"Does not appear to be a sketchup file" error when opening in browser

Hello, I have a fairly large model (~306MB) that I’m trying to create a shareable link for but when opening the generated link in a browser (tried Chrome and Edge) I get the error: “Does not appear to be a sketchup file.” I have file saved locally and on Trimble Connect and I am able to open the file from Trimble Connect as well. I have copied the model and pasted into a new file and tried re-uploading. Everything seems to be fine except for this link. Is it possible its because it’s too large? I cannot share the file on here due to privacy but I can share it with a Trimble support person if needed.

It could be too large. 306 Mb is a large SketchUp file. Try purging unused content and reducing material/texture image sizes. Since we aren’t allowed to see it we can’t do more than guess.

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@DaveR
I can also share it privately if you’d be willing to look at it, just can’t post it publicly.

Upload it to DropBox or We Transfer and share the link in a private message. I won’t share it with anyone else.

If you want to send the private link to me as well, that would be ok. Most things I can recover Dave can as well, but there are some exceptions, where I may have a better chance.

Thanks Colin, I sent over a link

I’m working on it now. It’s very slow and my first comment is that there’s a lot of excessively detail objects, especially plant components. More in a little bit.

Edit to add:

I did my usual cleanup steps in hopes of making the model easier to work with. First I fixed incorrect tag usage.
Screenshot - 6_28_2024 , 2_18_52 PM
Then I purged unused. It took a long time to go through the purging process but there were no unuse components or materials. Next I checked and resized materials. There are quite a few excessively large texture images. The first few here:

This reduced the file size by about 26% but I’d guess it still may be too large for the viewer. I’ll upload it to a file sharing service and send it back shortly.

I would suggest editing those car componnts and removing their innards . Those details don’t add anything useful to your overall model. Or better, look for some much more simple car components. I would also suggest replacing many of the plants with lower-poly versions.

Thanks! Seems like it’s most likely a size issue. I appreciate your input.

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I wonder if the online viewer has the same about 100 MB size limit as online SketchUp.

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Yes from what I’ve gathered this seems to be the case.

Hello Guys,

I have similar issue. I have used the free Mac OS version, I created a housplan which is 300+ Mb, and after trial session I paid for Go plan, in which online Sketchup is available. I can’t open the file anymore with desktop app to reduce size. Any help is much appreciated. Thank you.

ok, first, you need to group things. right now your walls, floor and swimming pool are all a big mess of geometry. group things whenever they’re done to protect them. make the walls, BAM group. make the floor, again group. or component, doesn’t matter, it’s here to protect your geometry. I roughly grouped the walls, floor and exterior in separate groups.


now your file is massive because in one week you downloaded A LOT OF THINGS.
in sketchup go, whenever you save, you’ll be prompted to purge. in sketchup pro, you have to manually do it (window / model info / statistics / purge)


your file is still massive because of some of the models you’re downloading. they’re black holes.
see the tan curtains ? 1.3 million polygons for the pair. I can model my neighbourhood with less than that.

the handles on the 4 teacups, a total of 170K polygons.

When you’re in the 3d warehouse, don’t download everything you see. grab smaller lighter objects, not the ones made in another software that’ll convert poorly in sketchup.


see the difference between both ? 1000 times heavier, 2900 times more complex. but in the end, it’s curtains, they hand on the side of a view.


careful there, you have hidden furnitures in the room. they add extra weight. and you don’t need 3 couches stacked on each other.


after cleaning up, it’s no 58 Mb, still a lot in my point of view, but at least now SU web should manage.

https://www.swisstransfer.com/d/f178487a-7daf-4d23-8c81-939a362290d9

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Wow, thank you so much, I really appreciate that. I am really new to SketchUp, so I made a lot of mistakes. :slight_smile: Thank you also for the hints, I will keep in mind.

I guess this is an exercise ?
if so, once you feel it’s done, take some time and redo it. open a new tab, and start over. all the little things you’ve learned the first time will come back to you.

think of it as learning an instrument, you’ll play a song once, then again, then again.

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It’s my very first trial, I will keep practicing, thank you. :slight_smile:

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