Defining General System Preferences for Altium Designer
Created: July 07, 2022 | Updated: July 07, 2022
| Applies to version: 21
This document is no longer available beyond version 21. Information can now be found here: System - General Preferences for version 25
The System - General page of the Preferences dialog
The System - General page of the Preferences dialog
Summary
The System – General page of the Preferences dialog provides controls relating to the general settings of the workspace.
Access
This page is accessed by clicking General under the System folder in the main Preferences dialog (accessed by clicking the 
button in the top right corner of the workspace).
Options/Controls
Startup
- Reopen Last Workspace - enable this option to open the last saved workspace when the application is started. Disable this option to start a new workspace session when the software is started up.
- Open Home page on start - enable this option to display the Home Page when the application is started. Disable this option to not display the Home Page.
- Show startup screen - enable this option if you want to see the startup screen when the software is being loaded into computer memory. This will provide visual confirmation that the software is loading. The startup process can take a while depending on whether previous workspaces with projects are being opened or not. Disable this option to not see the startup screen.
General
- Monitor clipboard content within this application only - enable this option to monitor the clipboard when copying and pasting data within the software. With this option enabled, non-compliant data that is copied to the clipboard will not be pasted within the software. Disable this option to not monitor the clipboard data.
- Use Left/Right Selection - check to use right side (inside area) and left side (touching rectangle) selections in all editors. This option is enabled by default.
Reload Documents Modified Outside of Altium Designer
- Never - select this option to never reload documents that have been modified outside of the software.
- Ask User - select this option to ask the user for permission before reloading documents that have been modified outside of the software. Choosing this option will activate Only If Document Is Modified.
- Only If Document Is Modified - enable this option to reload only modified documents. This checkbox is only accessible if Ask User is selected.
- Always - select this option to always reload documents that have been modified outside of the software.
Reload Documents Modified Outside of Altium NEXUS
- Never - select this option to never reload documents that have been modified outside of the software.
- Ask User - select this option to ask the user for permission before reloading documents that have been modified outside of the software. Choosing this option will activate Only If Document Is Modified.
- Only If Document Is Modified - enable this option to reload only modified documents. This checkbox is only accessible if Ask User is selected.
- Always - select this option to always reload documents that have been modified outside of the software.
Localization
- Use localized resources - localized resources are the installed local languages used for the software. The software platform supports simplified and traditional Chinese, Japanese, German, French, Korean, and Russian language installations. Click this option to enable localized resources for the software. Items will be translated according to the language that is installed on the machine on which the software is installed. A restart of the software is necessary if this option is selected.
- The following options are available only if Use localized resources option is checked:
- Display localized dialogs - choose this option to translate dialogs only.
- Display localized hints only - choose this option to translate hints only.
- Localized menus - enable this option to translate menus.
- Advanced - click this button to open the Advanced Settings dialog to enable and disable internal optimization options.