How to Uninstall Collaborative Designer for SOLIDWORKS (Design with SOLIDWORKS)
In most cases, a standard uninstall is sufficient to remove 3DEXPERIENCE Collaborative Designer for SOLIDWORKS (aka Design with SOLIDWORKS) or to resolve unexpected behavior that you may have identified to be an installation problem and then reinstall. In very rare cases, you may need to perform a thorough or clean uninstall.
Note: This guide is for Collaborative Designer for SOLIDWORKS (aka Design with SOLIDWORKS) and is not intended for SOLIDWORKS Connected. 3DEXPERIENCE SOLIDWORKS Connected requires different steps as detailed in our guide How to Uninstall 3DEXPERIENCE SOLIDWORKS Connected.
Standard Uninstall/Repair
In most cases, a standard uninstall/repair is sufficient to resolve a problem that you have identified to be an installation problem.
- Right-click the Windows Start menu and select Installed Apps (or navigate to Windows Settings > Apps > Apps &Features). For Windows 10, navigate to Control Panel > Programs > Programs and Features > Uninstall a Program.
- Uninstall ‘Dassault Systems xCAD Connectors R20XXx’.
- Reinstall Design with SOLIDWORKS to see if the behavior has been resolved.
Intermediate Uninstall/Repair
In some cases, a standard uninstall may not be sufficient, and you may need to perform a more comprehensive uninstall to resolve unexpected behavior.
- Perform steps 1 and 2 of the Standard Uninstall/Repair procedure from above.
- Uninstall the following (in no particular order):
a.Dassault Systèmes Software VC11 Prerequisites x86-x64
b. Microsoft Visual C++ 2015-2022 Redistributable (x64)
c. Microsoft Visual C++ 2025-2022 Redistributable (x86)
- Reinstall Design with SOLIDWORKS to see if the behavior has been resolved.
Note: You can download the latest version of Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable from:
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-US/cpp/windows/latest-supported-vc-redist
Advanced Full/Clean Uninstall (fully remove the software)
In extremely rare cases, or if you want to fully remove the software from your machine, you will need to perform a complete uninstall.
- Perform steps 1 and 2 of the Intermediate Uninstall/repair procedure from above.
- Uninstall the following (in no particular order):
a. 3DEXPERIENCE Launcher (NOTE: There are other 3DEXPERIENCE applications required for SOLIDWORKS Desktop in general. Only uninstall 3DEXPERIENCE Launcher).
b. For 3DEXPERIENCE R2022x FD02 and older versions with Java Runtime Environment – uninstall the one you have installed:
i. IBM Semeru Runtime Open Edition 11.X.XX+X (x64)
ii. AdoptOpenJDK JRE with Eclipse OpenJ9 11.X.XX+X (x64)
iii. Java(TM) SE Development Kit 11.X.XX (64-bit)
- Delete the following folders:
NOTE: Some of these folders are deleted by step 2 or may not exist in your environment, and some of these folders contain important user data like downloaded media, document templates, databases, and design library files. Create a backup of the %public% and %programdata% folders before deletion.
a. C:\3DEXPERIENCE
b. programfiles%\Dassault Systemes\BXXXxcadconnectors (or which ever folder the software was installed to)
c. %public%\Documents\Dassault Systemes
d. %programdata%\DassaultSystemes
e. %appdata%\DassaultSystemes
f. %localappdata%\DassaultSystemes
g. %localappdata%\SolidWorks\swcefcache
h. %temp%\swcefcache - Delete the following registry keys (Windows administrative rights are required):
CAUTION: Incorrect changes to the Windows Registry can cause installed applications or Windows to fail. Use caution when making changes to the Windows Registry, or have an IT professional make these changes for you.
a. HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Dassault Systemes\SolidWorksPDM
b. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Dassault Systemes\SolidWorksPDM - (Optional) If you are removing 3DEXPERIENCE Collaborative Designer for SOLIDWORKS and SOLIDWORKS Desktop from your machine, then perform a clean uninstall of SOLIDWORKS Desktop. Otherwise, move on to the next step with SOLIDWORKS Desktop still installed.
- Reinstall Design with SOLIDWORKS to see if the behavior has been resolved.
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