DXF is a proprietary CAD data format for 2D drawings that originated with AutoCAD. More details can be found on the DXF wiki page.
Since FreeCAD version 0.18 there is a new C++ DXF importer, and since version 0.19 also a new C++ DXF exporter. These new components are installed with FreeCAD.
To use the older, legacy, DXF importer and exporter you need to install several files. These files cannot be included with FreeCAD since they use libraries published under a license that is not compatible with FreeCAD.
If the files are not already installed, go to the menu Edit → Preferences → Import-Export → DXF and enable the option Allow FreeCAD to automatically download and update the DXF libraries to make FreeCAD automatically download and install them.
For FreeCAD 0.14 or older you have to install manually:
/home/your_user_name/.FreeCAD
C:\Users\your_user_name\AppData\Roaming\FreeCAD
Sometimes DXF Files don't import although they open in other CAD-Programs without problems.
You can try:
You can also try:
For an overview of all DXF related preferences see Import Export Preferences.