How to access SOLIDWORKS Add-ins three different ways

Article by Scott Durksen, CSWE updated July 31, 2015

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There are multiple ways of enabling or disabling your Add-Ins in SOLIDWORKS.

Method #1 – Tools Menu

If you’ve always been using the Tools > Add-Ins method, this is not the most efficient way as the Add-in option can get pushed out of reach with all the other options in the Tools menu.

Access SOLIDWORKS Add-ins from the Tools Menu

Method #2 – Options Flyout

One of the faster methods is to use the Options button flyout from the Menu bar (small down arrow beside the Options button). This gives you quick access to the Add-Ins dialog.

Options Flyout Menu

Within the Add-Ins dialog, you have the option of making the Add-In active in the current session (the left column of checkboxes) and you can also select which Add-Ins to automatically enable when SOLIDWORKS launches (the right column of checkboxes).

Add-ins dialog

Warning about enabling all Add-ins

But before you enable all the Add-Ins under the Start Up column, be sure you always want to use the license required for this Add-In. If you have a shared network license with different license types, you may not want to be using up your Professional or Premium license every time you open SOLIDWORKS.

Method #3 – From the CommandManager

Another method for quickly enabling or disabling Active Add-Ins is to turn on the “SOLIDWORKS Add-Ins” tab in the CommandManager. Prior to SolidWorks 2015, this tab was named “Office Products”. To turn on the tab, right-click on any tab in the CommandManager and select this option. Now you can quickly go to the tab and enable or disable an Add-In.