Inspector Window

All the details of your assets and items

One of the most important windows, the Inspector shows all the components and attributes of a selected game object or Asset.

Default View

The information in the Inspector window changes depending on what game objects and assets you have selected.

Example of a default sphere game object when selected in the Hierarchy window:

Example of a default empty game object when selected in the Hierarchy window:

Example of a Main Camera game object when selected in the Hierarchy window:

Example of a directional light game object when selected in the Hierarchy window:

Example of a material asset when selected in the Project window:

Game Object Header Information

The header generally shows the following elements for selected game objects:

Icon, Label, or Gizmo - represents the type of game object. Click on this icon to change it.

Active (checkbox) - objects can be turned on and off Notes: - Shortcut: ALT + SHIFT + A - Scripts trying to access inactive objects will give you an error.

Game object name - Can be updated within the Inspector window

Static (checkbox) - Whether the object is Static and the type of static. Click on "Static" to see more options.

Tag (Dropdown) - Tags can be added or selected from a list to help with organization and access through a script.

Layer (Dropdown) - Layers can help a script determine how elements interact with certain objects.

Asset Header Information

The header generally shows the following elements for selected assets:

Icon / Preview representing the type of asset

Name - This can be changed in the Project window or within the Assets folder

Connection to other assets - Some assets use other assets (materials use shaders) and will have a reference to it.

Commands (Buttons) - Open folders, prefabs, and scripts.

Transform Component

You'll notice that every game object in your scene has a Transform component that stores coordinates for the object's position, rotation, and scale.

Components

Components are really just pieces of script that you can add, update, and remove from game objects. Many have default built-in components so you do not have to write them yourself. They are even accessible by other scripts!

Components will not be covered in depth here, so please use the Unity documentation for specific details.

Let's look at some common elements of a component as it appears in the Inspector window:

Components can pile up in the Inspector window, so there are dropdown toggle triangles on the left. You can use these to collapse the entire component or sections of attributes.

Many components allow you to turn them off and on by using the checkbox to the left of the component name.

Note: Scripts will give an error if they are trying to access a component that has been turned off.

Add Component Button

At the bottom of the list of components, there's an "Add Component" button. This provides a list of current built-in and user-created components to add. You can also create a new script through this menu and it will automatically appear on that game object after naming it.