# Properties panel The **Properties** panel shows settings for objects you select in the score. It was known as the “Inspector” in MuseScore 2 and 3. You can select one object (say, a dynamic mark) or multiple objects at a time (say, a dynamic mark, a notehead, and a hairpin). If any of the objects you have selected contains editable settings, **Properties** is the place to find them. An important thing about **Properties** is that by default it affects only the object(s) you have selected, so changing how one hairpin looks won’t change all of the hairpins in your score—only those you have selected. However, for most settings, you can save as the default style for the score. ## Accessing the Properties panel 1. Open the **Score** tab 2. Press the default keyboard shortcut `F8`, or click on the **Properties** tab on the left side of the screen.
Image of Properties panel with mouse cursor
## Global settings This is what the **Properties** panel looks like when you have *nothing selected in your score*. All these settings affect your *entire* score (not just individual elements):
Image of Properties panel with nothing selected
### Show * **Invisible** hides/shows all invisible objects in your score * **Frames** hides/shows Frames * **Formatting** hides/shows formatting elements added from the layout palette * **Page margins** hides/shows the page margin * **Sound flags** hides/shows sound flag buttons on stave text ### Score appearance * **Empty staves** hides/shows staves that contain no notated music within a system. This setting mirrors the **Hide empty staves within systems** settings in the **Style** dialog. * **Page settings** opens the Page settings dialog. Same as **Format→Page Settings**. See Templates and styles. * **Style settings** opens the **Style** dialog. Same as **Format→Style**. See Templates and styles. ## General settings These settings are visible whenever something is selected in your score.
Image of Properties panel when element is selected
### Visible Click this box to hide/unhide selected elements, or use the keyboard shortcut `V`. Use this feature to hide elements so they don't appear in your exported or printed score. This can be useful when, for example, applying tempo marks or dynamics solely to affect playback in MuseScore. Use the **Invisible** toggle in **Properties** (when nothing is selected) to show or hide these hidden elements in the score view (hidden elements will be rendered in a lighter shade). ### Auto-place Usually checked by default, this feature positions the selected object according to MuseScore's vertical and horizontal collision avoidance algorithms. Uncheck **Auto-place** to have more control over the positioning of certain elements. Learn more about this feature in Positioning elements. ### Cue size This feature is used to create small **cue notes**: i.e. notes provided to assist the performer by indicating what another ensemble/orchestra member is playing at the same time. Checking the box makes any selected notes smaller, including their stems and any attached beams. ### Play When checked, this property allows playback of the selected element. Uncheck **Play** to silence the element. ## Playback settings The **Playback** button displays the editable playback properties of the selected elements.
Image of Properties panel showing playback settings
Under the **Playback** button, playback properties are shown if the selected elements have any. ### Velocity Only *notes* have the Velocity property. The valid range is 1 to 127. This property is usable for instruments using Soundfonts. This property has no effect on instruments using Muse Sounds. See Dynamics for changing loudness of playback on instruments using Muse Sounds. ### Tuning Used to adjust the tuning of notes in cents. Only notes have the Tuning property. ## Appearance settings
Image of Properties panel showing appearance settings
### Leading space This changes the leading space of selected elements: i.e. the space in front of the element. The leading space adjustment is applied across all staves, so that notes at the same time position remain aligned. ### Bar width This changes the width of the measure as a proportion of the original width: e.g. 1.5 = one-and-a-half times the default width. ### Minimum distance This is used by the auto-place collision avoidance algorithm and applies only to elements that are applied above/below the stave by default, such as stave text, dynamics, fingerings, lines etc. It sets the minimum distance (in [sp.](https://handbook.musescore.org/en_gb/appendix/glossary#spatium)) of the selected objects from other elements that are closer to the stave, or the stave itself. ### Offset When newly applied, elements assume a default position. The horizontal/vertical offsets give you a more precise way of positioning an element than dragging it or moving with the keyboard arrows. ### Snap to grid This feature allows you to constrain drag operations to increments of a desired distance. First you need to check the **Snap to grid** box, then press **Configure grid** and set the desired horizontal/vertical step distances. You can switch **Snap to grid** on/off as required by checking/unchecking the box. ### Arrange The four buttons in this section control how overlapping elements are drawn.They work as follows: * **Forwards** moves the selected element in front of the next element * **Backwards** moves the selected element behind the next element * **To front** moves the selected element in front of *all other elements*. * **To back** moves the selected element behind *all other elements*, including the stave lines. ### Colour Click on this button to change the colour of selected element(s). Choose a preset or custom colour, or create your own by clicking the **+** button. This is stored for future reference in the list of custom colours to the right. ## Properties for characters inside text objects When Text object(s) are selected (the object, not the characters), the Properties panel shows the formatting settings of the Text object. Editing these properties may affect all of the characters inside. When character(s) inside a Text object are selected, the Properties panel shows the formatting settings of the characters. Editing these properties only changes the selected characters. See Formatting text. ## Saving and restoring default settings After changing any given setting, you can click the "three dots" menu button adjacent to the setting to reveal a menu that allows you to either **Reset** the setting to the default for the score, or **Save as default style for this score**. The latter option is only available for properties that correspond to style settings, but this includes many of the properties in this panel. --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://handbook.musescore.org/en_gb/basics/properties-panel.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.