topic Sketch Palette Missing in Fusion Design, Validate & Document Forum

Sketch Palette Missing

Anonymous — Sat, 10 Sep 2016 21:56:31 GMT

New to Fusion 360, I'm just getting started on the tutorials. Trying to do sketch exercise 5 ("pocket knife") where you're supposed to modify some sketch geometry, and the sketch palette is missing. If I create a new sketch inside this model, it will appear, but as soon as I try to do anything on the sample file, the palette disappears again. Makes it impossible to perform the exercise!

Is this a known problem with the sample file provided, or with the software itself? BTW, I ran into this yesterday, before the scheduled down time we're currently in.

Re: Sketch Palette Missing

HughesTooling — Sat, 10 Sep 2016 22:16:29 GMT

It sounds like you're exiting sketch mode, expand the browser right click one of the sketches and select Edit. You should then enter sketch mode and the palette will be available.

Mark

Re: Sketch Palette Missing

HughesTooling — Sat, 10 Sep 2016 22:18:10 GMT

This link might explain better.

http://help.autodesk.com/view/NINVFUS/ENU/?guid=GUID-0EEF7073-6CDE-4E31-AF1A-0811F969F031

Mark

Re: Sketch Palette Missing

Anonymous — Sat, 10 Sep 2016 22:26:17 GMT

That did it - thanks!

I thought selecting the sketch in the browser would have gotten me there. Oh well. New UI to learn...

@HughesTooling wrote:
It sounds like you're exiting sketch mode, expand the browser right click one of the sketches and select Edit. You should then enter sketch mode and the palette will be available.

Mark

Re: Sketch Palette Missing

mheldt — Mon, 23 Apr 2018 03:01:46 GMT

I too had problems with this. I was a long time user of both Inventor and Solidworks. I needed to get up to speed with Fusion 360 quickly and all of the tutorials show constant use of this feature. It is a MAJOR MAJOR issue not to understand how troubling this is to a new user to Fusion 360 and for your experts to miss it is a point you should fix tonight. All of your demonstrations need to be reshot and show how to access this the first time that a sketch is entered in the beginner samples. The feature is not discontinued and you still need it. To pull up the "sketch palette" while you are in sketch mode and need to add a constraint, look on the very right edge of your sketch window. You may find that it is hidden under your floating box window if that window is covering the right side. Get out your magnifying glass and you will notice a tiny box on the very right side that says "<<SKETCH PALETTE" vertically. Click here while you are in Sketch Mode, and your constraint options will become visible. I have included a picture with a red circle and the ugliest blue arrows that you have ever seen to help find it.

Re: Sketch Palette Missing

Anonymous — Sat, 10 Nov 2018 17:29:54 GMT

I was running into the same problem but noticed that if you have more than one file open just view a different file/project then return to the project you were working on and the Sketch Palette reappears.

Hope this helps

Re: Sketch Palette Missing

m_jN7NAR — Wed, 05 Feb 2025 12:59:01 GMT

I lost the palette too and can't seem to get it back. I needed to change a line to a "dotted" normal line. Worked via right-click but normally I do this in the palett that I don't know where it has gone.

Re: Sketch Palette Missing

TheCADWhisperer — Wed, 05 Feb 2025 13:03:36 GMT

@m_jN7NAR

It probably would have been better to start a new discussion thread with a link to this very old thread.

But now that you are here -

Are you on a Windows OS or on a Mac OS?

Can you show screen capture of what you see?

This doesn't sound files specific, but just for sanity check - can you attach example *.f3d file here?

I assume you have closed Fusion, rebooted the computer and restarted Fusion and the behavior persists even after restarting.

Re: Sketch Palette Missing

mcdonaldjX8E39 — Wed, 06 May 2026 14:11:56 GMT

In case anyone happens across this thread - a quick potential solution as I just had this happen to multiple students today.

1. Leave the file with the missing Sketch Pallet opened.

2. Start a new part design (hit the + button)

3. Start a new sketch in that new part file - palette should appear.

4. Close the new file.

5. You should now be in your part file and the sketch pallet is now visible.

Not sure how or why the sketch pallet disappeared on two students at the same point, neither had multiple monitors, nothing was minimized in a corner/edge, resetting defaults or views helped. Restarting Fusion did not help either. Only triggering with a new part design file fixed this.