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Graphical widget

lastmod 2025-12-11created 2025-12-112 edits

In computer programming, a widget or control is an interface element that a computer user interacts with, such as a window or a text box. Widgets are qualified as virtual to distinguish them from their physical counterparts, e.g. a virtual button clicked with a mouse cursor versus its counterpart, a physical button pressed with a finger. Widgets are often included in widget toolkits. Programmers use widgets to build graphical user interfaces.

Etymology

The term widget means a small device or element in English. In the 1980s, Project Athena was the first to start calling GUI elements widgets. This word was chosen because other similar terms might have carried inappropriate meanings. It is also said that a window-like prefix was chosen because the project's Intrinsics toolkit (Xt library) connected windows and individual widgets on top of the X Window System.

Various widgets

There are many kinds of widgets, but the taskbar is not among the common widgets used across operating systems.

Selection

  • Button
    • Toggle button
    • Check box
    • Radio button
  • Slider
  • List box
  • Spin button
  • Drop-down list
  • Menu
  • Toolbar
  • Ribbon (computing) - an interface introduced in Microsoft Office 2007
  • Combo box (a text box attached to a menu or list box)
  • Korean: 아이콘
  • Tree view
  • Grid view
  • Tab
  • Scrollbar

Text input

  • Text box (edit field)
  • Combo box (a text box with an attached menu)

Output

  • Label (control)
  • Speech balloon (Tooltip)
  • Balloon help
  • Status bar
  • Progress bar
  • Infobar

Windows

  • Modal window
  • Dialog box
  • Palette window
    • Inspector window
    • Drawer
    • Head-up display (similar to HUD (video gaming))

Table of Graphical Widgets

Graphical widget (Edit)

Command input

Adjustment handle, Button, Context menu, Drop-down list, Hamburger button, Menu, Pie menu

Data input-output

Checkbox, Color picker, Combo box, Cycle button, Date picker, Grid view, Toggle switch, List box, List builder, Radio button, Scrollbar, Search box, Slider, Spinner, Text box

Informational

Balloon help, Head-up display in computing, HUD in video games, Icon, Infobar, Label, Loading screen, Progress indicator (Progress bar, Splash screen, Throbber), Sidebar, Status bar, Toast, Tooltip

Containers

Accordion, Tree view, Client-side decoration, Disclosure widget, Frame/Fieldset, Menu bar, Panel, Popover, Ribbon, Tab, Toolbar, Window (Window decoration), Workspace

Navigational

Address bar, Bookmarks bar, Breadcrumb navigation, Hyperlink, Navigation bar, Virtual desktop

Special windows

Alert dialog box, Dialog box, File dialog, Inspector window, Modal window, Palette window

Related concepts

File viewer, List of graphical user interface elements, Layout manager, Look and feel, Mouseover, Scrolling, Widget toolkit, WIMP, Zoomable user interface

See also

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