SOLIDWORKS Simulation 2022: Missing or empty studies due to deleting or reordering study tabs

Problem

SOLIDWORKS Simulation studies can sometimes unexpectedly disappear or show an empty study tree after deleting a different study or changing the order of the study tabs, as noted in the following bug:

SPR# 1233698 - "Deleting a SOLIDWORKS Simulation study or changing the order of study tabs can sometimes delete or corrupt other studies after saving and reopening"

This issue affects only SOLIDWORKS 2022 SP0, SP1, and SP2, and will be fixed in 2022 SP3.

If any study was ever deleted or reordered in the affected versions, the corruption might potentially still be present and could cause studies to unexpectedly disappear in the future, many sessions later. Deleting all Simulation data using the Simulation Cleaning Utility and recreating the studies is the only way to remove this corruption.

If studies were not deleted or reordered, the missing studies may be related to SPR#1231247 as described in this article.

Solution One: Upgrade SOLIDWORKS

Upgrade to SOLIDWORKS 2022 SP3 or newer. A Hotfix for 2022 SP2 can be found here: https://kb.dsxclient.3ds.com/mashup-ui/page/resultqa?id=QA00000103617e

It is recommended to upgrade to SOLIDWORKS 2022 SP5, as that is the last Service Pack for SOLIDWORKS 2022.

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

Solution Two: How To Avoid the Issue

Recommendations to help minimize the risk of unexpected SOLIDWORKS Simulation study setup data loss in SOLIDWORKS 2022 SP0, SP1, and SP2 are as follows:

1. Avoid using the "Delete" command on ANY SOLIDWORKS Simulation studies

As an alternative to deleting unwanted studies, consider using the "Rename" command to change study names to 'DELETE1', 'DELETE2', etc.

2. Avoid reordering the SOLIDWORKS Simulation study tabs

As an alternative to reordering the study tabs, consider using the "Rename" command and adding a prefix to the study name to indicate the intended order of the study.  For example: "1-Gravity", "2-Load500", "3-Load750", etc.

3. Activate SOLIDWORKS backups

Backups can be enabled by going to Tools->Options->Backup/Recover and changing the "Backup" settings as desired.  For more details about the Backup options, please see this article.

Important: If using SOLIDWORKS 2022 SP0 or SP1, keep "Auto-recover option" disabled to avoid data loss due to SPR# 1231247 (fixed in 2022 SP2).  For more details about this issue, please see this article.

Additional Notes

1. The missing studies cannot be recovered.
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. This issue only affects SOLIDWORKS Simulation.  Other Simulation products (Flow Simulation, Motion, Plastics, Sustainability) are not affected by this issue.

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.