I recently made the switch to Android Studio as my default IDE for Android development. When designing my UI I normally use the palette in the design view to assist in arranging the widget on the preview screen.Recently something weird happened, It just disappeared and I can't seem to re-enable it. Normally I would see the little Palette button on the side but now its gone. When I open another project I see the palette but not show this current project I'm working on.
When I open another project in Android Studio I see the palette tab.
I've just figured this out! If you double click on your .xml file tab at the top it will maximize the designer window. Then on the left you can drag the window to shrink and it will reveal the palette. Then just click on the tab on the left to open the project window.
try the Design/Text tabs in the lower left of the layout window
The palette can be shrunk to 0 width. This can be expanded by hovering next to the left edge of the design window, and finding the right-most expand position.
Android Studio 2.3.3, and the answer I was looking for:
Window -> Restore Default Layout (Shift+F12)
If you have only the designer and the properties showing and the Properties is on the right, you can get the palette back by switching to a left or right view.
Right click on the .xml file tab. Select "split vertically". This will open another Design that shows the palette again.
You have to be in the 'Design' tab (as opposed to the 'Text' tab) at the bottom of the middle window (the one that shows the phone).
Try to switch between Design/Text tabs at the bottom left of the editor.
You must have something in the layout resource highlighted. I also had to compile without an error.
My solution was traversing
src->main->res-layout->content_main.xml
then open content_main.xml
First Close All The Tabs Then Open res->layout->activity_main.xml
you will able to see design tab at activity_main.xml