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When using Autodesk Sketchbook Pro (SBP) with multiple monitors the toolbars seem to get unrecoverably lost frequently. Even selecting Window->Default Layout and enabling all toolbars on the Window menu does not recover all of the toolbars. Here is an example of the mess the Default Layout command causes:

enter image description here

I have tried reinstalling SBP, using only one monitor, changing display resolutions, and deleting the userPreferences.xml file. None of these reliably recovers the missing toolbars.

How do I get my toolbars back?

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Note that for this answer you'll see "tablet display". I use SBP mainly on a Wacom tablet. It's just a normal monitor for these purposes. These instructions should work the same where or not you have a drawing tablet.


Sketchbook Pro most likely has placed your missing toolbars offscreen. Because they are toolbars and not windows, the usual tricks for getting them back do not work.

Edit userPreferences.xml by Hand

The location of the toolbars (at least for version 6.0) is saved in a file called userPreferences.xml inside %APPDATA%/Autodesk/SketchBook Pro/6.0. Inside userPreferences.xml there are coordinates that correspond to each of the toolbars.

enter image description here

With SBP closed, you can edit these coordinates to attempt to get the toolbars back on your screen. A good first attempt at recovery is to change the coordinates for each toolbar to "0,0". I have had success with this, although it is rather cumbersome because the toolbars follow three different co-ordinate systems (i.e. setting them all to 500,500 results in three clusters of toolbars on your screen). Despite this, if you are just missing one toolbar, this method works.

Use a Script to Edit userPreferences.xml

Because SBP always eventually loses its toolbars on my multi-monitor setup, I wrote a python script called sbptbfix.py to automate recovery of all 9 toolbars in usually about three steps. It handles the transformation between coordinate systems to put the toolbars in good spots consistently. You can find sbptbfix.py here.

Step 1: Get one Toolbar into Position

sbptbfix.py is configured by default to position all the other toolbars relative to the Brush Palette. So the first step is to put the Brush Palette in a good position like this:

enter image description here

If your Brush Palette is lost, you can designate a different toolbar for this purpose by editing the script. You'll have to read the comments in the script for the details (hint: look at the ManagedToolbars list).

Step 2: Close SBP and Run sbptbfix.py

The next step is to have sbptbfix.py edit the userPreferences.xml file with good coordinates. To do this, first close SBP so the script can edit the preferences file, then run sbptbfix.py:

enter image description here

As you can see, it gives you some information about the new coordinates it has calculated. Note the three different coordinate systems that have origins as follow: Bottom-left main display (BLMD), top-left main display (TLMD), and bottom left of the SBP window (wndw).

Step 3: Launch Sketchbook Pro

The last step is just a matter of launching Sketchbook Pro. The toolbars should now all be repositioned something like this:

enter image description here

If you still can't see all the toolbars, make sure you enable them all in the Window menu.

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On Mavericks - and I assume other recent Mac OS versions - just hit Alt+Command+J to toggle between visible and invisible menu bar.

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  • this also works for windows. My main menu bar was missing, this put it back. For Windows, replace "Command" with "ctrl". Seems to toggle full screen mode. Jan 13, 2018 at 17:29
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If you have Autodesk scetchbook pro 7 and you have a mac, this will work to get the toolbar back.

All you have to do is make a small screen for drawing and then highlight 'Window' at the very top. It should have a drop down list and one of the items is toolbar. If it is unchecked, then click it and the toolbar should be back. This also works with the brush palette.

If it doesn't work, then I don't know.

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