How do I turn off single layer mode in Altium?

You can turn off single layer mode in Altium Designer and return to the full display by pressing Shift+S.

Understanding Single Layer Mode in Altium

Altium Designer offers a convenient feature called "single layer mode" which allows you to isolate and view only one layer of your PCB design at a time. This is incredibly useful for detailed work on specific layers, such as routing on a particular signal layer or inspecting a plane layer. However, to see the complete board layout with all layers visible, you need to switch back to the full display mode.

Switching Modes with Shift+S

The primary method to control the display mode, including exiting single layer mode, is by using the Shift+S keyboard shortcut.

As per the reference provided:

To cycle between the full display and each of the enabled single-layer modes, press the Shift+S shortcut. With each press of Shift+S, the software moves to the next enabled mode, ultimately returning to the full display mode.

This means that if you are currently in single-layer mode viewing, say, the Top Layer, pressing Shift+S might take you to another single layer (if enabled) or directly back to the full display, depending on your view configurations. Repeatedly pressing Shift+S will cycle through any enabled single-layer views you might have set up and will eventually bring you back to the comprehensive view where all layers are visible.

How to Exit Single Layer Mode

1. Identify your current view: Confirm you are in a single-layer view (only one layer is visibly active).
2. Press the shortcut: On your keyboard, press and hold the Shift key, and then press the S key.
3. Cycle through modes: If you have other single-layer modes enabled, you might switch to those. Keep pressing Shift+S.
4. Return to full display: After cycling through the enabled single-layer views (or if only one was enabled), the view will switch back to the full, multi-layer display.

Example:

Imagine you are routing traces and are focused only on the "Top Layer" (single layer mode active).

• Pressing Shift+S once might switch you to viewing only the "Bottom Layer" (if enabled).
• Pressing Shift+S again might switch you to viewing only the "Internal Layer 1" (if enabled).
• Pressing Shift+S a third time will return you to the full display where all layers are visible.

This Shift+S shortcut is a quick toggle that allows you to easily move between focused single-layer views and the complete board perspective.