"Drawing file is not valid" when opening a file in AutoCAD

Autodesk Support

Feb 19, 2025

Products and versions covered

User reported that when opening a drawing file in AutoCAD Products (or DWG TrueView), the following message appears:

AutoCAD Message

Drawing file is not valid.

The drawing has been damaged beyond use or is corrupt. There could be other environmental factors causing it to fail or to become corrupted, such as:

Hardware malfunction.
Transmittal issues.
Improperly converted files.
Files stored in cloud location (Dropbox Desktop, Google Drive, OneDrive etc.) and full file are not available on the local hard drive.
File location.
Non-Autodesk (third-party) data.
VPN connection dropped while working in the file.
File corruption introduced with specific versions of the Desktop Connector.
The DWG is downloaded/Opened from Outlook Express 2007.
Drawing file has been encrypted.

If the file can be opened anywhere, save it to a previous file format.
Repair or recover the drawing file. See Have You Tried: Restore, Repair, and Recover Drawings.
Open the drawing file directly instead of using the shortcut in the Recent Documents menu.
Open files created in non-AutoCAD (third-party) software in the native product and export to AutoCAD DWG format, if available.

Use RECOVER or RECOVERALL command in the blank drawing to open the file.
Check the file in a text editor such as Notepad and compare it to a known working drawing.
- If it looks like the drawing opened thus contains encryption information, check with your IT about removing or working around the encryption.
- If the first few rows are consistently different in format, this may indicate irrevocable corruption, improper conversion, or wrong file type.
- Note: A valid DWG file would start with AC10... See Drawing format version codes for AutoCAD.
Find a backup (BAK) or autosave (SV$) copy of the file. See Understanding backup and autosave files in AutoCAD.
If a PDF of the drawing exists, use the PDFIMPORT (Command) to convert the contents into linework in a DWG file.

Note: Depending on how the PDF was created, layers, lineweights, colors, and other object settings, these may need to be reconfigured.

Test opening the file from a different location, such as the local hard disk, to rule out network or cloud storage issues.
Verify that the file storage location is working properly. If cloud storage is where the error comes from, reinstall the cloud drive. Some storage solutions offer on-demand access. Disable this option or download local copies of one or more files and check whether they open correctly.
Make sure to be logged in or have the necessary programs installed for the cloud storage (for example: Dropbox Desktop Software, Google Drive, OneDrive).
Adding cloud drives to the support file path location and trusted location.
For files received by email, have the sender ZIP the file and resend it.
Extract drawing files from a ZIP folder before opening, or copying them out of the ZIP to a new location.
If a USB drive or similar support has been used to transmit the file, check the storage for integrity and obtain a new working copy from the original source.
Be sure that the combined length of file path, file name, and filename extension does not exceed 255 characters. See Maximum Path Length Limitation (Microsoft).
Open/download the DWG from a most up-to-date version of Microsoft Outlook.

AutoCAD for Mac; AutoCAD LT for Mac; AutoCAD Products; Advance Steel; DWG TrueView; BIM 360;

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