Last updated July 29, 2026
Written by YZ, 18 May 2002
At least applies to:
- AutoCAD 2002
Problem:
A drawing holds a number of blocks internally. I am using the ADC (AutoCAD Design Center) to drag and drop them into a new drawing. However, the thumbnails previews of the blocks are not showing up – why?
Reason:
In the AutoCAD Design Center, blocks created in older versions of AutoCAD will not display icons or thumbnails. These blocks receive a typical thumbnail instead of an actual picture of the block.
Solution:
The BLOCKICON command will create the thumbnails for the blocks that has the typical thumbnail.
To restore block thumbnails:
- Open the drawing that contains blocks that displays the typical thumbnails in the DesignCenter.
- Type BLOCKICON at the command line and press, ENTER.
- At the “Enter block name (*)” prompt, enter an asterisk (*) or press ENTER to update all blocks, or enter the name of the block you want to update. These blocks now have a pictured thumbnail.