Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Quick way to restore AutoCAD Profile Settings

It's not easy to remember where some of the default AutoCAD support content is located. For example, if you want to test a ctb file real quick you might change the Plot Style Table Search Path in your current profile. If this happens to be your Unnamed Profile (out of the box AutoCAD profile) you probably want to change this back to the default path when you are done testing. The default path for the Plot Style Table Search Path is:

C:\Users\username\appdata\roaming\autodesk\autocad 2013 - English\r19.0\enu\plotters\plot styles which is also %RoamableRootFolder%\support.

Instead of memorizing this path, a quick and easy way to restore the default is to delete the temporary path. This will set the path back to the default location.

For example, if I change my Plot Style Table Search Path to a custom location:

 
Then, when I am ready to change it back: highlight the path, click Remove (the path becomes blank), then click Ok.
 
 
 
A dialog saying: "...a path was not specified. The default location will be used..." will display. Click Ok and the path is restored to the default.

 
 
 
This can come in handy for a quick test situation or when helping another CAD operator restore a profile path that was inadvertently changed.