Revit Window Families: Find, Load, Build and Schedule
A Revit window family is an .rfa file that holds a window’s geometry, materials, parameters and identity data. You can download one from the Autodesk library or a manufacturer, or build your own from the Window template. Either way, the family you choose decides how well your plans, elevations and window schedule behave later. This guide covers where to find window families, how to load and place them, how to make a custom one, and how to get a schedule that reads correctly.
TL;DR
Start with Autodesk’s own content or manufacturer libraries, then check every downloaded family for parameters, host behavior and clean naming before it enters a project.
Load with Load Family, pick the type in the Type Selector, click a wall, and fix the position with temporary dimensions.
Build custom windows from the Window template with reference planes, labeled dimensions and a handful of types, not one file per size.
Put the data you need in the schedule (type mark, width, height, sill, level) into the family first, then build the schedule.
Keep the family count low. Fewer, better-parameterized families make a lighter and more consistent model.
Table of Contents
Where to find Revit window families
There are three reliable places to look, and the choice depends on whether you are drawing a concept or a tender set.
Autodesk’s own content. In Revit 2021.1 and later you can use Load Autodesk Family, or download the library for your Revit version from your Autodesk Account, as Autodesk’s content guidance explains. These are generic windows: good for early design, teaching and quick coordination models.
Manufacturer and object libraries. The same Autodesk page lists external sources such as BIMobject, manufacturer websites, ArchVision, ARCAT and BIMSmith. When the window is a specific product (a particular triple-glazed timber unit, say), the manufacturer’s family carries the real dimensions, and often the product data, you need for a specification.
Your own office library. Most practices end up with a small set of approved families. If you are not sure where Revit keeps templates and libraries on your machine, our guide to where the Revit family templates and library are stored walks through it.
What to check before you trust a download
A free family can look perfect in a 3D view and still cause trouble on a schedule. Open it in the Family Editor, or just place it in a test project, and check:
Parameters. Width and height should be type or instance parameters you can edit, not fixed geometry. Autodesk’s window type properties include height, width, default sill height, glass pane and sash materials, plus identity data such as manufacturer, model and type mark. A family missing these will be awkward to schedule.
Operation type. Casement, sliding, pivot and double-hung windows show different swing or sash symbols in plan. The family should draw the one you mean rather than forcing you to fake it.
Detail level. Plan view at 1:100 should not show every screw. Check that coarse, medium and fine views are sensible.
File size and nesting. Heavy imported CAD geometry slows a model down. Prefer native Revit geometry.
Naming. Type names like “Window 1” and “Copy of Window 1” are a schedule problem waiting to happen. Rename them to something your team will recognize.
Fixed, static geometry is the weakest option for documentation. A parametric window lets you change a type and have every instance in the project update, so one well-built family replaces dozens of near-identical files.
Loading and placing a window family
The process is short, but a few habits save rework.
Go to the Architecture tab and choose Window.
In the Window tool panel, click Load Family and select the .rfa file.
Choose the window type in the Type Selector.
Move the cursor over a wall and click to place it.
Autodesk’s Place a Window page describes this workflow, and notes that temporary dimensions show the distance from the window centerline to the centerlines of nearby perpendicular walls. Use them as a starting point: click a temporary dimension value, type the exact offset, and press Enter.
Placing windows well
Place in an elevation or section when sill heights matter, so you can see the sill against the floor level.
Use the Tag on Placement option if your office tags every window as it goes in.
Set the sill height on the type or instance once, instead of nudging windows by eye.
Flip with the spacebar or the flip arrows so the glazing sits on the correct side of the wall.
If your windows keep landing in the wrong place, the cause is often a poor grid or datum setup. Our reference planes guide covers building the datum structure properly, and the same thinking applies inside a family.
How wall layers wrap around the window
A window family does more than draw glass. It can tell the host wall how its layers should finish at the opening. Autodesk’s wall layer wrapping documentation explains that the Wall Closure parameter and the reference planes defined in the family identify how the host wall closes at the opening.
In practice, this matters when you have a masonry outer leaf, a cavity and an inner lining, as is common on Irish and UK builds. If the reference planes in the family are vague, the layers may not return to the frame where you expect them. Define clear planes for the frame and reveal, and test the family in a wall with several layers before you use it on a live project.
The real window also meets sealant, tape and flashing in the build. If you want the construction side of that junction, this breakdown of how a well-caulked window is built up is a good companion for deciding what detail your model needs to show.
Creating a custom window family
When no library family fits, build one. A custom window is not as hard as it looks if you work in a fixed order.
Step 1: Start from the Window template
Choose File, New, Family, then pick the Window template. It arrives with a host wall, an opening and the key reference planes already set up, so you are not starting from an empty canvas.
Step 2: Set reference planes first
Add planes for the left and right edges, the head and the sill, and name them. Everything else locks to these. Skipping this step is the single most common reason a window family breaks when resized. For a deeper walk through the idea, see our guide to Revit reference planes.
Step 3: Dimension and label
Add aligned dimensions between the planes and label them as Width and Height parameters. Then open Family Types, create a few sizes, and flex the family: change the values and confirm nothing distorts. If the frame twists or the glass disappears, a constraint is missing.
Step 4: Model the frame, sash and glass
Build the frame and sash as extrusions locked to the reference planes, with the glass as a thin extrusion on its own subcategory so it can carry a glass material. Give the frame and sash material parameters so they can be changed per type rather than per file.
