Toggling screen modes
Lightroom can operate in any of three screen modes. In the default mode the workspace appears inside a regular document window that you can resize and position as you like on your screen. In the other two modes, the workspace expands to fill the entire screen—either with or without a menu bar—maximizing the space available for working with images. You can switch between screen modes at any time.
- Choose Window > Screen Mode > Normal to ensure that you are in the default screen mode.
- Choose Window > Screen Mode > Full Screen With Menubar.
- Choose Window > Screen Mode > Full Screen.
- Press Alt+Ctrl+F / Option+Command+F to return to Normal screen mode.
- Choose Window > Screen Mode > Full Screen And Hide Panels, or use the keyboard shortcut Shift+Ctrl+F / Shift+Command+F.
- In the Grid view, double-click any of the thumbnails to enter Loupe view.
- Press F on your keyboard—the keyboard shortcut for Window > Screen Mode > Next Screen Mode. Press F repeatedly to cycle through the three screen modes. As you switch between the screen modes, you’ll notice that the panels around the work area remain hidden.
- To reveal all hidden panels, press Shift+Tab once or twice. If the Toolbar is hidden, press T to show it.
- Press Alt+Ctrl+F / Option+Command+F to return to Normal screen mode.
Figure 6 In Normal screen mode on Windows, the Lightroom workspace appears inside an application window with the menu bar just below the window’s title bar.
Figure 7 In Normal screen mode on Mac OS, the Lightroom workspace appears inside a document window with the menu bar across the top of the screen.
Figure 8 In Full Screen With Menubar screen mode on Windows, the Lightroom workspace expands to fill the screen with the menu bar across the top of the screen and the Windows task bar across the bottom.
Figure 9 In Full Screen With Menubar screen mode on Mac OS, Lightroom expands to fill the screen with the menu bar across the top of the screen and the Dock, if it’s not currently hidden, at the bottom.
In Full Screen mode on Windows, the Lightroom workspace fills the entire screen with both the menu bar and the Windows task bar hidden.
In Full Screen mode on Mac OS, the Lightroom workspace fills the entire screen with both the menu bar and the Dock hidden.
A variant of the Full Screen mode, Full Screen And Hide Panels is ideal for viewing an image as large as possible in Loupe view. By pressing T on your keyboard you can even hide the Toolbar below the work area, so that you see nothing but your photo. You’ll learn more about showing and hiding panels later in this lesson.