The SOLIDWORKS Knowledge Base – Help Resolve Your SOLIDWORKS Questions
The SOLIDWORKS Knowledge Base – Help Resolve Your SOLIDWORKS Questions
What is the SOLIDWORKS Knowledge Base?
The SOLIDWORKS Knowledge Base is an online database of information about anything related to SOLIDWORKS. It contains extensive information related to warnings, errors, and functionality of different aspects of the software. While the Knowledge Base contains how-to articles and general information about the use of the software, it excels at giving detailed resolutions and troubleshooting techniques for specific messages that come up inside of SOLIDWORKS. SOLIDWORKS resellers search here first to learn more about error messages to benefit from the experiences and insight from the worldwide userbase. From solutions that explain what certain things do or what errors mean, to reports of bugs that the program has encountered (and if/when those bugs have been resolved), the SOLIDWORKS Knowledge Base can be used by users and resellers alike to find answers and insight. We suggest that regular SOLIDWORKS users and IT professionals that perform regular SOLIDWORKS Installations get familiar with the Knowledge Base and refer to it as needed.
How to Access the Knowledge Base
There are a couple prerequisites needed to gain access to the Customer Portal and Knowledge Base:
- • A SOLIDWORKS ID (Customer Portal Account)
- • A SOLIDWORKS license number registered to that account. The license must be on active subscription
If you don’t have a Customer Portal Account you can create one and register your license by following the instructions here: How to Create a SOLIDWORKS Customer Portal Account. Note: this login uses the same credentials as MySolidworks and the 3DExperience Platform. If you see locks on some links the registration process will remove them. If you have any problems registering your serial number and you purchased your license/subscription through MLC CAD Systems feel free to reach out to us at here: SOLIDWORKS Case Request.
To get to the knowledge base, click the user icon at the top right corner of SOLIDWORKS.com and choose Customer portal. Select the “Knowledge Base” link under the “My Support” section (see screenshot below).
Using the SOLIDWORKS Knowledge Base
Once you are in the Knowledge Base, you can type in keywords from error messages or describe key aspects of the behavior. It will pull up any articles related to those keywords. There is no spell check, so made sure to verify spelling. Try different combinations of terms to narrow or expand the results to find the information that is most relevant to you. The search results will include Solutions (Labeled as ‘S-0XXXXX’) and Bugs/Enhancements (labeled as ‘SPR XXXXXX’). An SPR is a Software Performance Report to allow you to track known issues or requested change to the software behavior. You can filter the results by selecting the boxes on the left side on the screen. The most common filters are “Document Type” where you filter by Solution or SPR and “Language”, but other filters can be used as needed. See the screenshot below for reference. If you are given a specific Solution or SPR number, you can type that into the search to pull up the exact information.
Additional information may be available to SOLIDWORKS and resellers regarding the scope, disposition, potential workarounds or known workflows to reproduce the issue. If you believe your issue matches an SPR, send the SPR and any information related to the issue you are experiencing to support for further investigation.
You can now use the SOLIDWORKS Knowledge Base to help resolve some of your SOLIDWORKS questions! As mentioned in the beginning, this Knowledge Base really excels at finding detailed solutions to specific error messages and can be an invaluable resource in your SOLIDWORKS use. Enjoy using SOLIDWORKS!