The final update of the year for SOLIDWORKS 2026 has rolled out. On September 12th 2026, FD04 delivers new features and functionality for SOLIDWORKS 2026 users.
We’ve picked out three of the best features that we feel will have the biggest benefit to SOLIDWORKS users and TECHNIA customers’ workflows and help you to access them in SOLIDWORKS Design 2026.
Firstly, to clear up some technical jargon, FD stands for ‘Functional Delivery’. This is simply an update to the 3DEXPERIENCE platform that users of SOLIDWORKS Design with Cloud Services are able to take advantage of.
These updates occur four times each year as additional updates to the major annual release (GA) and typically align with the four Service Pack (SP) updates that desktop SOLIDWORKS users will be familiar with.
It’s worth keeping up with the enhancements to make the most of the tools available to you, but we’re here to support you whenever you decide to update to the latest SOLIDWORKS version.
Every time a new release is announced, we’re looking for updates like this that will save users the most clicks, do some heavy lifting for us, and have a tangible, positive impact on workflows.
SOLIDWORKS Design has long been able to create exploded views that can be used in technical diagrams and animations, but now the tool can be prompted through LEO, the built-in AI virtual companion, to streamline the creation of exploded views.
This is the most substantial enhancement to exploded views since SOLIDWORKS 2019 and will undoubtedly save designers many clicks as users can now type in a simple prompt without having to manually explode each component or fiddle around with auto-spacing.
LEO is one of the Virtual Companions that are now available to all SOLIDWORKS Design users with activated Cloud Services. AURA can be accessed from the Communities tab within the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, and both LEO and AURA can be turned on by activating the ‘AI Labs’ task pane inside of SOLIDWORKS Design.
Industry insight“Admittedly, I’m a bit of a cynic when it comes to prompting replacing button clicks, but this enhancement to exploded views ticks every box for me. I can’t begin to imagine how much time this would have saved me over the years!” Michael Hopley-Ash, CSWE SOLIDWORKS Applications Engineer | TECHNIA |
FD04 goes hard on implementing new AI features, but there is a clear focus on continuous development as we see some already existing tools evolve. Two features share this spot as it is worth highlighting the pace of development and how user feedback continues to shape the tools inside SOLIDWORKS Design.
BREP to parametric part conversion has been improved with give greater accuracy and better feature recognition, so more complex parts can be converted from ‘dumb’ solids into feature-rich SOLIDWORKS part files automatically.
The ability to generate assembly instructions was introduced to SOLIDWORKS Design 2026 along with our previous list of top 3 new features in FD03 and is also being developed to provide a smooth user experience when prompting and modifying.
Users can generate PDFs of assembly guides without leaving SOLIDWORKS Design, where each step can be edited and formatted as the user requires.
It’s great to see new tools and existing workflows alike being developed, and the keen-eyed among you will also notice how the interactions with the Virtual Companions are improving between updates, giving users more guidance and control during them.
Industry insight“I’m encouraged to see that the developers are actively listening to their user base and are implementing positive changes to new tools based on real feedback from human engineers and designers. I think there’s great potential for both of these tools, especially assembly guide generation, as that was something previously inaccessible to core SOLIDWORKS Design users. It’s exciting to see what tools will be developed next and how users start to implement these solutions in their workflows.” Michael Hopley-Ash, CSWE SOLIDWORKS Applications Engineer | TECHNIA |
Rounding off this list is the rendering assistant coming to SOLIDWORKS 2026 FD04. This will be accessible for users with licenses of SOLIDWORKS Professional who have the SOLIDWORKS Visualize add-in installed.
Through conversation with LEO, the Virtual Companion, users can create photorealistic renderings without manually configuring each setting.
Keep track of what options you’ve tried while chasing that perfect render and quickly export PNGs with transparent backgrounds without trawling through the settings or switching software.
Industry insight“Like many, I’m still mourning the loss of PhotoView 360, but technology moves on! In recent years, SOLIDWORKS Visualize has nicely re-integrated rendering within SOLIDWORKS Design and this feels like the natural next step. Being able to output renders with transparent backgrounds using a simple prompt is especially nice. I can see this being helpful for quick renders for presentations and design reviews, but I’d still recommend using established workflows in SOLIDWORKS Visualize for commercial outputs and final product renders. It’s an encouraging development that paves the way for more rendering-based enhancements and that’s why it sneaks into this top three for me.” Michael Hopley-Ash, CSWE SOLIDWORKS Applications Engineer | TECHNIA |
While these are simply three of the best features rolled out in R2026x FD04 for SOLIDWORKS Design, the full list of enhancements can be found in the 3DEXPERIENCE platform.
There are some great enhancements coming into FD04 before the launch of SOLIDWORKS 2027 later this year, so when you’re ready to upgrade your SOLIDWORKS, get in touch with our helpdesk and we’ll make sure you’re all set for a smooth experience.
You can also learn more about the AI tools in SOLIDWORKS to understand which AI tools are right for your business and how your workflows could benefit.