ui-overview.md

title	description
Studio interface	User interface overview for Roblox Studio, the essential building tool for Roblox experiences.

import BetaAlert from '../includes/beta-features/beta-alert.md'

Toolbar

The toolbar resides at the top of Studio. The buttons and tools visible in the bar change when you click on the Home, Model, Avatar, Test, View, and Plugins tabs.

The [Home](../studio/home-tab.md) tab contains basic tools for manipulating 3D objects and testing your experience.

The [Model](../studio/model-tab.md) tab contains tools for manipulating 3D objects in the workspace, creating detailed models, working with physical constraints, and adding advanced objects.

The [Avatar](../studio/avatar-tab.md) tab contains specialized tools for creating and fitting accessories, importing custom meshes, building default rigs, and creating animations.

The [Test](../studio/test-tab.md) tab contains tools for testing an experience, simulating multiple clients, and emulating different devices.

The [View](../studio/view-tab.md) tab lets you toggle the various windows of Studio, as well as several display features.

The [Plugins](../studio/plugins-tab.md) tab contains tools for managing [plugins](../studio/plugins.md), configuring localization, and creating animations. Any plugins you install can also add buttons to this tab.

3D viewport

The 3D viewport represents the Class.Workspace of a place. From here, you can move the camera around the virtual world, manipulate objects with the mouse, and playtest an experience without leaving Studio.

3D viewport in Roblox Studio

Camera controls

Inside the viewport, you can move the camera with the following controls. See also Studio shortcuts for additional key shortcuts.

Keys/Shortcuts	Action
W A S D	Moves the camera forward/left/back/right.
Q E	Moves the camera down/up.
Shift	In combination with any movement key, changes the camera speed. If desired, you can [customize](../studio/setup.md#customization) the camera speed within Studio's settings.
F	Focuses the camera on a selected part.
**Right Mouse Button**	When pressed, dragging the mouse moves the camera view around.
**Mouse Scroll Wheel**	Zooms the camera in or out.
**Middle Mouse Button**	When pressed, dragging the mouse pans the camera.
**Right Mouse Button** & **Mouse Scroll Wheel**	Pressing the right mouse button and scrolling the mouse wheel **up** increases the camera scroll speed. Conversely, pressing the right mouse button and scrolling the mouse wheel **down** reduces the camera scroll speed.Camera scroll speed is also adjustable from the [visualization options](#visualization-options) menu in the upper‑right corner of the 3D viewport.

Object selection

As you hover over parts and models in the viewport, they are outlined to indicate their potential selection. You can select an outlined object by clicking it, or you can select multiple objects by holding Shift, Ctrl, or ⌘ as you hover over and click them.

Selection cycling

In more complex environments or when zoomed in, objects will commonly be hidden from your view by other objects in front. To select hidden objects without moving the camera around, hold Alt or ⌥ and click to perform selection cycling to the next further object behind the currently selected object.

Selection cycling

Children or parents

When one or more objects or models are selected in the Explorer window, you can select all of their children by right-clicking and choosing Select Children from the context menu. Similarly, right-clicking and choosing Select Parent(s) selects the direct parents of those objects.

Selection style

To display outlines and/or bounding boxes around selected objects, choose an option from the Selection Style menu in the View tab.

Visualization options

In the upper-right corner of the 3D viewport, you can quickly toggle or set common visualization options related to on‑screen UI overlays, light sources, physics simulation, character pathfinding, and more. The menu also contains a control for viewing/setting the camera scroll speed.

Common windows

You can toggle on commonly used windows through the View tab, including the Explorer window, Properties window, Asset Manager, Toolbox, and many others.

Explorer

The Explorer window, visible by default, shows a hierarchical list of every object and service inside the place, collectively referred to as its data model. Frequently used services in the hierarchy include Class.Workspace which mirrors the 3D viewport, as well as Class.ReplicatedStorage and Class.ServerStorage.

Properties

The Properties window lets you adjust properties of a selected object to change how it looks and behaves. Object properties are divided into sections; for example, a Class.MeshPart includes sections like Appearance which allows you to change its color, material, transparency, and more.

At the bottom of the window, you can define custom attributes for an object, similar to its default properties. Attributes and their values are saved with your place/assets and they're an ideal way for team members to experiment with different values during runtime, even if they don't understand the underlying code.

