How to Resolve the Missing Cursor When Editing a Note in a Drawing

On some systems, SOLIDWORKS will not display the cursor when editing a note inside a drawing or a part file. This behavior has been documented in bug reports BR10000359318 and BR10000360317 on the SOLIDWORKS Knowledge Base. This article explains how to reproduce this behavior and two solutions for the bug. 

SOLIDWORKS has found this behavior is caused by the NVIDIA driver. To resolve this, we will investigate the driver and the NVIDIA Control Panel options.

To Replicate this Behavior

1. Create a new drawing
2. Insert a note by going to Insert>Annotations>Note
   

   

3. Click in the drawing to drop a text box and notice there is no blinking cursor
4. Begin typing. You will see there is no indication of where the cursor is

Solution 1: Clean Graphics Driver Installation

1. Close SOLIDWORKS
2. Go to SOLIDWORKS Hardware Certification to find the certified graphics driver for your system. Enter the relevant information for version, vendor, model, and graphics card. 
3. Perform a clean graphics driver installation
4. Restart SOLIDWORKS and retest the behavior. If the issue persists, continue to Solution 2.

Solution 2: Change NVIDIA Options in NVIDIA Control Panel

1. Close SOLIDWORKS
2. Right-click on the Desktop and choose ‘NVIDIA Control Panel’
   

   

3. Under ‘3D settings’ menu choose ‘Manage 3D settings’
   

   

4. Within the settings select “OpenGL GDI compatibility” and set it to “Prefer compatible.” Apply and close NVIDIA Control Panel
   

   

5. Restart SOLIDWORKS and the issue should be resolved

For further technical support, please contact Hawk Ridge Systems at 877.266.4469 for the U.S. or 866.587.6803 for Canada and support@hawkridgesys.com.