I only design top-down with a multi-solid body master part that drives all components in a product. This means that when you insert parts into an assembly, they assemble to their default locations automatically. All you have to do is then mate the two default coordinate systems and you are done. However....

Whenever you drop in parts they are always 'fixed'. I have extensively searched the settings and cannot find a way to stop SolidWorks from fixing the parts in space. This is aggravating because then you have to right click 100 times to unfix all your parts before you can assemble them. I don't understand why your defined mates wouldn't just supersede the fix function. Is there anyway to stop SolidWorks from automatically fixing parts you add to assemblies? (Beyond the method of selecting surfaces which puts the parts in the wrong location overall.)

Thanks in advance for your help.