Built-in UI overview

The built-in UI is the fastest path from a DOCX file to a complete editing and review experience. SuperDoc renders the document and provides the controls around it while your application owns document access, users, workflow, and persistence.

What the built-in UI provides

The interface coordinates capabilities that otherwise require separate custom controls:

• A responsive formatting toolbar with command state.
• Document modes for editing, suggesting, and viewing.
• Comments and tracked-change review surfaces.
• Links, context menus, search, and navigation.
• Document-aware controls for content such as tables and images.
• Zoom and viewport behavior around the DOCX canvas.

The exact controls depend on the active document, selection, mode, and enabled modules. A disabled or hidden command can reflect document context rather than a missing feature.

What your application still owns

The built-in UI does not provide document storage, authentication, or product workflow. Your application remains responsible for:

• Choosing which DOCX a person can open.
• Providing the current user and enforcing authorization.
• Deciding whether the session starts in editing, suggesting, or viewing mode.
• Saving or exporting the resulting DOCX.
• Placing the editor inside the product layout.
• Destroying the editor when that surface is removed.

Document modes control browser interaction. They are not an authorization boundary.

Start with the complete lifecycle

Start with the Editor quickstart to open, edit, and export a real DOCX. It uses the document canvas without a toolbar so the file lifecycle stays clear.

Then add the built-in toolbar. Comments, search, and review controls build on the same editor instance.

Configure before replacing

If the overall experience fits, configure the built-in interface before choosing a custom UI. Common reasons include focusing the toolbar, selecting modules, setting the document mode, fitting the editor into a responsive layout, or matching product colors.

Choose a custom UI when your application needs to own the control layout, how state is presented, or a workflow that is intentionally narrower than a general document editor.

Continue with Configure the built-in toolbar, or learn how the custom UI controller exposes the same editor state without the built-in controls.