Last updated July 28, 2026
This erases every piece of multiline text in the drawing. One command, no selection step, no confirmation.
It is the companion to the single-line text stripper on this site, and between them they cover both kinds of text AutoCAD draws. That pairing is the point — neither one alone will clear a modern drawing.
Why two routines and not one
AutoCAD has two text objects and they are unrelated as far as a selection filter is concerned. Single-line text, made with the TEXT command, is one entity per line. Multiline text, made with MTEXT, is a paragraph object that holds its own formatting.
A filter that asks for one will never return the other. So a drawing that mixes them — which is to say almost any drawing produced this century — needs both commands run to be properly stripped. Run only this one and every dimension label and title block line drawn as plain text stays put; run only the other and every paragraph note survives.
Worth knowing that on a modern drawing this is likely to be the busier of the two. MTEXT has been the default for annotation for a long time.
A message inherited from its sibling
A small thing that tells you how the file came about. If there is no mtext in the drawing, the routine reports “No text in this drawing!” — not “no mtext”. That message was copied straight from the single-line text version along with the rest of the file, and only the entity name in the filter was changed.
It is harmless, but it can mislead. Getting that message does not mean the drawing has no text; it means it has no mtext. There may be plenty of the other kind still sitting there.
What it catches
The search runs against the whole drawing database rather than what is on screen, so mtext on frozen layers, on switched-off layers and in layouts is all included. That is the behaviour you want when stripping a drawing you did not produce, and the reason to save first.
It uses AutoCAD’s own ERASE command, so an immediate U puts everything back — if you notice straight away. Save, run it, close the file, and the text is gone for good.
Command reference
The command is DELMTEXT. The file is called “Delete mtext.lsp” and the listing calls it Delete All Mtext, but DELMTEXT is what you type.
How to load it
Unzip the download and load the .lsp file with APPLOAD. Keep it out of the Startup Suite — a command that clears every note in the drawing is not one you want a keystroke away by accident. Our AutoLISP guide covers loading.
Step-by-step usage
- Save, or work on a copy.
- Type DELMTEXT. All multiline text is erased at once.
- Run the single-line text stripper as well if you want the drawing properly cleared.
- Check your layouts and frozen layers, since those were included.
- If it was a mistake, type U immediately.
Compatibility notes
Six lines of very basic AutoLISP driving ERASE. There is nothing in it that can age.
No dialog boxes and no Express Tools calls, so nothing requires the full product; LT users on LT 2024 or later, the release that brought AutoLISP to LT, should be able to run it. See what runs on AutoCAD LT. If you would rather have one command that clears both text types, merging the two files is a two-line job — the filter accepts a list.
Download
| Name: | Delete All Mtext |
| Description: | Erase all Mtext in a drawing. |
| Type: | AutoCAD AutoLISP Routine |
| Author: | Anon |
| File Size: | 1 Kb |
| Cost: | Free |
| Worked on: | AutoCAD |
| Download File: | Delete mtext.zip |
Related routines
- Delete All Text — the other half of the pair.
- Delete All Leaders — strips leaders the same way.
- Delete All Dimensions — and dimensions.