"The Ribbon does not have any tabs or panels currently loaded" is displayed in AutoCAD Products

Autodesk Support

Jan 29, 2025


Products and versions covered


Issue:

After opening an AutoCAD Product, the ribbon shows blank or empty with the message: The Ribbon does not have any tabs or panels currently loaded.

"The Ribbon does not have any tabs or panels currently loaded" message in AutoCAD
 
Note: This may also happen when some Autodesk add-ons are installed, such as Fabrication CAD MEP.
 
 

Causes:

  • The selected Workspace could not be loaded on startup.
  • Corrupted CUIX file or product profile.
  • Trying to add only a profile from earlier releases instead of all settings.
  • Access issues. The CUIX file is located on a network drive or a drive that is not accessible at the moment.

Solution:

Select or Switch workspaces

Verify a Workspace has been selected (see Workspace Switching (Status Bar Button)):

  • If no workspace is selected, select one. 
  • If one is selected, select a different workspace, and then back again.


Switch to a different AutoCAD profile and then back again

  1. Enter OPTIONS on the command line.
  2. Select the Profiles tab.
  3. Select a different profile and click Set Current.
  4. Reselect the previous profile and click Set Current.


Reload the main CUIX file

  1. Enter CUILOAD on the command line.
  2. Click Browse. 
  3. Select the ACAD.CUIX file.
  4. If the CUIX is already loaded, unload it first, then select the CUIX file.
  5. Click Load.

Note: The CUIX file is different depending on the AutoCAD software in use. For example:

  • AutoCAD = ACAD.CUIX.
  • AutoCAD LT = ACADLT.CUIX.
  • AutoCAD Architecture = ACA.CUIX.
  • AutoCAD MEP = MEP.CUIX.
  • AutoCAD Mechanical = ACADM.CUIX.
  • AutoCAD Electrical = ACADE.CUIX.
  • AutoCAD Civil 3D = C3D.CUIX.
  • AutoCAD Map 3D = ACMAP.CUIX.


For settings migrated from a previous release

Export and reimport them in the current version. 


Verify that the user has Read and Write permissions on the following folders

  • C:\Programdata\Autodesk
  • C:\Program Files\Autodesk
  • %APPDATA%\Autodesk
  • %LOCALAPPDATA%\Autodesk


Restore the backup file for the CUIX

  1. Close the corresponding AutoCAD product.
  2. Navigate to C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Autodesk\<AutoCAD product> <version>\<release version>\<language>\Support .
  3. Rename the current CUIX for example to "acad.cuix_old".
  4. Copy the existing "acad.bak.cuix" (different depending on the AutoCAD product).
  5. Paste the copy of the "acad.bak.cuix" and rename it to the original name, for example "acad.cuix".
  6. Restart the AutoCAD Product.


Reset the product to defaults


Install all the latest updates for AutoCAD and toolsets

  1. Install the latest updates for your product (see Where to download products and updates).
  2. Restart the computer.

Note: When the ribbon is restored, use the WSSETTINGS command to open the Workspace Settings window and select Automatically Save Workspace Changes to have the program always save the workspace.​


Alternative

Perform a clean uninstall, and then reinstall the product (see Clean uninstall of AutoCAD or verticals ).

Products:

AutoCAD Products;


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