Inkscape fill and stroke menu not showing

Quick Fix: Inkscape Fill and Stroke Menu Not Showing

Quick Fix: Inkscape Fill and Stroke Menu Not Showing 800 470 Nick Saporito

In this post I’ll be going over a quick fix for why your Fill and Stroke Menu may not be showing in Inkscape. In short, if your fill and stroke menu is not showing, it’s probably because it’s minimized in a tab to the right of your screen. Let’s explore a bit.

Inkscape Fill and Stroke Menu Is Not Showing

If your Inkscape fill and stroke menu is not showing, it’s most likely because it’s minimized in a tab to the right of your screen. You can make the menu appear by clicking on the tab.

If you look at the following screenshot, you’ll see the Align and Distribute menu visible, but not the Fill and Stroke menu…

Dock menu

Click to enlarge

Notice the vertical text to the right of the screen, outlined in red. The Fill and Stroke menu is active on your document, but it’s not showing because it’s minimized in that tab. Go ahead and click on that tab to make it visible.

Activate the fill and stroke menu

You can also minimize the tab again by clicking the arrow icon in the upper-right corner of the menu.

Another reason why your fill and stroke menu may not be showing is because it’s minimized within another menu, as depicted below…

Collapsed menu

Click to enlarge

So, if you don’t see the menu minimized vertically, check to see if it’s minimized horizontally within any other dockable menus you may have open.

Those are the only reasons I can think of why your fill and stroke menu may not be showing. It’s also possible that it’s active as a floating window and off screen somewhere, but it’s not likely and would be easy to figure out if so. Leave a comment below if this doesn’t answer your question though.

Finally, if you’re wondering why your Inkscape installation looks different than mine, it’s because I’m using a third-party dark theme along with a custom icon pack that I designed myself. I have a tutorial for how you can do the same here if interested.

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Nick Saporito

Hi, I'm Nick— a Philadelphia-based graphic designer with over 10 years of experience. Each year millions of users learn how to use design software to express their creativity using my tutorials here and on YouTube.

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