graphical user interface

Icons and windows

A graphical user interface, usually abbreviated GUI and pronounced "gooey," is a way of interacting with a computer through visual elements—windows, icons, buttons, menus—rather than typing commands.

Before GUIs became standard in the 1980s and 1990s, users navigated computers by entering text instructions.

Now the term appears mainly in technical contexts: The software has a clean GUI.

appMobile device software
AndroidGoogle's phone platform
mouse pointerOn-screen position indicator
dialog boxInterface element requesting input
scroll barInterface navigation control

tool bar · desktop publishing · accessibility features · icon · drag-and-drop · keyboard shortcuts · Windows Phone · text · panel · data visualization · WIMP · smartphone · touch screen · GUI · message · file management · taskbar · start menu

Opposites

interaction paradigm

graphical user interfacecommand line interface

Text-based computer control

command line · CLI · terminal · console · shell

interface modality

graphical user interfaceaudio interface

Sound input/output device

brain-computer interface

accessibility and abstraction level

graphical user interfacecommand line

Text-based computer interface

API · bare metal · backend · machine code

Family

graphic, graphical, graphics, graphically, grapher, paragraph, telegraph, photograph, photography

Familiarity: Top 500,000
Profile: Used worldwide · Timeless · Rated G