Tutorial 0: Signing In and Switching Users

Sign in to AutoCAD with your Autodesk ID, learn the one-device-at-a-time rule, and switch the signed-in user when you move to a second workstation or hand one over.

This is the lesson before lesson 1. ConstructiVision runs inside AutoCAD, so AutoCAD has to be signed in and licensed before any ConstructiVision command will open. Most people do this once and never think about it again — until the day they sit at a second machine, and AutoCAD refuses to start. This lesson covers both: the first sign-in, and the switch.

Note

Two different sign-ins, two different accounts. This lesson is about your Autodesk ID — the one that licenses AutoCAD itself. Linking your workstation to your SimpleStruct account (which carries your ConstructiVision print license) is a separate step, covered in Getting Started Step 2 and Pair your workstation. You need both, and they are not the same account.

What you will do

Sign in to AutoCAD with your Autodesk ID and confirm ConstructiVision loads. Then deliberately switch the signed-in user and sign back in — so that when you need to do it under pressure, on a second machine or a shared workstation, you already know where the control is.

Before you start

  • AutoCAD installed, and an Autodesk ID with a licence assigned to it.

  • Your Autodesk ID sign-in details. If your company bought the licence, your account administrator assigns it to your email address — you sign in as yourself, not as the company.

  • An internet connection for the first sign-in. AutoCAD re-checks the licence periodically after that, so it cannot stay offline forever.

  • About 10 minutes.

No previous lesson is required — this is where the curriculum starts.

The one rule that catches everyone

A single-user Autodesk subscription lets you install the software on up to three devices, but you may only run it on one device at a time. Running two sessions at once, on two different machines, under the same Autodesk ID is not permitted under Autodesk’s Terms of Use.

That single rule explains almost every licence problem you will meet:

  • The office desktop still has AutoCAD open, so the laptop will not start.

  • Two people share one ID, so whoever starts second gets locked out.

  • You moved machines without signing out, so the licence is still checked out elsewhere.

The fix is always one of two things: close AutoCAD on the other machine, or use a second licence assigned to a second person. Two people working at the same time need two licences — there is no way to make one licence cover two simultaneous users.

Lesson

Step 1 — Start AutoCAD and sign in

  1. Start AutoCAD. On a machine that has never been signed in, AutoCAD presents the Autodesk sign-in screen before it opens a drawing.

  2. Enter the email address your licence is assigned to, then your password. Complete two-factor authentication if your account uses it.

  3. Wait for AutoCAD to finish opening. The first sign-in takes noticeably longer than later starts — it is contacting Autodesk to check out the licence.

Tip

Signed in but the wrong account? That is normal on a machine someone else set up. Skip to Step 4 — switching users is the same procedure whether you are fixing a mistake or handing the machine over.

Step 2 — Confirm you are signed in

Look at the top-right corner of the AutoCAD window. When you are signed in, your name or initials appear there. Click it and you will see the account you are signed in as.

Check the email shown is the one your licence is assigned to. A surprising number of licence problems are simply the wrong account — a personal Autodesk ID created years ago, signed in out of habit, with no licence on it.

Step 3 — Confirm ConstructiVision loaded

  1. Confirm the CV menu appears in the menu bar and the ConstructiVision toolbar is visible. If the toolbar is missing, choose CV → Show CV Toolbar.

  2. Click any ConstructiVision command and confirm its dialog opens, then close it.

If AutoCAD started but ConstructiVision did not load, that is an installation matter rather than a sign-in one — see Getting Started.

Step 4 — Switch to a different user

This is the part worth practising before you need it. Do it now, on purpose:

  1. Click your name in the top-right corner of the AutoCAD window.

  2. Choose Sign Out. AutoCAD releases the licence and returns to the signed-out state. Save your work first — signing out ends the licensed session.

  3. Close AutoCAD completely.

  4. Start AutoCAD again. The sign-in screen appears.

  5. Sign in with the other Autodesk ID — the second person’s, or your own if you are taking the machine back.

The licence follows the account, not the machine. Whoever signs in brings their own licence with them, which is why a shared workstation works fine as long as only one person is signed in at a time.

Step 5 — Recognise a licence failure when you see one

Learn the symptom so you do not misdiagnose it later. When AutoCAD cannot check out a licence, it does not show a tidy error and quit. It starts, gets partway, and then stops — you see the AutoCAD window appear, but it never finishes loading, and a sign-in or licence message sits in front of it waiting for an answer.

The distinction that matters: AutoCAD looking frozen on startup is usually a licence prompt, not a crash. Do not force-quit and retry — look for the dialog, and read what it is asking. Retrying without reading it just reproduces the same stop.

If it will not clear, work through it in this order:

  1. Is AutoCAD open on another machine under the same account? Close it there.

  2. Is the account shown the one your licence is assigned to? If not, sign out and back in (Step 4).

  3. Has your subscription lapsed, or has the licence been reassigned to someone else? Your account administrator can confirm.

Check your result

You should now be able to verify all of the following:

  • AutoCAD starts and reaches a drawing without stopping on a sign-in or licence prompt.

  • Your name appears in the top-right corner, and the account shown is the one your licence is assigned to.

  • The CV menu and ConstructiVision toolbar are present, and a ConstructiVision dialog opens and closes normally.

  • You have signed out and signed back in at least once, so you know where the control is.

Where next

Note

This lesson has no companion video, by design. Recording it would mean filming an account sign-in, and no tutorial should put credential entry on screen. The written steps above are the complete lesson.