Problem

When SOLIDWORKS crashes or closes unexpectedly, this can cause changes to files to be lost and potentially cause file corruption. SOLIDWORKS does have an Auto-Recover feature for these situations. This article will go over how to load an Auto-Recover file (.swar). For information on how to turn on Auto-Recover, review this article: How to turn on SOLIDWORKS Auto-Recover – Hawk Ridge Systems

Solution 1: Load from the Welcome Window

When you start SOLIDWORKS after the system has crashed, any available auto-recovered documents are listed under Document Recovery on the SOLIDWORKS Recovery tab of the Welcome Window. From there, they can be saved as a new file or used to replace the original.

Solution 2: Open File in File Explorer

1. Open SOLIDWORKS and navigate to Options > System Options > Backup/Recover to note the location of the Auto-Recover folder. The Default Location is: C:\Users\Username\AppData\Local\Temp\SWBackupDirectory\swxauto20XX
   Note: If SOLIDWORKS is closed now, the Auto-recovered files will be deleted.

   

2. Without closing SOLIDWORKS, open File Explorer and navigate to the Auto-recover location. SOLIDWORKS has saved a copy of the part, drawing, or assembly file, added a prefix, appended the file extension .swar, and added a "Autorecover of" prefix.

   

3. Copy this file to another location and then edit the file name to remove the .swar extension with the correct part, assembly, or drawing file extension. 

   

4. Create a backup copy of the original file in a different location
5. Open the file to check it to make sure it is correct, then close SOLIDWORKS to move the file to the original location to replace the original file.