RuneScape Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Steel full helm old
Due to an update, this article may be out of date.
Reason: Update:Patch Notes (27 November 2017)
You can help improve this page by editing it.
"UI" redirects here. For the islands in the Arc, see Uncharted Isles.

With the release of RuneScape 3, players are given the option to customise the layout of their interface. Most windows can be moved, resized, combined, and hidden. In addition to layout, players have the option to change a number of the more technical details such as keybinds and HUDs.

Overview[]

RS3 Minimap

Default minimap

Every window on your screen may be moved and resized, and almost all of them can be removed. The windows and bars that cannot be removed provide access to other interfaces or core gameplay mechanics.

  • Ribbon - This bar is the main hub for accessing every other interface.
  • Chat - This includes all chat windows. You may hide chat windows in the chat settings and detach them from the main group as well.
  • Action bar - The action bar controls your player in combat. For this reason, the action bar may only be minimised, not closed. Additional action bars (up to 5) can be displayed simultaneously by toggling them under Settings -> Gameplay -> Action Bar Settings
  • Minimap - Shows the minimap and contains non-customisable sub-buttons (see image right).
    • The logout button displays a popup to exit to lobby or login upon being clicked. The button does not display if Slims Headers, Hide title bars when locked and Lock interface customisation is checked; clicking the options menu is the secondary way to exit the game.
    • The compass shows the direction the camera is facing and turns the camera north if a player clicks on it. Right click to turn the camera south.
    • The run energy button shows the player's current run energy level and toggles run on and off if a player clicks on it. Right click to rest to restore energy.
    • The home teleport button opens up the Lodestone Network interface. Right click to teleport to the last lodestone used.
    • The world map button opens the world map in a full screen view. Right click opens the World hopping interface.

Ribbon[]

The ribbon is the main bar where other interfaces can be opened up by the player. The buttons it contains are listed below:

Ribbon

The ribbon

Icon Sub interfaces Name Shortcuts
Hero interface icon StatisticsBackpack inventory buttonEquipped inventory buttonTask iconAchievement tracker icon Hero H,B,N,J
Customisations icon Customisations
Adventures icon Task iconQuest list icon Adventures J,
Powers icon Prayer tabFamiliar tabMagic abilities tabAttack abilities tabRanged abilities tabDefence abilities tab Powers P,U,I,O,K
Community icon FriendsFriends chat iconClan chat buttonGrouping System buttonTwitch Stream iconEmote button Community
Extras Control Panel Extras
RuneMetrics button Metrics iconGraphs iconDrops icon RuneMetrics
Options button Notes buttonMusic icon Options
Custom Ribbon icon Custom Ribbon

Additionally, during special events, the group interface button turns to the following:

During the 2017 Valentine's Day event, everything under Community became pink:

During the Agents of Fury event, everything under Community became orange:

Hero[]

The Hero interface contains various information about your in-game character.

Summary[]

Hero (Summary) interface

The Summary interface

First of all there is the Summary tab, which contains general details about your character:

  • Total level
  • Combat level
  • Total experience
  • Membership status
  • Cash in your money pouch
  • Quests progress
  • Achievements progress
  • An overview of your skill levels and experience
  • A model of your character in its' current state

Skills[]

Hero (Skills) interface

The Skills interface

This tab contains the skill advance guide (or level up tables) for all 27 skills. You find information here about what you will unlock at each level for a particular skill.

Simply click the skill in the menu on the left side of the interface that you want to know more about, then you will see a list of what you have and have not unlocked yet. Unlocked items and actions are displayed with an icon that represents what is unlocked already. The items you haven't unlocked yet have a lock icon on the left of their row.

There is also a distinction between free-to-play and pay-to-play items: pay-to-play unlockables will have an extra icon P2P icon next to them.

Loadout[]

Hero (Loadout) interface

The Hero (Loadout) interface

  • Backpack (or Inventory), shows the items you are carrying, and some details about them when hovered over them.
  • Combat values, displays the health points and prayer points you currently have, your defensive rating, prayer value and health points bonus. You will also be able to view the total offensive stats of your main-hand and off-hand items as well as the Hit bonus & chances against creatures of a certain level and combat style.
  • Worn equipment, shows an overview of your character, along with the items you've currently equipped. You can also access the Tool belt and Items kept on Death interfaces from the icons on the bottom.

