Task Pane

The Task Pane is a center for accessing resources and documents.

It appears when you open the SOLIDWORKS software, and it contains these tabs:
SOLIDWORKS Resources Commands for Getting Started and links to the SOLIDWORKS Community and Online Resources.
Design Library Reusable parts, assemblies, and other items, including 3D ContentCentral, annotation favorites, and library features.
File Explorer Duplicate of Windows Explorer on your computer, plus recent documents and Open in SOLIDWORKS. If SOLIDWORKS PDM is added in, the tab changes to .
Search Results of a search operation. If you dissect files into Design Clipart, thumbnails of reusable geometry, such as sketches and features, appear on this tab. Drag the thumbnails onto the model to reuse geometry.
View Palette Images of standard views, annotation views, section views, and flat patterns (sheet metal parts) to drag onto a drawing sheet.
Appearances, Scenes, and Decals Library of appearances, scenes, and decals.
Custom Properties Enter custom and configuration-specific properties into SOLIDWORKS files.
Document Recovery If auto-recovery is enabled in Tools > Options > System Options > Backup/Recover and the system terminates unexpectedly, recovered files appear on this tab the next time you start the application.
Collaborative Sharing Access the Collaborative Sharing app to store your data on the cloud and to collaborate with other colleagues using a central location for your files.
3DSwYm Communities 3DSwym lets you connect with members of your communities to collaborate, ask and answer questions, and share information.
SOLIDWORKS Forum Search the SOLIDWORKS Forum from within the Task Pane.
3D PMI Compare Use 3D PMI Compare to compare DimXpert annotations, reference dimensions, and other annotations between two part documents.

The Task Pane displays tabs for several applications, such as SOLIDWORKS Design Checker and SOLIDWORKS Utilities.

The Task Pane can be in the following states:
  • Visible or hidden
  • Expanded or collapsed
  • Pinned or unpinned
  • Docked or floating

You can drag documents from the File Explorer tab and the Design Library tab into the graphics area, and from the graphics area or FeatureManager design tree into the Design Library.