MicroSurvey embeddedCAD 2026

MicroSurvey brings intuitive calculation tools for land surveyors to popular drafting platforms, including BricsCAD®, IntelliCAD and AutoCAD®.  MicroSurvey embeddedCAD 2026 runs on the AutoCAD OEM 2026 engine, which provides the latest and greatest from Autodesk, including updates to the start page and a new menu by the drawing tabs.

What’s New in Version 26.0

What’s New

• Now running the latest AutoCAD OEM 2026 engine for the best performance and stability from Autodesk.
• For floating cloud license customers: we are now populating the computer ID field in our online license management system. This allows you to can see which computer has checked a license out for offline use, and which computers are accessing your license.

What’s Improved

• We resolved many infrequent issues with our cloud-based licensing system to ensure licensing will not get in the way of your work, and your license will be available when you need it.
• When checking a floating network license out for offline use, we now present a confirmation dialog to confirm that the user understands they are taking that license from their available pool of license seats and it will not be available for others to use until it is checked back in, or the time period has elapsed.

 

Bug Fixes

• With the increase of label styles in the 2025 release, the configuration file (*.cfg) for exchanging presets between installations and versions of MicroSurvey embeddedCAD was not working. We have replaced the *.cfg file with a *.msz which contains all the necessary label style information, and can now read the *.cfg from previous releases.
• The MS_RESCALE command would incorrectly scale ellipses drawn around point IDs.
• Point coordinates in the active coordinate editor were not being updated in some operations in the program. Mostly commonly the Shift Points (SHIFTP), and Rotate Translate Scale (RTS) commands. The coordinates were correct in the point database, would be exported correctly, and would be displayed correctly when the Active Coordinate Editor was closed and reopened.
• When processing XYZ linework with the Active Coordinate Editor open, some datasets would cause a crash.

Important Notes

 

Compatibility and Upgrades

MicroSurvey embeddedCAD will read and write to *.DWG drawing files and our *.MSZ database interchangeably with our other CAD products: MicroSurvey CAD, inCAD, and SurveyTools for BricsCAD. There are no compatibility issues or workarounds required to use saved MicroSurvey databases between these products. We have supported the *.MSZ format since 2008, and offer conversion utilities for older formats which are described here.

Activating or Updating your USB License Key

Software licenses are stored on the USB key.  These must be activated after a new purchase, and usually require manual updates when new versions of MicroSurvey embeddedCAD are released.

The process is the same for both; click here for detailed instructions.

The USB License Manager program is automatically installed with MicroSurvey embeddedCAD; it can be found in the embeddedCAD folder in your start menu.  Open it with your USB key inserted and click the “Update Key with New Information” button.

You must have an internet connection to use the USB License Manager.  You may download the program and install it on another computer to update keys when corporate policy and firewalls prevent access from your work network.

Customer Care Package (CCP)

In 2025, the Annual Maintenance Subscription (AMS) program was renamed to the Customer Care Package (CCP).

If your CCP has expired, you may not be able to update your key to the current version of MicroSurvey embeddedCAD.

For a detailed explanation of the CCP program and how we use product numbers and USB keys to license our software, please review the following article.

Each USB key and floating license has a different CCP plan, so multiple USB keys or floating licenses may not have the same expiry date.

You can confirm your CCP expiry date by reviewing the About screen found in the Help menu.

If your CCP has expired, you can phone us at 1-800-668-3312 or 1-250-707-0000 to renew it. Without a current customer care package plan, you may not be able to update your key to work with the new version.

 

MicroSurvey License Portal for Floating License Users

If you have purchased a floating license, you may visit our license page to review usage statistics on your license.

After purchase, you will be asked to create a login for the portal.

Log in to the portal, click "Licenses & Activations", then the desired license to review its details.

MicroSurvey License Server for Network License Users

If you have purchased a network license, you must download and install a copy of the MicroSurvey Network License software on your intended license server computer.

A password is required to install the License Server.

System Requirements

MicroSurvey embeddedCAD 2026 is compatible with 64-bit versions of Windows 10 and Windows 11.

A free USB port is required for the USB License Key (local workstation or network server)

Full administrator rights are required to install MicroSurvey embeddedCAD 2026, but it can be run by limited user accounts

For detailed system requirements and recommendations, please review this online article.

Run as Administrator

You must run the program at least once elevated with "Run as administrator" access

Clicking “Run” from the installation package does this automatically

If this step is skipped, you may run as administrator by doing the following:

Right click on the MicroSurvey embeddedCAD 2026 icon.

Choose "Run as administrator".

Select "Yes" on the "User Account Control" dialog when prompted to allow the program to make changes to your computer.

After this step is complete, you may run the program from any user account on the computer, even if they do not have administrative privileges.