Restore Your File Associations
Restoring Your File Associations
SOLIDWORKS
If you are experiencing unusual behavior when opening SOLIDWORKS files from Windows Explorer or PDM Explorer, including files not opening, files automatically printing, or attempting to open in the wrong program, you may need to restore your file associations.
Often an upgrade of SOLIDWORKS, a Windows update, or installation of other 3rd party software can interfere with these associations, but fortunately, the fix is quick and easy. It does, however, require local Administrator privileges, so you may need to contact your IT team if you are unable to use the “Run As Administrator” options. Provide your IT team with these instructions and they should be able to resolve the issue for you.
Open SOLIDWORKS as Administrator
Click on the Start button and start typing “SOLIDWORKS”
- Depending on your Windows version and settings:
- Choose “Run As Administrator”
Alternate option
Right-click on the appropriate application name and choose “Run As Administrator”
Restore File Associations in SOLIDWORKS
- Click on the System Options gear icon or go to Tools->Options
- On the General node, click the “Restore File Associations” button
- Once the action completes, simply click “OK” twice to exit the options interface and then close SOLIDWORKS
Optional Step: Resetting the default program in Windows Explorer
Sometimes the default opener for a file type can get changed accidentally or by 3rd party software. If you have completed the steps above and are still not able to open your SOLIDWORKS files from Windows Explorer, follow these steps to reset the default application to the SOLIDWORKS Launcher:
- Right-click on a SOLIDWORKS file in Windows Explorer, then click on “Open with” and then “Choose another app”
Optional Step Continued:
Select “SOLIDWORKS Launcher” as the application to open with, select the “Always use this app to open .SLDXXX files” and click “OK”
- If needed, repeat these steps for Part, Assembly and Drawing files
Technical Support
We hope you found this information valuable! If you have any follow-up questions and are an MLC CAD Systems customer, please contact support at 800-364-1652 x 2 or by email at solidworkssupport@mlc-cad.com.
You can also click here to submit your Technical Support Case.