SOLIDWORKS Individual Installation
Installation Guide for Installing SOLIDWORKS Clients Individually
The following instructions are for SOLIDWORKS products that will be installed directly on the computer in a standalone workstation environment.
Prerequisites
- Installation Media – Download the installation files or request a DVD
- Serial Numbers – All standalone or individual SOLIDWORKS serial numbers are 24 alpha-numeric digits. Multiple serial numbers may exist.
- Permissions - Full Administrative Rights on the computer are recommended for installation.
- Supported Hardware – SOLIDWORKS System Requirements
- Backup User Data is recommended prior to any upgrade to safeguard against issues during upgrade and as a handy reminder to perform this step regularly
- Supported Operating Systems – At this time, SOLIDWORKS is supported on the following Windows operating systems:
- SOLIDWORKS recommends using the latest Microsoft Service Pack of Windows, Office and Internet Explorer.
- Windows Home Editions and Windows to Go are not supported.
Step by Step Instructions
Launch the SOLIDWORKS Installation Manager by double-clicking on setup.exe in the root download folder.
- For a DVD, Autorun will launch the installation manager.
- For a new download, setup.exe will launch automatically when the package is extracted.
Choose the Installation Type Install on this computer and then click Next.
Enter your product serial number(s) and click Next.
- Helpful tip: 24-digit serial numbers can be copied and pasted into the first box and they will fill all boxes automatically!
- The Installation Manager will perform an automatic Serial Number and System Check. Read any errors carefully before proceeding.
- If there is no internet access the license check will fail but can be safely ignored to allow the installation to proceed.
If there is a previous version of SOLIDWORKS installed, you will be presented with options to either create a new install or upgrade the existing version.
- The new install option will allow you to have multiple versions of SOLIDWORKS installed. This is considered a side-by-side install, which is useful for users who may also need to generate files in older versions of SOLIDWORKS.
- The upgrade option will upgrade the current version installed and leave the user with only the latest version of SOLIDWORKS installed.
Verify Installation Settings
- Products are selected automatically based on the serial numbers entered. You may choose to add or remove products to install here.
- Download Options shows you where the downloads are going or where it is installing from. Downloads can be shared with other computers, but they should not be run from a location with higher security such as a network folder with active virus scanning as it will slow or stop the install.
- Installation Location can be modified if multiple versions will be installed on the same computer. We recommend adding the year after the install path, such as “\Program Files\SOLIDWORKS Corp 2021\”
- Toolbox/Hole Wizard Options: If you are a Toolbox user, click Change and then choose to create a new Toolbox or use an existing Toolbox to not lose your Toolbox customization. If the toolbox is upgraded it will not function for older versions, so upgrading a copy and naming the new folder appropriately is recommended.
WARNING:
- Make sure that no users are in the toolbox during the upgrade.
- PDM Users, follow these additional instructions to Upgrade Toolbox in PDM
- Before upgrading a toolbox that has been customized, we strongly suggest making a copy of the folder to a safe place in case you need to revert for any reason.
Check the box next to I accept the terms of the SOLIDWORKS License Agreement and then click Download and Install to start the installation.
- The installation time varies depending on the products selected for installation, network connection speed, and computer hardware.
Once the install is complete, we encourage you to join the SOLIDWORKS Customer Experience Improvement Program. eck the box next to I accept the terms of the SOLIDWORKS License Agreement and then click Download and Install to start the installation.
- Note: The CAD Admin Dashboard and SOLIDWORKS tracking only works if you join the Customer Experience Improvement Program.
- Participation will not slow down your system. SOLIDWORKS automatically creates the performance log file in the background whether you participate or not.
- This function delivers useful data directly to the SOLIDWORKS development team to improve product quality and determine product usage trends.
Want to watch this article as a video?
- Modify your Installation – Follow the instructions in this link to modify your installation to switch your serial number or change any options in the Installation Manager.
- Technical Support – If you experience any unexpected behavior or have any questions regarding SOLIDWORKS installation, please use this link to submit a technical support request.