Knowing how to hide elements in Revit is an everyday skill, but behind it sits a whole system for controlling display. One model produces an architectural plan, a ceiling plan and a floor-finish plan that look nothing alike, purely because the display settings of those three views differ.
This article runs from the quickest hide command through to standardising a whole drawing set. To learn modelling and documentation end to end, see the Revit Architecture course.
How to hide elements in Revit: temporary and permanent
Revit has two kinds of hiding. They look the same on screen and are undone in different ways.
| Key | Command and effect |
|---|---|
| HH, HC | Hide Element, Hide Category — temporarily hide one element or its whole category |
| HI, IC | Isolate Element, Isolate Category — keep only the selected element or category |
| HR | Reset Temporary Hide/Isolate — drop every temporary hide |
| EH, VH | Hide in View — hide an element or category permanently in this view |
| EU, VU | Unhide — bring the element or category back |
| RH | Reveal Hidden Elements — show what is hidden in this view |
Temporary hiding draws a blue border around the view and disappears when the project closes. Hide in View stays in the file and prints exactly as you see it. The full key list is in Revit keyboard shortcuts.
The light-bulb button under the view is the fastest way to find a missing element: one click and everything hidden lights up bright red.
The Visibility Graphics dialog in Revit and four kinds of override
Type VG or VV to open Visibility/Graphic Overrides. Everything changed in this dialog affects only the view named in its title bar.
| No. | Part | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Five tabs | Model Categories, Annotation Categories, Analytical Model Categories, Imported Categories and Filters |
| 2 | Column headers | Visibility switches a category on or off; Projection/Surface holds Lines, Patterns, Transparency; Cut holds Lines and Patterns; then Halftone and Detail Level |
| 3 | Object Styles button | Anything not overridden is drawn from Object Styles, and this button opens that dialog |
There are four ways to override display, and they do not rank equally.
| Override | Where you do it |
|---|---|
| Override one element | Select it, right-click, Override Graphics in View, By Element |
| Hide one element | Select it and press EH |
| Override by filter | The Filters tab of Visibility/Graphics |
| Override by category | The Model Categories or Annotation Categories tab |
That order follows Autodesk's Element Visibility Override Hierarchy. Go easy on element overrides: they leave no trace outside that one view, so months later nobody remembers why that wall is blue.
Object Styles and the line weight table
The Object Styles dialog is the base layer for every view. Change it and the whole file changes.
| No. | Part | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Four tabs | Model Objects for elements, Annotation Objects for annotation, then analytical model and imported data |
| 2 | Column headers | Line Weight splits into Projection and Cut, then Line Color, Line Pattern and Material |
| 3 | Modify Subcategories | New adds a subcategory, for example splitting masonry wall lines from concrete wall lines |
The Line Weight column carries a pen number, not a millimetre value. That number is translated into a real width in the Line Weights dialog.
| No. | Part | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Three tabs | Model, Perspective and Annotation Line Weights, three separate sets |
| 2 | The explanation | Model line weights depend on view scale, so one pen number prints differently at two scales |
| 3 | Scale columns | Six columns from 1:10 to 1:500. Add creates another scale column |
A set that prints too heavy or too light is fixed in this table, not by editing pen numbers category by category. The table belongs to the file rather than the computer, so two people opening the same file print the same.
Revit view range explained: four planes and three line types
A plan in Revit is a horizontal slice, and four planes decide what that slice holds. Click Edit on the View Range row in Properties to open it.
| No. | Group | Boxes worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Extents | Crop View, Crop Region Visible, Annotation Crop, View Range, Scope Box and Depth Clipping |
| 2 | Identity Data | View Template, View Name, Dependency, Title on Sheet and Sheet Number |
| Plane | What it does |
|---|---|
| Top | The top of the primary range. Anything above it does not draw. Default 3000 |
| Cut plane | The cut plane. Anything it passes through is drawn with heavy lines. Default 1200 |
| Bottom | The bottom of the primary range. Default 0 |
| View Depth | The deepest plane. It matches Bottom by default, so there is no beyond range |
Those planes produce three line types: elements cut by the cut plane use cut lines; elements inside the primary range but not cut use projection lines; elements between Bottom and View Depth use the beyond line style. Outside the range, nothing draws.
The 1200 default suits housing because it cuts above window sills. A warehouse with two-metre-high windows needs a higher cut plane or the windows never appear. Autodesk explains the mechanism on About the View Range, and there is a worked example of a missing slab in how to create floors in Revit.
Plan regions, crop regions and dependent views
A plan has one cut plane. Where you need a higher one, say a high window in a stair core, outline a plan region.
