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Open Studio

Earth Engine Studio guide

Workspace

Arrange Studio panels, preserve local context, change workspace preferences, and recover from local-state problems.

Understand the default layout

Studio begins with four working areas:

  • The left tab set contains Scripts, Docs, Assets, and Settings.
  • The center holds editor documents, dataset details, asset details, and figure tabs.
  • The right tab set contains Inspector, Console, and Tasks.
  • The lower area contains the main Map and any script-created maps.

Drag splitters to resize an area. Drag a tab to another tab set to reorganize the workspace. Maximize a tab set when one task needs more room, then restore it without losing the surrounding arrangement.

Work with tabs

An editor tab represents one locally persisted document. Remote files retain their repository, branch, path, and opened revision. Dataset and asset detail tabs keep reference information beside the analysis instead of replacing it.

Use a tab’s context menu to close related tabs, reopen recently closed editor documents, or restore focus to a crowded layout. Closing a local editor does not immediately discard its recovery record. Studio always protects one editor tab: a close button or bulk Close, Close Other Tabs, or Close Tabs to the Right action cannot remove the final editor document and make the code workspace disappear. Closeable non-editor tabs, such as Settings, remain independent of this safeguard.

Map and editor tabs that support popout can detach into a separate browser window. This is useful for a second monitor, but the detached window still belongs to the same Studio session. Closing the host session ends its runtime connections.

Use layout presets

The top-bar workspace control offers task-oriented presets. A preset changes the relative placement and size of panels; it does not delete documents, geometries, tasks, or repositories. After choosing a preset, continue resizing or moving tabs—the resulting arrangement becomes the next remembered layout.

If a panel is closed, reopen it from the same workspace control. Independent panels load only when needed and show a retry action if a feature bundle fails to start.

Know what Studio remembers

Studio stores working context in the browser, including:

  • open editor documents and the selected document;
  • FlexLayout positions, sizes, and selected tabs;
  • editor indentation and language choices for drafts;
  • Day, Night, or Auto theme preference;
  • the main-map renderer, basemap, and most recent viewport;
  • shown repositories, selected branches, and expanded folders;
  • selected workspace behaviors, such as opening Console on errors.

This local state is convenient, not a substitute for repository storage. Unsaved drafts and companion geometry workspaces exist on the current browser profile until you save them remotely or reset the workspace.

Script-created map tabs and plot tabs are session state. They are not restored as remote artifacts after a full reload.

Change settings

Open Settings from the left panel or top bar. Common choices include:

  • Theme: Auto follows the operating system; Day and Night stay fixed.
  • Indentation: choose the editor tab width used for new edits.
  • Map renderer: use MapLibre by default, OpenLayers for a GIS-oriented alternative, or Google Maps when the deployment provides an API key.
  • Default basemap: select the starting background for the main map.
  • Approximate location: optionally request low-accuracy browser location when no remembered map view exists.
  • Plot destination: choose where new figure tabs are inserted.
  • Console on error: bring Console forward when a run reports an error.

Settings that affect the active runtime apply to future activity. Existing script-created maps retain the provider chosen when they were created.

Reset local state safely

Use the reset action in Settings when corrupted local state prevents normal startup or when you want a clean browser workspace. Studio lists the affected browser and remote preference scopes before confirmation.

Resetting does not delete Earth Engine assets, remote repository files, or already submitted Earth Engine operations. It can remove unsaved local drafts, attached local files, remembered layouts, geometry workspaces, and local UI preferences. Save valuable work to a repository before confirming.

For a single panel problem, try its retry control or reload the page before resetting everything. See Troubleshooting for authentication and runtime recovery steps.