How to Lock a Sketch in SOLIDWORKS

While there isn’t a specific command to lock a sketch in SOLIDWORKS, there are a handful of methods that can achieve this depending on your goal.

The best method to lock SOLIDWORKS sketches comes down to what you need to protect them for. Whether you want to protect sketch geometry from accidental changes or standardize a sketch for your company’s library, we’ll discuss methods to get it done.

Why Should You Lock SOLIDWORKS Sketches?

Everyone has a slightly different workflow in SOLIDWORKS, but there usually comes a point where you want to save certain elements from being inadvertently edited. Early in the design, certain geometry, dimensions, and other information may be the basis of what other features are built on.

Therefore, we must protect them from stray changes. Other times, we may have to use imported elements that cannot be changed.  If you are sharing files and collaborating, locking a sketch might ensure your colleague knows something is critical. There are many reasons one might need to protect a sketch against changes.

4 Methods to Lock a Sketch in SOLIDWORKS

Fully Define a Sketch

In SOLIDWORKS, it is best practice to fully define all elements within a sketch before creating a feature. This means applying dimensions to all entities and features within a sketch so that nothing remains undefined.

Once a sketch is fully defined, it is protected from being dragged around and accidentally moved. With this method to lock a sketch, it is protected until someone actively changes a dimension value within a sketch.

The Make Fixed Command

Another approach to locking a sketch would be to use the Make Fixed command. This command can be found by right-clicking when sketch elements are highlighted and selecting the command denoted with an anchor icon. Once the anchor icon is clicked, the highlighted elements are frozen in place and fully defined.

Locking a sketch with the Make Fixed command

In order to lock an entire sketch, edit the sketch you wish to lock, highlight or select all the elements within the sketch, right-click, and select the anchor icon. This will turn the sketch elements black, indicating they are fully defined and fixed.

The SOLIDWORKS Freeze Bar

The SOLIDWORKS Freeze Bar is a recent addition to SOLIDWORKS functionality. When enabled, the Freeze Bar appears as a yellow bar above the Feature Tree in SOLIDWORKS. Dragging this freeze bar down into the feature tree protects anything above it from being edited.

Dragging the SOLIDWORKS Freeze Bar to lock a sketch

Once you click and drag the Freeze Bar below the desired sketch to lock it, everything preceding the sketch will be uneditable until the bar is rolled back to the top.

To learn more about the Freeze Bar, review our video below.

Sketch Blocks

Another method of locking a sketch is to make it into a sketch block. Blocks are grouped sketch elements that are protected from editing until you specifically hit the Edit Blocks command. As an additional benefit to using blocks, you can save out blocks for later reference to be reused whenever you need them for other designs.

Turning a sketch into a sketch block

To make a block, highlight the group of entities you wish to turn into a block, and navigate to Tools -> Blocks. In this menu, select Make, and a prompt will appear to confirm. These blocks can be saved into a file on your computer or used in a library for later reference.

Additional Protection with Data Management Tools

Whether you need to protect an existing design element, preserve an imported feature, or do so for any other reason to lock a sketch, you can use any of these four methods to help you to preserve your work by locking it and making it protected.

However, to protect entire designs and ensure traceability for changes, it is best to invest in a dedicated data management system. With a tool like SOLIDWORKS PDM or 3DEXPERIENCE, you have full control over parts, assemblies, and drawings to revise, secure, and collaborate safely without the risk of unwanted changes.

For more best practices on securely sharing CAD data, watch our on-demand webinar here.