TRACE Boardviewer
Free EAGLE viewer: open .brd and .sch files without EAGLE
Autodesk stopped selling and supporting EAGLE on 7 June 2026, and EAGLE licensing ended with it (Autodesk's announcement). Your old projects are still there: EAGLE 6 and later save boards (.brd) and schematics (.sch) as plain XML files.
TRACE Boardviewer opens both for free and offline. It shows the board and the schematic side by side and links them part by part and net by net. It is a viewer, built for repair and reference, not an editor.
What TRACE shows from an EAGLE project
Boards (.brd, EAGLE XML). Validated with real files: the SparkFun RedBoard (EAGLE 7.7) and a 35 MB EAGLE 7.5 production panel, plus synthetic EAGLE 9.x test files.
- Parts, pads, signals (nets) and the board outline.
- Mirrored parts are placed on the bottom side.
- SMD pads (rectangular, square, fully round) and round or square through-hole pads keep their exact shape. Through-hole pads are tested with synthetic files only. Other pad shapes are drawn as their bounding rectangle and counted as approximated, so you know which ones they are.
- On the real files, element, pad, signal and contact counts and net names equal an independent reading of the files, and signal wires end on their pads.
Schematics (.sch, EAGLE XML). Validated with the real SparkFun RedBoard schematic. Test files cover EAGLE 6.5 to 9.7.
- Every sheet, with the nets the file declares.
- Pin numbers come from the device's board pads, so schematic pins and board pads match exactly.
Together. Attach the schematic to the board and TRACE links them by exact reference and net names. On the RedBoard, all 48 schematic nets carry the board's names. Anything that does not match is listed for you to check, never guessed.
Add the PDF datasheets too. One search then finds a part or a net on the board, on the schematic and in the PDF text. Notes on a part or a pin keep your measured values with the board. The getting started guide shows each step with screenshots.
Open an EAGLE project in TRACE
- Download TRACE: a portable Windows EXE, the experimental macOS build for Apple silicon, or the experimental Linux packages (.deb and AppImage).
- Press Ctrl+O (Cmd+O on a Mac) and choose the
.brdfile, or drag it into the window. - Attach the matching
.schand any PDF datasheets with the Attach buttons in the Schematic and Documents tabs, or drop the files into the window. TRACE remembers them for this board. - Press Ctrl+F to search for a part (
U3), a value (10k) or a net (VIN). Ctrl+\ shows the board and the schematic side by side. Alt+1 and Alt+2 switch between them (Option on a Mac).
Your files are read on your computer and never modified or uploaded.
What TRACE does not do
- No editing, no routing, no Gerber or CAM export. To keep working on a design, move it to an EDA tool (below).
- EAGLE libraries (
.lbr) are not opened. - EAGLE "modules" (hierarchical designs) are not supported; TRACE shows a warning.
- Bus members are not expanded; schematic connectivity comes only from the nets the file declares.
- A board file that holds a panel of several boards keeps only the largest outline.
- Boards saved by EAGLE 5.12 or earlier use an older binary format and cannot be read.
- Files over 64 MiB are refused with a clear message.
Your options now that EAGLE is gone
| You want to | Options |
|---|---|
| Keep designing and editing | KiCad (free, open source) imports EAGLE projects; its documentation lists EAGLE 6.x or newer in XML format. Autodesk Fusion's Electronics workspace is the route Autodesk points EAGLE users to. It is a commercial product, so check Autodesk's current licence terms. |
| View, inspect or repair a board, offline and free | TRACE Boardviewer: board and schematic side by side, with search, cross-probing and notes. |
| Take a quick look in a browser | Online viewers exist; for example, the Altium 365 Viewer lists EAGLE SCH and BRD among its formats. Check how a web viewer handles your files before you use it on a design you cannot share. |
Common questions
Can TRACE convert my EAGLE project to KiCad?
No. Use KiCad's own EAGLE importer for that. TRACE is for viewing, and it also opens the converted project: see the KiCad PCB viewer page.
Is it really free?
Yes. TRACE is MIT-licensed open source, with no account, no paid tier and no telemetry.
My .brd will not open. Is it an EAGLE file at all?
.brd is also used by classic repair boardviews and by Cadence Allegro. See How to open a .brd file. TRACE identifies the format by its content and tells you what it found, or that the file matched none of its formats.
Is TRACE the only free option?
No. Boardview software compared lists other free boardviewers and says what each one opens.
Product names are trademarks of their owners. They are used here only to identify file formats and programs; TRACE is not affiliated with any of them.