CAD programs here means a program you install on this Windows PC so you can draw parts on the machine in front of you. Install FreeCAD with winget or FreeCAD_1.1.3-Windows-x86_64-py311-installer.exe from GitHub Releases, open it, and save a file here. Skip Softonic, CNET, and unofficial wrappers. This site does not host the installer.

This article is the install-and-open job. You typed CAD programs because you want software on Windows, not a tab that holds the model for you. The meaning of the CAD work sits on Computer aided design. 2D drawing sits on Drafting software. A browser product comparison sits on CAD software vs Tinkercad. The short install sits home.

This is FreeCAD. LGPL-2.1. The FreeCAD team publishes it. We did not make it. Official files live on GitHub Releases. The repo is FreeCAD/FreeCAD. This site does not host the installer. Skip Softonic, CNET, and unofficial wrappers.

The button on this page goes to Install on the home page. Trust notes sit on Cad software download safe.

Install a CAD program on this Windows PC

Paste this into Windows Terminal or Command Prompt:

winget install -e --id FreeCAD.FreeCAD

Copy

If winget is missing, install App Installer from Microsoft, then paste again. Official Microsoft links only. The id is FreeCAD.FreeCAD. GitHub Releases is the other path. For most PCs take FreeCAD_1.1.3-Windows-x86_64-py311-installer.exe. A 7z also sits on that release: FreeCAD_1.1.3-Windows-x86_64-py311.7z. Live tag observed: V1.1.3, 25 July 2026. Match the file name on the list. File notes sit on Cad software releases. LICENSE sits on Cad software GitHub.

Run that installer on the same machine you will draw on. Files stay on GitHub. If SmartScreen warns on a first run, read the publisher. Prefer the GitHub asset over a renamed copy from search. After setup, Settings, Apps should list FreeCAD. Programs and Features can show it too. A reboot is rarely required.

Pick one path. Do not run the installer twice on top of itself because the first pass felt slow. Winget and the exe are both FreeCAD. Use one. Do not run the exe and paste winget on top of each other. One fetch. One install. If you already installed, open the window. Do not stack setups hoping extra workbenches will appear.

How to use CAD programs tool FreeCAD

Install FreeCAD with the command on this page, or take FreeCAD_1.1.3-Windows-x86_64-py311-installer.exe from GitHub Releases. A 7z also exists on that release if you want a 7z.
Open FreeCAD. You should get a desktop window, not a browser tab. Look for a Start menu entry, a desktop shortcut, or the folder you unpacked.
Pick Part Design, or another workbench the window actually shows. Workbenches are modules inside this one program. They are not extra products you fetch from other sites.
Make a simple solid with the tools that workbench shows. A sketch and a pad is enough to prove the program runs.
Save the file on this PC, then close when you are done. Confirm Explorer shows the file.

That list is the CAD programs path. You installed a Windows program. You opened it. You saved a file here. The deeper CAD meaning sits on Computer aided design. A 2D sheet of a finished solid sits on Drafting software.

What CAD programs means on this page

People type CAD programs when they want something to install. A store page. An exe. A winget id. This page answers with one program we actually document: FreeCAD, from GitHub Releases, LGPL-2.1. We do not build a directory of every product name people also type. Those other names stay off this URL.

Home is titled Cad software. This page stays on the program you put on Windows. After it is installed, the Start menu, a desktop shortcut, or the folder you unpacked should open a window on this PC. If the only thing you got is a website, you fetched the wrong shape. Official Tinkercad can sit first for its own name. That map sits on CAD software vs Tinkercad.

A CAD program on this page is local. It is an app Windows can list. It has a publisher you can read. It writes a file to a path with a drive letter. A tab that holds a model on someone else's server is a different kind of product. Both can exist. This article installs the desktop one.

Three honest fetches, one program

Winget talks to Microsoft. The command is winget install -e --id FreeCAD.FreeCAD. You can install on the home page if you want the same copy row. GitHub Releases is the Windows installer host. Usual Windows pick is the exe. The 7z is the same project without the usual installer flow. Unpack it if you want a 7z. Pick one path. Do not stack them.

Match 1.1.3. Live tag observed: V1.1.3, 25 July 2026. Hash notes, if any, live on GitHub Releases, not here. The off-site file host is GitHub Releases. This site does not host the installer. Files stay on GitHub.

Repair, modify, and uninstall live in Apps if you used the exe or winget. A failed exe can leave a half-registered shortcut. Repair is the mild next step. Uninstall and install once is the blunt next step. We will not invent a command-line flag chart. The installer you already have is enough. A 7z folder you unpacked is removed by deleting that folder, after you close the program.

Where the program lives after install

Winget puts the program where Windows package installs go. The exe installer puts it where that installer says. The 7z puts it where you unpacked it. Open it from there. Adding a Start menu pin is fine. Copying random dll files out of the folder is not a second install method.

Right-click the exe in Explorer, Properties, Digital Signatures, if a signature is present. Read the publisher. Prefer the GitHub asset. A renamed setup from a forum attachment can include extra executables you did not ask for. If you already ran a wrapper, uninstall what it added, then install the real app.

Each Windows user account can see the Start menu entry after a machine-wide install. A 7z unpacked inside one profile may be invisible to another login. That is expected. Configure the account that actually draws. Do not pile extra installer copies on the Desktop. One install per machine is enough for one Windows install.

Workbenches are one program

FreeCAD ships workbenches in the same window. Part Design is the usual solid path. Sketcher is the 2D profile that drives that solid. TechDraw is the 2D sheet taken from a 3D part. Draft is 2D geometry. Those names are inside this program. They are not four extra articles on this site. 2D drawing as a job sits on Drafting software. The CAD meaning sits on Computer aided design.

