Setting Up a Professional Layout In Unity

When you start a new project in Unity you begin with a layout that looks somewhat like the following:

Now this leaves a lot to be desired. It would be nice to be able to have the scene view and game view both visible on screen at the same time. Also, it is more useful to have the hierarchy and project panel closer to the inspector. Basically, it would be nice to have something like this:

How do we get from one to the other? Well, luckily, the editor can be changed to a custom layout, like the one above, quite easily, in just a couple of steps.

Step 1: In the upper left area of the editor, right above the inspector, click on the drop down that says, “Default.” From the options choose, “Tall.”

Step 2: Go down to the project panel, at its new location, click on the 3 dots next to the lock, and put it into “One Column Layout”

And there it is. However, I generally like to also have the console readily available as well. If needed, you can dock it as a tab next to the scene view or game view like so:

Click on the Window menu up top. Then choose General, and then Console to get the console on screen. Basically, Window->General->Console. This can also be achieved by pressing (Control + Shift + C) on Windows. After the console appears, drag it to where you want it.

Step 3: Don’t forget to save your new layout! Return back to the layout menu in the upper left. Open the menu and choose “Save Layout…” A small save box will appear. Give your layout a name and click on the “Save” button.

That’s all it takes to set up your custom editor layout in Unity. Try different options until you find the layout that works best for you and your projects. Setting up a professional layout will save you many hours on your projects.