User Interface Tour

Overview#

Fusion's window is organized into a handful of fixed regions that stay the same in most workspaces. Learning where each one lives, and what it is for, saves more time than memorizing individual commands. This page walks through them from top to bottom and left to right, and notes where the layout changes between workspaces and releases.

Note: Autodesk revises the interface from time to time. If your screen differs, find the same function by name.

Where to find it#

The main window, when a design is open, is arranged like this:

Step by step: a first walkthrough#

1. Start a design. Choose File > New Design (or Ctrl+N on Windows, Command+N on macOS, which creates your default document type). A blank canvas appears.
2. Find the application bar. At the top you see Home, the Data Panel button, the File menu, Save, Undo and Redo, then the open document tabs. Each open design has its own tab.
3. Switch workspaces. Click the Workspace menu at the left of the toolbar and pick a workspace, then switch back to Design. Notice that the toolbar content changes. Ctrl+[ and Ctrl+] cycle through the workspace list.
4. Explore toolbar tabs. In Design, click Solid, Surface, Mesh, Sheet Metal, Plastic, and Utilities in turn. Each contains panels of commands (for example Create and Modify) with dropdown arrows hiding extra commands.
5. Open the browser. On the left you see a tree. Expand Document Settings (units live here), Named Views, and Origin. Click the eye icons next to items to toggle visibility.
6. Create a box. Use Create > Box, click a plane, drag a rectangle, enter a height, and press Enter. Watch the timeline add a feature and the browser add a body.
7. Inspect the timeline. At the bottom, hover a feature icon to see its name. Double-click to edit. Right-click for the context menu.
8. Use the navigation bar. Click the Orbit tool and drag; click Fit to frame the model; open the Display Settings menu to change the visual style.
9. Right-click the canvas. The Marking menu appears. In the Design workspace its first level has Repeat last command, PressPull, Redo, Hole, Sketch, Move/Copy, Undo, and Delete.
10. Show and hide panels. Ctrl+Alt+B toggles the Browser, Ctrl+Alt+P the Data Panel, Ctrl+Alt+A the Comments pane, Ctrl+Alt+V the ViewCube, Ctrl+Alt+N the Navigation bar, and Ctrl+Alt+R resets the default layout (on macOS use Option+Command in place of Ctrl+Alt).

The application bar#

• Home. Opens Fusion Home to switch hubs, open or create designs and projects, and find your work and resources.
• Data Panel button. Shows or hides the Data Panel, which lists hubs, projects, and designs (see Data Panel basics). It is hidden by default.
• File menu. Create, open, upload, save, export, recover, 3D print, and share designs.
• Save. Saves an untitled design or saves changes to a design. The first save asks for a name and a location; later saves record changes. Versions are created separately (see Versioning and milestones).
• Undo/Redo. Undo or redo the last operation.
• Tabs and New Design. Each open design appears as a tab; the new-design button creates a design.
• Autodesk Assistant. Launches Autodesk Assistant in Fusion.
• Extensions. Manages access to Fusion extensions through the Purchase Manager.
• Job Status. Shows job status, Fusion update status, and online or offline status.
• Notification Center. Notifications about updates, background jobs, and tips.
• Help. Take a tour of the interface, documentation and self-paced learning, community resources, technical support and diagnostic tools, the What's New blog post, release notes, installation information, and update checks. Take a Tour is available only in the Design, Generative Design, Manufacture, and Electronics workspaces.
• My Profile. Access your Autodesk account, adjust Preferences, view or edit your profile, and sign out.

The toolbar and workspaces#

The toolbar changes with the workspace. The Workspace menu selects the workspace, and the tabs on the toolbar organize its tools into logical groupings. Some commands activate a contextual tab (for example Sketch), which appears alongside the other tabs while the command is active. Others activate a contextual environment (for example Form), whose tabs replace the default tabs until you exit it.

To find a command, click the canvas and press S. A Search box opens; type a function name, and click Add to Shortcuts next to a result to keep it as a button in the shortcuts dialog.

The browser#

The browser shows the structure of the active design as a tree. Key nodes:

• Document Settings: controls the units for the assembly.
• Named Views: standard and custom named views for the assembly.
• Origin: the origin point, X/Y/Z axes, and XY/XZ/YZ planes of a component. The visibility toggle to its left shows or hides the planes.
• Bodies: expand the folder to list all bodies.
• Sketches, construction geometry, and joints: listed with their visibility controls.
• Components: the assembly hierarchy; each can contain an origin, construction geometry, sketches, bodies, and joint origins. The default component at the top also holds Document Settings, Named Views, analyses, and joints for the whole assembly.

Right-click a node for its context menu. The visibility toggle hides an object without deleting it.

The canvas#

The canvas draws the model, origin, and construction geometry. Settings that affect it include the visual style (for example Shaded, Shaded with Hidden Edges, or Wireframe), the environment (Theme, Photo Booth, River Rubicon, Dark Sky, and legacy environments), the ground plane, shadows, and reflections. Most of these are in the Navigation bar's Display Settings menu.

The timeline#

The timeline lists the operations performed on your design. Use Play, Next Step, and Previous Step to replay it, hover an operation for a tooltip, and right-click an operation to change it. In Parametric Modeling Mode you can drag operations to change the order in which they are calculated. Designs also have a Direct Modeling Mode with no timeline. If the timeline is missing, check the modeling mode: right-click the default component in the Browser to see Change to Parametric Modeling Mode or Change to Direct Modeling Mode. Switching to Direct Modeling Mode deletes the parametric history.

The navigation bar#

The floating Navigation bar at the bottom of the canvas contains:

Options reference#

Tips and pitfalls#

Tip: When you cannot find a command, click the canvas, press S, and type the command name.

Tip: As you memorize where commands sit in the Marking menu, you can use gestures to select them without opening the full menu.

Warning: Hiding a body does not delete it. Use Isolate (also in the Marking menu's context menu) when you need to focus on part of a design.

Warning: If your toolbar looks incomplete, check your Fusion access: some capabilities depend on extensions, plan, or license type (see Licenses and plans).

Practice exercise#

1. Create a new design and save it with the name "UI Tour".
2. Toggle the Browser and Data Panel off and on again with their keyboard shortcuts.
3. Create a box, then use the browser to rename the body to "Test Block".
4. Change the visual style to Wireframe, then back to Shaded.
5. Press S to find the Fillet command and run it from the search box (the default shortcut for Model Fillet is F).

Expected result: you can name every region of the window and open any panel without hunting for it.

Related#

• ViewCube and navigation
• Preferences
• Workspaces overview
• Data Panel basics