Overview#
Preferences control how Fusion behaves for you as a user, across every document. They are distinct from Document Settings (in the browser), which belong to a single design (units are the main example). Autodesk notes that preferences are saved with your Autodesk ID and load when you sign in to Fusion on another machine, so they follow you between computers. Most users only need to change a handful: the mouse setup, the default modeling orientation, the default modeling mode, the default units, and a few graphics options.
Note: The Preferences dialog is a tree of pages on the left and options on the right. Use the dialog itself as the final word on exact wording: Autodesk's help only lists the commonly adjusted settings and tells you to "click through the other pages" for the rest.
Where to find it#
- On the Application bar (top right), click your profile (avatar), which Autodesk's reference calls My Profile, and select Preferences.
- Click OK to accept changes and close. A change to Default modeling orientation needs a restart of Fusion.
- Restore Defaults sits at the lower left of the dialog and resets every preference to its default.
Step by step: making your first useful changes#
- Open the profile menu and choose Preferences.
- Click General in the list. Scroll to Mouse setup (pan, zoom, orbit) and select the CAD application you are most comfortable with: Fusion (default), Alias, Inventor, or SolidWorks. The mouse shortcut section below also documents PowerMill and Tinkercad presets.
- Still under General, find Default modeling orientation. It is Z up by default; select Y up, click OK, and restart Fusion if you want Y up. The ViewCube then shows the new orientation.
- Under General, find Default document type (Part Design, Assembly Design, Hybrid Design, Electronics Design, or Electronics Library) and set what Ctrl+N creates.
- Open the Design page and set Default Modeling Mode (see below).
- Open Default Units and set the units for the Design, Manufacture, and Simulation and Generative Design environments.
- Open Graphics and choose a preset (Performance, Quality, or Custom).
- Click OK, restart if asked, then create a new design to check orientation, units, and navigation.
The preference pages#
Autodesk's reference lists these pages. Use them as a map:
| Page | What it controls |
|---|---|
| General | Settings common to Fusion and its workspaces, such as saving (versioning), pan, zoom, and orbit |
| General > API | Behavior for scripting and programming |
| General > Design | Settings for the Sketch, Solid, and Surface tabs and the Form contextual environment in the Design workspace |
| General > Render | The Render workspace |
| General > Manufacture | The Manufacture workspace |
| General > Drawing | Defaults for newly created drawings; the Enable Cloud Libraries check box gives access to cloud libraries in the Data Panel Homepage |
| General > Simulation and Generative Design | The Simulation and Generative Design workspaces |
| Tokens | View balances for accounts available to you, choose the default account to charge, and see the cost of tasks |
| Material | The default physical material and appearance |
| Mesh | Preferences for inserting a mesh |
| Graphics | Graphics display preferences and presets |
| Network | Proxy settings for network access |
| Data Collection and Use | The types of data Fusion collects to improve the product |
| Unit and Value Display | Precision and display of units, including a Simulation and Generative Design subpage |
| Default Units | Defaults for Design, Manufacture, and Simulation and Generative Design |
| Preview Features | New functionality still in a conceptual stage (Preview section; requires membership in the Fusion Insider Program) |
General page options Autodesk documents#
| Option | What it does | Notes/default |
|---|---|---|
| Mouse setup (pan, zoom, orbit) | Sets the middle-button navigation behavior to emulate another CAD program | Fusion (default), Alias, Inventor, SolidWorks; PowerMill and Tinkercad presets are described in the preset list |
| Default modeling orientation | Which axis is vertical in new designs | Z up by default; change to Y up and restart Fusion |
| Default document type | What a new document is when you use Ctrl+N (Windows) or Command+N (macOS) | Part Design, Assembly Design, Hybrid Design, Electronics Design, Electronics Library |
| New document tab (+) creates default design | Whether clicking the + tab creates your default design or shows the What do you want to create? dialog | Check box |
| Start-Up Experience | Whether Fusion starts in Home or in a new design | Home or Default Design Type; the same setting applies when you close the last open design |
| Offline cache time period (days) | How long designs, folders, and projects you cached for offline use stay cached | Number of days |
Default modeling orientation#
This is the most consequential preference for newcomers. Fusion supports Z up (the default) and Y up. It affects how new designs are oriented and what the ViewCube shows. CAD and CAM tools usually treat Z as vertical; some animation tools and slicers treat Y as vertical. Match your convention to your manufacturing and printing workflow and keep it consistent across a team. After changing it, restart Fusion; the ViewCube then indicates the new default modeling orientation.
Note: not confirmed in Autodesk's documentation: whether the setting leaves existing designs untouched. The help describes it as the default for new designs; confirm in a copy before relying on it.
Default Modeling Mode#
On the Design page, Default Modeling Mode controls how new designs are created:
- Parametric Modeling Mode: captures parameters and features in the Timeline as you create your design.
- Direct Modeling Mode: does not track features parametrically and lets you edit the design more quickly.
- Prompt: asks which mode you want every time you create a new design.
This replaces the older idea of a "Capture Design History" setting. For an existing design, you can switch modes by right-clicking the default component in the Browser. Switching to Direct Modeling Mode shows a Delete Parametric History dialog and removes the Timeline, so only do it when you no longer need the history.
