Why do my SOLIDWORKS Drawings show “deg” instead of the degree symbol?

Have you ever come across a SOLIDWORKS Drawing where the letters “deg” are displayed instead of the degree symbol and just couldn’t change it?

In this blog article we will learn how to control how the units are shown. (And before anyone asks…no, it’s not overwritten text.)

Dimension Showing “deg” instead of the Degree Symbol

Show Units of Dimensions Option

The cause of this is a very simple SOLIDWORKS setting and can be found here:

Tools > Options > Document Properties > Dimensions > “Show units of dimensions”

“Show units of dimensions” checkbox setting

Let’s see what happens when this option is on and off:

“Show units of dimensions” not checked, with imperial units (no fractions)

“Show units of dimensions” checked, with imperial units (no fractions)

When the option is turned on, the degree symbol is swapped with “deg” and we also see the other two dimensions have “in” added. This behaviour is seen similarly with metric units.

Important Note:

The “Show units of dimensions” setting will not affect non-angular imperial units that are shown with fractions and set to show the double prime mark.

Tools > Options > Document Properties > Fractional Display > Show Double Prime Mark (”)

What this means is that radial and linear dimensions will show the double prime mark instead of “in” regardless of the “Show units of dimensions” setting. See below for the comparison.

“Show units of dimensions” not checked, with imperial units in fractions

“Show units of dimensions” checked, with imperial units in fractions

We can see here that the angular dimension unit changed from the symbol to “deg” but the double prime marks for the other two dimensions were unaffected.

NOTE: If you find this happening on all SOLIDWORK drawings that you create, you will have to update your drawing templates to have this option unchecked.