SOLIDWORKS Dialog Box Off Screen Solutions

Have you ever had a dialog box not appear on your screen, causing SOLIDWORKS to become unresponsive? This can happen for a variety of reasons, including an external monitor being disconnected or even a malfunction in Windows.

Solutions for SOLIDWORKS Off Screen Dialog Boxes 

So what can be done to resolve SOLIDWORKS off screen dialog boxes? There are a few different options; keep in mind that not all of these suggestions will resolve the issue, but they will be listed in order of difficulty, starting at the most simple fix.

#1. Windows Key + Arrow Keys

Hold down the Windows Key, while attempting different variations of the arrow keys. For example, if you used to have a monitor on the left side of your main monitor, hold down the Windows Key and push the right arrow key a few times to try and move the dialog to the right. 

#2. F11 Key

Select the F11 key. This will change the main SOLIDWORKS screen to fullscreen mode.

#3. Modify Screen Resolution

Right-click on the Desktop and select Display settings. Try a couple of different values for Display resolution.

#4. Disconnect External Monitors

If there are multiple external monitors, disconnect one at a time. This can force dialog boxes that may be off screen onto connected screens or laptop screens.

If you're on a laptop and it is connected to a docking station, try disconnecting from that.

#5. Windows Key + P

Hold down the Windows Key and select P, for a laptop choose PC screen only.

#6. Reset SOLIDWORKS Dialog Registry Key

• Make sure SOLIDWORKS is closed, if needed, end the task in the Task Manager.
• Run a Windows search (select Windows Key and start typing) for “regedit”, it may appear as “regedit.exe” or “Registry Editor”, select the one that appears and run as an administrator.
• Find this key
• HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\SolidWorks\SOLIDWORKS <version>\User Interface\Dialogs
• Right-click on Dialogs and select Rename.
• Add a “.old” to the end of the name and select Enter. The name should now read “Dialogs.old”.
• Relaunch SOLIDWORKS and test the issue again. (Relaunching the program will recreate the Dialogs folder.)
• A walkthrough of a complete SOLIDWORKS registry reset can be found here: How to Rebuild the SOLIDWORKS Registry 
• Keep in mind you will go a couple of folders deeper than explained here.

#7. Test in a Brand New Windows User Account

Make sure not to clone the current account, create one from scratch and test the behavior again.

#8. Clean Uninstall and Reinstall of SOLIDWORKS

• Clean Uninstallation/Reinstallation of SOLIDWORKS 

I hope you found this tutorial helpful. Check out more SOLIDWORKS tips and tricks on our YouTube channel and listed below.

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