Presets[]

Steel full helm old
Due to an update, this article may be out of date.
Reason: Update:Bank_Rework_Taster_-_GameBlast_-_Double_XP_Weekend 19 Feb 2018
You can help improve this page by editing it.
Main article: Bank preset
Hero (Presets) interface

The Presets interface

Following the Quick Presets and Drag & Drop update, the player is able to create and name presets. These are combinations of equipped items or items in the inventory, which are able to be quickly accessed by selecting that preset at a bank. Two presets can set as quick presets (labelled 1 and 2) which enables the player to equip these presets quickly from same icons in the bank interface. To equip the remaining presets, the player must go into the Gear tab using the "Open Preset Setup Menu" button in the same toolbar. Initially, 5 preset slots are available to the player, with 5 more available for rent or purchase with loyalty points, bonds or RuneCoins.

Achievements[]

Hero (Achievements) interface

The Achievements interface

This tab contains all information about Achievements.

The Summary tab includes an overview of Achievements completed, including up to four recently completed ones, two Achievements that are partly completed and access to the Path System.

The Achievements tab lists all the available Achievements, grouped under skills, areas, PvM and completionist categories. There is also a toggle to hide the completed Achievements that also applies to the aforementioned Path System.

  • Under skills, milestones for all skills can be found.
  • Under areas, the area Achievements can be found. They are grouped under the different areas that have Achievements.
  • Under PvM the PvM achievements can be found. They are grouped under solo PvM, group PvM, raids, and general Achievements.
  • Under completionist you can view the remaining requirements for the completionist cape, the completionist cape (t), and the master quest cape. For a list of the requirements needed for those capes, please visit the capes' main page.

Finally, there is the Tracker tab that lists total progress for area, PvM, completionist, and skills. It also shows at most three pinned Achievements.

Customisations[]

The Customisations interface contains information about the various customisation options for your character, including equipment overrides, (facial) hair styles, any animations that can be changed, titles to display with your character name and certain pets.

Wardrobe[]

Main article: Cosmetic override

This tab contains all your cosmetic overrides, and overrides that you haven't unlocked yet. Most of these outfits can be bought in Solomons General Store. Some are unlocked by various content in-game (some of which are discontinued). You can recolour most overrides by clicking the recolour button when an override is selected. The following categories can be found in the menu on the left:

  • Reset Outfit, this category is used to disable any overrides you are currently displaying. Just click the item you don't want to display anymore and save the changes.
  • Full Outfits, allows you to enable a complete outfit at once.
  • Dragon Keepsake Box, this section contains any items you have stored with a Dragon keepsake key, to be used as an override.
  • Other sections, these sections are used to change the appearance of an item in just one slot.

On the right of this tab you can see an overview of how your character looks. Using your mouse you can rotate it around by clicking and dragging. You can zoom in/out by using your mouse wheel.

Animations[]

This tab contains any customised animations for various action performed in-game. You can for example change the Home Teleport animation, or change the animation for Woodcutting, Mining, or Fishing. It is also possible to change some other animation, like the Death animation of your opponent in PvP situations, walk animations, and resting.

Appearance[]

In this interface you may change your character's hair style, beard style and haircolour.

Just select any of the hair/beard styles you want and confirm. Recolouring can be done by clicking any of the colours in the middle section, then accepting. Some hairstyles may have 2 colours. To change the second colour, first click the right mask icon above the column of colours, then click the preferred colour.

Titles[]

Main article: Titles

This tab contains all titles that you can display with your name. Locked titles are greyed out, and can only be previewed. Any titles you have unlocked can be enabled to be displayed with your character name.

Pets[]

This tab contains information about a selection of pets.

Legendary Pets These pets are bought from Solomon's General Store with RuneCoins. They have special abilities along with growth stages and can be used to override summoning familiars. See this page for a list of legendaries along with their abilities and cost.

