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Windows User Interface Guidelines

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Have you ever designed a dialog and wondered what’s the right control size, spacing, font, layout etc? This respectable document (46 MB!) contains a wealth of such information:

https://download.microsoft.com/download/e/1/9/e191fd8c-bce8-4dba-a9d5-2d4e3f3ec1d3/ux%20guide.pdf

For example, did you know that the default size of a button (like OK and Cancel) needs to 73x21 pixels? Or that the vertical spacing between a label and a control needs to be 5 pixels? Here’s an excerpt from the document:

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Comments

  • Anonymous
    June 02, 2010
    Hmm... I pressed Windows+R to look at the OK and Cancel buttons' size, and they are 86x24 on Windows 7? I looked on a Windows XP machine, and it is 73x21. Weird!

  • Anonymous
    June 14, 2010
    that is because Microsoft doesn't follow its own human interface guidelines. just look at all their apps. Windows Media Player and Office 2007/2010 is the prime example of that. "hey when we want to skin an app we just do it, disregard the HIG!" They did a good job with Notepad though. That app has remained pretty much faithful to the MS HIG for all this time.

  • Anonymous
    November 14, 2010
    That document is glorious. Thanks for linking.

  • Anonymous
    May 14, 2013
    Thank you for this file it helps me a lot!!!