Click View tab › Graphics panel › Filters, click New, check the filter's categories and add its rules. Then open Visibility/Graphics, add the filter on the Filters tab and set how matching elements look. The filter highest in the list wins when two match.
Or, just ask Mira, a free add-in, to build a filter from one sentence.
How to do it in Revit
Step 1: Open the Filters dialog
Click View tab › Graphics panel › Filters. It lists every filter in the project, both rule-based and selection filters.
Step 2: Create a rule-based filter
Click New, name the filter for what it finds, such as "Walls - Fire Rated", keep Define rules selected and click OK.
Step 3: Pick the categories
Under Categories, check every category the filter should look at. With several checked, the rules offer only the parameters those categories share, except in OR rules, where you set each rule's category first. Hide un-checked categories keeps the list short.
Step 4: Add the rules
Under Filter Rules, click Add Rule and pick a parameter, an operator and a value. To combine rules, click Add Set and choose AND (all rules must be true) or OR (any rule may be true). A rule takes one value, so to match several values, put one rule per value in an OR set. The has a value and has no value operators find filled or empty parameters. Click OK (Autodesk Help: Create a Rule-Based Filter).
Step 5: Add the filter to a view
Open the view and type VV or VG to open Visibility/Graphics. On the Filters tab, click Add, select the filter and click OK (Autodesk Help: Apply a Filter).
Step 6: Set how matching elements look
In the filter's row, use Projection/Surface and Cut to override lines and patterns, or set Halftone or transparency. Line overrides use the same pens as line weights. Clear Visibility to hide everything the filter finds (the other ways to hide things are in how to hide and unhide elements). Clear Enable in View to switch the filter off without losing its overrides.
Step 7: Order the filters
When two filters change the same element, the one higher on the Filters tab wins. Select a filter and click Up or Down to move it.
Step 8: Put it in a view template
To give many views the same filter, add it under V/G Overrides Filters in their view template (View tab › Graphics panel › View Templates › Manage View Templates). A filter added to one view affects that view only. More on templates in how to create and apply view templates.
What to watch for
A filter does nothing until a view uses it. Creating one only adds it to the project's list. Deleting one in the Filters dialog removes it from the project and from every view that uses it, so check before you delete.
Element overrides beat filters. A change made with Override Graphics in View › By Element outranks every filter, so a wall someone overrode by hand won't turn red with the rest. Autodesk's override hierarchy lists the full order.
A greyed-out Filters tab means a template. If the view's template controls V/G Overrides Filters, you can't add filters in the view. Add the filter to the template, or clear Include for that property in the template.
Linked models need By host view. Host filters reach a linked model only when the link displays By host view in its RVT Link Display Settings. With By linked view, the link keeps its own view's settings.
Filters pile up across projects. Each project ends up with its own "Fire Rated", "Fire Walls" and "FR - 2HR", with slightly different rules and colors. Transfer Project Standards copies filters in by name, but it doesn't merge near-duplicates, so the same wall reads red in one set and grey in the next. Keeping filters in the template your firm standards start from is how they stay the same.
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
Create a view filter that highlights all walls with a fire rating parameter.
Mira checks which Fire Rating values your walls use and which filters you already have, and asks how to treat values like NR. It shows you the rule before it creates the filter, then checks the view with a screenshot.
How do I create a view filter in Revit?
How do I apply a filter to multiple views in Revit?
Why is my view filter not working in Revit?
What is the difference between a rule-based filter and a selection filter in Revit?
How do I copy view filters to another project 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 a Section View in RevitOpen 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.
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.