Structural Shape Authoring - No Category Drop Down - Inventor 2026.0.1

[ianVZTHA]

I've followed several tutorials and looked all over but I'm stuck.  This is all on a local machine, not using Vault.

After creating a library, allowing all permissions in the file properties, and copying the structural shapes category structure to the new library; There is no drop down option in the "structural shape authoring" window as seen here:

This is what my "content center", "project settings", and "libraries" windows look like:

The most frustrating part is that i eventually got it to work (i tried so many things i lost count but i think what got it to work was deleting the category in my library and copying it again from the "Inventor ANSI", but i can't be sure) and went through the whole process to use my custom shape in the frame generator and it worked great but i got the naming all wrong so i went to restart and.... no drop down menu again. 

All other authoring tools work fine (tube & pipe, component, etc.)

This seems more like a bug than anything but I'm hoping someone can help me out. Thanks for reading!

[CGBenner]

@ianVZTHA 

Hello and welcome!

Can you tell us what version of Inventor you are working on?  Are you able to share the part file for one of the structural shapes you are struggling with?

[ianVZTHA]

@CGBenner Thanks for the reply.

I'm running Inventor Professional 2026. Build 175. Release 2026.0.1

I've tried several parts in different projects, but here is the most recent one I've been trying in the same project as the one that worked.

Thanks for the help.

[CGBenner]

@ianVZTHA 

Me again.  😀  I've looked at your shape and it doesn't appear to be fully prepared for authoring as a structural profile.  Please have a look at this video I did way back in 2019 for an Autodesk University class I was presenting.  It walks through the entire process, which hasn't changed since then.  I hope this is helpful.

Good luck!

[ianVZTHA]

@CGBenner Thanks for the video! very easy to follow. Unfortunately it did not solve my issue. I think i will try backing up my files and re-installing Inventor. Seems to me it must be some sort of bug.

[ianVZTHA]

I've reinstalled, made new projects, tried moving the library files and folder. Still now luck. I'm able to author parts to the content library just not structural members.

Can anyone confirm this drop down menu shows up even on a blank part? i want to confirm that it's not reliant on the part at all.

Thanks

[subin_pariyar]

I am experiencing a similar issue as you, happened after I copied the library structures into my own library. And I do experience the same when I try it on a blank part. Have you made any progress on this?

[CGBenner]

@ianVZTHA 

I've been unable to reproduce this on my side using Inventor 2026, and a new structural profile part.  Did you verify on your part that the necessary Prameters are present?

B_L
G_OFFSET_START
G_OFFSET_END

[bobthewelder]

Edit: I've switched accounts, still the same OP.

Thanks for your time @CGBenner. I do have the parameters including G_L set as the export parameter like the Autodesk help page describes. I think it's more of an issue with the library files and locations. I was able to get it to work one more time when i changed the content center file path in the project settings page to the default location in the application options. However once again this stopped working immediately the next time i went to use it. I tried many times over to recreate this with no success.

I was hoping to narrow down my scope if i knew the part itself did not matter (if the category drop down appeared even on a blank part) This would indicate a problem with the library file and/or it's location. At this point i think there might be some strange permissions error happening or its just not seeing my library.

Here are some screen shots of the library locations:

 

And I've attached the most recent part I've been trying.

I tried on multiple drives, both inside and outside projects, the default location, new paths in the Appdata folder. Nothing seems to work.

@subin_pariyar I have a call with Autodesk support this morning. I will update this thread if the issue is resolved.

 

[CGBenner]

Thank you for the update @bobthewelder .

If I can grab some time this afternoon I'll take a look at this new part you shared and see if I can reproduce the error, or at least rule out it being the part.  Good luck with your call with Support... maybe they can sort it for you.

[bobthewelder · Accepted solution]

SOLVED!

Autodesk support was supper helpful. Turns out the issue was the content center library needed to be on my local C drive, outside of the "ProgramData" folder. I copied the content center files into a new folder i made on the C drive, changed the application settings>content center to search in the new folder and success! I must have done this somewhere along the line and that's why it worked a couple times. 

Turns out the content center files are too large to put on a cloud based drive, it has to search through gigs of data and it times out. The "ProgramData" folder also might have some odd read/write permissions which also screwed things up.

Thanks for the help, glad the has been resolved.

[CGBenner]

@ianVZTHA 

Awesome,... glad they were able to help you with this!

[damian.lewczyk]

Different solution.
Go to the Content Center Editor and turn off the filter (in my example, it was selected ISO)
Probably this was related to some corruption/change in one of the registry keys responsible for displaying, etc 
However, this solves the issue.

Probably Reset Utlity would also solve the problem. 

[subin_pariyar]

Cheers Damian 👍

[autodesk_thomasV8KFQ]

No luck for me. This changes nothing for me.

I've copied the Content Center Libraries to my local C drive and I've also used the Inventor Reset Utility: Also changes nothing.

I've used inventor 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021 and this utility always worked fine. Yet now with 2026 edition one would hope that there would be improvements as the software licencing has also been increasing at a higher rate than inflation. Yet it seems that these products are actually getting worse! 👎 Unbelievable!

[autodesk_thomasV8KFQ]

PS I also obviously remapped all the paths to access the Content Center Libraries on my local C drive after running the Reset Utility.

[autodesk_thomasV8KFQ]

Is there any clarification on this issue from Autodesk tech support? Can we roll back this functionality to the pre 2023 releases of Inventor? I urgently need this to work! These apps don't come cheap, and this level of unreliability is unacceptable!

[damian.lewczyk]

Are you able to create a support case? Then I will be able to contact you directly and help you. 

[autodesk_thomasV8KFQ]

Hi Damien,

No, unfortunately not. However, this isn't simply a user error. Something is wrong with the app. The product is not working as advertised...! I shouldn't have to be left out in the cold on this issue. This feature has always worked fine on previous editions of Inventor. I've used it multiple times. I'm relying on this functionality to expedite work, yet now it is causing workarounds and delays. My frustration is not directed at you, but this is really unacceptable!

[CGBenner]

@autodesk_thomasV8KFQ 

I think the reason that @damian.lewczyk is asking you to open a Support case is that this is not readily reproduceable.  I've been trying for days to see this in IV 2026, and I see the Category dropdown no matter what I try.  It could be something unique on your side (not saying anything you did wrong), and Damian needs a case in order to be able to look at that for you specifically.  We really do want to help.

Can you share a part file here that gives you the error?  Or a screen recording of your workflow that ends with the pulldown not being there?  Maybe we can find some clues.