Using M-Files Desktop User Interface

Video: Introduction to the M-Files Desktop User Interface

Top area

The top area of M-Files Desktop contains these items:

• M-Files logo
• Connection status
• Navigation path
• Search field and search options
• Object creation icon
• Link to M-Files Help Center
• User menu icon

M-Files logo

Click the M-Files logo to go to your home tab. To change which tab the logo link opens, see Setting Your Home Tab.

Connection status

The connection status icon () shows the status of your connection to the vault. The connection is measured with the round-trip time to the server that hosts the vault. Click the connection status icon to open the Connection Status dialog. If your connection is slow or there is no connection to the server, contact your M-Files system administrator. Click Refresh to refresh the information of your connection status or Analyze Connection to see details about your connection.

Navigation path

The navigation path shows you where you are. In practice, it contains the name of the current view and of all its parent views. The path can be, for example, Sample Vault > Documents > By Customer > A&A Consulting.

Searching

Use the search bar to find your documents and other objects. For more information, see Searching.

Creating objects

Click Create () to create an object. For more information, see Creating Documents and Creating Non-Document Objects.

M-Files Help Center

M-Files Help Center is a great resource for new M-Files users. Click the question mark icon () to get started.

View navigation

The bar below top area contains a number of useful views. For example, these views:

• Recent: Objects that you have recently used.
• Assigned: Objects that are assigned to you.
• Checked Out: Objects that you have checked out for editing.
• Pinned: Objects that you have pinned.

Listing area

The listing area in M-Files Desktop usually contains views and objects. For more information, see Listing Area.

Right pane

The contents of the Metadata, Preview, and Filters tabs are shown in the right pane. To hide the right pane, click the active tab. For example, Metadata or Preview. You can drag the left border of the metadata card and preview window to resize them.

Metadata card

To see and change the metadata of the selected object, use the metadata card. For more information, see Object Metadata and Metadata Card.

Preview

In the preview mode, you can browse and copy the content of the selected document. For more information, see Document Preview.

Filters

When you search for an object or a document, you can use the advanced search features on the Filters tab. In the Filters tab, you can give more specific search criteria for your search. For more information, see Search Filters.

Task area

In the task area, you can see shortcuts to different M-Files Desktop operations. For more information, see Task Area. Click the handle on the right edge of the task area to hide it.

User menu