Overview of the user interface
When you open a project in PyCharm, the default user interface looks as follows:
Depending on the set of plugins and configuration settings, your IDE may look and behave differently.
Editor
Use the editor to read and write code. For more information, see Editor basics.
Navigation bar
The navigation bar at the top is a quick alternative to the Project tool window where you can navigate your project structure and open files for editing.
Use the buttons to the right of the navigation bar to build 
, run 
, and debug 
your application, and perform basic version control operations (if the version control integration is configured). It also contains buttons to Run Anything 
(press Ctrl twice) and Search Everywhere 
(press Shift twice).
Status bar
The status bar at the bottom shows event messages and descriptions of actions when you hover over them with the mouse pointer. It also indicates the overall project and IDE status and provides access to various settings. The table below lists default icons and elements shown on the status bar. Depending on the set of plugins and configuration settings, there can be many other elements in addition to the default ones.
Icon | Description |
|---|---|
  | Click to show/hide tool window bars. Double-press and hold Alt to show hidden tool window bars. For more information, see Hide or showing the tool window bars. |
 | Click to show the Background Tasks manager. This icon is visible only when a background task is in progress. |
| 52:11 | Numbers divided by a colon denote the current caret position in the editor (line and column). Click the numbers to jump to a specific line and column. If you select a code fragment in the editor, PyCharm also shows the number of characters and line breaks in the selected fragment. |
 | Click to change the line endings of the current file in the editor. |
 | Click to change the encoding of the current file in the editor. |
 | Click to change the indents style used in the current file. |
| The Project Interpreter widget. It shows the Python interpreter that currently is in use. Click it to add a new project interpreter, select an existing interpreter, or open the list of the interpreter settings. |
  | Click to lock the file from editing (set it to read-only). |
 | Click to change the code inspection highlighting settings. Use the slider to choose between Inspections Select the Power Save Mode checkbox to minimize power consumption by eliminating all background operations Clear the Import popup checkbox to disable auto-import for the current file. |
(highlight only syntax errors), and 
(do not highlight anything). 
. In this mode the IDE is more like a text editor without background compilation, code completion, code inspections, and highlighting. Tool windows
Tool windows provide functionality that supplements editing code. For example, the Project tool window shows you the structure of your project, and the Run tool window displays the output of your application when you run it.
By default, tool windows are docked to the sides and bottom of the main window. You can arrange them as necessary, undock, resize, hide, and so on. Right-click the title of the tool window or click 
in the title for its arrangement options.
You can assign shortcuts to quickly access the tool windows that you frequently use. Some of them have shortcuts by default. For example, to open the Project tool window, press Alt+1, and to open the Terminal tool window, press Alt+F12. To jump from the editor to the last active tool window, press F12.
Context menus
You can right-click various elements of the interface to see the actions available in the current context. For example, right-click a file in the Project tool window for actions related to that file, or right-click in the editor to see actions that apply to the current code fragment.
Most of these actions can also be performed from the main menu at the top of the screen or the main window. Actions with shortcuts show the shortcut next to the action name.
Popup menus
Popup menus provide quick access for actions related to the current context. For example, press Alt+Insert in the editor to open the Generate popup for generating code constructs based on the context. Pressing Alt+Insert in the Project tool window will open the New popup for adding new files and directories to your project.
You can create custom popup menus using quick lists of actions that you often use. For example, you can press Ctrl+Shift+Alt+T to open the Refactor This popup with a predefined quick list of actions related to refactoring.