Make Lazarus run in a single window

Mar 10, 2024

---

---

The default windowed layout that is used in the Lazarus IDE is terrible for productivity, as managing the different windows becomes difficult with bigger projects. This guide outlines how to enable single window mode using the anchordockingsdsgn package!

Hint: This is basically just a backup of this blogpost I found.

Download and install the needed package

• in the main menu, click on “Package”, then “Install/Uninstall Package”.
• search for the anchordockingsdsgn and install it

• finally click on the “Save and rebuild IDE” button and wait for Lazarus to rebuild

Improve header design

• go to “Tools”, then “Options”
• at “IDE Options” select “Docking / Anchordesign” and change the “Header Style” to your liking (I personally like the “line” style)

Add the project inspector

• to navigate files easily, use the project inspector. Enable it by clicking on “Project”, then “Project Inspector”
• drag and drop it (by the header) to the sidebar to anchor it there

Final results and preview

If everything worked out, Lazarus can now look like this!

---