When you start Visio, two windows normally appear below the ribbon.
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The Shapes window
on the left contains one or more stencils, each represented by a header
bar containing the name of the stencil. Depending on the number of open
stencils in the Shapes window, a scroll bar might appear at the right of the headers.
Tip
The width of the Shapes window is adjustable, so the one on your
system may be wider or narrower than the one that appears in the
preceding graphic.
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The larger window on the right is called the drawing window because it contains the drawing page.
The drawing window is bounded on the top and left by rulers that
display inches, millimeters, or whatever units you have selected (or
your template has selected) for measuring page dimensions.
Tip
All previous versions of Visio displayed the grid on the drawing page by
default. However, in Visio 2013, the opposite is true. To make the grid
visible, click Grid in the Show group on the View tab.
At the lower left of the drawing window is a set of page controls.
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A Page name tabs display the name of each page and the active
page name is displayed in a different color. Click any tab to change to
that page. Right-click any page name tab to access page management
functions including the new Duplicate Page function.
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B Click the All button to display a list of all pages in the diagram. The name of the active page is highlighted in the list.
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C Click the Insert Page button to add a new page.
Below the Shapes and drawing windows is a status bar
that contains a variety of indicators, buttons, and controls. The
buttons and indicators on the left end of the status bar are context
sensitive, so they will show different information depending on the
state of the drawing.
If nothing is selected on the drawing page, the left end of the status bar looks like the following graphic.
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A The Page Number button shows which page is active and displays the total number of pages in the current drawing; click this button to open the Page dialog box.
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B The Language
area displays the language of the current drawing; the drawing language
is normally derived from Windows or Visio language settings.
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C Click the Macros button to start the macro recorder.
If you have selected a shape on the drawing page, the left end of the status bar looks like the following graphic instead.
The right end of the status bar contains a variety of useful buttons and controls.
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A Click the Presentation Mode button to view the active diagram in full-screen presentation mode.
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B Move the Zoom slider to zoom in or out.
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C The Zoom Level button displays the current zoom percentage; click it to open the Zoom dialog box.
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D Click the Fit Page To Current Window
button to resize the drawing page so the entire page is visible in the drawing window.
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E Click the Switch Windows button to switch to another Visio window.
Tip
Most other Office applications require the use of a button on the
View tab of the ribbon to switch among multiple open windows. The Visio
development team had the foresight to include the Switch Windows button (E) on the status bar where it is much more convenient.
If you right-click anywhere in the status bar, the Customize Status
Bar menu appears. You can click any of the options in the Customize
Status Bar menu to toggle the display of a button or control.
