Can't find objects in drawing

[joshkjenner]

I'm working with a file prepared by a surveying company in India I am unable to contact. I'm trying to clean it up a bit—strip out unused layers, information we don't need, etc. 

When trying to delete several apparently empty layers I'm informed that they do in fact contain objects—in some cases, several hundred. However, try as I might, I'm unable to find these objects.

The only way I can think to look for them is pretty primitive: zooming way, way out and making selection windows, hoping they hit something. I'm wondering if anyone can suggest a possibly more sophisticated way for me to find these objects, so that I can determine exactly their informational content.

Many thanks!

[maxim_k · Accepted solution]

Hi,

You can use SELECTSIMILAR command.

Draw something in layer you need to explore, call SELECTSIMILAR command, then enter Settings option and uncheck everything except "Layer", then pick object you just created and AutoCAD will select all objects in that layer.

Now you can explore selected objects via Properties Inspector.

Maxim