Companion pets Companion pets may have 2-16 colour variations and no growth stages. Most companion pets has a unique emote that can be performed by interacting with it by right-clicking the Summoning icon on the action bar. (Near the minimap in Legacy mode). Companion pets are also able to override familiars.

The non-recolourable pets are: Douglas, Jaguar cub, Kirin, Lava hawk, Lion cub, Postie Pete, Pumpkincrow RuneFest dragonling, Snow leopard cub, Tiger cub.

The emoteless pets are: Jaguar cub, Lion cub, Snow leopard cub, Tiger cub.

Follower pets Follower pets can be spoken to for dialogue, with the exception of the banners, rhinos, Phoebe, Gillbert and Winston. This is done by right-clicking the Summoning icon on the action bar. (Near the minimap in Legacy mode).

Adventures[]

Adventures provides access to information about Quests, Daily Challenges, and Minigames.

Featured[]

Featured content includes your latest Daily Challenge and the newest released game content. Each of the four featured pieces of content links to more information about the subject.

Quests[]

Main article: Quests

The Quests tab contains your log for every quest in the game. They are colour-coded as not started (red), in progress (yellow), and complete (green). Clicking a quests's name opens up the quest's individual journal.

Challenges[]

Main article: Challenge System

Challenges are brief tasks related to one of RuneScape's skills. Challenges are geared towards your level, so if you have a higher level in a skill, the recommended and daily challenges will be of a similar level.

Minigames[]

The Minigames tab contains information about each of RuneScape's minigames and D&Ds. It also has a teleport option that takes you to the nearest lodestone for an activity.

Path[]

Main article: Paths

The Paths tab contains beginner tasks that new accounts can do for rewards.

Beasts[]

Main article: Beasts

The Beasts tab contains an overview of all non-quest repeatable bosses in-game, how many you've killed and how fast you killed them. It also contains an overview of how many times you killed the most popular slayer creatures.

Powers[]

The Powers tab contains access to abilities of each skill and the prayer selection screen. From here, abilities and prayers can be dragged to the action bar for quick usage or dragged to the centre for a full breakdown of the ability. From this window, you can also select where to focus your combat experience.

The combat experience option allows players to choose which skill(s) they would like to receive experience in from each of the three different types of combat. This replaces the previous combat styles interface.

The options are:

Combat Experience melee
  • Melee
    • Attack
    • Strength
    • Defence
Combat Experience magic
  • Magic
    • Magic
    • Defence
Combat Experience ranged
  • Ranged
    • Ranged
    • Defence

Community[]

The community interface is geared towards interaction with the rest of RuneScape's players, including conversation.

Vote Now![]

Main article: Player Power

This tab shows the current Player Power polls. Players may vote on upcoming updates or give feedback there.

HiScores[]

Main article: Hiscores

The HiScores tab displays your rankings in comparison to the rest of the game's members. There are 3 categories:

  • Seasonal HiScores - Miscellaneous challenges regarding gameplay
  • Skills - Rankings by level and total experience for every skill and total level
  • Minigames - Rankings for participation and ranks in various minigames.

Social[]

This tab shows the player's Clan Chat, Emotes, Friends Chat, Friends List and Notes all at once.

Main article: Notes

Notes is a window that can be moved from outside the Gameplay window. It contains space to write short messages or reminders. Up to 30 notes can be added, each having a maximum length of 50 characters. Notes can have their colour changed and their content edited after they are created. Notes can also be deleted.

A number of words and phrases are automatically converted to other words or phrases, all of them being either real-world allusions or inside jokes at Jagex.

Grouping System[]

Main article: Grouping System

This is where players form groups for a selection of activities.

Twitch[]

This tab allows players to stream while they play.

Extras[]

Upgrades & Extras (Overview) interface

The extras popup

Extras provides access to information regarding out-of-game details. From here, information about membership subscriptions, bonds may be obtained; and the window provides access to Solomon's General Store and Treasure Hunter. Each of these separate tabs include links to the official RuneScape website for additional information or in-game purchases (for the case of Solomon's General Store and Treasure Hunter).