Graphics#
The Graphics page offers presets. Changes to the Quality or Performance presets override Custom.
| Preset | What it does |
|---|---|
| Performance | Optimizes graphical performance but may reduce visual quality |
| Quality | Provides a better visual experience but may reduce canvas navigation performance |
| Custom | Lets you balance quality and performance yourself; changes to Canvas Effects in the Canvas toolbar overwrite the Custom preset |
Settings documented on the page:
| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
| Dynamic | When On, graphics settings are automatically reduced or turned off in priority order to maintain the specified frame rate during navigation |
| Minimum framerate during navigation (FPS) | The frame rate below which graphics effects start degrading |
| Selection display style | How selections and highlights appear |
| Degraded selection display style | How selections appear when below the minimum FPS |
| Transparency Effect | Advanced Transparency gives better transparent display but can reduce performance |
| Wood Bump | Bump effect when supported by the Wood (Solid) material and the graphics driver |
| Animate view transitions | Animates named view and sketch view transitions; uncheck to improve performance |
| Enable Surface Normal Display | Turns on Surface Normal Display |
| Hidden Edge Dimming (%) | Hidden edge opacity |
| Display-specific Settings | Machine-specific display settings |
| High-resolution canvas graphics | Scales graphics on high-DPI displays; disabling may improve performance; no effect at 100 percent DPI scaling |
| Canvas Effects | Environment Dome, Ground Plane, Ground Shadow, Ground Reflection, Object Shadow, Ambient Occlusion, Anti-Aliasing |
You can also reach the graphics presets from Display Settings on the Navigation bar. For hardware details, Help > Support and Diagnostics > Graphics Diagnostic shows GPU device, RAM, driver version (Windows), and the state of key effects, with a Manage Graphics Settings button that opens the graphics preferences.
Mouse setup presets#
Pan, zoom, and orbit gestures for each preset, as Autodesk lists them:
| Preset | Zoom | Pan | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fusion | Roll middle button, or Ctrl+Shift+middle button | Middle button | Shift+middle button |
| Alias | Shift+Alt+right button | Shift+Alt+middle button | Shift+Alt+left button |
| Inventor (Windows only) | F3+left button | F2+left button | F4+left button |
| PowerMill | Roll middle button | Shift+middle button | Middle button |
| SolidWorks | Shift+roll middle button | Ctrl+middle button (Windows) or Command+middle button (macOS) | Middle button |
| Tinkercad | Roll middle button, or Ctrl+Shift+middle button | Middle button | Right button |
The PowerMill preset uses its own default orbit type and adds shortcuts such as Zoom to box (Ctrl+Shift+middle button on Windows, Command+Shift+middle button on macOS) and rotation about X, Y, and Z with Shift+Alt (Shift+Option on macOS) plus a mouse button. With any of these presets you can press F6 to resize the view to fit in the current window.
Default Units#
Under Default Units, set defaults separately for Design, Manufacture, and Simulation and Generative Design. This applies to new documents; each document stores its own unit in Document Settings (see Units and document settings).
Offline cache#
Under General, Offline cache time period (days) sets how many days cached designs, folders, and projects stay available for offline use. To cache, right-click a file or folder in the Data Panel and choose Add to Offline Cache, or choose Cache This Project. Cached designs do not sync automatically; re-cache them to get the latest changes.
Preview features#
New functionality in a conceptual stage appears in the Preview section of Preferences. Check the boxes for features you want to try and restart Fusion; uncheck them and restart to disable. Access to Insider Preview features requires membership in the Fusion Insider Program.
Resetting preferences#
- Restore Defaults: lower left of the Preferences dialog; resets all preferences.
- Fusion Service Utility: Help > Support and Diagnostics > Service Utility (or the Fusion Service Utility app from the Start menu or Launchpad) has a Reset option that clears sign-in credentials and the local cache and restores default application settings and preferences. It opens automatically if Fusion fails to launch twice in a row. Repair verifies and repairs the installation without removing designs.
Warning: Reset clears sign-in credentials and local cache. Make sure everything you care about has been uploaded before you use it.
Tips and pitfalls#
Tip: Change the default orientation first, before building habits or models. Switching mid-project causes confusion about which way is up.
Tip: Try a navigation preset for a full session before judging it; any new scheme feels worse than your old one in the first hour.
Warning: Switching a design to Direct Modeling Mode deletes its parametric history. Setting the default mode to Prompt is a safe way to decide per design.
Note: not confirmed in Autodesk's documentation: a Preferences option for marking menu on/off, zoom-to-cursor, reverse zoom direction, UI scale, or theme. Earlier drafts listed these; they are not documented in the preferences reference. Look in the dialog for what your build offers.
Practice exercise#
- Open Preferences and note your current Mouse setup and Default modeling orientation.
- Under Default Units > Design, set your preferred unit.
- Under Design, set Default Modeling Mode to Prompt and create a new design to see the prompt.
- Under General, set Start-Up Experience to Home or Default Design Type and restart Fusion to see the difference.
- Create a new design; confirm units and orientation match your choices.
- Restore the original mouse setup if you prefer it.
Expected result: new designs open with your preferred units, orientation, and navigation.
Related#
- ViewCube and navigation
- Units and document settings
- User interface tour