Work through Autodesk's list: fix warnings, purge unused families, and delete CAD imports, images and views you don't need. Unload links and close worksets you aren't using, set a simple starting view, compact the central model, and turn on hardware acceleration.
Or, just ask Mira, a free add-in, to find the heaviest families and say which are still needed.
How to do it in Revit
Step 1: Review and fix warnings
Click Manage tab › Inquiry panel › Review Warnings and work through the list. Revit loads the warnings of the model and its links into memory as it opens, so a long list slows every open (Autodesk Help: Speed Up Model Open).
Step 2: Purge unused families
Save a backup, then click Manage tab › Settings panel › Purge Unused and remove what nothing uses. Removing unused families and types usually makes the file smaller; the full routine is in how to purge unused.
Step 3: Trim CAD imports and images
Link only the DWGs a view needs, clean them of hatching and extra layers before they come in, and don't explode an import, which turns one element into hundreds or thousands. Delete raster images and renderings you no longer use (Autodesk Help: Performance Considerations when Importing and Linking Files).
Step 4: Unload links and close worksets
Unload links you don't need right now in Manage tab › Manage Project panel › Manage Links. In a workshared model, choose Specify in the Open dialog's Open list and open only the worksets you'll work in; see how to set up worksets.
Step 5: Delete and simplify views
Delete views nobody needs, use Coarse detail level unless a view needs more, and use section boxes in 3D views. Keep few views open: View tab › Windows panel › Close Inactive closes the rest (Autodesk Help: Project Views and Performance).
Step 6: Set a light starting view
Make a drafting view with project notes and no model geometry, then choose it in Manage tab › Manage Project panel › Starting View. Revit opens that view instead of the last one used, which shortens opening.
Step 7: Compact the central model
Click Collaborate tab › Synchronize panel › Synchronize with Central › Synchronize and Modify Settings and select Compact Central Model. The save takes longer, so pick a time the team can wait; Autodesk suggests doing it at least once a month.
Step 8: Check the hardware settings
In File tab › Options › Hardware, turn on Use hardware acceleration and Draw visible elements only, which skips drawing elements hidden behind others. In Revit 2027 you can also turn on Accelerated Graphics from the Graphics tab of Options; in 2026 it was a Tech Preview (Autodesk Help: Options Dialog: Hardware Tab).
What to watch for
Restart when memory runs high. If Revit warns that memory use is near the system limit, save and restart. In a workshared model, save the local file, restart, then synchronize.
Family weight multiplies. Autodesk's family advice: no in-place families for repeated parts, few nested and parametric families, few voids, and no 3D geometry in a family that only shows in plan. A heavy family placed a few hundred times weighs on every regeneration.
Old design options still update. Every design option updates when the main model changes, even when no view shows it. Accept or delete the ones you're done with; see how to use design options.
Hide by category, not one by one. Hiding large numbers of individual elements in a view costs performance. Turn off the category in Visibility/Graphics or a view template instead; see how to hide and unhide elements.
Missing files slow the open. Revit retries each missing link, image, PDF or keynote file several times as the model opens. Repath or remove them in Manage Links.
Heavy families travel. A family that weighs down one project gets loaded into the next, because it's the file people find first, so cleaning each model doesn't stop it. Revit family management keeps the approved version marked, so teams load the one the firm has cleaned up instead of the nearest copy.
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
Find the heaviest families in this model and tell me which ones we still need.
Mira only reads the model for this one. It lists the largest loadable families with how many instances of each are placed, separates the unplaced ones you could purge from the ones in use, and changes nothing. It may write a small tool to measure them, which asks Allow first.
Why is my Revit model so slow?
How do I reduce Revit file size?
Do warnings slow down Revit?
What settings make Revit run faster?
How do I make a Revit model open faster?
Do worksets make Revit faster?
Related Revit how-tos
- How to Group Elements in RevitSelect the elements, click Create Group on the Modify | Multi-Select tab (or type GP), name the group and click OK. Model elements make a model group; view-specific ones, like text, make a detail group. Edit Group changes every instance at once. Or, just select the elements and ask Mira to group and name them.
- How to Set Up Worksets in RevitWorksets split a shared Revit model into groups of elements that team members can own and open separately. Click Worksets on the Collaborate tab, save the file as the central model, give each person a local copy, then create worksets and assign elements with the Workset property. Or, just ask Mira to move a category to another workset.
- How to Use Phases in RevitClick Manage tab › Phasing panel › Phases to add phases in order. Each element has a Phase Created and Phase Demolished; each view has a Phase and Phase Filter that decide what it shows. Demolish with Modify tab › Geometry panel › Demolish. Or, just ask Mira, a free add-in, to set the phases on a selection.
- How to Purge Unused in RevitSave a backup, then click Manage tab › Settings panel › Purge Unused. Revit lists the unused families, types, views and other objects, all checked. Clear what you want to keep and click OK. In a workshared model, open every workset first. Or, just ask Mira, a free add-in, to purge unused families, line styles and view templates.
- How to Use Design Options in RevitClick Manage tab › Design Options panel › Design Options, then New under Option Set and under Option for each alternative. Pick an option on the status bar to model in it, set views to show each, then Accept Primary once the client chooses. Or, just ask Mira, a free add-in, to list every option set and what each holds.
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.