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Unity Engine

General preferences reference

Reference for General preferences.
Read time 7 minutesLast updated 9 days ago
The preferences in the General tab let you customize the overall behavior for working in Unity. To open the preferences, go to Edit > Preferences > General (macOS: Unity > Settings > General).

Property

Function

Load Previous Project on StartupEnable this setting to always load the previous project at startup.
Disable Editor AnalyticsEnable this setting to stop the Editor automatically sending information back to Unity. Changing this setting requires you to restart the Editor before it takes effect.
Auto-save scenes before buildingAutomatically save your scene before it builds.
Script Changes While PlayingChoose the behavior of the Editor when scripts change while your game runs in the Editor:
  • Recompile And Continue Playing: Recompile your scripts and keep running the scene. This is the default behavior, but you might want to change it if your scripts rely on any non-serializable data.
  • Recompile After Finished Playing: Defer recompilation until you manually stop your scene, avoiding any interruption.
  • Stop Playing And Recompile: Immediately stops your scene for recompilation, so you can quickly restart testing.
Code Optimization On StartupChoose whether to set code optimization mode to Debug or Release when the Editor starts. You can use Debug mode to attach external debugger software, but this mode makes C# performance slower when you run your project in Play mode in the Editor. Release mode gives faster C# performance when you run your project in Play mode in the Editor, but you can't attach any external debuggers. For more information, refer to Code Optimization Mode.
Editor ThemeSelect the background theme to use in the Editor:
  • Light: Applies a light grey background theme with black text.
  • Dark: Applies a dark background theme with white text.
Editor FontSelect which font to display in the Unity Editor. The default font is Inter. This setting is only available when you set the Editor language to English.
Editor Default Text Rendering ModeDefines the Editor's rendering for text. SDF is the default rendering mode.
  • Bitmap: Offers sharper text on low-resolution displays using a rasterized bitmap approach. Use this mode for screens with lower DPI.
  • SDF (Signed Distance Field): Offers scalable text rendering, but it might appear blurrier on low-DPI screens or smaller font sizes. The SDF mode uses a technique that enables efficient text scaling and rendering, though there might be a trade-off in sharpness on certain displays.
Editor Text SharpnessSet how clear and sharp text in the Editor displays. This setting is only available when you set Editor Default Text Rendering Mode to SDF.
Editor Text Generator TypeSelect from:
Device To UseSelect which GPU device to use by default, from a list of connected devices. This setting is only available on platforms that support GPU device selection.
Busy Progress DelaySet the delay in seconds before the "Unity is busy" progress bar displays. This setting is only available on Windows.
Graph SnappingAlign graph elements with other graph elements when you move them in graph views. Packages such as Shader Graph use graph views. If Graph Snapping is disabled, graph elements move more freely. You can customize the color of the snapping guide line. For more information, refer to General color preferences.
Open Game View On PlayOpen a Game view window when you enter Play mode if a Game view window isn't open. You can also right-click the Play button on the toolbar to enable this setting.
Use Project Path in Window TitleReplace the name of the project in the main window title with the path of the project on disk.
Interaction ModeSpecifies how long the Editor can idle before it updates. After one frame, the Editor waits up to the specified amount of time before the next frame begins. You can use this setting to throttle Editor performance, and reduce consumption of CPU resources and power. For example, if you want to test the Editor's performance, set this property to No Throttling. If you want to conserve power (for example, to prolong battery life on a laptop computer), set this property to one of the throttled modes.

In throttled modes, the Editor stops idling if you interact with it (for example, by panning in the Scene view).

Note: In Play mode, Unity ignores any throttling that you apply using this preference. The Editor updates as fast as possible unless you enable the VSync option in the Game view, or set 
Application.targetFrameRate
to a value other than 
-1
.

Choose from the following modes:
  • Default: The Editor idles up to 4 ms each tick. If a frame takes 5 ms or more, the Editor doesn't idle at all, and the next frame starts automatically.
  • No Throttling: Each time a frame finishes, the next frame begins immediately. The Editor never waits, and updates as fast as possible. This mode consumes a lot of CPU resources. If you are using a laptop computer, it can cause the battery to drain quickly.
  • Monitor Refresh Rate: The Editor idles up to the monitor's update rate in milliseconds. For most monitors, this is 16 ms.
  • Custom: When enabled, you can use the Frame Throttling (milliseconds) property to specify how long the Editor can idle between frames. The value can be between 0 and 33 ms. 0 is equivalent to setting Interaction Mode to No Throttling. On Windows, you can also use the Input Throttling (milliseconds) property to specify the maximum number of milliseconds the Editor takes to process user inputs.
Package Manager Log LevelChoose the level of detail you want the Package Manager logs to report:
  • Error: Display unexpected errors and failures only.
  • Warn: Display unusual situations that can cause issues.
  • Info: Display high-level informational-only messages.
  • Verbose: Display detailed informational messages.
  • Debug: Display high-level debugging messages.
  • Silly: Display detailed debugging messages.
Enable extended Dynamic HintsSelect this to enable extended dynamic hints. Extended dynamic hints display more information when a property, object, or tool is hovered on for enough time or when a dynamic hint displays.
Timestamp Editor log entriesAdd timestamp and thread ID to 
Editor.log
messages.
Enable Shortcut Helper BarDisplay the Helper Bar in the status bar at the bottom of the main Editor window.
Enable PlayMode TooltipsEnable tooltips in the Editor while in Play mode
Show All Windows in TaskbarDisplay secondary undocked Editor windows in the taskbar and Alt+Tab menu. This setting works on Windows only. If you enable this setting, undocked Editor windows minimize to the taskbar and, by default, combine into a single taskbar item.
"Don't ask me again" checkboxesSelect Reset to defaults to reset any dialog boxes you have selected Don't ask me again to opt out of alerts.

Hierarchy window

Settings for how the Hierarchy window is displayed in the Editor.

Property

Function

Default Prefab ModeSelect a prefab in prefab editing mode to use the following settings:
  • In Isolation: Hide the current scene and display the GameObjects that relate to the prefab itself.
  • In Context: Keep the rest of the scene visible, but prevent that scene from being edited.
Rename new objectsRename GameObjects on creation. If disabled, Unity assigns newly created GameObjects a default name.
Enable Alphanumeric SortingDisplays a button in the top-right corner of the Hierarchy window to toggle between sorting GameObjects by the default Transform sort, or alphanumeric sort order in the Hierarchy window. This setting isn't available if you enable Use new Hierarchy window.
Use new Hierarchy windowEnables a different view of the Hierarchy window. Important: The New Hierarchy setting is in preview and might change in future versions of Unity.
Enable Alternating Row BackgroundSets each row in the New Hierarchy window mode to have alternating background colors. Only available when you enable Use new Hierarchy window.
Enable Query BuilderUses auto completion and visual queries in the search field of the new Hierarchy window mode. Disable to use the search in plain text mode. Only available when you enable Use new Hierarchy window.

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