FreeCAD: Your own 3D parametric modeler

FreeCAD 1.2 is under development, there is no expected released date yet.

FreeCAD 1.2 was released on D Month Year, get it from the Download page. This page lists all new features and changes.

Previous FreeCAD release notes can be found in the Feature list.

General

Multiple documents can now be edited simultaneously with independent tasks and undo/redo stacks, for example, having two Sketches open at the same time (GSoC project). Pull request #21978
.FCBak backup files can now be opened directly from the File → Open dialog without renaming them to .FCStd first. Saving such a file triggers Save As… to prevent accidentally overwriting the backup. Pull request #28454

User interface

Further user interface improvements

The built-in text editor now supports line selection via clicking on the line number (and optionally also holding Shift for range selection). Pull request #27677
In the built-in text editor, the search field is now prefilled with the currently selected text. Pull request #27674
Double-clicking a face of the navigation cube will now rotate to it, but also center the view. Pull request #28608
The Recompute Object Tree View context menu option (Std_Recompute command) now has a keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Shift+R. Pull request #27880
There is now a button and a shortcut to toggle the bottom panels (Report View and Python Console). Pull request #28598

Core system and API

Core

A new command to add an

Annotation Label to the last picked point in the 3D view was added.

Pull request #23673

A new

Mass Properties command has been added to calculate volume, mass, surface area, center of gravity, center of volume, and inertia for parts and assemblies, with support for custom reference frames and material-aware calculations.

Pull request #27347

Further Core improvements

The search bar in the Preferences is now able to search through tooltips, dropdown values, checkboxes and group titles. Pull request #24283
The Measure tool now has the option to display the measured result of circular elements as diameters instead of radii. Pull request #24853
The Measure tool now supports the measurement of the radius and diameter of cylindrical faces. Pull request #27044
On macOS the .FCStd files now support the native QuickLook extension to show a thumbnail of the file in the finder and the full preview. Pull request #25239
The Measurement units can now be converted and viewed on the fly. Pull request #27462
The Measure tool can now report the radius and diameter for circular faces in addition to the existing measurement types. Pull request #27415
The Measure tool now displays area units using unicode superscripts. Pull request #28044
Macros now support directories to collect the files associated with them. Pull request #27005

API

Removed Python API

Changed Python API

New Python API

Start

Addon Manager

Assembly Workbench

Further Assembly improvements

Solver messages (overconstraint reports) were added to the Assembly task panel. Pull request #24623
A new command has been added to select all joints associated with a chosen component. Pull request #27530

BIM Workbench

ToDo (last check: 20260412):

Further BIM improvements

CAM Workbench

Machine Library and Editor were added to the CAM Preferences. Machine-based postprocessing was also added. Machine definitions can also be implemented as add-ons.

Pull request #26533, Pull request #27507 and Pull request #28405

Further CAM improvements

The G-code export dialog now shows line numbers. Pull request #23862
The MillFace operation was reimplemented with significant improvements as MillFacing. Pull request #24367
SimpleCopy now allows multiple selection of operations. Pull request #24297
OCL Adaptive Algorithm was added to the Waterline operation. Pull request #23149
The Sorting Mode property was added to Profile and Pocket operations, allowing optional shape processing following the order of shape selection. Pull request #27410
Support for rest machining was added to the Adaptive operation. Pull request #27908
Hidden Approximation property was added to the DressupTag operation. It may significantly reduce the number of commands if the path contains non-horizontal arc moves (e.g., helix path). Pull request #28502
Tapping was removed as an experimental feature and consolidated into Drilling as a new strategy. Pull request #27506
Circular Hole operation was significantly improved, including a new C++ 2-Opt TSP solver with Python bindings for improved hole sorting performance as well as new sorting modes and manual reordering in the GUI. Pull request #23093
New style LineZFollow was added to the LeadInOut operation. It can be used as a replacement for ArcZFollow, as simpler and requiring less computation. Pull request #27986
It is now possible to manually set RetractThreshold in Profile and Pocket operations. Pull request #21738
Manual selection of faces or edges for Drilling or Helix Drilling operations is now possible. Pull request #27494
Helix operation, helix and spiral generators were improved to provide better results and allow more control. Pull request #21971
Auto-select for drillable faces was optimized and can now find cylinder faces that have more than 3 edges. Pull request #27585
The Optimize Linear Paths option was added to the Waterline OCL Adaptive Algorithm to remove unnecessary co-linear points from G-code output. Pull request #27040
The new CAM simulator was integrated as an MDI widget into the main window. Pull request #22204
The Copy Operation tool can now copy all operations and do it recursively. Pull request #24819
The Toggle Operation tool now supports Job and Operations groups. Pull request #24872
It is now possible to cancel G-code export. Pull request #25273
Tolerance can now be set for Tag Dressup, Engrave, and Deburr operations to change the precision of segmentation of complex shapes while creating a path. Pull request #26127 and Pull request #26128
Adaptive operation now automatically picks the diameter of the helix entrance. Pull request #23980
CAM task panels now support selecting shapes from different objects. Pull request #22304
Vcarve routing is now improved using "virtual edge backtracking". Pull request #25049
It is now possible to postprocess only selected Operations from the Job and select operations inside Dressup. Pull request #22764
The loop selection tool was improved and now returns the wire if edge(s) selected and other methods failed. Pull request #24185
A cooling feature was added to the Kinetic postprocessor. Pull request #25022
The Units (Metric/Imperial) property was added to ToolBits. Pull request #25783

Draft Workbench

ToDo (last check: 20260412):

Further Draft improvements

FEM Workbench

Several new tools extending the capabilities of the

Gmsh mesher with advanced refinements and transfinite algorithms were added. Thanks to the latter, hexahedral meshes can now be automatically created for all shapes whose subvolumes have 5 or 6 faces with 3 or 4 edges each.