Options[]

Options menu
Options button

The options menu is the main hub for non-layout interface customisation. From here, you may access the Gameplay, Interface, Controls, Graphics, and Audio settings tabs; the editor mode; and the quick save/load layouts. You can also use this menu to log out or return to the lobby.

Quick load and save[]

The quick load option allows you to instantly change your interface layout to one of 9 options – 5 default options and 4 custom.

There are 4 slots reserved for custom layouts. These are helpful for saving a specific layout that you prefer. A situation in which you use this might be for a minigame; you prefer a certain layout for general gameplay, but find it's not suitable for a particular activity. With quick layout, you can have your general gameplay layout saved and then readjust it without having to worry about losing it. Once you are finished with the activity, you can reload your preferred layout. As RuneScape sometimes loses your layout information, quick load can save you the hassle of readjusting your interface.

Gameplay[]

Settings (Gameplay) interface

The gameplay tab covers customisation options for general gameplay as well as adventure log coverage. This tab also contains house options and access to the notes window.

General Gameplay[]

General Gameplay contains customisation for general input and interfaces.

  • One-button gameplay refers to mouse input. When it is checked, all mouse clicks will be treated as a right-click on a standard two-button mouse. When unchecked, the game distinguishes between left- and right-clicks.
  • Accept aid allows you to use the Assist System with other players. It also allows you to accept items in some minigames and activities, such as Stealing Creation, and be affected by group target spells, like Cure Group. When toggled off, other players cannot request assistance from you nor can they give you items by using them on you in minigames. Having it off will also hide the option for you to request assistance from other players on the right click menu.
  • Hide familiar options toggles whether you see the window that gives information about your summoned familiar or pet.
  • Guidance system hints are in-game information popups geared towards new players that give basic information about what to do or what can be done.
  • Toggle Quick-Chat decides whether or not you want access to the Quick Chat system.
Lodestone guidance

An example of a guidance hint; here, information is being given about activating and using lodestones.

Adventurer's Log[]

Main article: Adventurer's Log

Every option under Adventurer's Log chooses what will be displayed for the "Recent Activity" section of your adventurer's log. Note that activity is logged as it happens and will stay in the feed afterward; e.g., killing a boss in Dungeoneering while the option to display that is on will put the kill on your feed, but unchecking the box will not remove it.

House settings[]

The House Settings are only applicable to members.

  • Number of rooms tells you how many rooms you have built in your player-owned house.
  • Building mode can only be toggled when inside your POH.
  • The Teleport to: option decides whether casting Teleport to House places you inside your house, or outside the house portal where your house is located.
  • The Doors option decides whether or not the doors in your POH will be open or closed by default when entering your house.
  • Expel Guests kicks every other player out of your house. This option can only be used inside your own POH.
  • Leave House places you outside the house portal to the POH you are in. This option can only be used inside a POH.

Interface[]

Settings (Interface) interface

The Interface tab contains options for customising what interfaces and HUDs appear, and how they appear.

Interface Customisation[]

  • Slim headers can be used to toggle the size of the tops of tabs.
  • Hide title bars when locked completely hides headers on the tops of tabs when customisation is locked. This option also overrides slim headers when customisation is locked.
  • Click-through Chatboxes toggles whether you can click through the chat part of the chatbox interfaces and tabs or not.
  • Lock Interface Customisation toggles whether you can move, resize, and close interfaces. It is the same as clicking the lock on the ribbon.
  • Transparency defines how opaque interface backgrounds are. Having the slider all the way to the left will make backgrounds completely solid and the having it to the right will make it completely transparent.

Interface options[]

This section is a stub. You can help by expanding it.
Combat HUD

The HUD above the monster is the target information window. The circles under its feet are the target reticules.

