# SketchUp Viewer Android problem opening SketchUp file on device **URL:** \ **Category:** Viewer\ **Created:** [March 5, 2025, 4:29pm UTC](https://forums.sketchup.com/t/sketchup-viewer-android-problem-opening-sketchup-file-on-device/317622 "2025-03-05T16:29:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![PaulMcAlenan](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/sketchup/user_avatar/forums.sketchup.com/paulmcalenan/32/211206_2.png) [@PaulMcAlenan](https://forums.sketchup.com/u/PaulMcAlenan)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2025, 4:29pm UTC](https://forums.sketchup.com/t/sketchup-viewer-android-problem-opening-sketchup-file-on-device/317622/1 "2025-03-05T16:29:51Z")
I have a client who is a little technologically challenged. I am trying to get them to view a model but their Apple laptop is old and it sems that the browser does not support SketchUp Web. They have installed the Viewer on a Pixel 8a but keep getting an error: > There was an error opening this file. Please re-download this model and try again. I haven’t used the Viewer on Android for some time and I used to be able to click on this in Gmail: ![Screenshot_20250305-162449](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/sketchup/original/3X/f/2/f2c919cc615268c087e2349b218da7c0417f8ebe.png) And the model would open up in the Viewer with no problems but now I get the same error message that my client is getting. If instead – in the Viewer – I try to open the model file on my Android device and click on the file, nothing happens – the model just won’t open. ---
**Author:** ![cappo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@cappo](https://forums.sketchup.com/u/cappo)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2025, 4:35pm UTC](https://forums.sketchup.com/t/sketchup-viewer-android-problem-opening-sketchup-file-on-device/317622/2 "2025-03-05T16:35:28Z")
I think there’s an option to share a link to a model on trimble connect. They can then just view it in their phones browser. ---
**Author:** ![PaulMcAlenan](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/sketchup/user_avatar/forums.sketchup.com/paulmcalenan/32/211206_2.png) [@PaulMcAlenan](https://forums.sketchup.com/u/PaulMcAlenan)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2025, 4:44pm UTC](https://forums.sketchup.com/t/sketchup-viewer-android-problem-opening-sketchup-file-on-device/317622/3 "2025-03-05T16:44:02Z")
That doesn’t work. If I upload the model to my Connect account and I try to view it on my phone in the Viewer I get the download error. It has actually downloaded and is in the list of models but it won’t open. I have legacy models loaded in the Viewer which will open. ---
**Author:** ![paul.millet](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/sketchup/user_avatar/forums.sketchup.com/paul.millet/32/236258_2.png) [@paul.millet](https://forums.sketchup.com/u/paul.millet)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2025, 11:44pm UTC](https://forums.sketchup.com/t/sketchup-viewer-android-problem-opening-sketchup-file-on-device/317622/4 "2025-03-05T23:44:00Z")
hello, there have been compatibility issues with newly created files (even with 2024 version) and android’s viewer. I haven’t recently checked if it had been updated, but apparently not. the workaround is to save as previous version (anything 2023 or lower) ---
**Author:** ![cappo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@cappo](https://forums.sketchup.com/u/cappo)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2025, 8:30am UTC](https://forums.sketchup.com/t/sketchup-viewer-android-problem-opening-sketchup-file-on-device/317622/5 "2025-03-06T08:30:55Z")
Morning 👍 I’ve just run a test by uploading a simple cube to Trimble connect. I then opened that file via Sketchup for Web and clicked the “Share” icon in the top left corner. It created a link which I copied and pasted into an email and sent to my phone. Clicked on the link in my android phone emails, it opened the browser and I could view the file. I could also zoom, rotate, click on scenes and tags etc. It wasn’t ideal but it worked. The file was not downloaded to my phone and I have no Sketchup viewer installed. ---
**Author:** ![michaelseanguez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a87d85/32.png) [@michaelseanguez](https://forums.sketchup.com/u/michaelseanguez)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2025, 9:48am UTC](https://forums.sketchup.com/t/sketchup-viewer-android-problem-opening-sketchup-file-on-device/317622/6 "2025-03-10T09:48:28Z")
The Android Viewer and the simplicity of the workflow were the two things that kept drawing me to SketchUp. I’m mostly doing small assemblies, not architectural layouts. I’m moving on to Fusion 360, which has a free version for personal use and an Android Viewer. It’s about time I got comfortable with parametric modeling. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/sketchup/original/3X/f/2/f2a121500b085ed60806607a82720b092d800bb3.png) [@system](https://forums.sketchup.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2025, 12:29am UTC](https://forums.sketchup.com/t/sketchup-viewer-android-problem-opening-sketchup-file-on-device/317622/7 "2025-09-05T00:29:56Z")
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