Pull request #24792

Further FEM improvements

The Electric Charge Density load now has a Concentrated checkbox in the Total Source mode to use concentrated instead of distributed load (making it also applicable to edges and vertices) with CalculiX. Pull request #25237
The FEM results objects now support the animation of half cycles in addition to reversed full cycles. Pull request #24129
The Section Print feature now supports 2D models and electric flux in electrostatic analyses. Pull request #25081
The Neumann mode of the Electrostatic potential boundary condition can now be used to apply a magnetic flux density boundary condition. Pull request #25897
The Displace Mesh property was added to the refactored CalculiX solver, making it possible to view true scale deformation of the mesh without having to use the Warp filter. Pull request #27786
The addArrayFromFunction Python function was added, making it possible to create custom arrays based on the pipeline fields. Pull request #26076
A context menu command to clear mesh groups was added. Pull request #27945
A log verbosity preference was added for Elmer. Pull request #28058
The None Field Color property was added to the pipeline and filters to set the color when the displayed field is None (can be helpful e.g. when using the Glyph filter. Pull request #28028
All solver commands are now always shown (even if a given solver is not installed) and are grouped in the toolbar as well as in the menu. The default icon in the toolbar depends on the default solver selected in the Preferences. Pull request #28144
Material assignments are now read from the CalculiX's .frd results files. They can't be accessed in FreeCAD yet, but they can be visualized in ParaView upon conversion to .vtm format. Pull request #27847
The Non-linear mechanical material objects are now grouped under the Solid Material objects. The Geometrical Nonlinearity and Material Nonlinearity properties are now Boolean. The latter is enabled by default and only applied if any material in the analysis has a non-linear mechanical material object assigned to it. Otherwise, it is ignored. Pull request #27862
The Z-refinement algorithm of Netgen, allowing the creation of extruded meshes, now also supports shells. Pull request #28204
It is now possible to edit the input files for the meshers to add some custom commands for mesh generation, similar to what could already be done for the solvers. Some general preferences of the FEM Workbench were improved too. Pull request #27942
The Electrostatic potential boundary condition is now named Electromagnetic boundary condition. Some smaller renames were are done. Pull request #27614
The Z88 solver was refactored. It can be used with both open-source versions of Z88 - Z88OS and Z88Adria. It supports several element types and basic features for linear analyses. Pull request #28944
The Iterations Control Parameter Field property was added to the CalculiX solver to allow adjusting the convergence criteria. Pull request #29227
The Beam Reduced Integration property of the CalculiX solver was replaced by the generalized Reduced Integration property that replaces standard solid, face (shell, 2D) and beam elements with their reduced integration counterparts. Pull request #29223
The refactored CalculiX solver is now used by default. Pull request #29220
The Section print feature can now be used with the Z88 solver. Pull request #29188

Inspection Workbench

Further Inspection improvements

Material Workbench

Further Material improvements

The Material-Metals database has been extended with additional copper and copper-alloy materials. Pull request #25832
Material assignment via Std SetMaterial now wraps changes in a transaction, replacing the "Close" button with "OK" and "Cancel" to enable proper undo support. Pull request #27910

Mesh Workbench

Further Mesh improvements

OpenSCAD Workbench

Further OpenSCAD improvements

Part Workbench

Further Part improvements

A new method has been added to split a B-spline curve into two curves at a given parameter. Pull request #26716

Part Design Workbench

Support for cosmetic threads (thread textures) was added to the

Hole tool. They can be enabled using the Cosmetic Thread property (Threaded has to be enabled and Model Thread must be disabled).

Pull request #22573

Further Part Design improvements

Interactive draggers now support configurable coarse snapping, allowing larger steps by default with a modifier key (e.g. Shift) for fine movement; the snap step sizes and modifier key are configurable in the preferences. Pull request #28384
Interactive dragger was added to the Draft tool. Pull request #27111
Interactive draggers were added to the Sphere, Box and Cylinder primitive tools. Pull request #23700
Multi-selection is now supported for the Additive and Subtractive Pipe path edges list. Pull request #27962
Now unhiding a Body with no visible features also unhides its tip. Pull request #24887

Points Workbench

Further Points improvements

Reverse Engineering Workbench

Further Reverse Engineering improvements

Robot Workbench

Further Robot improvements

Sketcher Workbench

Thanks to AstoCAD, a

text tool was added to Sketcher, making it possible to create text geometries controlled by a special Text constraint.

Pull request #22217

Click on the image if the animation does not start.

Thanks to AstoCAD, a new

Group constraint was added to Sketcher, allowing the geometries to be grouped and moved or constrained together.