What's New in Revit 2025

Revit is changing building design, offering tools that enhance creativity, efficiency, and sustainability. Developed by Autodesk, this Building Information Modeling (BIM) software helps architects, engineers, and construction experts collaborate effectively, allowing them to create functional, beautiful, and sustainable buildings. If you are wondering why it is one of the industry’s leading software, let me break it down for you.

Revit’s model-based design ensures that every update is reflected across all documents immediately, reducing errors and keeping teams in sync. It simplifies the design process, ensuring that everyone's work aligns with the project goals. Moreover, Revit's ability to visualize designs in 3D helps clients see their projects more clearly, aiding in decision-making and increasing satisfaction. As the industry moves towards more digital solutions, Revit is at the forefront, enhancing how buildings are designed and built.

With the release of Revit 2025, Autodesk continues to innovate and refine the capabilities of this essential tool. This version, while categorized as a minor update compared to the substantial changes seen in Revit 2024, focuses on enhancing user experience and streamlining workflow processes. Key improvements in Revit 2025 include more refined control over design elements, faster performance with a 20% quicker installation time, and enhanced collaboration features that simplify teamwork across disciplines. Additionally, it offers better environmental simulation controls through updated support for gbXML 7.3, catering particularly to the needs of structural and MEP engineers. These enhancements are designed not just to improve daily tasks but to foster a more intuitive and productive design environment.

Let’s delve deeper into its new features and enhancements.

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Top Features of Revit 2025

Lets Start with the top features of Revit 2025

Toposolid Enhancements

The Toposolid Enhancements in Revit 2025 provide users with more powerful and flexible tools for creating, editing, and analyzing terrain models within their Revit projects. These enhancements make it easier for architects and designers to incorporate site conditions into their designs, leading to more accurate and realistic representations of their projects.

• Toposolid Smooth Shading:
  • This feature makes the surface look smoother and more realistic on the screen, with consistent colors, textures, and visual styles. However, it doesn't show surface patterns when using smooth shading. To turn on this setting, click Massing and Site Tab -> Model Site Panel -> Toposolid Smooth Shading.
• Shaft Elements:
  • In 2025, the cut stops at the bottom position of the shaft. However, the top is still not a control, meaning the excavation projects upward to infinity regardless of the top position of the shaft relative to the toposolid.
• Face-based Family Hosting
  • Excavated edges can be used to host face-based content like this planting family.
• Additional Excavation Options:
  • You can use the Excavate tool to dig into a Toposolid where it meets a floor, roof, or another Toposolid element. This is handy for creating spaces within the Toposolid for buildings or for carving out parking areas from the main Toposolid. The Excavate tool simplifies the process, eliminating the need to use mass elements to cut Toposolids and then add a floor or similar element separately. With Excavate, you can do this all-in-one step with just one intersecting element. And if your design changes, no worries—excavations can easily be undone.

Sheet Collections

In Revit 2025, you have the option to create a new 'collection' of sheets, like setting up an organizational parameter, but with a special twist - you can assign the same number to multiple sheets. You can reference sheet collections in views, schedules, and filters. To create one, just right-click on the Sheets node in the Project Browser, since this doesn't seem to be on the View tab of the Ribbon.

Family Editor

In Revit 2025, you can now create families with array values as low as zero or one. This update allows for greater flexibility in how elements like furniture are displayed in models. For instance, you can choose to show a table without any chairs simply by setting the chair count to zero. If your firm or manufacturer prefers using older software versions to minimize maintenance and maximize compatibility, this update presents a scenario where upgrading to the latest Revit version is necessary to take advantage of the new features, like arrays with a minimum count of zero.

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Core Enhancements

Background PDF Export:

Now in Revit 2025, you don't have to wait for the PDF to export, you can continue to work in your model while the PDF export process is running in the background. To enable the Export in Background feature, simply select the "Export in Background" option in the PDF Export dialog.

Properties Sorting:

Properties in Revit 2025 can now be sorted in both ascending and descending order, besides the standard default setting. This sorting applies to each category group as illustrated in the example. However, while this new sorting feature offers flexibility, it might cause some confusion in scenarios where properties are intentionally arranged in a specific order. Fortunately, you can still access the original sequence through the default sorting option, ensuring that carefully organized parameter setups remain intact.

