SOLIDWORKS Simulation 2025 Hotfix: Study Corruption & Loss after Switching between Files

In SOLIDWORKS Simulation 2025, there is a bug that can cause studies to go corrupt & be deleted after switching to a different SOLIDWORKS Document with the Simulation Add-in on. This is noted in the following bug:

BR10000400636 - Switching between documents can trigger a message "Storage for study [name] is not found" and cause either missing studies or unexpected/obsolete/reverted study setup despite saving

This issue affects only SOLIDWORKS 2025 SP1.2 and SP2, and will be fixed in 2025 SP3. SP3 is slated for release in July of 2025.

**HOTFIX UPDATE**

Hotfix for 2025 SP2 is attached at the end of this article below.

Note that this fix prevents new occurrences of the issue - it cannot repair or recover previously corrupted/lost study data.

To apply the hotfix:

1. Close all SOLIDWORKS processes and verify that Windows® Task Manager is not running these processes.
2. Download the hotfix file attached to this article. Save it to a local disk.
3. Double-click the hotfix file.
4. In the WinZip Self-Extractor dialog box, click Unzip and then click OK.
5. Confirm the User Account Control, if prompted.
6. In the SOLIDWORKS HotFix Installation tool, click Yes to continue.
7. Click OK to finish.
8. Start SOLIDWORKS.
9. Go to Help > About SOLIDWORKS. Verify that the hotfix is listed.

Before you install a newer SOLIDWORKS Desktop Service Pack, you must remove the hotfix.

To remove the hotfix:

1. Open Windows Control Panel.
2. Select Programs > Programs and Features.
3. From the list of Programs, right-click SOLIDWORKS HotFix-1384089.
4. Select Uninstall/Change and follow the steps to remove SOLIDWORKS HotFix-1384089

How To Avoid The Issue

Recommendations to help minimize the risk of unexpected SOLIDWORKS Simulation study setup data loss in SOLIDWORKS 2025 SP1.2 and SP2 are as follows:

1. Avoid switching between SOLIDWORKS documents while the Simulation add-in is enabled. 
2. Activate SOLIDWORKS backups
   In SOLIDWORKS, go to Tools > Options > System Options > Backup/Recover to set 'Backup' > 'Number of backup copies per document' to be ON and increase the number of backup documents. A value between 5-10 should suffice for most situations. Adjust for your situation as needed.
3. Use the Save command regularly
   If the issue occurs, closing (without saving), then reopening the affected document could restore missing/expected study data in some situations. However, this could cause other changes to be lost, so it is better to first enable the SOLIDWORKS Backup option as described above and subsequently save the file. Then, use Windows File Explorer to navigate to the folder specified in "SOLIDWORKS > Tools > Options > System Options > Backup/Recover > Backup > Backup folder" and open available backup copies until you locate the one that contains the data that you expect. Depending on the specific workflow, including the timing of Save commands, some backup copies may contain different/various portions of the expected study data. There might not be a single backup copy that contains all the expected study data.

Additional Notes

1. If studies are still missing after loading backups, they cannot be recovered and will need to be remade.
2. Creating an identical study will not relink to any existing Simulation results, as it will have a different unique internal identifier that will not match up.
3. If you need to load the remaining studies in a file, you may need to disable "Load all Simulation Studies" from Simulation>Options. This is the Simulation dropdown at the top of SolidWorks.
4. This issue only affects SOLIDWORKS Simulation. Other Simulation products (Flow Simulation, Motion, Plastics, Sustainability) are not affected by this issue.

For further assistance, please contact our support team at support@hawkridgesys.com, or 877-266-4469 (US) or 866-587-6803 (Canada).