How to open DWG files

What a DWG file is

DWG is the file format of AutoCAD, and of most of Autodesk’s other drawing programs. It holds a drawing’s lines, arcs, text, dimensions, layers and blocks, and often a 3D model too. Its layout is Autodesk’s own and is not published, which is why a browser, Windows and macOS cannot open one on their own.

DXF is its open twin: Autodesk publishes it, and every program that saves DWG can save DXF. A DWG turned into a DXF opens in the DXF viewer here, and in nearly every CAD, laser and CNC program.

Three free ways to open one

ODA File Converter is a small program from the Open Design Alliance, a group of companies that write their own DWG code. Choose the folder that holds your DWG files and a folder for the results, choose DXF as the output type and the version you want, and run it. It converts a whole folder at once, and its files open here. The Open Design Alliance gives it away for non-commercial use; a business that converts drawings for its work is asked to become a member.

DWG TrueView is Autodesk’s own free viewer for Windows. It shows a drawing as AutoCAD does, its layouts included, turns a 3D model with 3D Orbit, measures distances and areas, and prints or saves a PDF. It includes DWG Convert, which saves a drawing in an older DWG version for someone whose AutoCAD cannot open the newer one.

Autodesk Viewer runs in the browser and opens DWG with Autodesk’s own reader, so a drawing looks as it does in AutoCAD. You sign in with an Autodesk account and upload the file to Autodesk’s servers, where it is kept for 30 days unless you delete it sooner. That is fine for a public drawing, and a question for one under a nondisclosure agreement.

DWG to PDF

On Windows, open the drawing in DWG TrueView, choose Plot, and choose one of its PDF presets as the printer. Choose the layout or the extents to print and the paper size, and the PDF keeps the drawing’s line weights.

On a Mac or Linux, convert the DWG to DXF with the ODA File Converter, then open the DXF on the DXF to PDF page. It fits the drawing at a standard scale on A4 or US Letter, printed in the corner, or at 1:1 on a page cut to the drawing, with a PDF layer for each layer of the drawing. It draws the model space, and a layout only when the model space is empty: if the drawing’s layouts matter, use DWG TrueView.

DWG to DXF, and back

The ODA File Converter does both, for non-commercial use. Choose DXF or DWG as the output type and the version: the oldest version the other side’s program reads is the safest choice, and a DXF of AutoCAD 2000 opens almost everywhere.

Inside a CAD program it is Save As: AutoCAD, BricsCAD, DraftSight and most others list DXF among the file types.

Revit, Inventor and Fusion files

These are Autodesk’s other formats. No browser reads them, and the free routes to them are Autodesk’s own.

• Revit (RVT) holds a building model. Autodesk Viewer shows one saved by Revit 2015 or later, with the same account and upload as a DWG. Revit’s own Viewer Mode, which opened a model without a license, is gone from Revit 2027. A family (RFA) is not on Autodesk Viewer’s list: it needs Revit. For a file to work with, ask for IFC, the open format of building models, which Revit exports.
• Inventor (IPT, IAM) holds a part or an assembly. Autodesk Viewer shows it, and Inventor’s Read-only Mode opens it on Windows without a license, from the Inventor install. For a file that opens here, ask for STEP, which Inventor exports; it opens in the STEP viewer.
• Fusion (F3D) is an archive of one Fusion design, with its timeline. Autodesk Viewer shows it, and Fusion opens it: Fusion for Personal Use is free for non-commercial use at home, on Windows and macOS. Fusion exports STEP and STL, which open here.

The same goes for 3D views of a DWG. A DWG with a 3D model in it turns in 3D in DWG TrueView (3D Orbit) and in Autodesk Viewer. To measure the solid or print it, ask for STEP or STL.

What opens here

• The DXF viewer shows a drawing with its layers, measures it, and saves it as PNG, SVG or PDF.
• DXF to PDF saves a drawing to scale on a page, and DXF to SVG at its real size, each layer kept.
• The STEP viewer opens the STEP that Inventor, Fusion and every other CAD program exports.

Drop a DWG on any page and it says what to do with it. Nothing you open on tab3d is uploaded.

What this guide says about other programs was checked on their makers' own websites on October 21, 2026. tab3d is not affiliated with any of them.

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