KB: Duplicate Designator MCAD CoDesigner
Created: April 10, 2025 | Updated: July 18, 2025
Altium Designer
When trying to push a project to MCAD using MCAD CoDesigner, if you get an error message: "Duplicate designators detected: Designator#. All the component designators must be unique.", try searching for free 3D bodies on the PCB and delete those model(s) or the associated component.
Solution Details
You may get this error message when trying to push a project to MCAD using MCAD CoDesigner: "Duplicate designators detected: Designator#. All the component designators must be unique."
This could be caused by a component that was placed on the MCAD side but did not use component recognition, so it came in as a 3D body. Please try removing this 3D body by going to: Panels » PCB. From here, select 3D models from the drop-down, then enable select (set to mask to see where it is). Select the » Free Models. You should then get at least two Free 3D bodies. Please try deleting these components.
