SolidWorks Installation

SolidWorks (also written as SOLIDWORKS) is a 3D Computer-Aided Design (CAD) program. STAR uses SolidWorks for a large portion of our design work.

Installation

SolidWorks is only available for Windows 7, 8, and 10.

• If you have a UNIX-based operating system on an Intel/AMD chip, consider dual-booting Windows (see Boot Camp for macOS) or running a virtual machine (the campus provides VMware and a Windows license for free).

  • You can also use Parallels for macOS or VirtualBox for Linux. Refer to the VMware/Boot Camp setup page for more detailed instructions.

• If you have a Mac with an M1 or M2 Silicon processor, you must use Parallels for macOS as Boot Camp is unsupported on these Macs.

  • You can also attempt to use other means to access a Windows installation like Chrome Remote Desktop.

Before starting, make sure you have a fast, reliable internet connection and enough space on your disk. This process will download roughly 8GB of data.

If you are upgrading from an older version of SolidWorks, do not delete the old version and then download the new version. The old version can be upgraded.

SolidWorks Student Edition (2022-2023)

STAR is migrating to the SolidWorks 2023 Student Edition.

• Go to: www.solidworks.com/SEK and complete the form (first name, last name, Berkeley email address, select “student team” on dropdown)

• Under product information

  • Select Yes (I already have a serial number)

  • Choose 2022-2023 version

  • The serial number is listed in the discord server under #info

Check the #info channel in the club discord for the serial number.

The download link only downloads a ~32.1MB file named SolidWorksSetup.exe. A 7.1GB-18GB download will take place after following the instructions in the installer if a new installation is made.

Upgrade screen in the installer if you have an older version of SolidWorks. The screen remains the same regardless of year.

Make sure you only install Solidworks, and not any of its extra add-ons like Solidworks Electrical. People have had problems in the past when trying to install extra add-ons.

If presented with the option above in the installer, it is recommended to upgrade rather than create a new installation to save space.

On the summary page of the installer, you can select which products you wish to install. At minimum, you will need the 7.1GB SolidWorks package.

Instructions on downloading and installing SolidWorks Student Edition 2023 can also be found here.

If you need more help, this video can help walk you through the process!

For those of you with M1 and M2 Macs, this video can help you with the process. This website may also help. You will need to download Parallels to run Solidworks in a Virtual Machine on your Mac.

You should now have successfully installed SolidWorks! If you encounter issues, please contact a lead before moving on. Uninstalling, rebooting, and trying again can resolve many issues. Now that you've downloaded SolidWorks, head on over to Our SolidWorks Training Tutorials and some of our previous Training Sessions to learn how to use it! You can also learn more about our file-sharing platform here!