How to Customize Workspace Layout in Blender

Blender features a highly flexible user interface that allows you to tailor your environment to suit any workflow, whether you are modeling, animating, texturing, or sculpting. This article provides a direct, step-by-step guide on how to split and join areas, change editor types, create new workspace tabs, and save your custom layouts as the default startup configuration.

Understanding Areas and Editors

The Blender interface is divided into rectangular regions called Areas. Each area can host any type of Editor (such as the 3D Viewport, Shader Editor, or Outliner). You can identify the current editor by the icon located in the far-left corner of that area’s header.

How to Split Areas

Splitting an area allows you to view multiple editors side-by-side.

1. Hover your mouse cursor over the junction where two areas meet, or over any of the four corners of an area, until the cursor turns into a crosshair (+).
2. Click and drag inward toward the center of the area.
3. Dragging horizontally will split the area vertically; dragging vertically will split the area horizontally.
4. Release the mouse button to finalize the split.

How to Join Areas

If you want to simplify your layout, you can merge two adjacent areas into one.

1. Hover your cursor over the corner or border between two adjacent areas of the same width or height until the cursor becomes a crosshair (+).
2. Click and drag outward into the adjacent area you want to close.
3. An arrow overlay will appear pointing into the area that will be replaced.
4. Release the mouse button to merge the areas.

Changing Editor Types

You can change any existing area to display a different editor at any time.

1. Click the Editor Type icon in the top-left (or bottom-left) corner of the area’s header.
2. Select your desired editor (e.g., Shader Editor, UV Editor, Graph Editor) from the drop-down menu.

Managing Workspace Tabs

At the top of the Blender window, you will see several pre-configured tabs like Layout, Modeling, and Sculpting. You can easily customize these:

• Add a new workspace: Click the + icon at the far right of the workspace tabs, choose a category, and select a template.
• Rename a workspace: Double-click the tab’s name, type a new name, and press Enter.
• Reorder, duplicate, or delete: Right-click the workspace tab to access these options in the context menu.

Saving Your Custom Layout as Default

If you want Blender to open with your customized layout every time you start a new project:

1. Arrange the workspaces and areas exactly how you want them.
2. Go to the top menu and click File.
3. Hover over Defaults and select Save Startup File.
4. Confirm by clicking Save Startup File again in the popup dialog.