How to open large Sketchup files quickly (x10 faster !)

Why your Sketchup file is so Big ?

Working in Sketchup is very easy and intuitive, and if you are used to download components from 3Dwarehouse without caring about the file size you will probably end up with a very large Sketchup file that can easily reach 100, 200 and even 400MB for a detailed model like interior & exterior architectural projects.

You will probably notice that it takes a lot of minutes to save or open your Sketchup file esp on old machines, and sometimes it takes an eternity (plus a couple of minutes) or in two words : your Sketchup model will never open even on powerful computers. 

How to open large Sketchup Files:

A trick to save your Sketchup file and open it later very quickly, is to activate the Wireframe mode (From view Menu > Face Styles > Wireframe) while saving, the same trick works well if you want to copy paste (paste in place), rotate or move multiple large components at the same time.

Wireframe mode

Saving in "Wireframe" mode is 2 to 3 times faster than saving with "Shaded With textures" mode, and the same good news, your model is going to load quickly the next time you open it, even if your SKP file is very large, you are using large textures, high poly components, you have a 32bit version of Sketchup or you own a slow computer.

The trick works well on rocket computers with SSD drives, and the save/open time is considerably faster, so even if you are not interested in speeding up the save/open process, at least you can make sure your Sketchup file will open with another user and on a less powerful computer.

More tips and tricks to make Sketchup run faster.