Extensible Storage (Schema):

Revit 2025 has improved its Extensible Storage system to reduce schema conflicts and enhance workflows. These adjustments help manage conflicts that may arise when using add-ons across multiple files. Additionally, the update simplifies the handling of these conflicts and restructures the use of extensible storage to lower risks and streamline your workflow. These changes make it easier to maintain and manage custom data within your Revit projects.

Multiple Alignment:

In Revit 2025, the enhanced multiple alignment feature makes it easier to neatly organize and align various annotation elements like keynotes, text notes, and tags. This improvement helps streamline your documentation process, ensuring that presentations and technical drawings are clear and consistent. It's a handy tool for improving workflow and maintaining order in your project documentation. These features only work with annotation elements. You cannot use them with 3D elements such as walls or lines. For that, you’ll have to use the Align plugin by BIM42.

Project Browser Search:

In Revit 2025, the addition of a search function to the Project Browser significantly enhances how you interact with your project files. It has been promoted to a permanently visible location at the top of the panel. When searching, the contents are visible and nicely highlighted for better context. This tool allows you to swiftly locate specific elements within a complex model, saving time and boosting productivity, particularly in large-scale projects. It's a practical upgrade that simplifies the workflow by making it easier to navigate through numerous components, helping architects and engineers manage their projects more effectively.

Room Perimeter Calc Enhancement:

In Revit 2025, the way room perimeters are calculated has been refined to enhance accuracy. This update improves measurements for rooms with inner loops by accurately including these boundaries in the perimeter calculations. It also provides more precise calculations for round rooms or rooms with arc segments. When upgrading from earlier versions, you might notice changes in the perimeter values due to these improved calculation methods.

Category Filter Updates:

In Revit 2025, the updates to the Category Filter significantly improve how you manage and view different categories of elements in your project. These enhancements make it easier to quickly sort, find, and adjust elements, streamlining your workflow and helping you keep your project organized. This feature is designed to make the user experience more intuitive, allowing for smoother navigation and more efficient project management.

Material Editor - Preview Performance and Batch Options:

In Revit 2025, the Material Editor has seen some valuable upgrades that enhance how you work with materials in your designs. Notably, the preview performance is now faster, making it easier and quicker to see how materials will look in your projects. Additionally, the introduction of batch options means you can update or adjust multiple materials at once—a real time-saver, especially when handling extensive material libraries in larger projects. These features streamline material management, making your design process more efficient and enjoyable.

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Architectural Specific Features

Wall End Wrap Controls:

Previously, you had to either wrap both ends or none, often requiring different wall types for each scenario. Now, in Revit 2025 with new icons, you can adjust the wrapping for each side directly on the wall you select. This feature shows up only when wrapping is enabled, making it straightforward to apply different settings to each side of the wall. Remember a wall has to have “Wrapping at Ends” toggled on and Layers within the wall type to be set at “Wrap” then only these new icons allow you to control wrapping for each side of the selected wall.

Mullion Profile Enhancement:

Mullion profiles in Revit 2025 can now feature multiple loops, enhancing their design flexibility. For example, these loops can either be internal, cutting into the larger loop to emphasize certain architectural details like the pressure plate and cap of a curtainwall system, or external to add more complex geometry. While the way these mullions join remains the same, which may require thoughtful transition planning, it's important to note that you cannot assign different materials to various parts of the mullion, and they do not accept open loops.

Shape Editing Snaps:

The updated snapping behavior in Revit 2025’s shape edit mode now lets you disregard internal points and edges, focusing on using the Z value of elements as your snap point. This enhancement simplifies the modeling process, making it more intuitive and efficient when adjusting shapes within your projects.

Create Walls with Auto Join and Lock:

When creating walls in Revit 2025, you can now easily "Join" and "Join & Lock" adjacent parallel walls. This streamlines the process, especially when different material layers are modeled as separate wall types. For instance, when you add a new wall, it automatically joins with the wall next to it. If there's a door opening, the door will cut through all connected walls, creating a unified appearance. This automatic joining saves time, although the walls still need to touch for this feature to work.

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Performance Enhancements

Enhanced Operating Schedules:

In Revit 2025, operating schedules have been updated to allow you for more nuanced control over settings for occupancy, lighting, and power loads all year round. This flexibility lets you tailor schedules more accurately to different times, such as weekends, holidays, or specific shutdowns, reflecting real-life variations, instead of a single day-type setting for the whole year. Additionally, improvements to the user interface make it easier to set up and manage these complex schedules, enhancing both the functionality and user experience.

gbXML Version Update:

Revit 2025 now supports the latest version of gbXML (v7.03). This schema supports Revit’s advanced HVAC systems like Zone Equipment, Air Systems, and Water Loops. This update facilitates more accurate energy and environmental modeling, making it easier for professionals to integrate sustainability and efficiency into their building designs.

