How To Activate SOLIDWORKS Products

How to Activate SOLIDWORKS Standalone Product Licenses

1. Launch SOLIDWORKS from the Windows Start menu or desktop shortcut. If you are running SOLIDWORKS for the first time, you will need to read and accept the license agreement prompt. Once the license agreement has been accepted, you will be presented with the activation prompt. Choose the option to activate your SOLIDWORKS product now.

If you need to view or run the activation wizard again, you can access it within SOLIDWORKS under Help > Licenses > Activate… (alternatively, you can select he Deactivate or Show options to either deactivate a license or show currently activated products).

In the SOLIDWORKS Product Activation dialog, select the product(s) to activate or click the ‘Select All’ button to select all products in the list. There are two methods to connect to the activation server and activate SOLIDWORKS products. Below is a description of each process followed by detailed steps.

Automatically over the internet (recommended).
If the computer is connected to the internet, this option will automatically connect to the SOLIDWORKS activation server to verify the license is available and approve the license for activation. This typically only takes a few seconds to complete.
Manually via email.
If the computer is not connected to the internet or if your organization’s security system blocks connection to the activation server, then you can use this option to create a license activation text file to email from a machine with internet connection to the activation server system. The text file is evaluated and returned with an activation approval that is then loaded into the client computer. This process typically only takes a few minutes to complete.

Automatically over the internet (detailed steps)

Depending on the version of SOLIDWORKS being activated, an email address may be required under ‘Contact Information’. This email is not linked to the SOLIDWORKS license. It is used to record who activated the product. Please enter the email address of the person performing the activation.

Click Next to activate the product.

Once complete, a confirmation screen will appear. Clicking ‘Finish’ will close the activation wizard. Your SOLIDWORKS product is now ready to use.

Activating SOLIDWORKS Products Manually vie email (detailed steps)

The manual via email activation process can only process a single serial number at a time. If you have multiple serial numbers to activate, you can only select and process one at a time.

Depending on the version of SOLIDWORKS being activated, an email address may be required under ‘Contact Information’. This email is not linked to the SOLIDWORKS license. It is used to record who activated the product. Please enter the email address of the person performing the activation.

Click ‘Next’ to begin activation.

Click the Save button to generate and save the activation license text file. IMPORTANT! Do not change the name of the text file. The file’s name and content are specific to the SOLIDWORKS serial number and computer being activated. The file will begin with ‘SWActivationRequest_’ followed by the serial number and computer identifier.

Transfer the text file to a computer with internet access and attach the SWActivationRequest file to a new blank email. Email the file to activation@solidworks.com. Leave the subject field and email body blank to avoid any delays in receiving the activation response.

The activation response email should be received within a few minutes of the activation request being sent. Transfer the SWActivationResponse text file to the computer where SOLIDWORKS is being activated.

Once complete, a confirmation screen will appear. Clicking ‘Finish’ will close the activation wizard. Your SOLIDWORKS product is now ready to use.

SOLIDWORKS Visualize

Help > Activate License (or Deactivate License). Once selected, the rest of the process is the same as the SOLIDWORKS detailed outlined at the beginning of this guide.

SOLIDWORKS Inspection

Help > Activate License (or Deactivate License). Once selected, an activation selection dialog will appear with options to move, activate, or show activated products. Select ‘Activate/Reactivate your products license(s).’ The rest of the process is the same as the SOLIDWORKS detailed outlined at the beginning of this guide.

Click the Activate or Deactivate buttons. Once selected, an activation selection dialog will appear with options to move, activate, or show activated products. Select ‘Activate/Reactivate your products license(s).’ The rest of the process is the same as the SOLIDWORKS detailed outlined at the beginning of this guide.