  • Always show target information makes the combat information always appear above the monster you are in combat with. When this option is off, the information can still be accessed by hovering over the monster.
    • The white text on the left side is your target's name.
    • To the right of the name, is an icon that denotes the target's weakness. If you do not recognise the symbol, hovering over it with your mouse will give the weakness in words.
    • The boxed number on the top-right is the target's combat level. This number is colour coded by comparing it to your own combat level. Varying shades of green and yellow-green indicate the target's level is lower than yours. The greener the number, the greater the difference. Yellow indicates the target is exactly your level. Varying shades of orange and red indicate the target's level is higher than yours. The redder the number, the greater the difference.
    • The green bar with a yellow number is the target's life points. As their life points go down, the size of the green bar shrinks, and a red bar that starts on the right side grows.
    • Any combat ailments or effects such as stuns or stat modifications are listed under the main HUD window in picture form. Like with the target's weakness, you can hover over these symbols to learn what they mean.
    • By default, the HUD is locked and will appear above your target. It can be unlocked by clicking the padlock in the top-left corner and then freely moved around. Locking the HUD again will not keep it in the position it was moved it; locking will return it to appearing above targets.
  • Target reticules are coloured circles that appear underneath a target. A yellow circle indicates that monster is actively engaging you in combat. A red circle indicates your current target. All attacks and abilities will be used on your target; however, you can switch targets by choosing to attack another target.
  • Task complete pop-ups show up on the screen whenever a task is completed
  • Make-X progress window is a more graphical display of your current Make-X task.
  • The Task information window is a window that explains your current active task
  • Split Private Chat toggles whether or not private messages and online status changes appears in the chatbox or outside of it.
  • XP pop-ups are numbers that pop-up from your avatar whenever experience is gained.

Edit mode[]

This section is a stub. You can help by expanding it.
Edit mode

Edit mode allows customisation of all of the available windows even when they are unavailable. Edit mode allows you to do three things: move hidden interfaces, save or load layouts, and reset or cancel any changes you have made.

The advanced options section lets you move around and resize the interface areas that are normally hidden from view. This includes interfaces that show up during minigames or when you open your bank.

The 3D World Editing tick box will , when ticked, allow you to move and resize the game view window that displays your avatar, and your surroundings in game.

The Minigame HUD Editing tickbox will, when ticked, allow you to move and resize the window where any minigame interfaces will show. For example, the event interface during The Battle of Lumbridge will appear in this box.

The Gameplay HUDs Editing tickbox will, when ticked, allow you to move and resize a variety of HUD's like the ones listed below:

Subscribe HUD - a button that appears allowing you to subscribe (this HUD only shows for non-member accounts).

New Task HUD - if you are given a new task, it will display here.

Buff Bar HUD - if you are given any buffs while in combat, these will show here. This also indicates the current combat mode (Full Manual, Revolution, or Momentum).

Debuff Bar HUD - if you are given any debuffs while in combat, these will show here.

Game Dialogue HUD - when chatting to an NPC, their dialogue and your dialogue choices will show here.

Crafting Progress HUD - when you are making an item your progress will be shown here.

Bank HUD - when you open the bank or a bank chest, the interface to interact with those items will be shown here.

Task Complete HUD - when you have completed a task, an alert will show here.

Central Interface HUD - you will be shown all information that does not have its own HUD. This includes interfaces such as quest puzzles.

Grave Interface HUD - when retrieving your items from a grave, the interface will show here.

Grave Timer HUD - when you have died, the time remaining until your grave collapses will show here.

XP Tracker HUD - when you have the XP Tracker activated, it will show here.

Area Status HUD - when entering the wilderness or duel arena, this will show here.

XP tracker[]

Main article: XP tracker

The XP tracker can be toggled to display experience gained for 3 different separate skills, or total. It cannot be toggled during combat, and caps at 214,748,364.7 XP.

Controls[]

Settings (Controls) interface

The controls interface contains customisation options for game input. This settings tab covers keybinds and camera sensitivity and behaviour.

Default keybinds[]

There are a large number of actions that can be executed by using one of many keybinds. Many of the actions already have a default keybind, but almost all of them can be changed to a different keybind or removed entirely. For a list of default binds, see Options#Controls.

Unchangeable keybinds[]

These keybinds are the same for every player; they cannot be changed.

Unchangeable keybinds
Camera
Keybind Action
Up arrow () Moves camera up
Down arrow () Moves camera down
Right arrow () Moves camera right
Left arrow () Moves camera left
Navigation
Keybind Action
Esc Settings menu

Changeable keybinds[]

These keybinds have a default action. They may be changed or cleared freely.

