Revit Tag Linked Model: Tag All and Individual Tags (2026–2027)

On federated BIM projects, architectural, structural, and MEP disciplines often live in separate Revit files, or a sheet-production model links in the live MEP model. You can tag ducts, pipes, equipment, and rooms inside those linked files directly from your host views without copying elements into your file.

How to tag linked elements in Revit

1. Open the host view where the linked elements are visible. Press VG (or VV), check the Revit Links tab to confirm the link is loaded and visible, and check Model Categories and Annotation Categories.
2. Load the tag families into your host project under Annotate, Tag panel, Loaded Tags and Symbols.
3. To tag one linked element: Go to Annotate, Tag by Category (shortcut TG) and hover over the element in the link. If a host element sits in front of it, press Tab until the linked element highlights, then click.
4. To tag every linked element in the view: Go to Annotate, Tag All. Choose All objects in current view, tick Include elements from linked files, select the tag categories, and click OK.
5. Check the placed tags for overlaps and readability.

Why Tag All skips linked elements (and how to fix it)

When Include elements from linked files is ticked and Tag All still places nothing on the link, check these three gates:

• The link is set to Underlay. Press VG, open Revit Links, and check the Underlay checkbox next to the link. Autodesk documents that Tag All skips Underlay elements by design, even when Tag by Category works on them. Untick Underlay (tick Halftone instead if you want the link to print faint) and run Tag All again.
• The view Discipline treats the link as an underlay. If the view's Discipline (for example, Architectural or Structural vs Mechanical) causes the linked elements to behave as underlay geometry, switch the view Discipline to Coordination while tagging, then restore your view settings.
• Shared parameter GUID mismatch. If the tag places and shows ?, the tag label may use a custom shared parameter. On a linked element, the host tag family and the linked model must use the exact same shared parameter GUID, not just the same parameter name. See fixing missing tags and question marks.

For the full troubleshooting checklist, see Revit Tag All not working.

What happens when the linked model updates?

Tags placed on linked elements are stored in your host model:

• Element moves in the link. When you reload the link, the tag moves with its host element (and may now overlap adjacent geometry in your view).
• Element is deleted or replaced in the link. The tag loses its host, becomes orphaned, and displays ?. Go to Collaborate, Coordinate, Reconcile Hosting to review orphaned tags, rehost them with Pick New Host, or delete them.
• Link is unloaded vs removed. Unloading a link hides its tags until the link is reloaded. Removing the link deletes its hosted tags from the project.

See how to update tags after model changes for handling revision cycles.

Automated linked-model tagging with RayCAD (coming soon)

Coming soon: RayCAD for Revit is building automated tagging for linked MEPF models from the host drawing, applying your firm's tag families and placement rules across linked ducts, pipes, and equipment.

Linked-model tagging is not in RayCAD yet. Use Revit's native Tag by Category and Tag All steps above for linked files today. For how RayCAD tags elements in the active model without overlaps, see intelligent tag placement. Models shared through Autodesk Construction Cloud work as long as you can open them in Revit; see RayCAD with ACC.

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