Open a plan and click View tab › Create panel › Section. Pick a section type, click the start and end of the section line, and drag the dashed crop to set its width and depth. Double-click the section head to open it.
Or, just ask Mira, a free add-in, to cut a named section along a grid line.
How to do it in Revit
Step 1: Start in a plan
Open a plan, elevation, section or detail view; sections can't be drawn in a 3D view. Click View tab › Create panel › Section (Autodesk Help: Create a Section View).
Step 2: Pick the section type
In the Type Selector, choose a building, wall or detail section type. The type decides where the view goes: building and wall sections each get a Sections branch in the Project Browser, and detail sections go under Detail Views (Autodesk Help: About Section Views).
Step 3: Draw the section line
Click where the section starts and again where it ends. In plan, the line snaps parallel or perpendicular to an angled wall or grid. Press Esc or click Modify when you're done.
Step 4: Point it the right way
A section looks to one side of its line. Select it and click its arrow control to cut the other way. The cycle icon above the section head switches between the available heads and tails.
Step 5: Set its width and depth
With the section selected, drag the blue controls on the dashed crop to change how wide it is and how far it looks. For a set depth, use Far Clipping and Far Clip Offset in the Properties palette (Autodesk Help: Cut by the Far Clip Plane).
Step 6: Open and name the view
Double-click the section head, or find the view under Sections in the Project Browser. Right-click it there and choose Rename to call it something like "Section C".
Step 7: Break a long section line
Click the break control in the middle of the line and drag the segment ends, so the line doesn't cross the whole plan. The break shows only in that view and doesn't change what the section shows (Autodesk Help: Break a Section Line).
Step 8: Point to a view you already have
Start Section, click Reference Other View on the Reference panel and pick the view. Double-clicking the tag opens that view, and resizing the reference changes nothing there. For wall sections and their callouts, see how to make a wall section in Revit.
What to watch for
No tag in plan? Check the crop and view range. A section tag shows only in views whose view range its crop region crosses, so a short section can vanish from upper floors. Hide at Scales Coarser Than also hides it at small scales. See how to change the view range.
Sections keep up with the model. The view changes when the design changes or the line moves, so there's nothing to redraw after a design change.
Sheet and detail numbers fill in on their own. You can't type them: Revit fills in the detail number and sheet number when you place the section on a sheet.
For a room's walls, use an elevation. One interior elevation marker gives you a view of each wall at once. See how to add an elevation.
The same wall section, drawn again. Every project cuts sections through the same kinds of walls, and the callouts from them lead to details someone already drew on a past job. When nobody can find those, teams redraw them, each a little different. Searching the firm's past details with detail management means the next set starts from what the firm already drew.
Or, just ask Mira to do it.
Mira is an AI thinking partner for Revit that automates the work you repeat and builds tools your team needs.
- Type this in Mira
Cut a building section through grid line C, looking north, and name it Section C.
Mira checks which way grid C runs and whether the name Section C is taken, then shows you the section's extent before it draws anything. Creating the section needs a small tool Mira writes, which asks Allow first.
How do I make a section view in Revit?
How do I flip a section in Revit?
Why is my section not showing in plan view in Revit?
How do I change the depth of a section in Revit?
Can you make a section in a 3D view in Revit?
What is the difference between a building section and a wall section in Revit?
Related Revit how-tos
- How to Create and Apply View Templates in RevitOn the View tab, open View Templates and click Create Template from Current View, or duplicate a template in Manage View Templates. Assign it with the View Template property to link and lock a view's settings; Apply Template Properties copies them once. Or, just ask Mira to assign a template to every plan that doesn't have one.
- How to Hide and Unhide Elements in RevitClick Reveal Hidden Elements, the light bulb on the View Control Bar. Hidden elements show in color. Select one, click Unhide Element or Unhide Category on the ribbon, then click the light bulb again. Clear a temporary hide with Reset Temporary Hide/Isolate. Or, just ask Mira, a free add-in, to list everything hidden in a view and unhide it.
- How to Use Scope Boxes in RevitIn a plan view, click View tab › Create panel › Scope Box, click two opposite corners and name it. Set a view's Scope Box to it and the crop follows the box. Grids and levels assigned to it show only where views cut it. Or, just ask Mira, a free add-in, to apply one to every floor plan.
- How to Add an Elevation in RevitOpen a plan and click View tab › Create panel › Elevation › Elevation. Move the marker near a wall, press Tab to turn the arrow, and click to place it. For interior elevations, click the marker's square and tick each wall. Or, just ask Mira, a free add-in, to add interior elevations to every room you name.
- How to Change the View Range in RevitOpen the plan, click Edit next to View Range in the Properties palette (or type VR), and set Top, Cut Plane, Bottom and View Depth. Click Apply, then OK. If View Range is greyed out, change it in the view template. Or, just ask Mira, a free add-in, to set the cut plane on every plan without a template.
- How to Create and Lock a 3D View in RevitClick View tab › Create panel › 3D View › Default 3D View and rename {3D} in the Project Browser. Tick Section Box in Properties to cut it to one level, then click Save Orientation and Lock View on the View Control Bar. Or, just ask Mira, a free add-in, to make a locked 3D view of one level.
Try it yourself.
Or bring it to the firm.
The download is free and takes a minute. The firm conversation is where your standards, your library, and your rollout get built. Start wherever makes sense.