Revit 2020 bug or feature? New instance of Revit every time I open a file

[ldonkle]

After Upgrading to Revit 2020, when I double-click a Revit file (in Windows), it always opens a new instance of Revit 2020.

When I did this in previous versions (Revit 2014-2019), it would always opens the file within the same instance of Revit.

Is this a feature of 2020, or a bug that can be fixed?

[RobDraw]

It is not advisable to open Revit files by double clicking them especially if you have multiple versions of Revit. Revit files are version specific.

[barthbradley]

Are you saying that Windows always opens an rvt file in a new session of Revit?  Sounds like a Windows thing, not a Revit thing.  

[ldonkle]

I thought so too at first, but it definitely is an issue with Revit 2020...

[Anonymous]

I agree with RobDraw...it is not advisable to open a Revit file by double-clicking on it from Windows (File Explorer, Desktop, etc.) especially because it denies your option to Detach from Central or Create New Local from a Workshared Central model and instead opens the Central model. That is usually not the file you should be working in. There is also no way of knowing which version the file is from outside of Revit. Since version 2019, Revit displays which version the file is below the preview window.

[RobDraw]

@Anonymous, very good point.

@ldonkle, even though you are seeing different behavior, you really should not consider this a bug in the software and stop opening from File Explorer. It's a bad practice and can bring a project to a screeching halt in a workshared file.

[ldonkle]

But my company doesn't use worksharing.  We work with multiple, small, locally-saved Revit files (all upgraded to 2020).  Opening through Windows Explorer has worked great since 2009... now Revit 2020 is behaving differently.

[RobDraw]

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@ldonkle wrote:

But my company doesn't use worksharing.  We work with multiple, small, locally-saved Revit files (all upgraded to 2020).  Opening through Windows Explorer has worked great since 2009... now Revit 2020 is behaving differently.

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There are a lot things that have changed in Revit throughout the years. We've all had to adapt.

In my first day of training in Revit, it was stressed that we should always be sure of the version of the project and use Revit to open the files. There are other good reasons for it. If you want to risk upgrading a project unintentionally or having to wait while the upgrade process to happen for you to just close the file without saving despite being told it's a bad practice, go ahead. No one is stopping you.

[barthbradley]

I read a lot posts over the years where people preach that you should never open Revit Files this way.  I do and I've never had an issue.  

[RobDraw]

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@barthbradley wrote:

I read a lot posts over the years where people preach that you should never open Revit Files this way.  I do and I've never had an issue.  

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I've never gotten burned by spilling coffee on me but they still put warnings on the cups.

[s.borello]

You should get out of the habit of opening Revit models by double clicking.

[rebeca-toribio]

Hello.

I was seeing the same behaviour and was able to solve it by using Revit with user rights, as opposed to administrator.

Open the properties of the Revit shortcut you normally use, and under Compatibility make sure that the box 'Use this program as an administrator' is UNCHECKED.

Hope this helps!

PS:  That being said, consider not opening files by double clicking them on Windows Explorer.

[s.borello]

1

[SteveKStafford]

Re Double Clicking to open - When you only have one version of Revit installed and don't use worksharing it's not a big deal. It works.

As for separate sessions, if double clicking is no big deal then multiple sessions is also no big deal unless you intend to use copy/paste clipboard features. That's also a Windows toolset and requires the same session.

However as soon as we have more than one version (and in the past more than one discipline version) we realized/learned very quickly that double clicking was a time waster. Windows opens the last installed version of Revit regardless of the actual version of the Revit file because double click to open is a Windows feature (borrowed from the early Apple/Mac computers).

When worksharing is enabled then you run the risk of open the central file instead of creating a local and you don't get the option to choose which worksets to close/open first.

The only file type I double click on these days is PDF.

[ldonkle]

@rebeca-toribio Thanks for the reply

This didn't work for me though - 'Use this program as an administrator' was already unchecked.  (Checking it did not change the issue for me.)

[rebeca-toribio]

124

[rebeca-toribio]

Hi @ldonkle 

Have you already installed the latest update, Hotfix Revit 2020.2.1?

[ldonkle]

@rebeca-toribio yes, updated Revit and it's showing the same behavior

[SteveKStafford]

FWIW, you can also drag the file in explorer to the already open session of Revit's icon on the taskbar, Revit will pop up and "drop" the file on the Revit session.

[Anonymous]

I'm not sure what my company has done on the back end.  But we've got our Windows setup to automatically launch the correct version when double clicking a file, it also opens a new local and does not open the actual central model.  

It's also good practice to put the model version in the file name itself: RevitProject_MEP_v20.rvt