Bluebeam Revu Main Errors – Solution

Bluebeam Revu is the standard-bearer for PDF markup and collaboration in the AEC (Architecture, Engineering, and Construction) industry, but like any complex software, it encounters specific operational hurdles. Errors often stem from conflicts with Windows system services, corrupted user profiles, or strict network security blocking licensing ports. This guide covers the most prevalent error codes and performance issues identified in 2025 and 2026, providing verified technical solutions to get your workflow back on track.

Common Errors

• Error 105: Connection failure during license registration or unregistration
• "Revu has stopped working": Crash occurring immediately upon opening or closing a file
• "The document could not be saved": File access error often caused by Windows File Explorer
• Bluebeam PDF Printer Missing: The printer driver disappears or fails to appear in other applications
• Rendering Lag: Significant delays when zooming or panning complex vector drawings
• OCR Freezing: The software hangs when processing large document sets

Fix 1: Registration Error 105

This error occurs when Revu cannot communicate with the licensing server, usually due to a firewall or proxy blocking the connection. The immediate workaround is a manual authorization.

1. Disconnect the computer from the internet (unplug ethernet or disable Wi-Fi)
2. Open Revu and navigate to the Registration screen
3. Enter your Serial Number and Product Key, then click Register
4. When the error appears, click Get Authorization Code Manually
5. Copy the provided code and visit the activation URL on a different device (like a smartphone) to generate your unlocking code
6. Enter this code back into Revu to complete the process

Fix 2: Crash "Revu has stopped working"

If Revu crashes specifically when opening or closing files, the root cause is frequently a corrupted User Profile within the software.

1. Open Revu without opening a PDF document
2. Go to Revu > Profiles > Manage Profiles
3. Select a different profile (e.g., switch from "Revu" to "Advanced") and click OK
4. Try opening a PDF; if it works, your original profile is corrupt
5. Return to Manage Profiles, select the corrupt profile, and click Delete
6. Create a new profile or import a backup to restore your tool sets

Fix 3: Save Error "File is locked by another user"

This generic Windows error specifically plagues Bluebeam users when the Windows File Explorer Preview Pane has "hooked" the PDF, preventing Revu from writing changes to it.

1. Close the error message in Revu
2. Open Windows File Explorer (Win + E)
3. Click the View tab in the ribbon menu
4. Click Preview pane to disable it (ensure it is not highlighted)
5. Wait 10 seconds for the system to release the file handle
6. Return to Revu and attempt to save the document again

Fix 4: Missing Bluebeam PDF Printer

If the "Bluebeam PDF" option vanishes from the printer list in AutoCAD, Revit, or Word, the port monitor typically requires a restart.

1. Close Revu and all other applications
2. Click Start, type Bluebeam Administrator, and right-click to Run as administrator
3. Select the Printer tab
4. If the printer Name field is blank, click Reinstall Printer
5. Regardless of the name field, click Restart in the Port Monitor section (bottom right)
6. Launch your application and verify the printer has reappeared

Fix 5: Slow Rendering & Lag

High-resolution drawings can cause stuttering. Adjusting the rendering engine forces Revu to utilize your hardware more efficiently.

1. Press Ctrl + K to open Preferences
2. Select Advanced from the left menu and go to the 2D Rendering tab
3. Change the Rendering Engine to Hardware (or "Software" if Hardware was already selected—sometimes the inverse works better for specific GPUs)
4. Change Rendering Mode to Wait for completion (this stops the screen from trying to redraw every millisecond while you pan)
5. Click OK and restart Revu

Fix 6: OCR Freezing on Large Sets

When Optical Character Recognition (OCR) hangs on a large set of plans, it is often choking on memory allocation for the entire batch.

1. Go to Document > OCR
2. Look for the Page Chunk Size setting in the dialog options
3. Change the value to 1 (this forces the engine to process and dump memory for one page at a time)
4. Run the OCR process again; it may be slightly slower but will be significantly more stable

Prevention Tips

• Export Profile Backups: Regularly export your Profile (Revu > Profiles > Manage > Export) to a safe network location to recover tool sets quickly after a crash.
• Disable Preview Pane: Keep the Windows Preview Pane disabled by default on workstations that heavily edit PDFs.
• Split Large Files: For documents over 500 pages, use the "Split Document" feature to break them into manageable chapters to reduce rendering load.

When to Contact Support

If the solutions above fail, you may need to contact Bluebeam technical support. This is necessary if you suspect a license seat is "stuck" on a decommissioned computer or if you encounter persistent "Fatal Error" messages that reinstalling does not fix. Before contacting them, open the Bluebeam Administrator, go to the Logging tab, click Email Logs to Support, and save the zip file to attach to your ticket.