


Every time SOLIDWORKS enhances the software with new tools or performance increases, this poses challenges for working with older files. The reason for this is because SOLIDWORKS is always evolving. (For example, a SW 2018 file can open files created in SW 2017.)įorward compatibility does not currently exist for SOLIDWORKS. SOLIDWORKS has always been backward compatible, meaning that the most recent version of SOLIDWORKS can open all previous version of SOLIDWORKS. Let’s start with what is backwards compatibility and what does it mean? Backwards compatibility refers to a software (in this case SOLIDWORKS) that can read and write or even view older files. I want to spend some time talking about backwards compatibility (downward compatible), also, which files SOLIDWORKS can open and read. When it comes to capabilities of SOLIDWORKS files, there is much to keep in mind.
