Manually Updating SOLIDWORKS Toolbox

This tip on Manually Updating SOLIDWORKS Toolbox came from the SOLIDWORKS Knowledge base. This is a question I receive on a regular enough basis that I felt that it would be worth posting on the Javelin blog. This tip as well as many other great tips can be found on the SOLIDWORKS Knowledge base which can be accessed through the SOLIDWORKS Customer Portal at https://customerportal.solidworks.com/.

Here is the Process to manually update Toolbox:

Make a copy of your existing SolidWorks Data folder, for backup purposes.

Make sure that you have write access to swbrowser.sldedb, located the lang/engish folder of the Toolbox directory. To check the properties of swbrowser.sldedb  right-click on the file and select Properties. Remove the read-only flag if present and click OK to apply the change.

swbrowser.sldedb Properties

Update the swbrowser.sldedb file using the UpdateBrowserData.exe utility. The utility is located in the SolidWorks installation directory in the folder Toolbox\data utilities, for example, C:\Program Files\SolidWorks Corp\Solidworks 2019\SolidWorks\Toolbox\data utilities. Right-click on the executable and select to “Run as administrator”.

Launching UpdateBrowserDatabase

In the “Database to Update” field, specify <SolidWorks Data Folder>/lang/English/SWBrowser.mdb and click Update

Setting-up and Running Update Toolbox Database

Ensure that the update was successful by checking the UpdateBrowserDataErrors.txt file for any errors.

Location of UpdateBrowserDataErrors Text File

If your SOLIDWORKS installation is older the SOLIDWORKS 2015, please refer to my blog on using the DatabaseConverter tool.

NOTE: if there is a standard that is missing and you wish to install it, you can click on the “SolidWorks/Toolbox installation media location…” button and browse to the installation media which contains all Toolbox content.

Once the upgrade is complete, startup SOLIDWORKS and ensure that the correct path for the updated Toolbox is specified in Tools > Options > System Options > Hole Wizard /Toolbox.

Confirming Toolbox Location in Solidworks

When upgrading a Toolbox that is being managed by SOLIDWORKS PDM, please refer to the SOLIDWORKS PDM Administration Guide, in Toolbox > Upgrading Toolbox Software > Upgrading to Manage Toolbox Entirely in the Vault. We also have a post that describes the process of updating Toolbox for SOLIDWORKS PDM.