilities
What’s inside
Categories Revit hides
Text, Dimension, Spot Dimension and View types are listed too, even though they have no Revit category.
See what comes along
The preview names the materials, fill patterns, nested families and assets a type brings, and where the target’s same-name items are used instead.
No Duplicate Types dialog
Revit’s pop-up never appears; temporary names are always restored, and Revit’s own renames (“…so Revit created X1”) are reported.
Type preview
The selected type shows Revit’s preview image and its details before you commit.
Fast catalog
496 types read in under 30 ms; a 72,719-element model catalogued in about 0.8 s.
Report and history
Copy as tab-separated text or export CSV; the last 100 runs are kept.
Safety guarantees
- Source and targets are read again right before writing
- Asks first above 50 type × target pairs (configurable)
- Busy, read-only, borrowed and changed-in-central cases are skipped with a reason
- In-place families, CAD import types and internal types are never listed
Coming soon
Tell me when it’s ready
Leave your name and email, and we’ll email you when Copy Families & Types is released.
Tutorials
Learn Copy Families & Types
Tutorials for this tool are on the way.