An infobar is a

graphical control element A graphical widget (also graphical control element or control) in a graphical user interface is an element of interaction, such as a button or a scroll bar. Controls are software components that a computer user interacts with through direct ...

used by browsers including

Firefox Mozilla Firefox, or simply Firefox, is a free and open-source web browser developed by the Mozilla Foundation and its subsidiary, the Mozilla Corporation. It uses the Gecko rendering engine to display web pages, which implements current and ...

and

Google Chrome Google Chrome is a cross-platform web browser developed by Google. It was first released in 2008 for Microsoft Windows, built with free software components from Apple WebKit and Mozilla Firefox. Versions were later released for Linux, macOS ...

and other software programs to display non-critical information to a user. It usually appears as a temporary extension of an existing

toolbar The toolbar, also called a bar or standard toolbar (originally known as ribbon) is a graphical control element on which on-screen icons can be used. A toolbar often allows for quick access to functions that are commonly used in the program. Some ...

, and may contain buttons or icons to allow the user to react to the event described in the infobar. An infobar may be used as an alternative to

dialog boxes The dialog box (also called dialogue box (non-U.S. English), message box or simply dialog) is a graphical control element in the form of a small window that communicates information to the user and prompts them for a response. Dialog boxes are ...

as it does not interrupt the user's activities and allows the user to read extra information in their own time. Some infobars unobtrusively appear from the edge of the screen with a message displayed, possibly with response buttons to then hide or fade after several seconds. Within

Microsoft Outlook Microsoft Outlook is a personal information manager software system from Microsoft, available as a part of the Microsoft Office and Microsoft 365 software suites. Though primarily an email client, Outlook also includes such functions as Calen ...

, an infobar may display information relevant to a specific type of email message, such as its sensitivity or message format.

References

Citations Sources * * * Graphical control elements {{GUI-stub