Step 5: Add identity data
Fill in the type mark, manufacturer and model fields, or add shared parameters for things like fire rating, U-value or acoustic performance if your schedule needs them. You can create new types, define formulas and manage parameters from the Family Editor, which is the same mechanism Revit’s API exposes through the FamilyManager class.
Step 6: Test in a project
Load the family into a test project with a multi-layer wall. Check plan, elevation and 3D, and look at the family in coarse, medium and fine detail levels. Then put it in a schedule to confirm every field you want actually appears.
If you have never built a family before, our tutorial on building one parametric Revit family in one sitting takes you through the whole loop on a simple object, which makes a window much less intimidating.
Ganged and composite windows
For multi-bay units, you can build each component as a separate family and nest it into a host window family. Autodesk’s page on nested and shared components explains that sharing the nested families keeps control of each part for scheduling and tagging. It also notes that the host family’s category has downstream effects on tagging and scheduling, so choose the Window category deliberately.
For large glazed walls, a window family is often the wrong tool. A curtain wall workflow handles grids, mullions and panels far better.
One family or many?
There are two sensible approaches:
Approach | Best for | Watch out for |
One flexible family with many types | Standard sizes of one window style, fast documentation | Parameters grow complicated if you try to cover every style |
Separate families per configuration | Different operation types, such as casement and sliding | More files to maintain and name consistently |
A good compromise is one family per operation type, each with the sizes your projects commonly use. That keeps each file simple and the Type Selector manageable.
Perspective
When we teach families, we start with the schedule and work backwards. Ask what the contractor, the planner and the cost consultant need to read off the window schedule, then put exactly those fields in the family. Most people do it the other way round. They model a beautiful window, then discover the type mark is empty and the sill height is buried in an instance parameter. Our project-based courses are built around that habit: real drawings, real deliverables, and a trainer you can ask when a family misbehaves. A window family is small, but it is where good modeling discipline shows. Get reference planes, parameters and naming right here and the rest of the model follows. Steve
How to create a window schedule in Revit
With well-built families, the schedule is quick. Autodesk’s guidance for filtering a window schedule by level starts the same way: go to the View tab, choose Schedules, then Schedule/Quantities, and set the category to Windows.
Choose your fields
A typical Irish or UK window schedule includes:
Type mark
Width and height
Sill height
Level
Frame and glazing description
Count
Comments or fire rating where relevant
Add fields in the order a reader will scan them, not the order Revit lists them. Shared parameters can be added as schedulable fields too, and Autodesk explains how to create schedules with shared parameters, including filtering to show only components that carry a given parameter.
Sort, group and itemize
On the Sorting/Grouping tab you can add headers, footers and blank lines, and decide whether to itemize every instance or collapse identical types into one row. Autodesk’s page on sorting and grouping schedule fields also notes that when instances with different values collapse into one row, Revit reports them according to the project’s Multiple Values Indication settings.
For a type schedule, sort by type mark and turn off Itemize every instance, then use a Count field. For an installation schedule or a take-off, keep itemizing on and add Level or Room.
Format for the sheet
Headers, conditional data and grid lines are set on the Formatting and Appearance tabs. Autodesk’s schedule formatting page says the final look is best judged once the schedule is placed on a sheet, so review it there rather than only in the schedule view.
Common schedule problems
Blank type marks. The family’s identity data was never filled in. Fix it on the type, not on each instance.
Too many rows. Different type names for the same window. Standardize names.
Wrong sizes. The family uses fixed geometry, or the schedule reads a parameter that is not the one driving the size.
Windows from linked models missing. Tick Include elements in linked files in the schedule properties if you need them.
A tidy habit is to duplicate a type in the project, give it a clear name, and make sure the same name is carried into Type Comments or Type Mark so the data flows consistently.
Building a window library for your office
A personal or team library pays back quickly.
Pick a small set of window styles you use on most jobs.
Build or adapt each as a parametric family with the same parameter names and the same type mark logic.
Use consistent naming, such as style, operation and material.
Store the approved files in one network folder and point everyone to it.
Review the library once a year and retire anything you no longer use.
The same discipline applies to other content. Our workflow for adding trees in Revit and our guide to room tags follow the same idea: set it up once, reuse it everywhere.
Learn Revit families with a trainer
If families and schedules are where you get stuck, a structured course gets you past it faster than hunting through forums. Our Revit course is project-based, costs €79 one-off, and includes direct trainer support, lifetime access to materials and completion certificates. We back it with a money-back guarantee.
New to the software? The Revit Introduction course costs €20 and covers the basics. When you are ready for families, schedules and more complex documentation, the Intermediate Course starts from €100, and the Advanced Course starts from €79. For a free overview first, see our getting started with Revit guide.
FAQ
Where can I download free Revit window families?
Start with Autodesk’s built-in content through Load Autodesk Family in Revit 2021.1 or later, or from your Autodesk Account. Manufacturer sites and object libraries such as BIMobject, ARCAT and BIMSmith are the next stop when you need a specific product.
How do I load a window family into a project?
Open the Window tool on the Architecture tab, click Load Family and choose the .rfa file. Then select the type in the Type Selector and click on a wall. Use temporary dimensions to set the exact position.
How do I make a custom window family?
Start a new family from the Window template, add and name reference planes, then dimension them and label the dimensions as Width and Height. Add the frame, sash and glass geometry, create your types in Family Types, and flex the family before loading it into a project.
Why is my Revit window schedule showing blank fields?
The field is usually empty in the family or on the type, or the schedule reads a different parameter from the one you filled in. Check the type properties, then confirm the schedule field matches. Shared parameters must be added to the family before they can be scheduled.
Sources
Recommended
Comments