AutoCAD 2020 - How to locate critical support file locations

By Dennis Collin

A frequent question I often get from AutoCAD users, is where I can locate such files which store things like Hatch Patterns, Linetypes and Keyboard shortcuts?

Typically, the files are often stored in a support folder like:

C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\Autodesk\AutoCAD 2020\R23.1\enu\Support

Although, sometimes they can be held elsewhere.

Whilst this information can be obtained from the Options command, a quicker method is available. Within AutoCAD, users can type in on the command line:

(findfile "acadiso.lin")  <enter>

AutoCAD will return the directory path where that file is located, if referenced in the AutoCAD support path.

Typical definition files include:

ACADISO.PAT – Metric Hatch Pattern

ACAD.PAT – Imperial Hatch Pattern

ACADISO.LIN – Metric Linetype

ACAD.LIN – Imperial Linetype

ACAD.PGP – Keyboard Shortcuts

Once located these files can be edited to provide bespoke hatch patterns, linetypes and custom shortcuts as appropriate, using a simple text editor like Windows Notepad.