Linking Revit models brings someone else's model into your project without pulling it into your file. Their model stays in their file; yours holds only a path and a position.
Because of that, whatever they change appears as soon as you reload, and your file does not grow. To learn modelling and documentation end to end, see the Revit Architecture course.
Link or import: one choice you cannot walk back
| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
| Link | References an external file. Their edits show in your project. This is the correct way to collaborate |
| Import | Pulls the content into your file. The file grows, and it can never be updated again |
Import suits only content that will never change. The same choice applies to CAD backgrounds, covered in linking CAD into Revit.
The Revit link model tool and seven positioning options
The tool sits on the Insert tab, Link panel, button Link Revit.
| No. | Component | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Positioning | A row of its own at the foot of the dialog, deciding where the other model lands. It is the most important setting, and the one most often chosen wrongly |
| Positioning | When to use it |
|---|---|
| Auto - Center to Center | Overlays the centres of the two models. Quick, and almost always wrong, because the centre shifts with whatever the model contains |
| Auto - Internal Origin to Internal Origin | Overlays the internal origins. The default, and correct when both sides modelled from one agreed origin |
| Auto - By Shared Coordinates | Uses declared shared coordinates. The right choice on a large site with several buildings |
| Auto - Project Base Point to Project Base Point | Overlays the two project base points |
| Manual — Internal Origin, Base Point, Center | Three manual options: you click the insertion point yourself |
Agreeing the origin is work to be done before anyone starts modelling, not once models exist. For housing the tidiest rule is that every discipline takes the intersection of grid A and grid 1 as the origin.
One trap worth knowing: a file already open in the same Revit session cannot be linked. Close it and link again; if it has to stay open, make a copy and link the copy.
| No. | Component | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | The newly linked model | The two files have different internal origins, so the other plan lands askew and lines run outside the site |
| 2 | The host project's plan | Your own work: the grid, room names and dimensions |
| 3 | The grey area behind | The linked view's crop region is larger than the host's. This is the easiest sign to spot when origins disagree |
Linking is not only for joining architecture to structure. On a masterplan or a terrace of houses, the neighbouring building is often linked in to see how far it shades the site and blocks the view.
Nested links in Revit: how overlay differs from attachment
Link a model that itself links several other files, and Revit raises a dialog straight away.
| No. | Component | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | The nested link list | The nine files that model itself links, among them site, structure, interiors, electrical, HVAC and plumbing |
| 2 | Why they are hidden | Their Reference Type is Overlay. An overlaid link appears only in the file that holds it |
| 3 | The fix | Open Manage Links in that file and switch the Reference Type to Attachment. Changing it in the host has no effect |
Overlay does not pass through: a third person linking your model will not see the model you borrowed. It is the default and the safe choice. Attachment passes the whole chain along, which easily leads to heavy, duplicated files. Autodesk explains the mechanism on About Nesting Linked Models.
The nested-links dialog appears once, and carries a Do not show me this message again box. Plenty of people dismiss it, then cannot work out why several disciplines are missing from the model.
The Manage Links dialog in Revit 2027 and relative paths
Manage Links on the Insert tab opens the control panel for every link in the project. The 2027 release redesigned it completely.
| No. | Component | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Revit link | A green tick under Status means Revit found the file and finished loading it |
| 2 | Path Type Relative | A relative path: copy the whole folder to another machine and the link still resolves. Absolute breaks on any move |
| 3 | An image with a broken path | A yellow triangle, with an absolute path pointing at the modeller's own drive. This is exactly the dangling reference to watch for |
Older releases split this dialog into tabs for Revit, IFC, CAD Formats, DWF Markups, Point Clouds and Topography. The 2027 release merges them into one table with filter and search boxes, so older tutorials describing those tabs will not match. Autodesk documents the new dialog on Use the Manage Links Dialog.
The practical rule on paths: keep every file of one project inside a single folder tree, use relative paths, and when sending the set out, zip the whole tree rather than posting files individually.
Unload, remove or reload, and halftoning another discipline
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
| Unload | Unloads the model. It vanishes from screen but the path remains, ready to reload at any time |
| Remove | Deletes the link from the project. Getting it back means linking again from scratch |
| Reload | Reloads from the source file. Use it when the other team reports an update |
Revit warns plainly on removal: it cannot be undone with Undo. So when another discipline is simply in the way for now, use Unload rather than Remove.
Linked models have their own tab in Visibility/Graphics, called Revit Links. There you choose By Host View to draw by the current view's settings, By Linked View to follow a view inside the linked file, or Custom to set it yourself.
