Make SOLIDWORKS Work For You: Customizing Your Interface

SOLIDWORKS gives you a ton of ways to change how it looks and works, so you can get to the tools you use most without a hassle. This video shows you some neat tricks to make your SOLIDWORKS experience way better and faster.

Key Takeaways

• Customize the Command Manager by showing or hiding tabs, changing button sizes, and even creating your own tabs with your favorite tools.
• Quickly access tools using the "S" key shortcut bar, which can be set up differently for parts, assemblies, drawings, and sketches.
• Assign keyboard shortcuts to commands you use often to speed up your workflow.
• Utilize Mouse Gestures by holding the right mouse button and dragging to perform up to 12 different commands per context (parts, assemblies, drawings, sketches).
• Lock your toolbars and Command Manager to prevent accidental changes while you're working quickly.

The Command Manager: Your Design Hub

The Command Manager is usually where everyone goes to find their next tool. It's already set up with tabs for different jobs like making parts, putting assemblies together, sketching, or creating drawings. By default, it uses "Large Buttons with Text," which is great when you're learning. But if you want more space to see your design, you can turn that off. This makes the buttons smaller and can help you focus more on what you're actually designing.

If the smaller buttons are a bit too tiny for your liking, no worries. Just right-click anywhere on the Command Manager, go to "Customize," and you can change the icon size for the Command Manager and pretty much everywhere else in SOLIDWORKS. There are a lot of options in here, so let's check out a few.

In the Customize window, you can turn the Command Manager on or off, and switch that "Large Buttons with Text" setting back on if you want. You'll also see that all the Command Manager tabs are shown by default. You can hide or show any of these tabs by right-clicking on them. Plus, you can even make your own custom tab filled with all the commands you use all the time. We'll get to that in a bit.

From this same window, you can turn on or off any toolbars, even ones from add-ins you might be using. You can also decide how your tooltips show up and what appears on the Context toolbar. And you can choose if the Quick Access tools show up in the Menu bar or the Command Manager. Once you're happy with how your toolbars and Command Manager look, you can lock them using a checkbox. This is super handy because it stops you from accidentally moving things around when you're trying to design fast!

Speeding Things Up with Shortcut Bars and Keyboard Shortcuts

The next tab in the Customize window lets you change the shortcut bar, which most people know as the "S" key menu. There are four different situations for this: parts, assemblies, drawings, and sketches. It's pretty simple: just find the tools you want and drag them into or out of this window. The Commands tab works in a similar way, but you can drag these tools onto any toolbar or even onto the Command Manager itself. Don't forget about the Heads Up View Toolbar – I like to add "Normal To" and "Isometric View" right there.

Want to make your own custom tab on the Command Manager? You totally can! Let's make a new tab with your most used tools. Just click "New Tab," give it a name, and drag your tools into it. When you click OK to close the Customize window, you'll see your new tab pop up.

If you still like using the old-school menus, you can customize those too. You can add, rearrange, or get rid of menu items to make them easier to get through.

On the Keyboard tab in the Customize window, you can set up keyboard shortcuts for just about any tool or command in SOLIDWORKS. This list is pretty long, so there's a search bar to help you find commands. Once you've got them all set up, you can print out the list or copy it to your clipboard to paste into other documents like Word or Excel.

Mouse Gestures: Quick Clicks and Drags

Finally, let's talk about Mouse Gestures. Similar to the shortcut bar, this also has four different contexts: parts, assemblies, drawings, and sketches. Mouse Gestures work when you hold down the right mouse button and drag the mouse. You can set up to 12 commands for each context. And just like the other customizations, almost anything is available here. You can search for commands and print them out to make them easier to use.

This video just scratched the surface of how you can make SOLIDWORKS fit you perfectly and help you work faster. For more details on shortcut bars, mouse gestures, and other ways to customize, check out the other videos in this playlist. Thanks for watching!