Getting started

1. Download and install

1. Download the installer from vectorcadmep.com/download — always the latest version (about 56 MB, Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit).
2. Run VectorCAD-…-setup.exe. It installs for your Windows user, so no administrator rights are needed, and nothing else needs installing: the .NET runtime is included. If Windows SmartScreen shows “Windows protected your PC”, choose More info → Run anyway.
3. Accept the license agreement, and keep Make VectorCAD the default app for .dwg files ticked if you want your drawings to open in VectorCAD with a double-click. DWG files then show the VectorCAD drawing icon.
4. If another program (AutoCAD, for example) is already your default for .dwg, Windows only lets you change that yourself: leave Choose VectorCAD for .dwg files in Windows Default apps ticked on the last page, then click the .dwg row on the page that opens and pick VectorCAD.
5. Start VectorCAD from the Start menu or the desktop shortcut. It is removed from Settings → Apps → Installed apps, which also gives .dwg back to the program you had before.

Prefer no installer? The portable zip holds the same program: extract it to a folder you can write to and start VectorCAD.exe (it does not register itself for DWG files).

2. Start the trial or enter your key

The first time it starts, VectorCAD asks for a license. Choose Start 7-day trial to use the whole program — VectorMEP included — for 7 days on that PC, or enter the license key from your purchase page. An internet connection is needed once; after that VectorCAD works offline. See Licenses and the trial.

3. Open the sample project

Download the sample building and open it with OPEN (Ctrl+O). It opens in a shaded 3D view; the layout tabs at the bottom hold one sheet per discipline (Architecture, HVAC, Plumbing, Electrical). See The sample project.

4. Choose a workspace

The workspace button in the title bar switches the ribbon: Drafting & Annotation for 2D, 3D Basics and 3D Modeling for solids, and MEP for building services — Home, the Essentials tab with the AutoCAD commands an installation engineer uses every day on the architect's drawing (references, layers, drawing, editing, measuring, annotating, blocks, plotting), then the VM tabs with the MEP commands.