SOLIDWORKS Pack and Go: How to Bundle Project Files Fast

Pack and Go collects an assembly with its drawings, referenced parts, and textures into one bundle — here are the options that matter and the habits that keep shared projects clean.

You can hand off a complete SolidWorks project — the assembly, its drawings, every referenced part, even the decals — as one bundle, and nothing arrives broken. That is the job Pack and Go does, and it takes a handful of clicks once you know which options matter.

Sibe is a collaboration-first cloud CAD Document Management platform with a native SolidWorks add-in. When the goal is feedback rather than a file transfer, a Sibe share link does the job with no bundle at all — the reviewer opens the live model in a browser while you keep working directly in SolidWorks. More on that at the end.

What Pack and Go is

Pack and Go is a built-in utility in SOLIDWORKS® 3D CAD. It collects an entire project's file structure — parts, assemblies, subassemblies, drawings, and associated files such as decals, appearances, and design tables — and packages everything into one folder or ZIP.

The point is the references. An assembly does not contain its parts; it points at them by path. Email the assembly file alone and the recipient opens a skeleton full of missing-component errors. Pack and Go walks the reference tree, copies every file the project touches, and rewires the copies to point at each other — so the bundle opens correctly at its destination.

When to use it

• Sending a project to a client, supplier, or outside collaborator
• Backing up a complete design at a milestone
• Moving a project between computers or drives
• Archiving a finished design for long-term storage
• Creating a sandbox copy to test a risky change

How to use Pack and Go

1. Open the top-level part, assembly, or drawing you want to package.
2. Go to File > Pack and Go.
3. Tick what to include: drawings, simulation results, Toolbox components, decals and appearances. Click the double arrows to expand the full list of files the assembly references.
4. Pick the folder structure — flatten everything into a single folder, or keep the project's folder structure so relative paths stay familiar.
5. Choose the output: a folder for direct editing, or a ZIP for emailing and uploading.
6. Click Save. SolidWorks copies every selected file to the destination, with references pointing at the copies.

Here's a quick tutorial:

The options that matter

• Include drawings — the checkbox everyone forgets; without it the drawings stay behind and the recipient gets models with no prints
• Include Toolbox components — bundles fasteners and library parts, so the copy does not depend on the receiving machine's Toolbox setup
• Include suppressed components — carries the full model structure, including parts not resolved in the current configuration
• Add prefix or suffix — renames every file in the bundle in one pass, which keeps a copied variant from conflicting with the original
• Save as ZIP — produces one attachable file and keeps the folder structure intact inside

Two things worth knowing before you send

SolidWorks versions only move forward. A recipient on an older SolidWorks release cannot open files saved in a newer one. Confirm the other side's version before you pack — if they are behind, agree on neutral formats such as STEP for the models and PDF for the drawings instead.

Drawings are found, not guaranteed. Pack and Go looks for drawings stored alongside the models. A drawing filed in an unrelated folder can slip through the search, so scan the expanded file list for every sheet you expect before clicking Save.

Best practices

• Run Pack and Go before sending any assembly — a bare assembly file arrives with broken references
• Expand the file list and scan it before saving; missing references show up here first
• Use meaningful prefixes, such as the project code or date, when sharing across teams
• Store Pack and Go ZIPs as clean snapshots of released designs
• Test-open the bundle on another machine before it goes to a client

What a bundle can and cannot do

A Pack and Go bundle is a snapshot. It captures the project exactly as it stands the moment you pack it — which is exactly right for archives and one-way transfers.

Two things follow from that. Edits diverge: the moment someone modifies the copy, there are two versions of the design, and nothing reconciles them automatically. And feedback travels by email: a reviewer without a SolidWorks seat cannot open the native files, so bundles often ship with screenshots and PDFs alongside. For handing off manufacturing data or archiving a release, none of that matters. For a design review loop, it adds days.

Where Sibe fits

For reviews, you can skip the bundle entirely. Share a design from Sibe and the reviewer opens the live 3D model in any browser — no SolidWorks seat, no Sibe account, no viewer install. They comment on the model itself, and the thread stays with the file (design reviews). Every share link comes with a QR code, so even a printed drawing leads back to the live model (secure design sharing).

For duplicating a design, Sibe's Copy Design creates the variant with references resolved automatically, and the associated drawings come along in the copy. Version control runs underneath the whole time: engineers check files in and out directly in SolidWorks, and Sibe tracks every version (cloud version control). No servers, no VPNs, no admin hassles.

Book a free 20-minute demo or try Sibe free for 14 days — no credit card.