Using Schedules to Find Elements

Using schedules to find elements

You can use schedules to find elements in your model.

1. Select a row in the schedule.
2. Click “Highlight in Model”

But what happens if Revit can’t find the element at first? Revit pops up a dialog which asks if you would like to search the entire Revit model by going through each view. Typically, you would click “OK” to allow Revit to continue. Revit would start from the very first view, based on alphabetical order of the view names, and search downward from the list. The reason why this dialog pops up is because searching in this manner can take a very long time especially since Revit needs to start from the top of the list of views. If things seem to be taking too long, it’s possible to cancel the search.

Here’s a tip to speed up searching. I recommend opening a default 3D view before step #2. You can do this by clicking on the house button at the top.

As long as you have the entire model in view and all elements are visible, which by default they would be, Revit will instantly find the element and highlight it in the default 3D view. Once Revit finds the elements I recommend clicking close at the next dialog box.

Revit will keep the element selected. Now click on the “Selection Box” button in the Modify tab.

Revit will then isolate and focus on the selected element in your default 3D view. Magic. Repeat the steps above for subsequent elements. You can also utilize the Ids of Elements button to after step #2.