- Click View › Plan Views › Plan Region.
- Sketch a closed outline around the area and click the tick.
- Select the region, open its own View Range and set a suitable cut plane.
- Before issuing the set, switch the Plan Region category off in Visibility/Graphics, because its outline prints too.
The crop region is a different thing: it decides how much of the model the view shows at all.
| Check box | What it does |
|---|---|
| Crop View | On, and the view shows only what falls inside the crop region |
| Crop Region Visible | On, and the crop boundary is visible. Leave it on and a stray rectangle prints |
| Annotation Crop | A separate, wider crop for annotation that overhangs the model |
A large plan split across several sheets calls for Duplicate as Dependent. A dependent view shares every setting with its parent and differs only in the crop region, so one display change updates the whole set.
| Duplication | Result |
|---|---|
| Duplicate View | Copies the model part only; annotation does not come along |
| Duplicate with Detailing | Copies model and annotation, ready to edit further |
| Duplicate as Dependent | A dependent view that follows the parent, with its own crop region |
Draw a Matchline on the parent view to mark where the sheets meet, then place a View Reference so readers know which sheet carries the rest. A dependent view cannot have its own scale; a greyed-out scale box means you should read the Dependency row in Properties.
What Revit view templates lock
Setting every view by hand gives twenty sheets in twenty styles. View templates exist for exactly that problem.
| Item | What it does |
|---|---|
| Apply Template Properties to Current View | Applies a template once, with no lasting link |
| Create Template from Current View | Turns the current view's settings into a new template |
| Manage View Templates | Opens the dialog holding every template in the file |
| No. | Part | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Template list | The Metric template ships with dozens, by discipline. The two filters above shorten the list |
| 2 | Parameter table | Three columns: Parameter, Value and Include. Include decides what the template locks |
Anything locked is greyed out in the Properties of every view using the template. To hand control back to each view, clear its tick in the Include column. Put view scale in the template and leave view names out of it, because scale is what the whole set must agree on.
Revit view filters: overriding by rule
A filter picks elements by parameter rather than by category, so it does what the Model Categories tab cannot: colour load-bearing walls, halftone demolished walls, hide another discipline's equipment.
| No. | Part | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Applied filters | One row per filter, with the same override columns as Model Categories. Row order is priority order |
| 2 | Edit/New button | Every filter in the file is defined and edited here |
- Click Edit/New to open the Filters dialog, then the new-filter button at the foot of the left column.
- Name the filter in plain characters, for example LOAD-BEARING-WALLS.
- In the Categories column, tick the categories to filter.
- In Filter Rules, click Add Rule and choose a parameter, an operator and a value.
- Click OK, then Add on the Filters tab to bring the filter into the view.
- Set the overrides on that row: line colour, pattern, or clear the Visibility box to hide it entirely.
Only parameters common to the chosen categories can be used in a rule, as Autodesk's View Filters page notes. Define a filter once, put it in a view template, and the whole set follows.
Try it: standardise the display of one plan
One template and one filter for the project. Work on the house model you have already built.
- Set the ground floor plan the way you want it: scale 1:100, Detail Level Coarse, grids and section tags switched off.
- Click View › View Templates › Create Template from Current View and name it PLAN-ARCH.
- Open Manage View Templates, select the new template and read the Include column.
- Clear the tick on View Scale, then explain to yourself why each view can now set its own scale.
- Apply the template to every architectural plan and check the line counting the views using it.
- Try changing the Detail Level of a view that uses the template. Note what happens.
- Type VG, open the Filters tab, click Edit/New and create a filter for the Walls category.
- Set the rule Family and Type contains with part of the external wall type name, then click Add.
- Give that filter row a cut line colour clearly different from the other walls.
- Open the Line Weights dialog, note the real width of pen 5 at 1:50 and at 1:100, click the light-bulb button for a final check and save.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Revit hide in view shortcut?
Press EH to hide an element permanently in the view, or HH to hide it temporarily. The full list is in Revit keyboard shortcuts.
I pressed HR and the element is still missing?
It was hidden with EH or VH. Press RH to reveal hidden elements, select it, then EU or VU.
Why are so many Properties boxes greyed out?
A view template is locking them. Check the View Template box, then the Include column of that template.
The section tag disappeared from my plan?
Usually the Sections category is off on the Annotation Categories tab, or the scale threshold hides it. The check list is in how to create a section in Revit.
Related articles
- How to create a section in Revit — section lines, elevations and callouts
- How to create floors in Revit — a slab missing because of the view range
- Revit keyboard shortcuts — the hide, isolate and reveal keys
- Exporting Revit drawings to CAD — line weights and layer mapping on export