System Options - General

You can specify general system options such as enabling the performance feedback option and the Confirmation Corner.

To open the System Options dialog box:

Click Options (Standard toolbar).

Recent documents

Maximum recent documents displayed Specifies the number of recent documents to display.
Include documents opened from other documents Displays documents opened from other documents in the recent document list.
Open last used document(s) at startup

Always

When you restart the SOLIDWORKS software, it automatically opens the documents that were open when you last exited the SOLIDWORKS software.

Never

Input dimension value Opens the Modify dialog box when you insert a dimension.
Single command per pick Clears the sketch and dimension tools after each use.

Double-clicking a tool causes the tool to remain selected for additional use.
Show thumbnail graphics in Windows Explorer Displays a thumbnail graphic instead of an icon in File Explorer for each SOLIDWORKS part or assembly document. Uses a palette of 16 colors. Substitutes a similar color if the model uses a color that is not available.

To display the graphic in an isometric view with a white background, click Document Properties > Image Quality and click Use isometric, zoom to fit view for document preview.

The thumbnail graphics appear in the Open and Save As dialog boxes. You may need to open and save the document to see the thumbnail graphics.

The thumbnail images do not update when:
  • A file is saved without it being opened in its own window.
  • If the top-level assembly is saved, and those new files are saved externally.
Restore File Associations Click this option to restore file associations, if you set your system to open all SOLIDWORKS files from File Explorer with a specific version of SOLIDWORKS.
To use this option, you must start SOLIDWORKS with Run as administrator privileges. These steps vary per operating system. For more information, consult the Microsoft Knowledge Base.
Use system separator for dimensions Selects the default operating system decimal separator displaying decimal numbers. To override the default separator, clear the option and enter a symbol such as a period or a comma.

Set the operating system default from the Windows Control Panel.
Use English language menus Sets the menu language to English after you install SOLIDWORKS in another language.
Exit and restart SOLIDWORKS for this change to take effect.
Use English language feature and file names Displays feature names in the FeatureManager® design tree and automatically creates file names in English. Existing feature and file names in a foreign language do not update when you select this option.

Available when you run SOLIDWORKS on a foreign language operating system and you installed SOLIDWORKS for that foreign language.
Enable Confirmation Corner Displays the Confirmation Corner in the upper right corner of the graphics area. See Accepting Features.
Auto-show PropertyManager Displays the PropertyManager when you select existing sketch entities, dimensions, and annotations in the graphics area.

If you clear this option and you select existing sketch entities, dimensions, and annotations in the graphics area, you can click the PropertyManager tab to display the PropertyManager.
Auto-size PropertyManager when panels are split Resizes the PropertyManager when you split the graphics area into panels.
Automatically edit macro after recording Opens the macro editor after you record and save a macro.
Stop VSTA debugger on macro exit Stops the VSTA macro debugger when a macro exits. When cleared, leaves the debugger running so that you can continue to debug the UI or event created by the macro.

For example, if a macro displays a form and exits, the form disappears when the macro ends. Clear this option so that the debugger continues to run and the form is available for you to test.
Enable FeatureXpert Enables FeatureXpert to automatically fix parts so they rebuild successfully.
Enable Freeze bar Enables Feature Freeze. Use in complex models to exclude features from rebuilds of the model, which reduces rebuild time, and to prevent unintentional changes to the model.
Custom property used as component description Specifies a custom description. Instead of displaying the Description label, you can display a label that you specify. See Configuration Properties and Properties Summary Tabs.
If you change the custom property used as component description in a saved document, you must manually add the new description to the Properties dialog box.
Check for solutions when SOLIDWORKS crashes Searches for a solution to a crash. Available solutions display in the SOLIDWORKS Error Report dialog box.
Enable sounds for SOLIDWORKS events Enables sounds for events such as File Open Complete and Collision Detected.
Configure Sounds Opens the Windows Sound dialog box, where you can assign sounds to SOLIDWORKS events.
Allow cosmetic threads for upgrade. Allow parts, assemblies, and drawings with cosmetic threads created with SOLIDWORKS 2018 or earlier to be upgraded to take advantage of improvements in cosmetic threads released in SOLIDWORKS 2019.

When this option is selected, you must manually upgrade each legacy document that you want to use the improvements. Legacy documents that are not upgraded maintain the old behaviors.

To upgrade cosmetic threads in a legacy document, open the model and right-click the top item in the FeatureManager design tree, and click Upgrade cosmetic thread features. After you upgrade, the command is no longer available for that model.
Reset Restores factory defaults for all system options or for only general system options.