QGIS User Interface and How to Customize It

Introduction

QGIS has an interface that is both easy to use and flexible.

Its features are arranged efficiently: the map canvas that displays your map, the Layers panel that manages layers, and the toolbars and menu bar where you pick tools and options. This lets you visualize and analyze location data intuitively.

This article describes each interface element of the main window and shows how to customize them.

Initial screen

When you start QGIS, the initial screen (the Welcome Page) shows three elements.

1. Recent Projects
A list shows the name, file path, and screenshot of the projects you opened recently. Double-click a project in the list to open it.

2. News
The latest news about the QGIS project appears here, including the dates of events such as user conferences and release announcements.

3. Project Templates
Project templates you defined appear here. Templates let you create a new project quickly.

To close the initial screen, click New Project on the toolbar.

The initial screen closes, and the new project opens with a blank map canvas.

Customize the initial screen

To change the initial screen, choose Settings → Options from the menu bar.

For example, you can set QGIS to open a specific project automatically at startup or to create a new project.

QGIS interface layout

The main window has five elements.

1. Menu bar
The menu bar sits at the top of the window and gives you access to all QGIS functions. Its items are Project, Edit, View, Layer, Settings, Plugins, Vector, Raster, Database, Mesh, Processing, and Help.

2. Toolbars
Toolbars provide quick access to frequently used functions. The main toolbars are:

• Project Toolbar: basic file operations such as creating a new project and saving it
• Map Navigation Toolbar: map operations such as zooming in and out and panning
• Attributes Toolbar: viewing feature information and working with the attribute table
• Advanced Digitizing Toolbar: creating and editing new layers

3. Panels
Panels are windows for accessing specific functions and information, such as working with layers. The main panels are:

• Layers panel: manages the layers in the project
• Browser panel: browses GIS data on your computer and in databases
• Processing Toolbox: gives you access to various spatial analysis tools (it is not shown by default; to display it, choose Processing → Toolbox from the menu bar)

4. Map canvas
The central part of QGIS, where the map appears. QGIS draws a 2D map based on the layers you added and the project settings. On the map canvas, you can zoom in and out, pan, select features, and do much more.

5. Status bar
The status bar sits at the bottom of the window and shows key information such as the current scale, the coordinates of the mouse cursor, and the project's coordinate reference system (CRS).

Show and hide toolbars and panels

Show or hide toolbars from View → Toolbars on the menu bar.

You can also show or hide panels. Choose View → Panels from the menu bar to select which items to open.

You can also right-click a toolbar to show or hide toolbars and panels in the same way.

What to do if the Browser and Layers panels are missing

While working in QGIS, you may click the × button at the top right of the Layers panel or Browser panel by mistake and close the panel.

If you close a panel by mistake, check its item in View → Panels to show it again, as described above.

You can also adjust the position of toolbar icons and panels.

To move an icon on a toolbar, drag the handle (two columns of dots) at the start of the icon to the position you want.

To move a panel, click the top of the panel and drag it to the position you want.

When you drag a panel toward a corner of the map canvas, a blue area appears. Release the mouse button there, and the panel appears docked.

Conclusion

This article introduced the interface of the QGIS main window and how to customize it.

Because QGIS lets you customize the interface flexibly to your preferences, you can build the environment that best suits your working style. Use this article to adjust the QGIS interface your own way and create a more comfortable, effective GIS working environment.