Pick the workbench the window actually lists. If a name is missing on your build, use what you have. Live tag observed: V1.1.3, 25 July 2026. A first run should prove the window opens, a workbench loads, and a file saves. That is the CAD programs job. Switching workbenches does not require a second download.

Addons exist in the project ecosystem. We will not walk an addon catalog here. The program you installed already has Part Design. Prove that path first. An addon you fetched from a random zip is another wrapper family. Stay on GitHub Releases for the program itself.

Prove the program runs

Open the window. Make a trivial solid or even a new empty document, then save. Explorer should show an .FCStd. If you cannot save, you do not yet have a working CAD program on this PC. Fix the install before you chase a second product name from search.

If the window opens and immediately closes, look at the install path. A 7z you unpacked onto a USB stick that you then yanked will fail. Copy the folder to a local disk, or use the exe. If the window opens and the 3D view is black, try a view-fit, or update the GPU driver from the vendor, or try software rendering if the program offers it. We will not invent a driver version.

If Settings, Apps does not list FreeCAD after a winget or exe install, the install did not finish. Read the last installer page. Run the same file once more, or paste the winget line once more. One path. Then reopen the Start menu.

Skipping Softonic

Skip Softonic. Skip CNET. Skip unofficial wrappers. A search for CAD programs often returns portals that wrap a setup. The extra click is where a partner offer hides. Close that tab. Go to GitHub Releases, or paste the winget command.

Browser extensions that promise a CAD button in a toolbar are another wrapper family. They want the model in a tab. That is the browser product again. This page will not recommend them. Disable the extension. Use the desktop window. Trust notes sit on Cad software download safe.

Email newsletters that attach a CAD installer are not GitHub. USB sticks from a friend that carry FreeCAD-setup-final-final.exe are not GitHub. Match FreeCAD_1.1.3-Windows-x86_64-py311-installer.exe. Match the publisher. Match the repo name FreeCAD/FreeCAD. Then install. Then open. Then save.

Updates

Updates live on GitHub Releases and on winget when the package updates. Read the release page. Usual Windows pick is still FreeCAD_1.1.3-Windows-x86_64-py311-installer.exe until a newer tag is actually on that page. We will not type a newer number here. File notes sit on Cad software releases.

Winget upgrade can refresh the same id. If you installed from 7z, you replace the folder yourself from a new 7z. Mixing winget and an extra 7z folder gives you two copies. Pick one. Uninstall or delete the other.

A school image that pins an old build is a policy fact. You may not be allowed to update. Use the copy on the image for that hour. Do not wrap a newer exe to beat the pin.

School PCs, labs, and borrowed laptops

A lab image may block winget and unknown exe files. Then the CAD programs job is closed for that hour. Do not grab a wrapper to beat the policy. When you get a PC you control, take the file from GitHub Releases, or paste the winget command.

A borrowed laptop you return in twenty minutes is a bad place to leave FreeCAD_1.1.3-Windows-x86_64-py311-installer.exe. Use what is already on the machine, or do not install. A shared lab may already have a CAD program. If it does, use that copy for the hour. Installing a second copy you cannot uninstall is a mess for the next person.

If the lab only allows a browser, that is a policy fact. A browser CAD product comparison sits on CAD software vs Tinkercad. This page still documents the Windows program. It does not change the lab image. An IT ticket that asks for FreeCAD by name, with the GitHub Releases URL, is cleaner than a surprise install.

Uninstall

Uninstall is Apps in Windows, or the project uninstall, or deleting the unpacked 7z folder if that is how you fetched it. Quitting the window is not uninstall. After uninstall, the Start menu entry should vanish. If a ghost remains, restart Explorer, then look again.

On a family PC, say if you installed a new CAD program. On a work PC, follow local policy. If policy blocks unknown exe files, winget may still work, or it may not. If both are blocked, stop. Softonic is still the wrong place to fetch in that hour.

Closing a document is not uninstall. Removing a desktop shortcut is not uninstall. If you only wanted one sitting, close when the file is saved. If you want the program gone, uninstall. Fetch again from GitHub Releases or winget, not from a wrapper.

What this article will not do

It will not host the installer. It will not be a star rating. GitHub Releases is the Windows installer host. Fetch the exe from that page or use winget.

It will not be the CAD meaning walk. That sits on Computer aided design. It will not be the 2D sheet walk. That sits on Drafting software. It will not be a scoreboard of every CAD name in search. We document one LGPL-2.1 program you can install on this Windows PC.

It will not invent a price for another product. It will not invent a seat count. It will not list store SKUs. The command on this page installs FreeCAD. It does not install a browser product.

How do I use CAD programs on this PC?

Install with winget install -e --id FreeCAD.FreeCAD or FreeCAD_1.1.3-Windows-x86_64-py311-installer.exe from GitHub Releases. Open the desktop window. Pick Part Design or another workbench the window shows. Make a simple solid. Save the file on this PC. The install pointer is Install on the home page.

Are CAD programs websites?

This page is the install-on-Windows job. You should get a desktop window. A named browser product comparison sits on CAD software vs Tinkercad. Official Tinkercad can sit first for its own name. We still install here when the program should live on this PC.

Why is the program missing after I clicked download?

You may have saved the installer and not run it. You may have run a wrapper that never registered FreeCAD. You may have unpacked a 7z and then moved the folder. Run the real exe from GitHub Releases, or paste the winget command. Then look in Settings, Apps and in the Start menu. If a lab blocked the install, stop. If you fetched from Softonic, uninstall that wrapper and start from GitHub Releases or winget.

Did you make these CAD programs?

No. The FreeCAD team publishes FreeCAD under LGPL-2.1. Official files live on GitHub Releases. This site only points at that page. We do not host the installer.