AutoCAD viewer: view AutoCAD drawings online

An AutoCAD viewer lets you open AutoCAD drawings (DWG and DXF files) without the AutoCAD program, and this one runs in your browser with no install or account. It reads the file on your device, renders it with WebGL, and gives you layers, measure, print, and PDF export. It does not edit drawings.

What 'AutoCAD viewer' actually means

AutoCAD is Autodesk's drafting program. The files it produces are DWG, its native binary format, and DXF, the text-based exchange format that other CAD tools read. When someone searches for an AutoCAD viewer, they almost always mean a way to look at a DWG without buying AutoCAD: the drawing came from an architect or engineer and they need to read it, not draw.

So an AutoCAD file viewer is a DWG viewer, and the two names refer to the same thing. The DWG file page explains the format in detail; DXF vs DWG covers when you get one or the other.

The confusion runs the other way too. AutoCAD can publish DWF and PDF and attach DGN and image underlays, so an 'AutoCAD file' in an email is not always a DWG. Check the extension: .dwg and .dxf open here, .dwf needs the tools on the DWF viewer page.

Autodesk's own AutoCAD viewers

All of these are reasonable choices from the vendor itself. What they share is an Autodesk account, and in the web and mobile cases, uploading the drawing to Autodesk's cloud. If either is a problem, read on.

DWG is also readable without any Autodesk product. BricsCAD, tools built on the Open Design Alliance libraries, and the open source LibreDWG library that this site uses all parse it, so a vendor viewer is a convenience rather than a requirement.

What this AutoCAD viewer does, and does not

It opens DWG from AutoCAD R14 through 2018 and newer and DXF from any version, converting DWG to DXF on the device with LibreDWG compiled to WebAssembly. Once loaded you can pan, zoom, fit to view, show and hide layers, measure between two points, print, and export PNG, SVG, or PDF. The theme can be light or dark, and the status bar shows the entity count.

Lines, arcs, polylines, hatches, dimensions, and text render as they were saved. One difference from AutoCAD is fonts: AutoCAD's own SHX fonts are not available in a browser, so text is drawn with substitute fonts. Positions and sizes are right; letter shapes may differ slightly from the original.

It does not edit. There is no command line, no object selection, no saving, and no way to produce a .dwg from anything. It also does not open DWF, skips DWG files above 60 MB, and opens R12 or older drawings only partially. If you need to change a drawing, edit DWG online lists free editors.

A note on views, sections, and 3D

Searches like 'AutoCAD section view' or 'orthographic view AutoCAD' are about AutoCAD features: drawing views generated from a 3D model with commands such as VIEWBASE and VIEWSECTION. A viewer does not generate those. It shows whatever views were already placed in the drawing when it was saved, because they are stored as ordinary geometry.

This viewer is built for 2D drawing content. For a 3D DWG you want to orbit and shade, use Autodesk Viewer online or the notes on DWG to 3D. For rotating the 2D view, fit and zoom are what you have; the drawing's own orientation is as saved.

View an AutoCAD file online in three steps

1. Open this page in any modern browser on Windows, macOS, Linux, or ChromeOS.
2. Drop the .dwg or .dxf on the drop zone. The first file in a session loads a 9 MB module once; a typical drawing then opens in 1–10 seconds.
3. Read the drawing with layers and measure; print or export a PDF to share.

Nothing is uploaded at any step. The file is parsed in the tab and gone when you close it, which is why this works for drawings under NDA that you are not allowed to put in a cloud. For the general approach without any Autodesk software, see how to open a DWG file without AutoCAD.

Frequently asked questions