Knowledge Base Article: Using the Classic M-Files Desktop

This section describes the user interface for the classic M-Files Desktop and its main components.

Top Area

The top area of the M-Files Desktop contains the following elements:

• M-Files logo — Click the M-Files logo to go to your home tab. To change which tab the logo link opens, see Setting your home tab.
• NEW toggle — Use this to switch between the classic and new M-Files Desktop experience
• Connection status icon — Shows the status of your connection to the vault, measured with the round-trip time to the server. Click the icon to open the Connection Status dialog.

Note: If your connection is slow or there is no connection to the server, contact your M-Files system administrator. Click Refresh to refresh connection information or Analyze Connection to see details.

Navigation Path

The navigation path shows you where you are in the vault. It contains the name of the current view and all its parent views. The path can be, for example: Sample Vault > Documents > By Customer > A&A Consulting.

Quick Access Bar

The bar below the top area contains a number of useful views:

• Recent — Objects that you have recently used
• Assigned — Objects that are assigned to you
• Checked Out — Objects that you have checked out for editing
• Pinned — Objects that you have pinned

Listing Area

The listing area usually contains views and objects. Use the search bar to find your documents and other objects.

• Click Create to create an object (document or non-document object)
• Click the question mark icon to access M-Files Help Center

Right Pane

The right pane shows the contents of the Metadata, Preview, Filters, and Aino tabs. To hide the right pane, click the active tab (for example, Metadata or Preview). You can drag the left border of the metadata card and preview window to resize them.

• Metadata tab — View and change the metadata of the selected object. For more information, see Object metadata and Metadata card.
• Preview tab — Browse and copy the content of the selected document. For more information, see Document preview.
• Filters tab — Use advanced search features with specific search criteria. For more information, see Search filters.
• Aino tab — Summarise a selected document or get responses about its content using M-Files Aino.

Note: If the M-Files Aino tab is not shown, it may be that M-Files Aino is not available in your platform edition or not yet set up. Setup instructions for M-Files admins are available in M-Files Catalog.

Task Area

In the task area, you can see shortcuts to different operations. Click the handle on the right edge of the task area to hide it.