Changeable keybinds
Camera
Keybind Action
PgUp Zooms camera in
PgDn Zooms camera out
W Moves camera up
S Moves camera down
D Moves camera right
A Moves camera left
Action bar
Keybind Action
1 Action bar slot 1
2 Action bar slot 2
3 Action bar slot 3
4 Action bar slot 4
5 Action bar slot 5
6 Action bar slot 6
7 Action bar slot 7
8 Action bar slot 8
9 Action bar slot 9
0 Action bar slot 10
- Action bar slot 11
= Action bar slot 12
Shift + Q Previous action bar
Shift + E Next action bar
Shift + 1 Action bar 1
Shift + 2 Action bar 2
Shift + 3 Action bar 3
Shift + 4 Action bar 4
Shift + 5 Action bar 5
* (Un)sheathe weapons
Navigation
Keybind Action
F1 Hero tab
F2 Gear tab
F3 Adventures tab
F4 Powers tab
F5 Community tab
F6 Extras tab
F7 RS3 helper
L Toggle customisation lock
R Toggle run
M World map
T Home teleport
Ctrl + T Previous home teleport location
H Skills
J Active task tab
B Backpack tab
N Worn equipment tab
P Prayers tab
U Magic abilities
I Melee abilities
O Ranged abilities
K Defence abilities
G Group members
Audio
Keybind Action
Ctrl + G Global mute

Unassigned actions[]

These are actions which do not have a keybind by default but for which one can be assigned.

Unassigned actions
Action bar
Action bar 6
Action bar 7
Action bar 8
Action bar 9
Action bar 10
Quick heal
Quick prayer
Familiar action
Toggle auto-retaliate
Navigation
Emotes tab
Music player
Notes tab
Friends list
Friends chat options
Clan chat options
All chat
Private chat
Friends chat
Clan chat
Guest clan chat
Trade and Assistance
Group chat
Audio
Mute music
Mute sound effects
Mute ambient sounds
Mute voices

Changing keybinds[]

All of the actions listed above except for those in the first table may be customised or removed. To change a keybind, you just need to click the large box to the right of the action and you will be prompted to enter a keybind. A keybind must be a single key; there is also an option to include a single modifier key. Nearly every key on a standard keyboard will work; however, there are some limitations.

The following keys cannot be used as a keybind and will prompt an invalid key error: Esc, Enter,, , , , Backspace, Tab, Space, ~, §, f9, f10, f11, f12. In addition, the following keys are not even acknowledged by the system and will not even prompt an error: Caps Lock, Num Lock, Fn Lock, Scroll Lock.

The following keys can be used in conjunction with another key to form a dual-faceted keybind, but they cannot be used by themselves: Shift, Alt, Control. When entering and using these modifiers on keybinds, the keys are held simultaneously, not pressed consecutively.

Action unbound

A keybind can only be bound to one action. If you are entering a keybind and it already exists, then the old action will have its keybind removed and you will receive an "Action unbound" warning. The old keybind will be replaced with a dialogue box that also says "Action unbound"; this warning does not go away until you leave the controls tab or click the warning.

Clear keybind

Just as keybinds can be changed, they can be cleared as well. To clear a keybind, hover your mouse to the far right side. A red X will pop up; clicking this will remove the keybind for that action.

Graphics[]

Main article: Graphics settings
Settings (Graphics) interface

There are many graphical features in the game which can be changed through the Graphics interface. This includes whether ground decoration should be toggled on or off, anti-aliasing should be off, on 2x, or on 4x, or if roofs of buildings should always be hidden.

The first option, to re-run the auto setup, will change the graphics options to the default settings. The default settings are considered the highest detail, with the exception that it does not include anti-aliasing and bloom (as these aren't always featured on everyone's computer).

There are other default graphical options which can be obtained by clicking any of the five options (min, low, mid, high, custom). The custom one, of course, lets you pick whatever options you wish to enable.

