This applies to the situation where the SolidWorks application successfully launches, but the only things that appear on the screen is the recent files menu and there is not the graphical area for the sketch. This generally occurs when a monitor which SolidWorks was last opened on was disconnected. This is most common when using a laptop with external monitors or with a a docking station with monitors.
As we can see through the diagram above, we can see that the SolidWorks program is running but the SolidWorks is in minimize mode and cannot be click to expand.
Follow these steps to return the SolidWorks to an active monitor:
- Click the running instance of SolidWorks in the task bar and this will ensure the window is selected
- Press alt+space+R and this will restore the window if it is maximized.
- Hold the Windows key and press the left or right arrow key repeatedly until the window appears on the active monitor.
If the issue persists after following these instructions, a more invasive registry reset will restore the last known window position for SolidWorks. We recommend consulting with IT prior to performing registry edits.