SketchUp Hardware and Software Requirements

SketchUp Pro - System Requirements

Like many computer programs, SketchUp requires certain hardware and software specifications in order to install and run. These are basic requirements, though, so you may want to use our recommended suggestions to improve performance.

Note: To authorize your SketchUp subscription you must have internet access.
Windows 11, Windows 10
  • Software Requirements
    • An internet connection both to install and authorize your subscription. Some features within SketchUp also require an internet connection. 
    • SketchUp requires .NET Framework version 4.5.2. For more information about the .NET framework see this troubleshooting article.
  • Recommended Hardware Requirements
    • A 2+ GHz processor.
    • A graphics card that’s separate from the CPU, also known as a discrete graphics card. Most current generation AMD or NVIDIA cards on the market are considered discrete. 
    • At least 8GB of RAM. 
    • At least 2GB of available hard disk space. 
    • A modern GPU with at least 1GB of memory. SketchUp’s classic renderer requires OpenGL 3.1 support. SketchUp’s performance relies on your graphics card driver and its ability to support OpenGL 3.1 or higher. 
    • A 3-button, scroll-wheel mouse. 
  • Minimum Hardware Requirements
    • A 1 GHz processor.
    • 4GB of RAM.
    • 1.5GB of available hard disk space. 
    • A modern GPU with at least 512MB of memory and support for hardware acceleration. Video card drivers must support OpenGL 3.1 and be up to date. For help with updating your drivers see How can I update my computer's graphics driver?.
Mac OS 14+ (Sonoma) 13+ (Ventura), 12+ (Monterey) 
  • Software Requirements
    • An internet connection both to install and authorize your subscription. Some features within SketchUp also require an internet connection. 
    • QuickTime 5.0 and web browser for multimedia tutorials.
    • Safari. 
  • Recommended Hardware Requirements
    • 2.1+ GHz processor or current generation Apple M1 processor
    • 8GB of RAM
    • 2GB of available hard-disk space
    • A modern GPU with at least 1GB of memory. SketchUp’s classic renderer requires OpenGL 3.1 support.
    • A 3-button, scroll-wheel mouse
  • Minimum hardware
    • 2.1+ GHz Intel™ processor
    • 4GB RAM
    • 1.5GB of available hard-disk space.
    • A modern GPU with at least 512MB of memory. SketchUp’s classic renderer requires OpenGL 3.1 support. 

SketchUp's New Graphics Engine

Sketchup 2024 introduces a powerful new graphics engine that comes with some additional requirements:

  • For MacOS, you must use version 12.3.1 or above. We recommend at least 13 and above for optimal performance. 
  • The following MacOS GPUs are unsupported:
    • Intel HD Graphics 5000
    • Intel HD Graphics 6000
    • Intel Iris Graphics
    • Intel Iris Graphics 6100
    • Intel Iris Pro Graphics
  • The following Windows GPUs are unsupported:
    • Intel HD Graphics 4x00 series
  • For MacOS, the new renderer requires Metal 2 support. For more information on MacOS versions satisfying this requirement see Apple's Metal support page. 
  • For Windows, the new renderer requires DirectX12, feature level 11.0 support. See the Direct X diagnostic tool for more information.

For more information on how to change between the new and classic graphics engine, see Graphics. 

Additional Compatibility Considerations

SketchUp 2024 - With the release of SketchUp 2024 we have added support for MacOS 14.0 (Sonoma). 

SketchUp 2023 - With the release of SketchUp 2023 we’ve removed support for MacOS 10.15 (Catalina). We have added support for MacOS 13.0 (Ventura).

SketchUp 2022 - With the release of SketchUp 2022 we’ve removed support for MacOS 10.14 (Mojave). We have added support for MacOS 12.0 (Monterey). Additionally, SketchUp 2022 has been compiled for native compatibility with the Apple M1 processors.

SketchUp 2021 - With the release of SketchUp 2021 we’ve removed support for MacOS 10.13 (High Sierra) as well as Windows 7 and 8. We have added support for MacOS 11.0 (Big Sur).

SketchUp 2020 - With the release of SketchUp 2020 we've removed support for Mac OS X 10.12 (Sierra). When signing into web features such as the Warehouses you'll be taken to an external browser to complete the signin process.

SketchUp 2019 - With the release of SketchUp 2019 we've removed support for Mac OS X 10.11 (El Capitan). You need to sign in with a Trimble ID to access the SketchUp Pro 2019 subscription or to participate in a Free Trial. SketchUp Desktop 2019 Classic licenses do not require a sign-in.

SketchUp 2018 - With the release of SketchUp 2018 we've removed support for Mac OS X 10.10 (Yosemite). There is no longer a SketchUp Make for download, our free version of SketchUp is called SketchUp Free and available in all modern web browsers.

SketchUp 2017 - With the release of SketchUp 2017, we've removed support for 32-bit operating systems, OpenGL 2.0, and software rendering of models (as opposed to hardware acceleration). We also removed support for OS X 10.9 (Mavericks.)

Unsupported Environments

ARM Processors - While SketchUp 2022 will run on the new Apple M1 Computers running MacOS (Big Sur), SketchUp for Windows is not tested on, nor developed for ARM based processors and is unsupported.

32-Bit Operating Systems - SketchUp is now optimized solely for 64-Bit and no longer available for Windows or MacOS in any 32-bit capacity.

MacOS 10.13 (High Sierra) - With SketchUp 2021 we no longer support MacOS 10.13 (High Sierra).

Windows 7, Windows 8 - We no longer actively test features or bugs on these older versions of Windows. While the software may still run properly, there may be some issues with features that haven’t been tested.

Windows Vista and older - These versions of Windows are no longer supported.

Mac OS X 10.12 (Sierra) and older - These versions of OS X are no longer supported.

Linux - A Linux version of SketchUp isn't available at this time. However, you may be interested to see how others have had success running SketchUp on Linux using Wine.

Parallels/VMWare - Neither VMWare nor Parallels are supported environments.

Remote Desktop Connections - Due to hardware restrictions in shared environments we can't reliably predict how SketchUp will perform. At this time SketchUp is not supported via a Remote Desktop Connection (RDC) on any platform.

External Graphics Cards (eGPU) - SketchUp is untested and unsupported on systems with eGPUs attached. While it may work for some users, we will not provide support for SketchUp on a system with this configuration.

Virtual Environments - For subscribers activating versions of SketchUp 2022 and newer, using SketchUp in virtual environments is allowed as a product-specific exception to Trimble’s General Product Terms. Learn more about using SketchUp in virtual environments.

Other Hardware/Software 

3D Mice - You can use Logitech 3D Motion Controllers from 3Dconnexion to create models in SketchUp. The 3Dconnexion website has more information about these controllers.

High DPI Support - SketchUp is DPI aware and can adjust the sizes of Icons and drawing elements so they are sized correctly for High DPI screens. Icons are sized when SketchUp starts up. If you adjust your DPI or scaling (Microsoft Windows – but only up to 150%) you will need to restart SketchUp to see correctly sized Icons and drawing elements.

Was this article helpful?