How to work with SolidWorks Command Manager?

Let’s see in what ways we can use SolidWorks Command Manager to help us achieve our goals in SolidWorks.

SolidWorks CommandManager

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Solidworks is a CAD software that is used to-

Design 2D- 3D parts / components,
Technical drawing or drafting, doing simulation,
Rendering the products,
Creating motion study and animations.

The CommandManager is a context-sensitive toolbar. The CommandManager changes according to the toolbar you want to access or use. It has toolbars embedded in it based on the document type.

There are Toolbar tabs available at the bottom of the CommandManager. When you click a tab below the CommandManager, it automatically updates and shows that toolbar. For example, if you click the Features tab, the Features toolbar appears which includes various features used in CAD modeling like Extrude, Cut-Extrude, Fillet, etc.

To change the descriptions and size of the buttons, Right-click in the CommandManager and select or clear Use Large Buttons with Text. You can also do the same by going to Tools > Customize, on the Toolbars tab.

Use Ctrl+Page Up and Ctrl+Page Down to scroll through the CommandManager tabs.

Enable CommandManager

By default, the CommandManager is enabled and expanded when a document is open. If it does not appear, you can re-enable it from the Customize dialog box.

To access the CommandManager Click on Tools > Customize or Options > Customize. On the Toolbars tab, select Enable CommandManager and then Click OK.

You can also right-click in the window border and select Enable CommandManager.

Floating the CommandManager

Your can make the CommandManager float by Dragging the CommandManager by its tab. It becomes a separate floating window. Once it is floating, you can drag the CommandManager anywhere on or outside the SolidWorks window. This way you can increase the graphics area and place the CommandManager to the place where you can access it faster.

There is on more way to quickly move the CommandManager to recommended location is to Dock. To dock the CommandManager when it is floating, do one of the following:

While dragging the CommandManager on the SolidWorks window, move the pointer over a docking icon these icons appears on the respected side of the SolidWorks windows.

Dock above

Dock left

Dock right
Double-click the floating CommandManager to revert to the last docking position.

Adding a Custom Tab to the CommandManager

We can add a Custom tab to the command manager and add the features which are used by the user most often. To add a custom tab to the CommandManager:

Right-click a CommandManager tab and click Customize.
In the CommandManager, right-click the New Tab that appears to the right of the current tabs and click Rename Tab.
Enter a name for the tab.
Click OK.

Adding CommandManager Tool Buttons

SolidWorks comes with so many features and tools. We can access them from the command manager but some features are not enabled. To enable the required tab or to add CommandManager tool buttons:

Right-click the CommandManager tab and click Customize.
In the Customize dialog box, on the Commands tab, select a category that contains tool buttons to add.

You can combine tool buttons from multiple categories on one custom CommandManager tab.
Drag the buttons to the CommandManager tab.
Click OK.

Changing Tool Button Labels

To change tool button labels:

Right-click a CommandManager tab and click Customize to open the Customize dialog box.

Right-click a tool button on the CommandManager and select the following options:

Show Text	Shows the tool name.
Text Below	Shows the tool name below the button. Clear the option to show the tool name next to the button.
Begin a Group	Starts a group that you can use to group buttons.
Delete	Removes the button.