The familiar move is to set another discipline to Custom and turn on Halftone: the architectural drawing stays legible while the structure remains visible behind it. That dialog is covered in hiding and showing elements in Revit.
Copy/Monitor: watching the other team's grids and levels
A link lets you see the other model. Grids and levels deserve more than seeing: two disciplines have to share one setting-out system, and when one side moves a grid the other must be told.
| Button | What it does |
|---|---|
| Copy/Monitor | Copies grids, levels, columns, walls and floors from a linked model and monitors them |
| Coordination Review | Lists the changes the other team has made to monitored elements |
| Reconcile Hosting | Finds components orphaned because the other side deleted a wall or floor |
| Interference Check | Clash detection, covered below |
The Copy/Monitor Options dialog has exactly five tabs: Levels, Grids, Columns, Walls and Floors. Those are the only categories that can be copied and monitored. Within them, Reuse Levels with the same name is on by default and should stay on, because clearing it makes Revit create a duplicate level on top of the existing one every time.
When the other side edits, Coordination Review offers four responses: Postpone, Reject, Accept difference, and Modify to follow their change.
Avoid Copy/Monitor on walls and floors unless it is genuinely needed: there are many of them, and every change on the other side raises another item to clear. For housing, monitoring levels and grids is enough. Drawing and editing grids is covered in grids and levels in Revit.
Interference Check: clash detection inside Revit
Two disciplines modelling in the same volume will always overlap somewhere. Finding those places on paper is very hard; Revit does it with one command.
| No. | Component | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Categories from, left | The first source: Current Project or a linked model |
| 2 | Categories from, right | The second source. Different sources check between two models; the same source checks within one |
| 3 | Selection | All, None and Invert tick a whole column quickly |
Do not tick every category on both sides. The result runs to thousands of rows, most of them ordinary overlaps such as a wall meeting a floor. Run one pair of categories at a time and the list stays readable.
| No. | Component | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Group by | How the list is grouped, by the two categories by default |
| 2 | The clash list | Expand a branch to see each pair of overlapping elements |
| 3 | Four buttons | Show jumps to the selected clash; Export saves the report; Refresh re-runs after a fix; Close exits |
Refresh is the one to remember: fix a clash, click Refresh, and that row disappears from the list without re-running the whole command.
Export writes a report that opens in a browser, each row naming the category, family, type and id of both elements. The number after id is exactly what goes into Select by ID on the Manage tab, Inquiry panel: Revit jumps straight to that element. It is the quickest way to work through a clash report with someone at a distance.
The tool has limits. It finds geometric clashes within the Revit file and its linked models only, with no tolerance settings and no rule sets. Once a project federates many disciplines and clashes need managing in rounds, a dedicated tool takes over, as covered in what Navisworks is used for. Autodesk documents the command on Interference Checking.
Try it: link a model and run a clash check
A thirty-minute exercise. It runs through linking Revit models end to end; you need two Revit files of the same building.
- Open the host file. Go to Insert, Link panel, Link Revit.
- Choose the second file, set Positioning to Auto - Internal Origin to Internal Origin, then Open.
- If Revit refuses to load it, check whether that file is open in the same session.
- Look at the plan: do the two models align, or not. Note the sign that told you.
- Open Manage Links and read the Status and Path Type columns. Switch Path Type to Relative if it is Absolute.
- Click Unload, then Reload, watching the screen after each.
- Type
VG, open the Revit Links tab, set the link to Custom and turn on Halftone. - Go to Collaborate, Coordinate panel, and run Interference Check between the Walls of both models.
- Click Show on one row to jump to the clash, then Export the report to a file.
- Open the report, copy an
idnumber, and use Select by ID on the Manage tab to jump to that element.
Step 6 shows plainly how unloading differs from removing; step 10 is the biggest time-saver in the whole article.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between link and import?
A link keeps a path to the other file, so it can be updated. An import pulls the content into your own file, which grows it and rules out any later update.
Why does the linked model sit askew over my plan?
The two files have different internal origins and it was linked with Center to Center. Relink with Internal Origin to Internal Origin, or use shared coordinates on a multi-building site.
I linked a model but several disciplines are missing. Why?
The nested links inside it have their Reference Type set to Overlay. Open Manage Links in that file and switch them to Attachment.
Can Revit's Interference Check replace Navisworks?
Not entirely. It finds geometric clashes within the Revit file and its links, with no tolerance settings and no rule-based rounds.
Related articles
- Linking CAD into Revit — link or import for a two-dimensional background
- What Navisworks is used for — when to move to a dedicated clash tool
- Grids and levels in Revit — the setting-out system Copy/Monitor watches
- Hiding and showing elements in Revit — the Revit Links tab and halftoning another discipline