Preferences Editor

Introduction
To start the Preferences editor select the option from the menu. On macOS the option appears in the  menu instead (this is the default place for preferences on the Mac).

FreeCAD uses a workbench concept, where each workbench is responsible for specific tasks and functions. A workbench can have its own preferences. These will only appear in the Preferences editor, usually in a dedicated section, if the workbench has been loaded in the current FreeCAD session. Some workbenches add support for specific import and export formats. If there are any related preferences they will appear on one or more additional tabs in the Import-Export section of the Preferences editor.

To preserve resources, FreeCAD does not automatically load all available workbenches. See Workbenches for more information. For a list of workbench related preferences see Workbench related preferences.

If no workbench is loaded, six sections appear in the Preferences editor: General, Display, Workbenches, Python, Addon Manager and Import-Export. Any workbenches that have been loaded, and have their own preferences, will appear below these.

Pressing the button in the lower left corner of the Preferences dialog opens a menu  with options to reset preferences to their default values. You can reset the current tab, the current group, or all preferences. In the button will reset all preferences.

Some advanced preferences can only be changed in the Parameter editor. The Fine-tuning page lists some of them.

General
This preferences section has seven tabs: General, Document, Selection, Cache, Notification Area, Report view and Help.

In the seventh tab, Help, is only available if the Help Addon has been installed.

General
On the General tab you can specify the following:



Document
On the Document tab you can specify the following:



Selection
On the Selection tab you can specify the following:



Cache
These preferences are related to the cache directory where FreeCAD stores temporary files.

On the Cache tab you can specify the following:



Notification Area
These preferences control the Notification Area and its notifications.

On the Notification Area tab you can specify the following:



Report view
These preferences control the behavior of the Report view. This panel can be opened using the menu option.

On the Report view tab you can specify the following:



Help
On the Help tab you can specify the following:



Display
This preferences section has three standard tabs: 3D View, Navigation and Colors. A fourth tab, Mesh view, is added if the Mesh Workbench has been loaded.

3D View
On the 3D View tab you can specify the following:



Navigation
On the Navigation tab you can specify the following:



Colors
On the Colors tab you can specify the following:



Mesh view
This tab is only available if the Mesh Workbench has been loaded.

On the Mesh view tab you can specify the following:



Workbenches
This preferences section has a single tab: Available Workbenches.

Available Workbenches
These preferences control workbench loading.

On the Available Workbenches tab you can specify the following:



Python
This preferences section has three tabs: Macro, Python console and Editor.

Macro
On the Macro tab you can specify the following:



Python console
These preferences control the behavior of the Python console. This console can be opened using the menu option.

Note that the color and font settings for the console are defined on the Editor tab.

On the Python console tab you can specify the following:



Editor
These preferences control the behavior of the Macro editor. This editor can be opened using the or  menu option.

The color and font settings are also used by the Python console.

On the Editor tab you can specify the following:



Addon Manager
This preferences section has a single tab: Addon manager options.

Addon manager options
These preferences control the behavior of the Addon manager.

On the Addon manager options tab you can specify the following:



Import-Export
The Import-Export preferences affect how files are imported and exported. They are described on the Import Export Preferences page.

Workbench related preferences
Preferences for the built-in workbenches are linked below. These links are also listed in Category:Preferences. Some workbenches have no preferences.


 * Arch Preferences
 * Draft Preferences
 * FEM Preferences
 * Inspection Preferences (none)
 * Mesh Design Preferences
 * OpenSCAD Preferences


 * Part Preferences: the Part workbench also uses the PartDesign Preferences
 * PartDesign Preferences
 * Path Preferences
 * Points Preferences (none)
 * Raytracing Preferences
 * Reverse Engineering Preferences (none)
 * Robot Preferences (none)
 * Sketcher Preferences
 * Spreadsheet Preferences
 * Start Preferences
 * Surface Preferences (none)
 * TechDraw Preferences
 * Test Framework Preferences (none)
 * Web Preferences (none)

Scripting
FreeCAD Scripting Basics.

For a scripting example see Std DlgParameter.

Related

 * Parameter editor
 * Fine-tuning