Displaying Document Open Time in File Explorer

The file property, Last Open Time, appears in a tooltip when you hover the pointer over a SOLIDWORKS part, assembly, or drawing document in File Explorer.

Last Open Time displays the time it took for the SOLIDWORKS software to open the file, the last time it was opened. This file property is helpful for managing your time when you have large data sets that are time consuming to open.

The time displays in minutes and seconds, and is available for models that are opened directly from disk saved in SOLIDWORKS 2018. For assemblies opened in Lightweight mode, the tooltip displays Last LW Open Time.

Last Open Time does not update in reference files when they are saved while open in memory, but does update when the reference files are saved while open in their own window.

You can add a column in the Details view of File Explorer to display SW Open Time. You can identify files saved in earlier versions of the SOLIDWORKS software by adding a column for SW Last Save with.

To add columns for SW Open Time and SW Last Save with in File Explorer:

  1. Open a folder with SOLIDWORKS documents.

    The contents of that folder appear in the Details view of File Explorer.

  2. In the Details view, right-click on the header. Typically, the header displays columns for Name, Type, and Size. Then in the context menu, select More.

    The Choose Details dialog box appears.

  3. Under Details, scroll to SW Last Save With and SW Open Time. You can select one or both options.
  4. Click OK.