Asset Manager

The Asset Manager lets you manage places, images, meshes, audio, and more. It also provides a mechanism to bulk import large groups of assets.

Toolbox

The Toolbox contains a selection of models, images, meshes, audio, plugins, videos, and fonts made by Roblox or Roblox community members. It also includes all of the creations that you've personally distributed on the Creator Store or those which were distributed by groups you belong to.

Output

The Output window, accessible from the View tab, displays errors captured from running scripts, messages from Roblox Engine, messages from calls to print(), and errors from calls to warn().

Command Bar

The Command Bar, accessible from the View tab, lets you execute Luau code outside of scripts. Similar to a terminal, pressing ↑ or ↓ while using the command bar navigates up and down among previously-executed commands. Clicking the small arrow on the right side similarly reveals a list of previously-executed commands.

Layout customization

Studio's drag-and-drop interface lets you easily customize window layout to best suit your workflows.

Reposition windows

You can reposition any window by click-dragging its header bar. As you begin dragging the window, the interface reveals empty docking area regions. If you drag the mouse pointer into any empty region, a floating position selector appears in that region. Dragging the pointer over the "center" of the floating selector targets the empty region as the dragged window's destination, indicated by the region darkening and becoming outlined.

Mouse pointer hovering over the "center" icon of the position selector in an empty docking area

If you drag the mouse pointer into a populated region such as the 3D viewport, a floating position selector appears with multiple options for the window's destination. For example, dragging the pointer over the "left" icon will position the window on the region's left side.

Group windows

If you drag a window into a populated region and choose the "center" icon of the position selector, the dragged window will group into that region as a tab. This allows you to set up tab groups of commonly used windows.

Three windows grouped together as tabs

Pin windows

To maximize screen space for the 3D viewport, you can pin windows (or an entire group of windows) to the edges of the overall Studio window. Once pinned, you can temporarily open any window by clicking its tab — this does not disturb other windows, and the expanded window will automatically collapse when you click in another window or click its tab again.

Three windows pinned to the right side of the Studio window

To pin a window or an entire group of windows, click the "collapse" button. Alternatively, to un‑pin a pinned window/group, open it by clicking its tab, then click the "expand" button.

Float windows

To float a window freely of other windows, simply drag‑and‑drop it without selecting any icon from the floating position selector.

In-Studio testing

Studio offers a suite of options for testing an experience before releasing it to the public. All of the testing options are accessible from the Test tab.

• Rapid paytesting — Provides a close simulation of the experience running on the Roblox application.
• Multi-client simulation — Compares how each client "sees" other clients within the experience.
• Device emulation — Provides insight on how controls operate on a mobile device or how on-screen UI displays on different screens and aspect ratios.
• Controller emulation — Accurately emulates gamepad input directly in Studio.

See Studio testing modes for more information on each testing option.

Next-gen toolbar mapping

The next-gen Studio toolbar introduces a wide array of improvements and optimizations, including cleaner appearance, customizable tabs with your own tool collections, and the ability to show/hide tabs as desired. The following tables map the previous Studio toolbar workflows to next‑gen equivalents.

