Hello Kicad Team,
I am new to KiCAD and I have a question. There are male connectors in the symbols list and I am looking for female connectors in the symbols but couldn’t find it. Can you please guide me regarding this?
Thank you and Best Regards
What connector are you looking for?
You can choose something like the conn_01_02_pin for male, and conn_01_02_socket for female but generally you can use conn_01_02 and then choose a male or female footprint (Connector_PinHeader / Connector_PinSocket)
Put a space in the right place in your search string. This cuts the string into individual words that KiCad searches for.
KiCad does not have many connectors, but in the generic connector library there are “pins” and “sockets”.
Also, some years ago I was interested in Python and I spend an afternoon to write a python script to output a connector library. It created a connector library with connectors from one to 30 or so pins, and with the custom graphics I liked. But overall, it probably would have been less work to just draw them all manually.
Thank you all!
Actually what I am looking for is the connector body which can be either male/female and then insert the actual connector diagrams. I tried searching for the female receptacle but couldn’t find it.
I’m not sure your needs, however in the schematic editor the symbol graphics have no meaning.
I could use a generic 6 position header and it could be either male or female. The only thing that matters is what footprint you assign to it in the footprint assignments page.
A little ridiculous but to show a point, You could use a 6 pin IC symbol and assign a 6 pin connector footprint and Kicad will be happy, and you board will be correct.
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It used to be that there were pin and socket connector symbols in the KiCad library but now there are just generic connector symbols. I noticed this when upgrading my pre-v7 projects. But of course there are still separate pin and socket footprints in the library.
There still are, see my previous screenshot.
But as JohnRob mentioned. It’s just graphics on the screen. Nothing of these graphics in the Schematic matters for the PCB. The only information that goes from the schematic to the PCB is:
- Footprint.
- Netlist.
- Pin mapping.
True, but I still use the correct pins (male or female) that will correspond to the connector footprint and part mounted to the board.
Old habits die hard.
Don’t let it die, it’s a good habit. Everything that adds information to a schematic to make it clearer (but without overcrowding) is good.
For posterity, KiCad has connector symbols for “pins” and “sockets”.
For some connector types there are also “plugs” and “receptacles”, which is yet another way to say “male” and “female”
By default neither of these have footprints assigned. Connectors are always a bit problematic. The connecting part of a connector is standardized, but the PCB footprints definitely are not. There are over 100 different footprints for micro USB connectors for example.
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Thank you all! I am looking for the female receptacle in connectors and it is not for the PCB layout design application.
KiCad does not have those genedered versions with a box around it. The easiest way (except from ignoring it) is:
- Use the version without box in your schematic.
- Hover mouse cursor over it and press Ctrl + E] to edit it in the symbol editor.
- Draw a box around it. (and maybe some other fancy graphics).
- Close the symbol editor (KiCad will ask you whether you want to update the schematic with your changes.
- (Optionally) put this modified symbol in a personal library. This will prevent your modifications from getting deleted by accident (for example by updating the symbols from their libraries) and it makes it easier to use it in other projects.
Thank you! For wire splicing is there any symbol ?
In my previous job, the components library used to say things like “9 way Male connector with socket contacts” for a DB-9. Being specific with connectors gets complicated. Even worse with pin numbering options on a DIN41612 body.
Not clear what you are requesting. A “wire splice” would not be on the PCB. You will likely have to make some other symbol.
I use the two Symbols below - too simple to make so, I won’t post them: you can make them or similar (to your preference…) in less than 3-Minutes. I haven’t made Footprints for them but, I might make them for next project…
Are you (ab)using KiCad for drawing wiring looms?
I did. it worked well. 
Drew the entire wiring system for my tractor: Indicator flasher can, ignition switch, starter motor, fuse box, wiring harnesses, lighting etc.
The schematic program in conjunction with a personal library and a little ingenuity can be thoroughly abused quite successfully. 
Hi, could you show us the results, and may be even publish you symbol lib ?
I’m thinking of doing the same thing to reprensent the wiring of a robot with it’s mutliple PCB.
In another topic I’ve found this
It does look nice, but this would be a lot of work to do.
I’ll probably check https://qelectrotech.org/ and Wirewiz, to see what is possible with these.