SOLIDWORKS Database is Missing! Complete functionality will not be available?

Have you ever seen these messages before when launching SOLIDWORKS? SolidWorks Database Missing. Complete functionality will not be available.

SolidWorks Database is missing error message

Or what about this SOLIDWORKS error message? Failed to initialize Toolbox Library

Failed to initialize Error Message

Not to worry!  This only means that the Hole Wizard/Toolbox functionality has failed to find an important database file, SWBrowser.mdb.

Solving the SOLIDWORKS Database Missing Issue

The fix is simple.  Open your SOLIDWORKS options under Tools > Options and select “Hole Wizard/Toolbox” from the System Options tab.

SolidWorks Toolbox options

The path specified under the “Hole Wizard and Toolbox folder” must contain the folders \lang\english and the english folder must contain the file SWBrowser.mdb.  With a default installation of SolidWorks, you would set the options to point to C:\SolidWorks Data, and the MDB file would be located under C:\SolidWorks Data\lang\english\SWBrowser.mdb.

So if you have the error messages, browse to the folder specified in your Toolbox options and see if there is indeed the \lang\english\SWBrowser.mdb file.  And make sure you have full permissions to get there!  If needed, change the Toolbox path above by clicking the “…” button.

If you cannot locate the SWBrowser.mdb file or you’re still having issues, try running a repair of SOLIDWORKS