Customizing the Status Bar

This article also applies to the following legacy products:
Pro | Architectural | Suite

QUESTION

Can I customize what displays along the Status Bar at the bottom of the program?

ANSWER

The Status Bar located at the bottom of the main program window reports various information about the current state of the program.

You can customize the display of the Status Bar, including the different categories of information by accessing the program's Preferences.

To customize the Status Bar

1. Navigate to Edit> Preferences if you're on a Windows PC, or Chief Architect/Home Designer> Preferences if you're on a Mac.
   
   
   
2. On the Appearance panel of the Preferences dialog that displays:
   
   
   
   
   • Uncheck Status Bar if you prefer that the Status Bar not display.
     
     
   • Specify the information you want the Status Bar to report by checking or unchecking the following boxes:
     
     
     • Active Status* reports a variety of information, depending on the current context, including: information about a selected object, or the number of group-selected objects, information about the toolbar, menu item, or edit handle your pointer is hovering over, information about using the currently active tool, the length and angle of an object as it is being drawn, the name of a selected item or folder in the Library Browser, and the number of 3D surfaces in a rendering.
       
     • Floor Level/Layout Page* reports the current plan, camera, or cross section/elevation view's floor level, or the current layout page.
     • Object Layer* reports the layer that the selected object is drawn on. "Multiple Values" may be reported if more than one object is selected.
     • Object Drawing Group* reports the Drawing Group that the selected object is drawn in. "Multiple Values" may be reported if more than one object is selected.
     • (Show) Coordinates reports the X, Y, and Z coordinates of the pointer.
     • View Window Size* reports the size of the current view window in pixels.
     • Render Status* reports whether a non-Ray Traced camera view is "Rendering" or "Finished Rendering", or how many samples have been taken in a GPU Ray Traced view.
     • (Show) Screen Redraw Time reports the number of seconds it takes to redraw the current view. In camera views, multiple redraw times are reported for individual processes rather than one cumulative time.
     
     *Applies to Chief Architect Premier X17, Home Designer 2026, and newer versions.
     
   
   
   
3. Once your desired changes have been made, click OK.