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I hit some hot key that I'm unsure of and now the grey main menu bar at the top of the screen is gone and I don't know how to get it back.

edit: It's the bar with File, Render, Window, and Help tabs.

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    $\begingroup$ Does pressing Alt + F10 help? $\endgroup$
    – gandalf3
    Commented Mar 7, 2016 at 22:59
  • $\begingroup$ related: blender.stackexchange.com/questions/17935/… $\endgroup$
    – user1853
    Commented Feb 27, 2017 at 6:17
  • $\begingroup$ One of the methods here will get it back. $\endgroup$
    – David
    Commented Feb 27, 2017 at 22:13

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Late answer, but menu bar that @so_confused was looking for is just another Blender view/panel/window, just like the Properties panel or the 3D View port. You just need to add a window/panel of type "Info" and position it where you want it (default location is at the top). It will likely show the console output at the top, which you can just hide by dragging the bar edge up to cover the console.

enter image description here

For those who've lost the icon/dropdown altogether, you need to pull up the hidden bar from the bottom of the panel. Here's a sample video to illustrate: https://youtu.be/uB7F4O3Ju5o

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    $\begingroup$ Happened to me too... very confusing UI idea that the main menu can disappear so you have to google it back :) This is the right answer. $\endgroup$
    – BjornW
    Commented Oct 7, 2017 at 23:30
  • $\begingroup$ This nothing on my screen that has a icon followed by "File, Render, Window". That's the thing I'm trying to get back $\endgroup$
    – gman
    Commented Nov 8, 2018 at 8:54
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    $\begingroup$ Hi @gman. Here's a sample where I totally messed up my layout, aka full 3D view :), and then getting that bar to show up again. Hope it helps... youtu.be/uB7F4O3Ju5o $\endgroup$
    – Martin
    Commented Nov 9, 2018 at 23:53
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"Menu bar" is not a commonly used term in Blender, and it's not clear to me whether you are referring to the window header, the information window at the top of the default screen, or something else. In the absence of a screenshot or ~.blend file, I suggest saving your file using the CTRL - S shortcut. Then close and re-open Blender. Select "File" in the Info editor (upper left hand corner of the screen), and then "Open" to bring up the file browser. Navigate to the folder that contains the project you were working on, and in the navigator bar at the left side of the screen, at the bottom, in the "Open Blender File" pane, make sure that the "Load UI" option is **un-**checked. This will bring in your original project into the default screen layout.

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    $\begingroup$ That seems like an awful lot of steps to get a "File" menu. Blender would have more users if the UI didn't have such a steep learning curve. $\endgroup$
    – Eric J.
    Commented Dec 27, 2016 at 3:18
  • $\begingroup$ @EricJ., the number of steps I described was due, in part, to the amount of information provided by the original poster. At the time I provided the answer, it was not clear exactly which of a couple of problems the OP was experiencing, so I presented solutions to the most common ones. With the subsequent edit to the question, there are solutions with fewer steps. $\endgroup$
    – brasshat
    Commented Dec 27, 2016 at 7:11
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The 'menu bar' has a dropdown field on the very left side, including an "i" (like that popular information icon). All you have to do is add another panel (by dragging the three diagonal lines in the top-right or bottom-left corner) and changing its editor type to be "Information".

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  • $\begingroup$ There is no menu bar, that's what I'm trying to get back. There is also nothing with 3 diagonal lines anywhere in my view $\endgroup$
    – gman
    Commented Nov 8, 2018 at 8:57
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    $\begingroup$ Okay, so it turns out I had an older version 2.75 instead of 2.79, that gave me the diagonal bars. Then I had to learn how to add panels (which you mentioned) but I also had to quickly learn how to delete them. (drag the 3 diagonal lines out of their panel into an adjacent panel). Thanks for your help! $\endgroup$
    – gman
    Commented Nov 10, 2018 at 2:44
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All of the "panels" have this changeable "universal menu bar". Some at the top, some at the bottom of the panel. That button on the far left of all of them is actually the same button with the same choices, despite it's displaying a different icon. It lets you select what menu it displays and thereby changes its connected pane and associated icon. The traditional looking menu that contains File/Render/Window/Help is indeed the "Info" panel and actually has a console type pane above it if you pull it down to see it. So you can change any panel (and its associated menu) to any other type of panel/menu. And by dragging the little handle that's on the top right or lower left of each panel you can pop out another menu bar/ panel wherever you want or need one, or collapse one on top of the other to get rid of them. I actually popped out way more panel/menus than I needed trying to figure out how all this worked and had things quite jammed up until I got my head around which way popped out a panel and which way collapsed them, and the order and direction which they can be collapsed. Anyway just thought I would expand on that a bit. Blender is a very powerful and feature rich program, but I'm finding its layout and controls are like nothing I've ever experienced.

noogoom's answer actually led me to all this but I felt it should be spelled out a little more assuming you have no level of knowledge or comfortability with Blender yet for all the other total Blender noobs like myself :) Hopefully this will save some fumbling around time for the uninitiated.

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⎈ Ctrl↑ Up arrow on the 3D view window.

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    $\begingroup$ Please give further explanation and context. Explain what @so_confused might have pressed to get there and why your answer fixes their problem. $\endgroup$
    – palkonimo
    Commented Feb 27, 2017 at 11:18
  • $\begingroup$ you guys say a lot to a rather straitforward question... This does not provide an answer? Not sufficient reputation??? It certainly works! Why downvote it? Question not clear enough? Pretty clear to me... "How to toggle the menu bar back?, It's the bar with File, Render, Window, and Help tabs." What more info would you want from @so_confused? Explain why my answer is right? My answer is right because if you do it, it will work. $\endgroup$
    – Anon
    Commented Feb 28, 2017 at 4:32
  • $\begingroup$ FYI, Ctrl+Up Arrow which is maximizing window will not ever help to toggle editor window with File, Render, Window and Help menus as it won't ever hide it. The question wasn't unclear, it was unclear how is your answer so useful. $\endgroup$
    – Mr Zak
    Commented Jul 24, 2017 at 19:21

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