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QGIS made simple - a light user interface for core GIS functions.
QGIS is a great GIS software loaded with a lot of data visualization and analysis capabilities. This makes it a suitable tool for GIS experts and alike. But QGIS is also used by a large group of less technical people, and it is not uncommon that they encounter difficulties in using the "complex" interface of QGIS that is full of toolbars, panels, and processing algorithms.
QGIS Light plugin aims to facilitate getting a simple QGIS interface, that is tailored to the needs of basic users. Our starting point was to support secondary education and citizen science activities. But a basic interface might also be useful for anybody that requires core data visualization, editing, and analysis functionality.
Detailed information about the plugin, including the user stories and technical constraints that guided its design, and usability challenges identified for non-technical QGIS users, can be found in the following resources:
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Girgin, S., Gohil, J., and Mydur, I. (2025) A streamlined GIS interface for Citizen Science activities: QGIS Light, Int. Arch. Photogramm. Remote Sens. Spatial Inf. Sci., XLVIII-4/W13-2025, 127–134, https://doi.org/10.5194/isprs-archives-XLVIII-4-W13-2025-127-2025
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Girgin, S., Gohil, J. H., & Mydur, I. (2025). A streamlined GIS interface for Citizen Science activities: QGIS Light (Presentation). FOSS4G Europe 2025, Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina, 16 July 2025. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.16082546
Note
For the first time you try the plugin, we suggest you to create a profile and use it before activating the plugin. If something goes wrong, you can switch to the default profile to revert changes.
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Install QGIS Light by using the plugin manager.
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Once installed, you will see a tool button with a plain green QGIS logo added to the project toolbar. A menu item is also added to the view menu as 'Toggle QGIS Light'.
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Clicking the tool button or selecting the menu item will enable the light mode.
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To return back to the standard interface, click the tool button with a colored QGIS logo located on the top menu bar.
The target group we considered for the simplifications is follows:
- Users will use local data files or connect to remote data stores via web services (no (direct) database use).
- Users will use 2d vector and raster data (no z and m values, no 3d, no point clouds, mesh, etc.)
- Users will work with a single map at a time (no multiple map canvases).
- Users will not require to publish high-quality maps (no layouts).
- Users will not require advanced analysis capabilities (no model building, no advanced tools).
- Users will require base maps (common base maps, e.g. OpenStreetMap, should be available).
- Users will create plots (plots should be created easily).
We checked all menus, toolbars, panels, and processing algorithms in detail to identify non-essential or duplicated components. We grouped remaining essential components for better usability.
The following simplifications are performed by the plugin:
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No menu bar.
All necessary menu items are provided as tool buttons.
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Less toolbars.
The number of toolbars is reduced to two, one for core functions and another one for editing. Common functions (e.g. zoom, select) are grouped and made available through dropdown tool buttons.
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Less panels.
Only two panels are made visible, overview and layers. The rest are hidden and became visible only if they are needed (i.e. a related function is requested).
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Fixed layout of the toolbars and panels.
It is not possible to move or float toolbars and panels. This is to ensure the same user experience among the users, which is especially important when e.g. training non-technical users.
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No processing toolbox.
All essential processing algorithms are accessible via dropdown tool buttons. The current list of algorithms is rather draft and will be finalized soon basedcon the analysis document available under the documentation directory.
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Less features.
The following functions are hidden from the user:
- SQL functions
- Z/M functions
- Database functions
- TIN functions
- Mesh functions
- Tile functions
- Curve functions
- GPS functions
- Cartography functions
- Random functions
- Fuzzify functions
- Modeler tools functions
- GRASS functions
- PDAL functions
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Additional featues.
The following functions are added for a better user experience:
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Plot functions are replaced with
.
DataPlotly enables changing plotting options easily (e.g. colors), provides more plot types, integrates with the map canvas (i.e., plots are dynamically updated based on the selected features), and most importantly gets rid of opening an external file to access the plot (i.e. no external HTML file).
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Common base maps are provided by using
.
QuickMapServices provides a large set of base maps that can be added as layers easily.
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Most of the simplifications listed above can be customized by editing the
config.json file located in the plugin
directory.
The configuration file is divided into five sections:
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toolbars: The toolbars section defines which toolbars will appear in the simplified GUI. Each toolbar is specified by a unique identifier (e.g., mMainToolBar), which must not conflict with those used by QGIS or other installed plugins. Each toolbar entry includes a title, a location (e.g., top, left), and a list of items to display. An item typically represents a tool from an existing toolbar, referenced by combining the original toolbar id and the tool's action id with a colon (e.g., mFileToolbar:mActionNewProject). When multiple such identifiers are listed in an array, they are grouped into a drop-down button, with the first item shown as the default. Similarly, groups of algorithms defined in the algorithms section can also be presented as drop-down buttons. A separator item can be added between tools, tool groups, or algorithms to visually separate them. By default, the configuration file includes two toolbar definitions, one for the main toolbar and another one for the editing toolbar. Additional toolbars can be added, or existing ones can be modified to further customize the simplified interface.
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algorithms: The algorithms section allows processing algorithms provided by QGIS to be organized into tool groups that can be added to toolbars. Each algorithm group is identified by a unique id and includes an icon along with a list of algorithm items. Like tool items, algorithm items are identified by two-part identifiers: one part designates the processing provider, and the other specifies the algorithm itself (e.g., native:buffer). Currently, algorithms are categorized into two groups as raster or vector based on the data type they operate on. All core raster and vector processing algorithms provided by QGIS either natively or by using GDAL are included and separated by section headings for easier navigation. The lists represent an initial selection and may be revised in the future based on community feedback.
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panels: The panels section enables specifying which panels will be available in the simplified interface, along with their placement and initial visibility. Any panels not included in this section are hidden by the plugin, and their associated functionalities, such as tools and algorithms, are also disabled.
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providers: The providers section allows data source and data item providers enabled in the simplified interface to be specified. Data source providers are components that enable QGIS to connect to and read data from various data sources, whereas data item providers handle how the data is represented, managed, and interacted with once loaded within the QGIS environment. They can be enabled by adding their identifiers to the list of data sources or data items in this section.
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statusbar: The statusbar section enables certain widgets to be disabled. QGIS Light features utility methods to retrieve the ids of toolbars, tool actions, algorithm providers, algorithms, data source providers, data item providers, and status bar widgets to facilitate easy configuration.
QGIS offers options for user interface customization, such as Interface Customization... dialog that allows users to remove interface components they
are not interested in.
There is also the CustomToolBar
plugin available to create custom toolbars by using the existing tools.
However, any further customization, such as creating dropdown tool buttons,
requires custom scripting.
Probably many other components. It is not exhaustive, but while working on the plugin we identified a list of issues that hinder better user experience, such as inconsistent terminology, similar tools with different set of parameters, tools with very similar names but performing different tasks, tools that might be easily incorporated in e.g. raster calculator, etc.
You can check the slides of our QGIS User Conference 2024 talk on "QGIS for Secondary Education and Citizen Science: Lowering the barrier by customizing the user interface" available on Zenodo, or watch the video recording of the talk for more details.
Having a critical look at the existing user interface elements and streamlining a refined and standardized user experience might be beneficial for QGIS. This will also facilitate initiatives like simplification.
Serkan Girgin initiated the idea and developed the plugin. Jay Gohil and Indupriya Mydur contributed to the analysis of the components that were simplified.