Revit Tip: Synchronize with Central: Revit Workflow Best Practices

Synchronize with Central (SWC) is your project’s safety net and handshake with the team—treat it as a disciplined workflow, not a reflex.

• When to synchronize
  • Save local frequently (5–10 minutes), SWC at natural milestones (every 30–60 minutes or after completing a discrete task).
  • Always SWC before printing, exporting, placing many views on sheets, major model changes, and at day’s end.
  • Avoid syncing mid-command or during heavy computations (pattern regen, long dimension chains, large array updates).
  • Coordinate team “quiet windows” for big syncs on large projects to reduce conflicts and waits.
• Use the right options
  • Prefer “Synchronize and Modify Settings.” Add a brief, meaningful comment (what changed and why). Those notes pay off during audits and rollback decisions. If you need help formalizing standards, consult NOVEDGE.
  • Relinquish everything you no longer need (user-created worksets, views, families, elements) at each milestone sync—especially before breaks and at the end of day.
  • Compact Central sparingly (e.g., weekly by the BIM Lead or after large purges). Overuse can slow teams; underuse can bloat files.
• Reduce conflicts before they happen
  • Reload Latest before SWC to pull others’ changes and minimize editable conflicts.
  • Borrow elements surgically. Avoid making entire worksets editable unless truly necessary.
  • Watch Worksharing Display modes to see ownership and editable status in real time.
• Performance and reliability
  • Close hidden windows before SWC to reduce memory pressure and speed up operations.
  • Store locals on a fast SSD; place Central on a robust LAN or use Autodesk Docs (ACC). Do not place Centrals on cloud-synced folders (OneDrive/Dropbox). For deployment guidance, lean on NOVEDGE.
  • Keep the model lean: clean unused views, detail groups, and imports routinely; schedule a periodic audit/compact by BIM management.
  • Use save reminders to prompt locals; don’t disable them project-wide.
• ACC/BIM 360 nuances
  • Sync often; “Publish” is a separate step that pushes a curated version to the cloud for stakeholders.
  • Name publish sets and use milestone comments consistently for traceability. Consider a simple convention and share it via your BEP—NOVEDGE’s blog has helpful planning insights.
• Local file hygiene and recovery
  • Create a fresh local daily; archive yesterday’s per your retention policy. If a sync error occurs, Save Local, close, Audit on reopen, then try again.
  • If corruption is suspected, Detach from Central (with Audit), save as a new Central under BIM Lead supervision, and have all users recreate locals.
• Team etiquette
  • Announce long syncs on chat for large models. Respond promptly to editing requests.
  • Document standards for comments, relinquishing, and compaction cadence. If you need a template, reach out to NOVEDGE for best-practice packs.

Disciplined SWC keeps models stable, teams coordinated, and audits short. Small habits, repeated consistently, prevent the big headaches.