How to open a CATPart or CATProduct file without CATIA
Quick answer
Install PartLens (free on Google Play and for Windows) and open the .CATPart. For an assembly, keep its part files beside the .CATProduct on Windows, or send the whole folder to your phone as one .zip and open that. Everything happens on the device; nothing is uploaded.
On an Android phone or tablet
- Install PartLens from Google Play (version 2.31 or later opens CATIA files).
- Tap the .CATPart in WhatsApp, Gmail, Drive or your Files app, and choose PartLens. Or open PartLens and pick the file.
- For an assembly, ask the sender for the assembly folder as one .zip (on Windows: right-click the folder › Send to › Compressed (zipped) folder). Open the .zip in PartLens and every part is placed.
A phone cannot look inside the folder a file came from, which is why assemblies travel as a zip.
On a Windows PC
- Download PartLens for Windows and install it.
- Use File › Open, or drag the .CATPart onto the PartLens window.
- For an assembly, open the .CATProduct from the folder that holds its .CATPart files. Sub-assemblies are read from the same folder.
PartLens deliberately does not take over double-click for CATIA files, so CATIA keeps it on design PCs. To prepare files for phones in advance, the free PartLens Converter accepts CATIA files too.
Once it's open
- The parts tree uses CATIA's own instance names, so it reads like the tree in CATIA.
- Isolate, hide or explode parts, cut sections, and measure. Measurements on CATIA files are marked approximate ≈, because they come from the display shape CATIA saved. For exact numbers, open a STEP export.
If a CATIA file won't open
| PartLens says | What it means and what to do |
|---|---|
| Saved without a display shape | The part's bodies were hidden when it was saved. Show them in CATIA and save again, or ask for STEP. |
| Could not find its part files | The listed .CATPart files aren't beside the assembly. Put them in the same folder, or send the folder as one .zip. |
| Not a CATIA V5 file | It may be CATIA V4, a 3DEXPERIENCE export, or a damaged file. Ask for STEP. |
| Stored in a way PartLens cannot read yet | The message names the CATIA release that saved it. Ask for STEP, and tell us the release so support can be added. |
Open your CATIA file now
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