Now that 3DEXPERIENCE World 2024 is over, we can shift our attention to what’s new in SOLIDWORKS 2025. Sure, SOLIDWORKS 2024 has only been out since last October, but I bet you haven’t had the chance to check out all of the new features yet. Here are 20 of my favorite improvements in SOLIDWORKS 2025.
Every day of 3DEXPERIENCE World 2024, we got a taste of what’s new in SOLIDWORKS 2025. There was a lot, but we don’t have to wait until Fall to get our hands on it. Some of the enhancements have already made their way into SOLIDWORKS 2024 through under-the-radar service pack updates.
Here are the great features we saw in Dallas in the areas of sketching, parts, weldments, sheet metal, assemblies, drawings and simulation.
Sketching
1. RMB Menu to Modify Sketch Color. You can easily change the color of sketch entities or entire sketches through a new menu item added to the right click menu.
2. Convert 2D to 3D Sketch in RMB. New to SOLIDWORKS 2025 is the ability to convert 2D sketches to 3D sketches with the click of a mouse. Previously, you would have to just start over if you change your mind or find you need to create a 3D sketch for your design. Now you have the ability to convert 2D to 3D sketches directly with the right mouse menu.
3. Sketch triad on spline points. Now the Sketch Triad can be activated on spline points just by double clicking on them. There’s a lot to love about SOLIDWORKS 2025, but sketch enhancements like this can add up to huge time savings for your designs.
Parts
4. Chamfer Selection Helper. The Chamfer tool in 2025 has borrowed the same great Selection Helper Tool that makes adding fillets and now chamfers super simple.
Pro tip: If you aren’t already using the selection helper, try it out for some epic time savings when adding fillets.
5. Multibody Fillet. The fillet tool now supports adding fillets to multiple bodies in the same feature. This removes a frustrating limitation of the fillet command.
6. Pattern Planes and Axis. Now in SOLIDWORKS 2025, you can leverage linear patterns to easily create planes and axes. The functionality is incredibly robust because you have the ability to control the results with functionality like instances to skip and edit. You can specify an instance to vary as an offset from another instance rather than calculate the distance from the seed feature.
Weldments
7. Configure Structure Systems Profiles. Structure systems are already great. They’re even better in SOLIDWORKS 2025 because they now include the ability to configure the profile of the member. This makes it easy to modify and create different variations of the design.
Pro tip: Structure systems are an alternative to creating weldment structures. It has been around for just a few years, but it is incredibly powerful and worth checking out. The structure system approach leverages more than just sketch geometry to create the system, making it easy to create some types of parts.
8. Copy Cut List Properties in Weldments/Structure Systems. In SOLIDWORKS 2025, there’s the ability to copy and paste cut list properties in bulk. You can now copy a property and paste it to all cut list items, or just a few selected ones. This is a huge time saver when working with cut list properties.
Sheetmetal
9. Sheet Metal Bend Notches. Sheet metal functionality has been expanded to offer the ability to add bend notches to a flat pattern. This is sure to be a welcome addition to anyone working to manufacture their sheet metal parts in a machine such as a press brake.
10. Sheet Metal Tab and Slot enhancements. The tab and slot UI has been overhauled and simplified. There is also a new spacing option to align slots to the center of the edge. This is a much more intuitive way to add tabs and slot features.
Assembly
11. Assembly Visualization Roll to Here Shortcut. This new option can be used to easily isolate components while using assembly visualization.
Pro tip: If you aren’t already using Assembly Visualization, try it out to easily gain insights into your design.
12. Assembly Visualization Support for Property Colors. Assembly Visualization gets even easier with the ability to link colors to property values. For example, you can color code your model based on properties such as the material.
Large Design Review
The Large Design Review (LDR) enhancements in numbers 13 thru 16 have borrowed a lot of the powerful functionality that already streamlines working with assemblies. These all are features you should already be using in assemblies, but which are now in SOLIDWORKS 2025. It’s all the more reason for you to leverage LDR. LDR is like turbocharging your computer to work with assemblies. It’s a mode that offers incredible performance gains instantly — just by switching to this mode. The following video shows how LDR instantly opens this massive assembly.
When they were announcing the LDR enhancements on stage, they said, “If you aren’t using LDR almost all the time, you will be in SOLIDWORKS 2025.”
13. LDR Bread Crumb Navigation
14. LDR Interference Detection
15. LDR Component Preview
16. LDR In Context Edits of Geometry
Drawing
17. Reload Drawings. SOLIDWORKS 2025 now extends the reload functionality to drawings. This reloads the file to the last saved state, which essentially automates the process of closing, pressing Don’t Save and Opening again. We’ve all done this after making a mistake or two. This functionality has already been available for parts and assemblies and has been a life saver for me.
Pro tip: Remember you can use this to instantly get a clean start slate with your existing files.
18. Auto Repair Dangling Dimensions. New to SOLIDWORKS 2025 is an automatic repair tool that can be used to instantly repair dangling dimensions by automatically reattaching them. This will speed up a painful and tedious process of fixing dimension issues due to geometry changes.
19. Filter BOM by Configuration and Display State. In SOLIDWORKS 2025, you can filter your Bills of Material by Configuration and Display State giving you a lot more control over how you can show components in BOMs.
Simulation
20. Simulation. Simulation gets even better in SOLIDWORKS 2025. One thing we saw at 3DEXPERIENCE World was the tight connection between SOLIDWORKS Simulation and other Dassault Systèmes products. There’s a lot of really great things coming!
What we saw new to SOLIDWORKS 2025 was the extended functionality of linear dynamic studies to include the ability to define response areas – additional harmonic mode shapes in linear dynamics.
We also saw a new spring connector type. New in Simulation 2025 is the option to add orthotropic spring connectors. This gives you control over the spring connector stiffness in axial, torsional and bending directions. Spring connectors are a great way to simplify complex studies and they’re even better in SOLIDWORKS 2025.
2025 available now in 2024?
It seems like we were just introducing what’s new in SOLIDWORKS 2024 and we already have a preview of what’s coming in SOLIDWORKS 2025. But we don’t have to wait for Fall. Be on the lookout for some 2025 enhancements coming sooner in service pack releases to SOLIDWORKS 2024. There’s already a few available in 2024 SP1 such as Breadcrumbs in LDR mode, copying cut list properties and even the additional frequency control for simulation studies.
As you can see, there’s a lot to look forward to with SOLIDWORKS 2025. But keep a close eye on the 2024 Service Pack updates. In the meantime, mark your calendars for October when we detail all the great enhancements new to SOLIDWORKS 2025.