4 Steps to Quickly Turn Off Shadows in SOLIDWORKS
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Knowing how to quickly turn off shadows in SOLIDWORKS can save time—especially when you’re rotating, panning, and zooming through large parts or assemblies. Shadows can make a model look more realistic, but they also add extra graphics work. When you’re in “build mode,” turning them off can reduce visual clutter and help your graphics area feel more responsive.
This guide walks you through the fastest way to disable shadows, plus a couple of common “gotchas” (like floor shadows from a scene) that can make it seem like the setting didn’t change.
Before You Start: Which “Shadows” Are You Seeing?
SOLIDWORKS can show shadows in more than one way. The most common one people want to turn off while modeling is Shadows in Shaded Mode—a display effect in the graphics area. Separately, some Scenes can display floor shadows (a setting inside the scene editor). These are related, but they’re not the same toggle.
If you turn off Shadows in Shaded Mode and still see shadows on a “floor,” you’re likely dealing with scene floor shadows. Step 3 covers that.
4 Steps to Turn Off Shadows in SOLIDWORKS (Fast)
Step 1: Open the View Settings Menu (Heads-Up View Toolbar)
In the graphics area, find the Heads-Up View toolbar (it overlays the top of your model viewport). Click View Settings (often shown as a glasses icon). This menu contains quick display toggles, including shadows.
Tip: If you don’t see the Heads-Up View toolbar, try maximizing the graphics area or resetting your toolbars (custom UI layouts can hide it).
Step 2: Turn Off “Shadows in Shaded Mode”
In View Settings, locate Shadows in Shaded Mode and clear it. The change is immediate—no “Apply” button required.
If you prefer the classic menu path, you can usually toggle the exact same setting from the top menu: View > Display > Shadows in Shaded Mode.
What should change: The ground-plane style shadow effect in the shaded graphics view should disappear right away.
Step 3: If Shadows Still Appear, Disable Floor Shadows in the Scene
If you’ve disabled Shadows in Shaded Mode but still see a dark shadow on a “floor,” that’s often coming from your Scene. To remove it:
- Open the DisplayManager tab (next to the FeatureManager design tree).
- Go to Scene, Lights, and Cameras.
- Right-click Scene and choose Edit Scene.
- Under Floor, turn off Floor shadows (wording varies slightly by version).
This is also the step to use if your goal is a “clean” modeling background without a ground-plane shadow baked into the scene appearance.
Step 4: Make It Stick (Templates, Display States, and Large Assemblies)
Once your view looks the way you want, you can reduce repeat work by saving the setting into how you normally start files:
- Templates: If your company templates keep reintroducing floor shadows or reflections, update the template after adjusting the scene (and ensure you’re applying the scene settings to the display states you actually use).
- Display States: If you work with multiple display states, confirm the scene/shadow behavior where needed so you don’t “lose” the look when switching states.
- Large assemblies: When you’re performance-limited, consider using Large Assembly Settings, which is designed to reduce expensive display effects (shadows are commonly among the first to disable).
The goal here is simple: shadows should be something you enable intentionally for presentation—not something that slows you down by default during daily modeling.
Why Turning Off Shadows Can Improve Day-to-Day Modeling
Shadows and other “visual effects” can be graphics-intensive. SOLIDWORKS itself recommends turning off effects like Shadows in Shaded Mode and RealView Graphics when you need better speed and smoother interaction, especially in heavier models. In practice, the benefit is most noticeable when:
- You’re working in large assemblies with many components displayed.
- You’re on integrated graphics or a laptop GPU.
- You’re screen-recording, presenting, or running other GPU-heavy software at the same time.
Troubleshooting: When You Can’t Find Shadows (or They Won’t Turn Off)
“Shadows in Shaded Mode” is missing or grayed out
This frequently happens when Large Assembly Mode/Settings is active, because SOLIDWORKS reduces or hides certain view effects in that mode. If the option disappeared, check whether Large Assembly Mode is enabled and disable it if you need those view toggles back.
I turned off shadows, but I still see a shadow on the floor
That’s usually Floor shadows from the active Scene, not the “Shadows in Shaded Mode” toggle. Use Step 3 to edit the scene and turn off floor shadows.
Shadows come back when I open a different file (or start new files)
That is almost always a template/workflow issue. The fix is to adjust your template(s) so your preferred scene and view behavior is the default, rather than manually correcting every new document.
Alternative Ways to Turn Off Shadows in SOLIDWORKS
If you prefer menus, toggle shadows from View > Display > Shadows in Shaded Mode. It’s the same display setting, just accessed differently.
Use Large Assembly Settings to “strip out” expensive effects quickly
If your primary goal is performance (not just aesthetics), turning on Large Assembly Settings can be a practical one-click approach. It’s intended to improve responsiveness by limiting heavy display features.
Conclusion
Turning off shadows in SOLIDWORKS is a small change that can make a big difference in clarity and responsiveness. In most workflows, the fastest approach is to disable Shadows in Shaded Mode from the Heads-Up View toolbar. If shadows persist, disable Floor shadows in the active scene. Finally, lock in your preference by updating templates or display states so you’re not repeating the same fix every time you start a new part or assembly.
