SOLIDWORKS Standalone License Deactivation and Activation

SOLIDWORKS Standalone licenses (serial numbers beginning with 9000…) are locked to a specific computer and hardware ID.  At some point you may need to transfer the license off the current computer to allow for activation on another computer.  This can occur in a few scenarios.

• Switching between a desktop and laptop
• Purchasing a new computer
• Making a hardware change (new hard drive)
• Reformatting your existing computer

Before transferring, verify what serial number you are about to deactivate.  Go to Help > About SOLIDWORKS.  Click ‘Show Serial Number’.  This will be a 24-digit alphanumeric license number.  Use this serial number to install on the other computer.

SOLIDWORKS Serial Number

To remove the SOLIDWORKS activation from the current computer, a deactivation process will need to take place.  Depending on the version of SOLIDWORKS you are using, this may be located in different locations in the Help menu when SOLIDWORKS is open.

• SOLIDWORKS 2020 and newer will be under Help > Licenses > Deactivate…
• For SOLIDWORKS 2020 SP3 and newer, the Help menu is now the “?” in the top right.

SOLIDWORKS 2020 Deactivate Licenses

SOLIDWORKS 2020 New Help Menu location

• SOLIDWORKS 2016 thru 2019 will be under Help > Deactivate Licenses…

SOLIDWORKS 2016 thru 2019 Deactivate Licenses

• SOLIDWORKS 2015 and prior will be under Help > Transfer Licenses…

SOLIDWORKS 2015 and prior Transfer License

Select which product(s) you’d like to transfer from the list and choose “Automatically over the Internet” if you have an internet connection.  Click Next.

SOLIDWORKS Deactivate License

The Automatic method will finish the deactivation after a few moments and provide a message that it has been successful.

SOLIDWORKS Deactivation Succeeded

For the ‘Manual via e-mail’ method, you will be prompted to save a Request file.  Copy this file to a computer with internet and attach it to an email addressed to activation@solidworks.com.  Within 10 minutes, you should receive an email back with a Response file from their automated system.  Copy this file back to the SOLIDWORKS computer.  Run through the same Manual Deactivation process but click “Open” to load the Response file.  This will complete the deactivation process.

With this complete, you can install and open SOLIDWORKS on the other computer to activate the license.  This will follow similar steps to the deactivation process.