Finally, there are options to size your screen. The fixed size keeps the game interface at exactly the same size, no matter if you extend the playing window or not. The resizable size lets you make the game window bigger or smaller, which adjusts every other interface to cope well with the resized window. Lastly, the fullscreen size lets you play RuneScape in the biggest size. This option is only enabled to members.

Audio[]

Settings (Audio) interface

The audio interface is where you can manage the volume of music playing, where it is playing out of, and what music track you want to play.

If you want to disable all audio while playing, there is an option to globally mute all different types of audio (music tracks, sound effects, ambient sounds, and voice overs). Otherwise, you can enable the audio to be played through one speaker (mono) or multiple (stereo).

The volume of each category of audio can be adjusted with the sliders, where the rightmost point is the loudest volume and the leftmost point mutes the respective audio category. Among this, one of almost a thousand music tracks can be selected (assuming they are unlocked) and be played through the Music Player. Songs are unlocked either by default or from accessing new areas throughout RuneScape and can be added to a playlist, where selective music tracks can be played in a random order.

Changing your layout[]

There are two states for the interface: locked and unlocked. This is most easily toggled by clicking the small padlock in the top-right corner of the ribbon. Clicking this padlock will play a short animation that shows the interface has been (un)locked. When locked (the padlock is closed), windows cannot be moved or resized and window headers will be greyed out. If the "hide headers" option is selected, headers will be hidden in this state. When unlocked (the padlock is open), windows can be moved and resized freely and window headers will be brown.

Moving windows[]

Every window can be moved around freely. To move a window, left-click and hold on the window's header. You should notice an orange-yellow outline appears around the window. Still holding the mouse button down, you can drag your cursor to move the window. You will notice that the window leaves behind a grey box outline in its original position as well.

Note that windows can not be placed exactly where you want them. There is an invisible grid that divides your screen and dictates exactly where windows may go. If you move a window to a spot that does not match on the grid, it will automatically lock itself into the nearest applicable location.

Moving window

A window being moved between 2 locations

Most windows are not allowed to overlap. When you place a window over another that it cannot overlap with, one of two things will happen: either it will reposition the window you just moved into the nearest location where it does not overlap anything, or it will swap the locations of the two windows. When windows will be swapped, you will see a translucent blue box appear in the original location of the window you are moving. This box will appear while you are still dragging the window, and, if you release the button while it is displayed, the windows will be swapped.

Window repositioning

The action bar is not allowed to be moved over other windows, so it is automatically locked into the closest, allowable position.

Resizing windows[]

Just as every window can be moved, most can be resized. The only exceptions to this are the Action Bar and the Ribbon. These two have a set area; they cannot be freely resized, but they can be reformatted into more compact shapes.

To resize a window, click on one of the edges or corners. The same orange outline that appears when moving windows will appear. Still holding the button down, you can drag your mouse to resize the window. The nature of the resizing is dependent on where you clicked from. If you clicked on the top or bottom, you can only resize the vertical length of the window; clicking on the left or right sides lets you change the horizontal length; clicking on one the corners allows you to resize both lengths. When finished, you can release your mouse button and the window will fix itself to how you resized. Windows cannot overlap, so if a window is resized to overlap another, it will be reduced to a size that does not overlap.

Combining tabs[]

Windows can also be combined with each other, turning them in to tabs. Any tab that has a brown header can be combined with any other window that also has a brown header. Any number of windows may be combined with each other. When the number of tabs is too much to fit within the width of the window, arrows will be added to the row of tabs that allow for scrolling.

Combining tabs

A window being dragged to combine with another, forming 2 tabs

Tabs can be moved within a window as well. By clicking the tab's header and dragging the mouse cursor, the tab the can be moved to another location in the row. Moving a tab will insert itself between other tabs; i.e., they will not swap positions.

When tabs are combined within a window, they can still be removed from the window or closed entirely. The [x] button in the top-right corner of the window will function as a close button for only the tab being viewed instead of closing the window as it normally does.

Separating a tab from its window is the same as moving it within: click on its header and drag the mouse cursor to the desired location. If the window is being moved over an invalid location, it will display a translucent, red screen with an X in the centre. If the mouse button is released while the window is still displaying this screen, the window will go back to a tab in its original location.

Advertisement