Action/Tool	Legacy Workflow(s)	New Workflow(s)
Notifications	Right side of mezzanine bar
Online Help	Right side of mezzanine bar or **File** menu	Application's **Help** menu
Share	Right side of mezzanine bar
[Assistant](../assistant/guide.md)	Right side of mezzanine bar or **View** tab	Right side of mezzanine bar
Account Menu	Right side of mezzanine bar
[Studio Settings](./setup.md#customization)	**File** menu	Windows: **File** menu ⟩ **Studio Settings** macOS: Application's main menu ⟩ **Studio Settings**
Beta Features	**File** menu	Application's **File** menu ⟩ **Beta Features**
Save to Roblox / As…	**File** menu	Application's **File** menu ⟩ **Save to Roblox** / **As…**
Publish to Roblox / As…	**File** menu	Application's **File** menu ⟩ **Publish to Roblox** / **As…**
[Explorer](./explorer.md)	**View** tab	🄐 **Home** tab ⟩ **Explorer** 🄑 Application's **Window** menu ⟩ **Explorer**
[Properties](./properties.md)	**View** tab	🄐 **Home** tab ⟩ **Properties** 🄑 Application's **Window** menu ⟩ **Properties**
[Asset Manager](../projects/assets/manager.md)	**View** tab	🄐 **Home** tab ⟩ **Asset Manager** 🄑 Application's **Window** menu ⟩ **Asset Manager**
[Toolbox](../projects/assets/toolbox.md)	**View** tab	🄐 **Home** tab ⟩ **Toolbox** 🄑 Application's **Window** menu ⟩ **Toolbox**
[Terrain Editor](./terrain-editor.md)	**Home** or **View** tab	Application's **Window** menu ⟩ **3D** ⟩ **Terrain**
[Output](./output.md)	**View** tab	🄐 Application's **Window** menu ⟩ **Output** 🄑 **Script** tab ⟩ **Output**
[Game Settings](./game-settings.md)	**File** menu or **Home** tab	Application's **File** menu ⟩ **Game Settings**
[Avatar Settings](./avatar-settings.md)	**File** menu or **Avatar** tab	🄐 **Avatar** tab ⟩ **Avatar Settings** 🄑 Application's **File** menu ⟩ **Avatar Settings**
[Command Bar](#command-bar)	**View** tab	🄐 Application's **Window** menu ⟩ **Script** ⟩ **Command Bar** 🄑 **Script** tab ⟩ **Command**
[Manage Plugins](./plugins-tab.md#manage-plugins)	**Plugins** tab	Application's **Plugins** menu ⟩ **Manage Plugins**
Plugins Folder	**Plugins** tab	Application's **Plugins** menu ⟩ **Plugins Folder**
Tools (Localization)	**Plugins** tab	Application's **Window** menu ⟩ **Localization** ⟩ **Localization Tool**
Object Browser	**View** tab	Application's **Window** menu ⟩ **Script** ⟩ **Object Browser**
Tag Editor	**View** tab	Application's **Window** menu ⟩ **Script** ⟩ **Tag Editor**

