Command Line Will Not Stay Docked

Applies to:

AutoCAD-based products 2019 and newer

Issue:

You dock the command line at the bottom of your AutoCAD session and after a reboot it reverts back to the new style (it's no longer docked)

Causes:
This problem is usually an issue with custom profiles (.arg files), When you re-open AutoCAD after a reboot, it's reverting back to the out of the box setup for the command line

Solution:
The way to resolve it is to re-dock it, Open Options, go to Profiles Tab and see what is the current profile being used, then close AutoCAD (or verticals).
Open Windows explorer and navigate to here:
%appdata%\Autodesk\<your product version and year (i.e. AutoCAD 2020, C3D 2018, etc)>\R##.#\enu\Support\Profiles\<Profile Name from Options box>

Open the Profile.aws in Notepad and confirm that the section CommandLineControl Workspace=  is there (the location and sizes may be different than below, but it all needs to be there), and if so close the file, if not add the bolded info at that line then save and close.  Typically this wil show as CLIDock="AnchoredBottom". We want to change this to DockedInESW.

<CommandLineControl Workspace="<your workspace name>"><CLI Dock="DockedInESW" Location="566,996" Size="977.435097493036,0" HistorySize="1142.4,300" DockedSize="1555,77" InactiveOpacity="0.7" RolloverOpacity="1" WidthProportion="0.64149704530531848"/>

Once you have saved and closed the profile.aws, Right mouse click on the Profile.aws and make it read-only

Reboot and confirm that the command line stays docked correctly

If you are running Civil 3D, this is a bigger issue, as the changes above will not keep the command line docked after reopening Civil 3D.  Your best option is to set the workspace how you want it, save it, and save a second copy (Like Civil 3D II), then you can swap workspaces to the docked version and resave over the one that didn't come up correctly.  It is logged as a Civil 3D defect, but it's unlikely it will be fixed.  It's intermittent, so it may stay docked for a few days, then suddenly revert back, and that behavior may continue for a few opens, then it will stick again for a few days.

About the Author

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.

Follow on Linkedin More Content by Ryan Wunderlich