SOLIDWORKS Frequently Asked Questions

Student Edition serial numbers allow for two simultaneous activations. You can install and activate SOLIDWORKS on two systems at a time. Hence you can use the same serial number to install and activate SOLIDWORKS on another system.

Yes. Starting with SOLIDWORKS Student Edition 2020-2021, this serial number will license the previous version of Student Edition 2019-2020. The same will be true for future releases, licensing the previous year's release. 

SOLIDWORKS Student Edition licenses are version-specific, and hence it is not possible to upgrade these products. The licenses will be valid up to 365 days, beginning from the first date of activation. If your current Student Edition license has expired, contact your school/university to issue you a free home use license of SOLIDWORKS. If the school/university is not able to assign you a free home use license, you can purchase a new Student Edition license from the SOLIDWORKS student store website -www.solidworks.com/studentstore

Yes, students with a valid serial number for Student Edition and Student Engineering Kit (SEK) products can access the MySolidWorks.com web portal. Please note that the Student Design Kit (SDK) does not provide access to the MySolidWorks web portal, except for limited “Guest” access.  More information is available here:

www.solidworks.com/mysolidworks_for_students

Link to MySolidWorks : https://my.solidworks.com/

Steps to register: www.solidworks.com/mysw_student_reg

No, dongles are no longer supported by SOLIDWORKS.

This error can occur if prior license information is still available on your system, or if the installation is performed with a prior version serial number.

Try the following to troubleshoot:

1. Rename the FLEXnet folder and try the activation again:
   Go to C:\ProgramData\FLEXnet and rename the folder FLEXnet (may be to FLEXnet_old) (The ProgramData folder is a hidden folder. Either you can enable to show hidden folders from Folder options, or you can directly type c:\Programdata into the address bar and press enter to access this folder. You will be able to find the Flexnet folder.)

2. Try to activate again and if the error still occurs, confirm that a valid serial number is used for the SOLIDWORKS installation by modifying the installation. If the serial number is not a valid one, please change and input the correct serial number:
   1. Go to Start > Control Panel >SOLIDWORKS
   2. click ‘Change’ to modify the installation. Select ‘Modify the individual installation (on this computer)’ >click ‘Next’
   3. Under ‘serial number’ make sure that your valid serial number is in use
   4. If not, replace the serial number with a valid one and click ‘Next’
   5. Follow the instructions to complete the modification
   6. Rename the FLEXnet folder and try to activate again

If the problem still occurs, try doing a repair installation of SOLIDWORKS by following the steps below:

1. Go to Start > User Account > User Account Control Settings. Set it to “Never Notify”. Restart the system
2. Login as administrator
3. Turn off all anti-virus, popup blocker, ad-ware and spy-ware applications along with Windows Firewall
4. Go to Start > Control Panel >SOLIDWORKS and click ‘Change’ to repair the installation
5. Select ‘Repair the individual installation (on this computer)’
6. Click ‘Next’. Follow the instruction to complete the modification
7. Try activating again

You can contact the Student Edition Support Team by filling in the student support form using this link and providing the required information: www.solidworks.com/studentsupport 

When contacting the Student Edition Support Team, please collect and include the following information:

For installation and download issues:

1. Installation Logs: Please provide the installation log files for further investigation of your issue. To go to the installation log folder, you can type %appdata% at Start > RUN and press Enter; it will open the "Roaming" folder.  In the "Roaming" folder go to the "SOLIDWORKS" folder. Under the "SOLIDWORKS" folder, you will find a folder named “Installation log.” Zip this complete folder and provide it for investigation.
2. Screenshot of the error message
3. Serial numbers

For Crash and SOLIDWORKS functionality issues, or SOLIDWORKS files related issues:

1. SOLIDWORKS Rx: Please capture your problem using the Rx utility and send the zip file back for further investigation. (Default location of Rx is Start > All Programs > SOLIDWORKS Student Edition > SOLIDWORKS Tools > SOLIDWORKS RX) Run Rx utility and go to "Problem Capture” and Click “Record Video.” It will launch SOLIDWORKS and you can follow steps to show your issue. Click “Finish recording” after you have followed the steps to show the issue. Then Click “Package Files Now...” and save the zip file.  Now under “Describe Problem" click “Continue” and enter the problem description and required details and click “OK” and exit the Rx utility. Send the zip file as an attachment for further investigation.