Action/Tool	Legacy Workflow(s)	New Workflow(s)
Copy, Cut, Paste, Duplicate	**Home** tab	Application's **Edit** menu
Select, Move, Scale, Rotate, Transform	**Home**, **Model**, or **Avatar** tab
Mode picker (geometric vs. physical)	**Home**, **Model**, or **Avatar** tab
Collisions & Join Surfaces toggles	**Home**, **Model**, or **Avatar** tab	**Home**, **Model**, or **Avatar** tab ⟩ Mode picker ⟩ Options in popup menu
Rotate/Move snapping and increments	**Model** or **Avatar** tab	**Home**, **Model**, or **Avatar** tab
[Part pick/insert](../parts/index.md#insert-parts)	**Home** or **Model** tab
[Color pick/apply](../parts/index.md#hexagon-map)	**Home** or **Model** tab
[Material pick/apply](../parts/materials.md#material-widget)	**Home** or **Model** tab
[Material Manager](../parts/materials.md#material-manager)	**Home** or **Model** tab ⟩ Material picker dropdown ⟩ **Material Manager**	Application's **Window** menu ⟩ **3D** ⟩ **Material**
Group	**Home** or **Model** tab	🄐 **Home** or **Model** tab ⟩ **Group** 🄑 Application's **Edit** menu ⟩ **Group**
Lock	**Home** or **Model** tab	🄐 **Home** or **Model** tab ⟩ **Lock** 🄑 Application's **Edit** menu ⟩ **Lock**
Anchor	**Home** or **Model** tab	🄐 **Home** or **Model** tab ⟩ **Anchor** 🄑 Application's **Edit** menu ⟩ **Anchor**
[Import 3D](../art/modeling/3d-importer.md)	**Home** or **Avatar** tab	🄐 **Home** tab ⟩ **Import 3D** 🄑 Application's **File** menu ⟩ **Import 3D**
[Animation Editor](../animation/editor.md)	**Avatar** or **View** tab	🄐 **Avatar** tab ⟩ **Animation** 🄑 Application's **Window** menu ⟩ **Avatar** ⟩ **Animation**
[Accessory Fitting Tool](../art/accessories/accessory-fitting-tool.md)	**Avatar** tab	🄐 **Avatar** tab ⟩ **Accessory** 🄑 Application's **Window** menu ⟩ **Avatar** ⟩ **Accessory**
[Rig Builder](./rig-builder.md)	**Avatar** tab	**Home** or **Avatar** tab ⟩ **Character**
[Avatar Setup](../avatar-setup/index.md)	**Avatar** tab	🄐 **Avatar** tab ⟩ **Setup** 🄑 Application's **Window** menu ⟩ **Avatar** ⟩ **Setup**
Show UI tools	**Home** tab	**UI** tab always present by default
[Pivot tools](./pivot-tools.md)	**Model** tab
[Align tool](./align-tool.md)	**Model** tab	🄐 **Model** tab ⟩ **Align** 🄑 Application's **Window** menu ⟩ **3D** ⟩ **Align**
[Material Generator](./material-generator.md)	**Home** or **Model** tab ⟩ Material picker dropdown ⟩ **Generate**	Application's **Window** menu ⟩ **3D** ⟩ **Material Generator**
[Solid modeling tools](../parts/solid-modeling.md)	**Model** tab
[Constraint pick/insert](../physics/index.md#constraints)	**Model** tab	Three separate buttons in the **Model** tab for inserting an `Class.Attachment`, [mechanical](../physics/mover-constraints.md) or [mover](../physics/mechanical-constraints.md) constraint, `Class.WeldConstraint`, or `Class.NoCollisionConstraint`
Show Welds toggle	**Model** tab	Application's **View** menu ⟩ **Show Welds**
Show Constraint Details toggle	**Model** tab	Application's **View** menu ⟩ **Show Constraint Details**
[Effect pick/insert](../effects/index.md)	**Model** tab
Spawn inserter	**Model** tab	— Use standard insertion methods to insert a `Class.SpawnLocation`
Advanced ⟩ Insert Object	**Model** tab	Application's **Window** menu ⟩ **Insert Object**
Advanced ⟩ Model	**Model** tab	— Use **File** menu ⟩ **Import 3D**
Advanced ⟩ Service	**Model** tab	Right‑click over any visible service in the [Explorer](./explorer.md) and select **Show Services…** from the context menu
Advanced ⟩ Collision Groups	**Model** tab	Application's **Window** menu ⟩ **3D** ⟩ **Collision Groups**
Advanced ⟩ Run Script	**Model** tab	Application's **Window** menu ⟩ **Script** ⟩ **Run Script**
Advanced ⟩ Script, Local Script, Module Script	**Model** tab	**Home** or **Script** tab ⟩ **Script** pick/insert

Action/Tool	Legacy Workflow(s)	New Workflow(s)
[Collaborate](../projects/collaboration.md) button	Right side of mezzanine bar
[Manage Collaborators](../projects/collaboration.md#manage-collaborators)	Right side of mezzanine bar	🄐 Right side of mezzanine bar 🄑 Application's **Window** menu ⟩ **Collaboration** ⟩ **Invite**/**Manage** **Collaborators**
[Live Collaborators](../projects/collaboration.md#view-collaborators) window	Right side of mezzanine bar	🄐 Right side of mezzanine bar 🄑 Application's **Window** menu ⟩ **Collaboration** ⟩ **Live Collaborators**
[Comments](../projects/collaboration.md#comments) window	**View** tab	Application's **Window** menu ⟩ **Collaboration** ⟩ **Comments**
Create [comment](../projects/collaboration.md#create-comments)	Right side of mezzanine bar
[Activity History](../projects/activity-history.md)	**View** tab	Application's **Window** menu ⟩ **Activity History**
Team Create	**View** tab	Application's **Window** menu ⟩ **Collaboration** ⟩ **Team Create**

