3ds Max 2025 (27.0.0.4918) Slate Material Editor will not open by default

[jamesarndt]

I've blown away the preferences. I've reinstalled Max. Every time when I hit the 'M' hotkey Max opens the compact material editor, not the Slate editor...even though Slate is the last used editor. I've also saved my workspace preferences with the Slate version of the material editor open and yet the Compact one always opens as default now.

[giuseppe.schiralli]

I checked my 2025 and it works as expected.

The icon in the toolbar should change based on the type of Material Editor last used. In your video it doesn't change.

Try to set SME/CME using the icon in the toolbar.

Regards,

Giuseppe

[jamesarndt]

Okay just checked. So it works and that Material Editor icon does switch/remember itself in the "Design Standard" layout, but this bug is still present in the "Default" layout, which I've modified. So it appears that if the Material Editor icon is not present in the toolbar this issue happens. You can see in my video there is no Material Editor button/icon as I rely on the "M" hotkey exclusively. So is this a known issue? Also what does the acronym "SME/CME" stand for?

[ads_delesdr]

SME = Slate Material Editor

CME = Compact Material Editor (Legacy)