SketchUp Pro Running Slowly

SketchUp Pro Running Slowly

When you're busy and working to meet deadlines, you need SketchUp to be fast.

This article will explore a few things to check if you're experiencing performance issues in SketchUp
Primarily, we will look at setup and hardware. If you think the issues you're experiencing could be due to a specific model you're using, take a look at our guide for optimising modeling techniques. Alternatively, please read this article if you are experiencing a sudden slowdown or freezing whilst working on a model.

Check you meet requirements
To run SketchUp properly, you will need a supported operating system as well as capable hardware. You can find the requirements your machine must meet here:

Update drivers
A variety of issues can arise if your graphics card drivers are not up to date. You will need to check with your card vendor (e.g. Nvidia / AMD) to find the latest drivers for your specific card. As a majority of users tend to have Nvidia cards, you can search for the latest Nvidia drivers here:

Disable Plugins
Sometimes, issues are caused by third party plugins. If you're experiencing issues, it is always a good idea to disable all of your extensions and see if the problem goes away. If the issue is not present when plugins are disabled, it's safe to assume at least one of them is the cause. Try turning them back on one by one to locate which one causes the problem.

Other computer processes (resource manager / activity monitor)
You can open the Resource Manager in Windows, or the Activity Monitor on a Mac to observe the load your machine is under. If your processor is nearing 100% load, or your RAM is at capacity, it might be time for an upgrade to your hardware to handle your models. You can also see the other applications that are running on your computer. Sometimes, processes running in the background, such as an antivirus scan, can cause your entire computer to slow down. If another program is using a high percentage of resources, try closing it and see if SketchUp improves.

Outliner tool
SketchUp features a powerful tool called Outliner which allows you to view a model's groups, components and section planes as a hierarchical tree. While usually not an issue, this tool can sometimes cause a performance drop with larger models. If you're experiencing lag with a larger model, try disabling outliner to see if the situation improves. You can do this by going to Window > Outliner.

If you've tried what we've suggested here but haven't seen any improvement, you can open a support ticket where we are happy to assist you further.
    • Related Articles

    • Activating Your SketchUp Pro Subscription

      1. Creating Your Account Once your SketchUp Pro Subscription order has been processed, you will receive an email containing details of your licence, as well as a link to the account management portal. Click the account management portal link, and you ...
    • Upgrading SketchUp Network License to SketchUp Pro 2019

      If you are a SketchUp Pro 2018 Network License user with an active Maintenance & Support plan, your license will be automatically upgraded to SketchUp 2019. Please see below for the process your license will go through: FIRSTLY - Your SketchUp Pro ...
    • SketchUp Pro Download Links

      SketchUp Pro 2020 Mac Windows SketchUp Pro 2019 Mac Windows SketchUp Pro 2018 Mac Windows SketchUp Pro 2017 Mac Windows SketchUp Pro 2016 Mac Windows
    • Can I Transfer SketchUp Between Mac and Windows?

      If you work in an environment that requires SketchUp to run on both Windows and Mac machines, one license per user is all you need, regardless of what computer you use. There is no need to buy a specific Mac or Windows version. With SketchUp, you now ...
    • Mac OS Sonoma 14.3 and SketchUp 2023

      There is currently a known issue causing crashes in SketchUp 2023 when running on macOS Sonoma 14.3. To know if it’s an issue you’re seeing, the steps to cause the crash are these: Show the Colors palette (Window/Materials). Go into the materials ...