Add Classic menubar pulldowns to ACA or MEP

Issue:
You want the Classic Menubar in either AutoCAD Architecture or AutoCAD MEP and only see Express when you set MENUBAR = 1

Causes:
There is a big difference from AutoCAD Architecture / AutoCAD MEP and plain AutoCAD.

AutoCAD Architecture and MEP do not have any menu items to show in the Menubar, which is why you cannot see anything but Express.

Solution:
You can add those items from the ACAD,cuix, though and get you back to something that looks familiar.

Launch AutoCAD Architecture.
Type in CUI in the command line and hit enter to launch the CUI editor.
Please note you are in the ACA.cuix, and that the workspace is set to Architecture Default

Now select the Transfer tab at the top.  In the left pane you should see Main Customization File (ACA.cuix) and in the right pane, click on the Open File.

Now in the Open Dialog navigate to %appdata%\Autodesk\Product and year\enu\Support (so %appdata%\Autodesk\ACA 2024\enu\Support for AutoCAD Architecture 2024):
 

Locate the ACAD.cuix, select it and click Open.

Now expand out the right pane, until the Menu items are showing, select them, and left mouse click and hold and drag them to the Menus area on the left, until you see the blue triangle, then release the left mouse button.

That will copy the menu bar items into the ACA.CUIX
Now click Apply at the bottom and go back to the Customize tab at the top left

In here we select the Workspace, then in the right pane, we click Customize Workspace button, and re-order the Menu items until it's how we like, then we click the Done Button, then Apply at the bottom, then OK.

You've now set up your workspace to have the menu bar items from AutoCAD present in the AutoCAD Architecture CUIX file, and you should be able to turn on the Menu Bar and see the pull-down menus you are familiar with.


 

About the Author

Ryan Wunderlich

Support Team Manager - AEC Team<br><br>An AutoCAD Certified Professional, Ryan is responsible for taking client cases and assisting with issues with the software - everything from regular glitches to software deployments and whatever else goes wrong. He's proficient in AutoCAD (including customization), VBA, LISP, and Civil 3D.

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