Skip to content
  • There are no suggestions because the search field is empty.

Improving SOLIDWORKS performance

This article gathers best practicies to improve SOLIDWORKS performance when the software becomes slow, unstable or unresponsive.

Performance problems are mainly caused by : 

  • your machine's graphics card
  • SOLIDWORKS graphic settings
  • your system's hardware ressources

Graphics card management

A dedicated article already exists : Managing your graphics card for SOLIDWORKS

-> It resolves the majority of performance issues.

Recommended SOLIDWORKS Graphics settings 

Go to Tools > Options... > System Options > Performance

1. Disable Enhanced graphics performance (if necessary)

2. Check OpenGL mode

OpenGL mode cannot be enabled while functionning normally.

If enabled, performance is significantly reduced and display capabilities are limited.

⚠️ Make sure this mode is disabled after a SOLIDWORKS crash
It may activate automatically if the software suspects the graphics card.

3. Minimize the Level of detail 

A high level of detail can significantly impact performance, especially for large assemblies.

Animation - Améliorer perf

System resources (virtual memory)

If SOLIDWORKS remains slow despite : 

  • a properly configured graphics card
  • optimized graphic settings

The issue may be related to system resources. Follow the System resource optimization procedure for SOLIDWORKS.

Modeling best practices

Modeled threads (real geometry) greatly increase model complexity and reduce performance.

-> It is recommended to use cosmetic threads instead.

Animation - Améliorer perf (cosmetic threads)

To display cosmetic threads:

Tools > Options.. > Document properties > Detailing > Enable Shaded cosmetic threads

Shaded cosmetic threads

Report this problem!

a. Problem solved? Let us know so that we can prevent it from happening again!
b. Still not working? Contact us too!

Contact : support@ohmycad.com