Click Insert tab › Load from Library panel › Load Family, browse to the .rfa file and click Open. Select several files to load them together. To update a family that's already in the project, right-click it in the Project Browser and choose Reload.
Or, just ask Mira, a free add-in, to load the families in a folder you pick.
How to do it in Revit
Step 1: Open Load Family
In the project, click Insert tab › Load from Library panel › Load Family (Autodesk Help: Load Families).
Step 2: Browse to the family
Go to the folder that holds the .rfa. The left side of the dialog lists the folders added under File tab › Options › File Locations › Places. Autodesk's own family files aren't installed with Revit; if your firm downloaded them, they sit in C:\ProgramData\Autodesk\RVT 2027\Libraries.
Step 3: Pick one or several
Click a family to see its thumbnail under Preview. Ctrl-click to choose several in the same folder, then click Open.
Step 4: Choose types if a catalog opens
If the family has a type catalog, a dialog lists its types instead of loading them all. Select the ones you need (Ctrl-click for several) and confirm. Each type you skip stays out of the project.
Step 5: Or load from Autodesk's cloud
Click Insert tab › Load from Library panel › Load Autodesk Family to search Autodesk's own families and load them without installing those files. It needs an internet connection and an Autodesk subscription.
Step 6: Or load from the Family Editor
With a family open in the Family Editor, click Create tab › Family Editor panel › Load into Project, or Load into Project and Close. With several projects open, Revit asks which ones get it.
Step 7: Reload a family that changed
Right-click the family under Families in the Project Browser, choose Reload and pick the updated file. In Family Already Exists, Overwrite the existing version keeps the parameter values set in the project, and Overwrite the existing version and its parameter values takes the file's (Autodesk Help: Reload a Family into a Project).
Step 8: Place it
Loading doesn't place anything. Drag a type from the Project Browser into a view, right-click it and choose Create Instance, or pick it in the Type Selector of the matching tool, such as Door. To add sizes, see how to add and change family types.
What to watch for
A family loads into one project at a time. Loading copies the family into the project. Change the .rfa later and the project keeps its old copy until you reload it. To build your own, see how to create a family.
Revit only upgrades. A family saved in a newer Revit won't load into an older one. An older family upgrades as it loads, and if you cancel the upgrade, nothing loads.
Same name, different category, no load. If the project already has a family with that name in another category, Revit refuses with "An incompatible version of family ... is already in use". Rename the family in the project first.
Reloading never removes types. Types missing from the new file stay in the project, and a type renamed in the file arrives as a second type. Manage tab › Settings panel › Purge Unused clears the leftovers. More in how to purge unused.
Every project loads its own copy. Ten projects can hold ten slightly different versions of the same door, each edited a little in the project. Nobody knows which one is right, so the next project loads whichever file is nearest. Revit family management keeps the approved version marked, so people load that one.
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
Load the door families from a folder I'll pick.
Mira opens a folder picker instead of guessing a path, lists the families it finds, and asks before it loads each one. It flags type names that match families already in the project, and each family undoes separately.
How do I load a family in Revit?
How do I reload a family in Revit?
Where are Revit families stored?
Why can't I see a family after loading it?
Can I load a family from a newer version of Revit into an older one?
Can I load several families at once in Revit?
Related Revit how-tos
- How to Create a Family in RevitClick File tab › New › Family, pick a template such as Generic Model, and set Family Category and Parameters. Draw reference planes, label their dimensions as parameters, lock geometry to them, add sizes in Family Types, then save and Load into Project. Or, just describe a simple family and Mira builds it and places it in your model.
- How to Create and Change Wall Types in RevitSelect a wall, click Edit Type, then Duplicate, and name the new type. Click Edit next to Structure to set each layer's function, material and thickness. To change walls to the new type, select them and pick it in the Type Selector. Or, just ask Mira, a free add-in, to swap every wall of one type to another on a level.
- How to Edit a Family in RevitSelect a placed instance and click Edit Family, or right-click the family in the Project Browser and choose Edit. Make the change, then click Load into Project and choose whether to overwrite the existing version. Or, just ask Mira, a free add-in, to make a size change and say if it needs the Family Editor.
- How to Create a Corner Mullion in RevitDelete the two mullions where the curtain walls meet, click Architecture tab › Build panel › Mullion and pick an L, V, Trapezoid or Quad corner type. Click the corner grid line to place it. For your own size, duplicate a type. Or, just ask Mira, a free add-in, to list the curtain wall corners still missing one.
- How to Use Formulas in Revit Family ParametersIn the Family Editor, click Create tab › Properties panel › Family Types. In the Formula column next to a parameter, type an expression with exact parameter names, such as Width + 2". Click Apply to check. Formulas take arithmetic, if(), rounding and trig. Or, just ask Mira, a free add-in, to set formulas on parameters the family already has.
- How to Create and Use Type Catalogs in RevitA type catalog is a .txt file with the same name and folder as the family's .rfa. Its first row declares parameters as Name##type##units; each row after it is a type. On load, Revit lists the types so you pick only the ones you need. Or, just ask Mira, a free add-in, to add a type to a catalog.
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.