---
title: 'Menu & map options'
url: 'http://www.mlat.uk/guide/menu'
markdown: 'http://www.mlat.uk/guide/menu.md'
date: '2026-10-22'
description: ".mlat-guide { --u: clamp(16px, 15.2px + 0.2vw, 16.8px); --g-accent: #0A74C4; --g-accent-dark: #0A5FA0; --g-bg: #ffffff; --g-bg-alt: #F5F7FA; --g-text: #14181D; --g-soft: #5B6772; --g-border: #D6DEE6; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'SF Pro Text'…"
---

[User Guide](http://www.mlat.uk/guide) › Menu & map options

# Menu & map options

- [The menu](#menu)
- [Satellite filters](#satellites)
- [Map options](#options)

The menu button (☰) at the top left holds everything that isn't on screen already.

## The menu

On a computer, items with an arrow open a panel beside the menu when you point at them or click them. On a phone they slide in as a page, with a **Menu** button to go back.

| Item | What it does |
|---|---|
| Share this view | Shares a link to exactly what you are looking at - see [Sharing & links](http://www.mlat.uk/guide/sharing). |
| Map options | Switches for what is drawn on the map (below). |
| Map layers | Weather and environment layers, base maps and overlays - see [Map layers](http://www.mlat.uk/guide/layers). |
| Satellite filters | Which groups of satellites appear - see below. |
| Follow selected f | Keeps the selected object centred. |
| Follow a random object r | Picks an object and follows it. |
| Replay | Plays back past aircraft, vessels and satellites - see [Replay](http://www.mlat.uk/guide/sharing#replay). |
| Heatmap | Shows where aircraft or vessels have been over the last hour to 30 days - see [Heatmap](http://www.mlat.uk/guide/sharing#heatmap). |
| Full screen | Hides the browser's own bars, where the browser allows it. |
| Settings | Display, information and label settings - see [Settings](http://www.mlat.uk/guide/settings). |
| User Guide | Opens this guide in a new tab. |
| Contribute | How to feed data to mlat.uk (opens in a new tab). |
| About | About mlat.uk and what the icons mean. |

## Satellite filters

Choose **Satellite filters** in the menu to pick which groups of satellites the map shows. Each group is a switch; a group that is switched off isn't downloaded or calculated at all, which keeps the map quick.

| Group | What it contains |
|---|---|
| Space stations | The ISS, Tiangong and other crewed stations. **On** by default. |
| Brightest | The satellites easiest to see by eye. **On** by default. |
| Recently launched | Satellites launched in the last 30 days, drawn in green. |
| Military | Military satellites. |
| Environment / resource | Earth-resources and observation satellites. |
| GNSS | GPS, GLONASS, Galileo and BeiDou navigation satellites. |
| Engineering | Engineering and technology demonstration satellites. |
| Education | Educational satellites. |
| Iridium | The Iridium NEXT constellation. |
| Starlink | Thousands of satellites, so it is **off on every visit** and only drawn when you are zoomed in. Switching it on zooms the map in far enough to see them. |

![Satellite filters open beside the menu](http://www.mlat.uk/user/pages/08.guide/04.menu/menu-satellites.jpg)Satellite filters: Space stations and Brightest are on by default

Your choices are remembered on this device, except Starlink, which always starts off.

## Map options

![Map options open beside the menu on a computer](http://www.mlat.uk/user/pages/08.guide/04.menu/menu-options.jpg)Map options open beside the menu on a computer

Each option is a switch and is remembered on this device. Where an option has a keyboard shortcut it is shown beside it; press the key on its own (lower case), without Shift.

| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
| Your position | Shows your location on the map (your browser asks permission first). |
| Range rings | Draws distance rings around your position. |
| Ground vehicles | Shows airport ground vehicles that transmit a position. |
| Non-ICAO targets | Shows radar-derived tracks and targets whose airframe is unknown. |
| Show all tracks t | Draws the recent track of every aircraft, not just the selected one. |
| Labels l | Shows a callsign or name label beside each object. |
| Extended labels o | Adds altitude and speed to the labels. |
| Track labels k | Labels points along the selected object's track with altitude and time. |
| Satellite footprint | Shades the area of the Earth a selected satellite can see. Off by default. |
| Multi-select m | Lets you select several objects on the map at once, each showing its track. |
| Persistence p | Keeps objects on the map after their signal is lost, instead of removing them. |
| Isolate filtered i | Hides everything except the selected or filtered object(s). |

---

## Navigation

- Parent: [User Guide](http://www.mlat.uk/guide.md)
- Previous: [Objects & the object list](http://www.mlat.uk/guide/objects.md)
- Next: [Map layers](http://www.mlat.uk/guide/layers.md)