SOLIDWORKS Missing Description Dialog Box

Article by Matthew Francis on Mar 18, 2016

We often get questions regarding how to fix the description field when it is missing from the SOLIDWORKS Save As and Open dialog box. This article will provide two options to resolve the SOLIDWORKS missing description dialog box issue. 

SOLIDWORKS Missing Description Dialog Box

1. Enable the Details Pane

To enable the detail pane you will want to go to the File menu inside of SOLIDWORKS and select Open. In the Open dialog box, verify that the Details Pane is checked under the Organize tab > Layout. For some, this is all it takes to have the Description field be visible again, but for others, this is only part of the solution.

Enable Details Pane SOLIDWORKS Missing Description Dialog

2. Register the sldpropertyhandler.dll

One of the main reasons that the Description field is missing is because the sldpropertyhandler.dll was not properly registered on the computer. Before we can register the DLL we need to search and locate the file on the computer. To search to find the DLL you can open Explorer and search your local hard drive for the sldpropertyhandler.dll. The default location is C:\Program Files\SOLIDWORKS Corp\SOLIDWORKS. Once you find the file location take note of the file path.

Missing SOLIDWORKS Description Dialog Box Solved

To avoid any permission issues we recommend running the command prompt as the administrator. To open a command prompt, start by going to the Start menu and then search for cmd.

Right-click on cmd.exe and run as administrator.

Run As Administrator in SOLIDWORKS

With the command prompt open, type in the following based on your SOLIDWORKS installation folder location that we searched for earlier:

regsvr32 "C:\Program Files\SolidWorks Corp\SolidWorks\sldpropertyhandler.dll" Make sure you include the quotes (“)

Verify the path is correct, and then hit Enter.

SOLIDWORKS Missing Description Dialog Box Command Prompt

Make sure the registration message says it was successful. If not please contact GoEngineer Technical Support.

DLL Register Server Successful

If the registration was successful, open SOLIDWORKS and verify the issue has been resolved.

Registration Successful SOLIDWORKS Missing Description Dialog

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About Matthew Francis

Raised in rural Connecticut, Matt has been a SOLIDWORKS user for 10+ years. He has worked as a SOLIDWORKS designer in both the medical and water, oil, and gas industries before joining GoEngineer. Matt enjoys the outdoors and riding his motorcycles or snowmobiles depending on the season.

View all posts by Matthew Francis