What is a .DWG file?
DWG is AutoCAD’s native 2D/3D drawing format. Created and opened by Autodesk AutoCAD.
- Did you know
- DWG is AutoCAD’s native format; AutoCAD launched in 1982 and made desktop CAD mainstream.
- DWG is a proprietary binary format with no official public specification, which spurred the Open Design Alliance to reverse-engineer it from 1998.
- Autodesk later added TrustedDWG technology so AutoCAD can warn when a file was last saved by non-Autodesk software.
- What Analyser reads
- Identify CAD files and read header metadata: AutoCAD DWG (DXF now opens as a 2D drawing preview - see Diagrams), SolidWorks (SLDPRT, SLDASM, plus .sldreg Settings Wizard backups - release year, settings groups and the saved registry keys - and SOLIDWORKS Visualize .svap appearances and .svpj projects, opened as the ZIP packages they are), Fusion 360 (F3D), Inventor (IPT, IAM), Rhino (3DM) and Grasshopper (GH, GHX), SketchUp (SKP), 3ds Max, Cinema 4D, Houdini, ZBrush, Maya, CATIA, Eagle, and KiCad.
- Depth of analysis
- .DWG is an identification-grade format: Analyser recognises it from its bytes and decodes the header metadata it carries, rather than opening it in a full viewer. Formats that do get a full viewer are marked "Full" on the formats page.
- Open a .DWG file
- Drag a .DWG file onto the Analyser home page (or tap to pick one). It is identified entirely in your browser - nothing is uploaded, there is no account, and it works offline once installed.