Are you experiencing crashes in SOLIDWORKS and it's affecting your work, or just driving you crazy? This guide will walk you through several common fixes for crashes in SOLIDWORKS.
Questions to Answer
SOLIDWORKS crashes can stem from a host of issues, so the best methodology to resolving these crashes starts with gathering information and trying to find the general source of the issue. There are some useful questions that can help, and having answers to them can help speed up the diagnosis process significantly.
- Does this behavior happen with every file, and where is the file located?
- Does this same behavior occur on another computer?
- Have there been any system or install changes that coincide with the beginning of this behavior?
- Is it reproducible?
- If there is an error message, does it contain any useful information?
Knowing if an issue is isolated to one machine or not can help identify if the problem may stem from a local issue, a network issue, or could even be an issue within the software itself. Having the answers to this will make finding the source of your crashes much easier.
Enhanced Graphics Performance
A good place to start with troubleshooting crashes, even before diagnosing a possible cause, is to check the setting for Enhanced graphics performance, which is located inside of SOLIDWORKS. To get there, navigate to Tools > Options >System Options tab > Performance, and scroll down if necessary to Enhanced Graphics Performance. This setting is enabled by default, so try unchecking this bock and clicking OK. Restart SOLIDWORKS and test!
SOLIDWORKS Rx
SOLIDWORKS Rx is a useful tool for investigating your system, checking for issues and creating Problem Captures. You can launch this by running the program 'SOLIDWORKS Rx 20xx', or by launching SOLIDWORKS and going to Help > SOLIDWORKS Rx.
Once launched, there are several useful features. First, by clicking on the Diagnostics tab and waiting for a bit for the information to load (it may take a minute), you can see the system information that SOLIDWORKS sees. 
If you are using a laptop, perhaps SOLIDWORKS only has your integrated Intel graphics listed, and has not been using your Nvidia card, causing instability. Or perhaps your graphics driver listed is not the same one listed on SOLIDWORKS' Hardware Certification list.
Another step to take with the SOLIDWORKS Rx tool, is to run SOLIDWORKS in the two available safe modes on the Home tab to see if the crashing behavior persists. 
The top option, Software OpenGL will cause SOLIDWORKS to run more of the graphical operations on the CPU. The display may be a little strange while using this mode, that is normal. If this resolves your issue, then the source of your crashes is almost certainly graphical. Check your graphics drivers, see if your card is supported on the Hardware Certification list, and make sure that your card is listed under the Diagnostics tab.
The bottom option to bypass the Tools/Options will help identify if there are problematic or corrupted settings that are the source of your crashes. If the lower option resolves your crashes, then we recommend performing a registry reset, which we have outlined the process for here: How to Perform a SOLIDWORKS Registry Reset
Also what is very helpful when submitting a ticket to us is creating a Problem Capture using SOLIDWORKS Rx, we have a guide on this process linked here: How to Create a Problem Capture
Repairing your Installation
Another common way to resolve general crashing issues is to repair your SOLIDWORKS installation. This is a good general step when running into issues, as it is a low risk way to make sure the core files for SOLIDWORKS are intact and in good health.
To repair your SOLIDWORKS installation:
- Navigate to your list of installed Windows programs
- Scroll down through the list of programs, find SOLIDWORKS 20xx SPxx, right click (or click the 3 dots) and select Change/Modify
- The SOLIDWORKS Installation Manager will launch. If you receive a message about a reboot, you can proceed through, it will not cause an issue.
- Select Repair your Installation and hit next
- The next menu will ask what you would like to repair. Leave everything checked and hit Repair
Test to see if the crashing has been resolved!
Repairing the Redistributables
If the above still hasn't resolved the issue, then you can also try repairing the Microsoft Visual C++ 20xx Redistributables. These are installed as programs need them, so your list could have more or fewer than what you see here. The ones that SOLIDWORKS cares about are 2012-2022, and while we're at it, we can repair Microsoft Visual Studio Tools for Applications 2019.
To repair them, just click the 3 dots to the right side, and select Modify/Change. If the option is greyed out, just move to the next one, they are not all repairable. Each repair should only take a moment. Restart your machine after completing these and test the behavior!