Upgrading Desktop CAD Software

It’s that time of year again. When your desktop software receives an upgrade. This blog looks at some of the things you may need to keep in mind when upgrading your desktop software, and how Onshape handles this process differently.

New Features

With desktop CAD, you wait all year for new features that are supposed to make your job easier and more productive. Twelve months go by, and you hope one of your enhancement requests finally makes the cut. If not, you wait another year (or longer).

Onshape takes a completely different approach. Since day one, Onshape has been developed using agile sprint cycles. New tools and features are released every three weeks—17 times a year. Features are delivered when they’re ready, not stockpiled for an annual release. This means your ideas and requests can be prioritized quickly, and you don’t wait 12 months for improvements.

Just last week, for example, Onshape released several impactful features, including a new parametric Mirror tool in Assemblies.

SolidWorks has recently started experimenting with a similar idea, called Functional Deliveries (FDs), bundled in their service packs. For example: 2025 FD01, FD02, and FD03. Each contained three new enhancements. Still, the majority of their improvements remain tied to their annual General Availability (GA) release.

Preparing for the Upgrade

But getting new features is only half the story. With desktop CAD, you also need to get through the upgrade itself—a process that can range from frustrating to downright disruptive.

What you need to consider before upgrading:

• Licensing: Are you on a single serial number or a named-user license?
• System requirements: Windows 10 (expiring in October), Windows 11, SQL versions, hardware specs, and graphics drivers all need to be checked.
• End-of-life tracking: There’s a potential lot of version requirements to manage, be sure to check out the system requirements page. But here’s some end-of-life milestones to be aware of that could either prevent you from upgrading, or force you to upgrade sooner than anticipated.
  • Windows 10 → EOL at SW2025 FD3
  • Windows Server 2019 → EOL at SW2025 FD5
  • SQL Server 2019 → EOL at SW2026 FD5
  • Microsoft Office 2021 → EOL at SW2026 SP5
• Backups: Templates, Toolbox, document libraries, weldment profiles, BOM templates, macros, gauge tables, and—most importantly—your CAD project data.
• Upgrade order: It’s important to plan the order you’re going to upgrade all of the software required. Do you need to update any Servers, PDM tools, admin images, or license servers?

And there’s another wrinkle: SolidWorks lets you install multiple versions on the same computer. Sounds nice—until you realize there’s no way to control which version users open. That’s a recipe for compatibility issues. Onshape avoids this entirely: everyone, everywhere is always on the same version.

How to Upgrade

You also have to decide if you want to install by upgrading your existing installation, or perform a clean install? Below are some considerations (pros/cons) to consider before you actually install the software.

In-Place Upgrade

• ✅ Faster, less disruptive in large environments
• ✅ Preserves user settings and paths
• ❌ Residual files and registry entries can cause conflicts
• ❌ Toolbox or PDM configs may not update properly
• ❌ Risk of inconsistent setups across machines

Fresh Install (Uninstall/Reinstall)

• ✅ Clean slate, fewer conflicts
• ✅ Easier troubleshooting
• ✅ Improves consistency across users
• ❌ More time-consuming, requires backups and restores
• ❌ Easy to miss a setting or custom library
• ❌ Requires reconfiguring file paths—get it wrong, and assemblies break

Either way, you’re investing hours (if not days) of IT effort and user downtime.

The Installation

Even once you’ve chosen your path, there’s more to navigate:

• Massive file to download with multiple confusing installer options.
• Managing and entering serial numbers to enter manually.
• Four different install choices (this computer, admin image, server components, download for sharing).
• Deciding what to install—do you really need every product in your entitlement list?
• Watching disk space, choosing standards for libraries, updating databases for PDM, Electrical, or other add-ons.

Even SolidWorks’ so-called “web-based installer” still requires downloading and installing locally.

Post-Upgrade

You’re not done yet. After installation, best practice is to up-save your files—open and re-save them in the new version. Why? Because older files carry small, hidden upgrades each time they open, which can cause instability. Many companies batch-upgrade all their data as “good file hygiene.”

This includes:

• Project files
• Templates
• Toolbox data
• PDM vaults and standards libraries

SolidWorks, PDM, and 3DExperience all include upgrade utilities for this reason—because it’s critical. But it’s also time-consuming and risky.

It’s no wonder there’s an entire hour-long YouTube video dedicated to the SolidWorks upgrade process.

The Onshape Process

Onshape eliminates every step above. There’s no installer, no serial numbers, no service packs, no admin images, no upgrade utilities. There’s no need to back up or batch-convert files. When Onshape rolls out new features, the process is seamless: All you need to do is log in.

Your data is always current, always compatible, and always on the latest version—whether you’re an individual user or a global enterprise.

Technically your Documents are also updated. This happens automatically over the weekend of an upgrade when each document is not being accessed by anyone and is transparent to the end user. You may notice this in the History Graph of the Document.

Discover Continuous Upgrades

Upgrading traditional desktop CAD software isn’t just about getting new features—it’s about surviving the upgrade process itself. From system requirements to backups, from admin images to batch file upgrades, the cost in IT effort and lost productivity is real.

Onshape turns that model on its head. With continuous, agile updates and nothing to install, upgrades are invisible. You log in, and the software is ready—every time.

For engineers, that means less time wrestling with IT and more time doing what you love: designing great products.

If you’ve never tried Onshape, and would like to learn about an Installation free and automatic upgrade experience, sign up for our six month Discovery Program