The gedit Window

When you start gedit, the following window is displayed:

Figure 1gedit Window

The gedit window contains the following elements:

Menubar

The menus on the menubar contain all of the commands you need to work with files in gedit.

Toolbar

The toolbar contains a subset of the commands that you can access from the menubar.

Display area

The display area contains the text of the file that you are editing.

Statusbar

The statusbar displays information about current gedit activity and contextual information about the menu items. The statusbar also displays the following information:

  • Cursor position: the line number and column number where the cursor is located.
  • Edit mode: If the editor is in insert mode, the statusbar contains the text INS. If the editor is in overwrite mode, the statusbar contains the text OVR. Press the Insert key to change edit mode.
Side Pane

The side pane displays a list of open documents, and other information depending on which plugins are enabled.

By default the side pane is not shown. To show it, choose View ▸ Side Pane.

Bottom Pane

The bottom pane is used by programming tools such as the Python Console plugin to display output.

By default the bottom pane is not shown. To show it, choose View ▸ Bottom Pane.

When you right-click in the gedit window, the application displays a popup menu. The popup menu contains the most common text editing commands.

Like other GNOME applications, actions in gedit can be performed in several ways: with the menu, with the toolbar, or with shortcut keys. Shortcuts keys common to all applications are listed in the User Guide.