by Dennis Collin
A frequent question that is often asked when I am training or helping on support is how to improve AutoCAD performance generally? For drawing files, this is quite a lengthy topic but commands like Purge, Audit and Recover are good starting points. However, there are other things that can be set if it is just AutoCAD that is slow, and a budget is not available for a new system or hardware upgrade.
- Disable creating a new AutoCAD file on start-up
When starting AutoCAD, the software will create a new file using a default template. The thing is, it is not always desired to create a new file when AutoCAD is started. Quite often it is an existing drawing that is being worked on, typically accessed from the drawing history.
Another reason to disable the default template is that there may be several different drawing templates and so it may be desirable to have a choice of which template to use for a given project.
Users can change AutoCAD’s template behaviour by changing the STARTUP system variable to 1. Instead of creating a new file, it will let users decide to create a new file from a desired template or just open an existing drawing.
For AutoCAD 2012 or later, this value can be set to 2 instead. This setting will start AutoCAD without opening any file or any dialog boxes, thereby speeding up the start-up process.
In more recent versions of AutoCAD (from 2016 onwards), the STARTUP system variable is set to 3 providing users with many options, as to how to start their AutoCAD session. In my opinion I tend to leave it on the default value of 3 as that setting provides the most flexibility for most situations.
- Disable the 'Splash Logo'
Disabling the splash screen can also reduce load times. Whilst this may not have a significant effect on newer computers, it may help performance on more vintage hardware.
To disable the splash screen, right-click the AutoCAD shortcut on your desktop.
Click properties on the contextual menu.
Add a ‘/nologo’ switch on the target field to disable the splash image.
A typical target line will read something like.
"C:\Program Files\Autodesk\AutoCAD 2025\acad.exe" /product ACAD /language "en-US" /nologo
(This tip works for most recent AutoCAD & AutoCAD LT based products including Vertical Products like Civil 3D and AutoCAD Toolsets)
Now when double clicking the shortcut, AutoCAD will not show the splash screen when loading.
- Disable Transparency and preview effects
Once in AutoCAD, if further performance improvements are required try disabling the transparent command line box and palette menus, along with hatch preview functions, hatch transparency, quick properties and automatic selection cycling.
- Optimise Windows Performance
Within Windows disable animations, shadows and fading options etc, or under System Properties tick the Adjust for best performance option, to gain the maximum speed from your hardware.
Also ensure that drivers are up to date and certified. Regularly optimise your Windows system drive. Either defrag conventional or retrim solid state drives at regular intervals. Adding more Ram will also improve performance when working on larger files. As a guide I would refer to the Autodesk hardware recommendations and check against the recommended hardware specification rather than the minimum. AutoCAD Hardware Requirements
A lot of these processes, tips and tricks are covered on our standard scheduled AutoCAD courses, bespoke workshops or ‘at elbow days’. For more information visit https://arkance.world/gb-en/training or ask a question on the Live Chat facility where we can provide more help.
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