We all now know about the free file converters that allow us to open old ArchiCAD files, but what about digging up old libraries…
Did you know you can download ALL the old ArchiCAD libraries? Well all the libraries from 4.55 to 9.0. ArchiCAD 10 to ArchiCAD 14 libraries are included in ArchiCAD 15 as Migration Libraries, so you don’t need to download them in their entirety. I believe all versions starting with ArchiCAD 11 come with migration libraries for ArchiCAD 10 and above.
I wish I knew about these library downloads 6 months ago when I was trying to look at an old 6.5 file. It was a pain because I could open the file with 8.1, but I didn’t have the old libraries on either my machine or the server. Oh well. I know now. This just reminds me that Graphisoft has a ton of useful information out there for us. Sometimes it’s just a treasure hunt to find them.
Here are the (now dead) links:
http://www.graphisoft.com/support/archicad/downloads/libraries/USA.html
http://www.graphisoft.com/support/archicad/downloads/libraries/INT.html
I presume there are similar links for the other language versions of ArchiCAD. If you find them, let me know and I’ll add them to the list above.
UPDATE 4/4/2023:
Sometime in 2023 GRAPHISOFT updated their download page. As of today there are links to download versions back to Archicad 18. Who knows what this will look like in the future, but at least as of today, if you need any version of Archicad released since 2014, you’re in luck. It’s worth noting that only Archicad 20 and newer have their updates available. Here’s the link.
UPDATE 10/19/2020:
The links above to the old libraries are now dead. That’s super frustrating. There’s no reason that GRAPHISOFT needed to take those down. As of right now, if you need ancient Archicad libraries, you are out of luck. If you need the USA or INT Library from Archicad 18 or newer, I can help you. The Shoegnome Open Template FAQ has a download link for USA and INT libraries as far back as Archicad 18. I’ll of course update this post if/when I get new information.
UPDATE 02/11/2020:
There used to be a trick to download old versions of ARCHICAD via Myarchicad.com. Unfortunately that’s no longer working. If you ever downloaded an old version of ARCHICAD via Myarchicad.com you can still access those downloads, but the links to other versions are no longer as easily accessible as they once were.
Because of that change I’ve deleted the instructions on this post that explained how to access those files. If I ever learn of a new way to access old versions of ARCHICAD, I’ll update this post again.
UPDATE 04/11/2015:
Need the INT or USA Library for the current version of ArchiCAD (ArchiCAD 18 as of this update)? I can help you out. Check out the Shoegnome Open Template FAQ for download links. You are familiar with the Shoegnome Open Template, right?
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