Action/Tool	Legacy Workflow(s)	New Workflow(s)
Playtest mode	**Home** or **Test** tab	🄐 Left side of mezzanine bar ⟩ Mode picker 🄑 Options in application's **Test** menu
Playtest buttons	**Home** or **Test** tab, or left side of mezzanine bar	🄐 Left side of mezzanine bar 🄑 Options in application's **Test** menu
[Client/server toggle](./testing-modes.md#toggle-clientserver)	**Home** or **Test** tab	🄐 Left side of mezzanine bar 🄑 Application's **Test** menu ⟩ **Client/Server**
[Pause/resume physics](./testing-modes.md#pause-and-resume-physics)	**Test** tab	Options appear contextually on the left side of mezzanine bar or within application's **Test** menu while playtesting
[Multi-client simulation](./testing-modes.md#multi-client-simulation)	**Test** tab	🄐 Left side of mezzanine bar ⟩ Mode picker ⟩ **Server & Clients** 🄑 Application's **Test** menu ⟩ **Start Test Session** ⟩ **Server and Clients**
[Device Emulator](./testing-modes.md#device-emulation)	**Test** tab	Application's **Test** menu ⟩ **Device Emulator**
[Controller Emulator](./testing-modes.md#controller-emulation)	**Test** tab	Application's **Test** menu ⟩ **Controller Emulator**
[Player Emulator](./testing-modes.md#player-emulation)	**Test** tab	Application's **Test** menu ⟩ **Player Emulator**
View Selector	**View** tab	Application's **View** menu ⟩ **Show View Selector**
Grid visualization	**View** tab	Application's **View** menu ⟩ **Show Grid** & **Show Grid Material**
Wireframe Rendering	**View** tab	Application's **View** menu ⟩ **Show Wireframe Rendering**
UI Visibility	**View** tab	Application's **View** menu ⟩ **Show UI**
[Wind Direction](../environment/global-wind.md#wind-direction-widget)	**View** tab	Application's **View** menu ⟩ **Show Wind Direction**
[Selection Style](./ui-overview.md#object-selection)	**View** tab	Options in the **View** section of the [Visualization Options](#visualization-options) widget
Team Test	**Home** tab	Application's **Test** menu ⟩ **Start Test Session** ⟩ **Team Test**
Mute	**Test** tab	Application's **View** menu ⟩ **Mute**
Screen Shot	**View** tab	Application's **View** menu ⟩ **Screenshot**

Action/Tool	Legacy Workflow(s)	New Workflow(s)
Back, Fwd	**Script** tab
Find/Replace (basic)	**Script** tab	**Script** tab ⟩ **Find** button popup ⟩ **Find…**
Find/Replace (advanced)	**Script** tab	🄐 **Script** tab ⟩ **Find** button popup ⟩ **Find All** 🄑 Application's **Window** menu ⟩ **Script** ⟩ **Find All / Replace All**
Go to Line	**Script** tab
Replace	**Script** tab	— Can be re‑added to a custom tab through **Add Tools** ⟩ **Replace**
Select	**Script** tab	— Tasks can be achieved through right‑click ⟩ **Select All** (CtrlA/⌘A)
Format Selection	**Script** tab	**Script** tab ⟩ **Format**
Step Into, Step Over, Step Out	**Script** tab	Buttons appear contextually on the left side of mezzanine bar or the application's **Test** menu when a breakpoint is hit
Error handling and other scripting actions	**Script** tab	Application's **Test** menu ⟩ **Debug Error**
Script Analysis	**View** tab	🄐 Application's **Window** menu ⟩ **Script** ⟩ **Analysis** 🄑 **Script** tab ⟩ **Analysis**
Performance	**View** tab	Application's **Window** menu ⟩ **Performance** ⟩ **Performance**
Task Scheduler	**View** tab	Application's **Window** menu ⟩ **Script** ⟩ **Task Scheduler**
Script Performance	**View** tab	🄐 Application's **Window** menu ⟩ **Script** ⟩ **Performance** 🄑 **Script** tab ⟩ **Performance**
Call Stack	**View** tab	🄐 Application's **Window** menu ⟩ **Debug** ⟩ **Call Stack** 🄑 **Script** tab ⟩ **Call Stack**
Breakpoints	**View** tab	🄐 Application's **Window** menu ⟩ **Debug** ⟩ **Breakpoints** 🄑 **Script** tab ⟩ **Breakpoints**
Watch	**View** tab	🄐 Application's **Window** menu ⟩ **Debug** ⟩ **Watch** 🄑 **Script** tab ⟩ **Watch**
Stats, Render, Physics, Network, Summary	**View** tab	Application's **Window** menu ⟩ **Performance**