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Disciplinary Specific Enhancements

Structural

• Use Advance Steel Part and Assembly Marks in Revit
  • In Revit 2025, the feature to use Advance Steel Part and Assembly Marks enhances the workflow between design, fabrication, and construction for steel projects. This functionality allows users to import detailed steel component marks directly into Revit, streamlining the integration of design and construction specifications. It's a valuable tool for architects and engineers focusing on steel construction, ensuring that the designs are precise and fully coordinated with fabrication requirements.
• Parametric Splicing for Typical Rebar
  • In Revit 2025, the "Parametric Splicing for Typical Rebar" feature brings a new level of detail and control to rebar modeling in 3D structures. This feature lets users set the splice locations and lengths in rebar sets according to predefined parameters, offering flexibility and precision. Users can choose the layout of splices—uniform or staggered—to match engineering standards. By allowing adjustments to multiple splices at once, it streamlines rebar detailing, improving consistency and efficiency in the model. This enhancement is crucial for accurately visualizing and planning the reinforcement in concrete structures, aiding in smoother construction and fabrication processes.
• Highlight Bars Exceeding the Maximum Length
  • Revit 2025 introduces the "Highlight Bars Exceeding the Maximum Length" feature, which enhances the process of ensuring rebar compliance within models. This function visually marks any rebars that surpass the maximum allowed length in bright red, making it easier for users to spot and rectify errors in their structural designs. It streamlines the review process by providing a clear visual indication, and it includes customizable view filters that let users set specific criteria for minimum and maximum lengths, adapting the inspection process to the unique requirements of each project.
• Prevent Unexpected Changes to the Rebar Model
  • Revit 2025 introduces a feature that lets you lock the geometry of rebar within concrete models, ensuring their positioning and specifications stay unchanged even when modifications to the concrete structure occur. This is particularly useful when certain rebar placements need to remain fixed, despite changes to surrounding concrete elements. The feature is user-friendly, allowing toggling of constraints on and off easily and providing tools for precise manual adjustments of rebar if necessary. It also includes management tools like schedules and filters to help track and maintain rebar configurations effectively.

MEP

• Analytical Duct and Pipe Segments
  • In Revit 2025, you can now inspect and visualize pressure drop and flow data within both design and fabrication networks more effectively. Analytical duct and pipe segments have been enhanced to become more interactive in the user interface. These segments, which are sub-elements of design or fabrication elements, can be selected, tagged, and included in schedules. You can make these analytical elements visible through graphics overrides in views and select them using the tab key. Note that these segments only display during network-based calculations, providing detailed insights into the performance of individual segments in your system's network.
• The MEP Fabrication Data Manager
  • In Revit 2025, the MEP Fabrication Data Manager includes a new tech preview feature allowing you to upload and assign images to various parts within the module. This enhancement is designed to help users better visualize and manage their MEP components by attaching relevant visual details directly to the fabrication data. This can greatly improve clarity and efficiency in identifying and working with specific parts in complex systems.
• Single Phase Electrical Components
  • You now have the capability to use single-phase electrical components in your analytical and physical models. This new feature enables you to model the conditions of your project with greater accuracy.
• Disable Mark Number Auto Generation
  • Auto-generation of mark numbers have been disabled for Electrical Equipment, Electrical Fixtures, and Lighting Fixtures.
• Report Low Voltage Panels
  • When low voltage panels are integrated into a power distribution system, you can see their energy use detailed in the System Browser or on panel schedules. This insight helps you manage and balance electrical loads more efficiently throughout your systems.

As we conclude our exploration of Revit 2025’s new features and enhancements, it's clear that this release is all about refining the user experience and improving daily workflows through thoughtful updates. Key improvements, such as the enhanced sorting of properties and the introduction of parametric splicing for rebar, offer users more control and precision. These advancements, while subtle, pave the way for smoother project execution and increased productivity. Users are encouraged to leverage these new tools to their full potential, ensuring that their transition to future, more revolutionary updates is as seamless as possible. Revit 2025 might not be revolutionary, but it certainly sets a solid foundation for the exciting developments anticipated in Revit 2026.