global-toolbar-controls
Global Toolbar Controls
What Belongs Here
Global controls affect the entire product experience but are not the user's primary task. They are reached occasionally — once per session or less — and should not compete visually with primary navigation or content.
Typical global toolbar controls:
- Currency selector (e-commerce, financial tools)
- Language / locale switcher
- Region or market selector
- Unit system (metric / imperial)
- Theme toggle (light / dark)
- Accessibility preferences (font size, contrast)
These are distinct from user account settings (which live in a profile menu) and from contextual settings (which live adjacent to the feature they affect).
Two classes hide in this list. Controls that change what is shown (region, market, tenant) and controls that change how it is presented (language, theme, units). Group them apart. Lay the preferences out as a row, not a stack. A stack grows with every preference and gives a personal setting the same weight as the control that picks the data. A row absorbs the next preference at no cost to height.