The Rhino window

The image below illustrates some of the major features of the Rhino window.

1. Menu

The menus group Rhino commands by function.

2. Application toolbar

The application toolbar contains controls for various parts of the interface.

Left sidebar

Shows or hides the left sidebar.

Grid Snap

Turns on grid snap.

Ortho

Turns on ortho mode.

Planar

Turns on planar mode.

SmartTrack

Enables SmartTrack object snaps.

Gumball

Enables the gumball object manipulator.

History

Starts recording command history.

Show object snaps

Displays the object snap popover.

Show object properties

Displays the Properties popover.

Current layer

Click the Layer pane to access quick controls for setting the selected object's layer or to change layer visibility and status.

Right sidebar

Shows or hides the right sidebar.

3. Left sidebar

The Left sidebar contains the command box, command toolbars and the object snap list.

4. Command box

The command box displays a typed command. Once the command is accepted, the prompts, options and a value box appear in this space.

Command options

Command options change how a command acts. For example, when you draw a circle, the circle is normally drawn on the active construction plane. The Circle command has several options including Vertical and AroundCurve.

To use a command option, click the option name, or type the underlined letter of the option or the whole option name.

Choose a command option

Type Circle
As soon as you have typed enough letters to uniquely identify the command, the Circle command automatically completes at the prompt. Press the Enter key or click the command name in the list.
The options for the Circle command appear:

Center of circle:

Deformable

Vertical

2 Point

3 Point

Tangent

Around Curve

Fit Points

To draw a circle vertical to the active construction plane, use the Vertical option.
Click Vertical, or type V.

Repeat the last command

Many tasks in Rhino are repetitive. You might want to move or copy several objects, for example. Methods for repeating commands are provided.

To repeat the last command

Press the Enter key when no command is active.
In addition to pressing the Enter key on your keyboard, you can press the Spacebar or click the right mouse button in a viewport.
These all perform the same function.

Note:

Some commands, such as Undo and Delete do not repeat. Instead, the command prior to these commands is repeated. This prevents you from accidentally undoing too many commands or deleting objects accidentally.
When you want to repeat the command you were using before undoing a mistake. You can define the list of commands that do not repeat to suit your own way of working.

5. Commands tool palette

Commands tool palettes contain graphical icons for initiating commands. Many icons have a second command that you can access by right-clicking or pressing the Option while clicking the icon. The tooltip that appears when you hover over the icon tells you what the left and right mouse button do.

If you are using a one-button mouse or a track pad, to access the second command, hold the Option key and click.

To access the command on the first line

Click the icon with the left mouse button.

To access the command on the second line

Click the button with the right mouse button.
Or hold the Alt key and click.

6. Object snaps

Contains persistent object snap toggles. More...

7. Viewports

Viewports display the Rhino working environment including object display, viewport title, background, construction plane grid, world axis icon. More...

Context Menu

Right-click in a viewport to display a short-list of commonly used commands.

8. History panel

History panel contains the command history. One line with the last command appears on the status bar.

Click the command history icon in the lower left corner of the screen to open a temporary window.
You can keep a history window open in the right sidebar.

9. Viewport control bar

The Viewport control bar contains options for setting the viewport layout.

Four viewports

Sets up a four-viewport layout with a top, right, front, and perspective view.

One viewport

Sets up a single-viewport layout by maximizing the current viewport.

Perspective | Top | Front | Right

Click to make a viewport current. This is especially useful in a one-viewport layout.

Layouts

Opens the layouts for the model.

10. Right sidebar

The Right sidebar, by default, has two sections: the Properties panel and Inspector panels.

You can add more sections in the Theme preferences.

11. Properties panel

The Properties panel displays the properties of the selected object. When no object is selected, it displays viewport properties. Right-click on the panel header and select Show inspector panels to switch to Inspector panels.

12. Inspector panels

The Inspector panels provide quick access to some global options, document properties, and command dialogs. Right-click on the panel header to add or remove panels, or select Show Properties Panel to switch to Object properties panel.

13. Viewport title

Left click to activate the viewport without losing selected objects. More...

14. Status bar

The status bar panes display the coordinates of the cursor in construction plane or world coordinates.

CPlane / World

The construction plane/world coordinates toggle.

x

The mouse cursor x location.

y

The mouse cursor y location.

z

The mouse cursor z location.

15. Panel menu button

Click to show the panel menu that controls appearance and visibility of panels.

The Layout and detail layer information panel is only available in the Layout window.
The Model Layers panel in the Layout window is the Layers panel in the modeling window.
Plug-ins may add more panels.