Performing a Clean Uninstall

SOLIDWORKS: Performing a Clean Uninstall

On the rare occasion that you need to fully remove SOLIDWORKS, you will want to carefully and precisely follow the procedure detailed in this document. This need is considered “rare” because in most situations, SOLIDWORKS Installation Manager can complete upgrades cleanly. This procedure will be useful for anyone wishing to manually scrub a machine for repurposing, or for corrupt installs not resolved with a repair, therefore requiring a complete re-install of the software and all related components.

(Please note that a complete system reformat will accomplish the same goal and may be faster, but will affect ALL installed programs, not just SOLIDWORKS).

EXCEPTIONS YOU MAY ENCOUNTER

If the SolidWorks application you wish to uninstall does not show up in the list of installed Programs, or if the uninstall process fails through the installation manager, you will want to use this Windows troubleshooting tool to individually remove each program until they are all gone:

 

Fix problems that block programs from being installed or removed (microsoft.com)

In some cases, the process may seem to hang. If you are uncertain that the FixIt Tool is still running, be sure to check your task manager. The process may take as long as overnight to run completely and successfully. If the process does hang indefinitely or is Not Responding, kill the process after a couple of hours and launch the tool again. The application was likely successfully removed. Alternatively, if it was not, and the Microsoft tool that is designed to fix uninstall issues fails, it often means that an OS reformat is required.

We hope you found this article clear and helpful. If you have feedback or want to request for more information, let us know!

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