How to Find Missing Fonts in Every AutoCAD Drawing

Published November 2026  |  74mph Solutions

The PDF set goes to the client at noon. At 11:40 someone notices that the notes on sheet 14 came out in the wrong font and run past the border. Was it only sheet 14? There are 200 sheets.

When AutoCAD cannot find a font, it substitutes another one and keeps going. The drawing opens, the text looks almost right, and nobody notices until it is printed.

Check One Drawing

Open a drawing with a missing SHX font and recent versions of AutoCAD show the Missing SHX Files dialog, which offers to substitute. Type STYLE to see which font each text style uses. The FONTALT system variable names the font AutoCAD falls back to (simplex.shx by default), and a font map file can swap one font for another every time.

A substitute hides the problem on your screen. It does not fix the drawing, and the next PC may substitute something else.

Why Fonts Go Missing

• Consultant drawings use fonts your office does not have.
• A custom SHX font lived in a support folder on the old server or the old PC.
• A new AutoCAD install without your office font folder on the support path.
• A TrueType font installed for one Windows user only.

Check Every Drawing at Once With Tornado

Tornado DWG Scanner runs on every drawing in a folder tree with your own AutoCAD and gives you one row per drawing. For fonts, put these checks in the report:

• Missing fonts: text styles whose SHX font, big font or TrueType font is not found on this PC. Tornado looks in the AutoCAD support path, the Windows font folder and the per-user font folder. Turn on List fonts to see the file names.
• Text style table: every text style with its font file and height, so you can also spot fonts that are present but not your standard.

A font that is missing on your PC is likely missing on the client's too. Sort by the Missing fonts column and you have your list.

Fix Them

There are two fixes, depending on the font:

1. The font belongs in your set. Copy the SHX file or install the TrueType font, and make sure its folder is on the support path (OPTIONS, Files tab, Support File Search Path). Run the Tornado report again and the column clears.
2. The font does not belong. Change the text style to your standard font in every drawing. Export the flagged drawings from Tornado as a file list. Tornado finds Hurricane's file-list folder automatically, so the list loads straight into Hurricane's queue. Then run a style change on the whole list; this FAQ shows how to change a text style or font across hundreds of drawings.

Then run the same Tornado report on the same list. When the Flagged view is empty, export it to Excel (the flag colors come with it) for your records.

What You Need

• Tornado: full AutoCAD 2018 or later on Windows (AutoCAD LT is not supported yet). Free trial: no time limit, 10 files per run, all checks.
• Hurricane: AutoCAD (2026 and all prior versions), AutoCAD LT, BricsCAD, IntelliCAD or DraftSight. Free trial: no time limit, no credit card.
• Both are local Windows programs. Your drawings never leave your PC.

FAQ

Why does AutoCAD say SHX files are missing?

A text style in the drawing points to an SHX font that is not in any folder AutoCAD searches. AutoCAD substitutes another font so the drawing still opens.

What does FONTALT do?

FONTALT names the font AutoCAD uses in place of a missing SHX font. It hides the problem on screen; it does not change the drawing.

Can Tornado tell me which fonts are missing?

Yes. Turn on List fonts in the Missing fonts check and the report shows the missing font file names for each drawing.

Does this work in AutoCAD LT?

Hurricane works in AutoCAD LT. Tornado needs full AutoCAD 2018 or later for now.

Related: Find Missing Xrefs  |  Check Drawing Units  |  CAD Submittal Checklist  |  Check and Fix CAD Standards  |  Tornado features