Please try the following to troubleshoot the issue:

1. Rename the FLEXnet folder and try the activation again
   Go to C:\ProgramData\FLEXnet and rename the folder FLEXnet (maybe to FLEXnet_old)
   (The ProgramData folder is a hidden folder. Either you can enable to show hidden folders from Folder options or you can directly type c:\Programdata into the address bar and press enter to access this folder. You will be able to find the Flexnet folder)
2. Try the activation again

Follow the steps below for deactivating a SOLIDWORKS license:

1. Open SOLIDWORKS on your current system.
2. In the SOLIDWORKS window, navigate to Help > Deactivate Licenses.
3. In the SOLIDWORKS Product Activation window, select the products and click on the 'Next' button.
4. Once the deactivation is successful, you will be able to install and activate this license on the new system.

Most schools that purchase a SOLIDWORKS Education Edition license receive additional home use license for their students to work on a home or personal computer. Hence, please contact your school and ask them to provide a student home use licenses (SDK or SEK, or Student Premium or Student Standard).

However, if your school does not have a SOLIDWORKS Education Edition license, you will need to purchase your own Student Edition from the SOLIDWORKS online store: www.solidworks.com/studentstore

This issue can occur if the SOLIDWORKS® License Service is not installed properly on the machine. In most of the cases, this issue is resolved by performing a repair installation of SOLIDWORKS. Follow the below steps for a repair installation:

1. Login as an administrator
2. Go to Start > Control Panel > Program and Features > SOLIDWORKS and click ‘Change’ to repair the installation
3. Select ‘Repair the individual installation (on this computer)’
4. Click ‘Next’
5. Follow the instructions to complete the modification

After the repair is successful, try following the steps to perform the activation:

1. Rename the FLEXnet folder and try activation again:
   Go to C:\ProgramData\FLEXnet and rename the folder FLEXnet (maybe to FLEXnet_old) (The ProgramData folder is a hidden folder. Either you can enable to show hidden folders from Folder options or you can directly type c:\Programdata into the address bar and press enter to access this folder. You will be able to find the Flexnet folder)
2. Try the activation again

You can contact SOLIDWORKS Student Edition Support and provide the Installation Manager logs.

To go to the Installation log folder, you can type %appdata% at Start > RUN and press Enter, and it will open the "Roaming" folder. In the "Roaming" folder, go to the "SOLIDWORKS" folder. Under the "SOLIDWORKS" folder, you will find a folder named “Installation log.”  Zip this complete folder and provide it for investigation.

However, before contacting the support team, you can follow this procedure to troubleshoot the issue:

Try a complete uninstallation of SOLIDWORKS using the Microsoft fixit tool:

1. Download the Microsoft fixit tool from this link:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/17588/fix-problems-that-block-programs-from-being-installed-or-removed

2. Run the downloaded tool and click Next
3. Click Uninstalling
4. In product selection select ' SOLIDWORKS (version) ' and click Next to follow uninstallation process
5. Repeat the process until all the versions of SOLIDWORKS and all the SOLIDWORKS products are uninstalled
6. Try installation of SOLIDWORKS

Yes, students with Student Edition and SEK serial numbers have access to the MySolidWorks.com portal, through which they can access the SOLIDWORKS Knowledge Base. Please note that Student Design Kit (SDK) users do not have access to the MySolidWorks web portal, except for limited “Guest” access.  More information is available here: https://my.solidworks.com/account/student-access

Please check the following:

1. If you did not receive a serial number via email, check your spam/junk folder as the email might have been filtered
2. When you request a download for a Student Design Kit (SDK) using your SDK-ID, serial numbers are displayed on the download page. Copy the serial numbers and use them during the installation

No, Student Edition serial numbers are version specific. Hence, it is not possible to install other versions with the same serial number. You can only install the version entitled by your serial number.