Logging In and Workspace Navigation

In this chapter, we are moving from theory to practice. We will walk through the initial login process and orient ourselves within the actual Databricks interface. Depending on whether you are using the Community Edition, Azure, AWS, or GCP, your login URL will be unique to your organization, but once you arrive at the landing page, the experience becomes unified.

The Initial Login

When you first access your Databricks workspace URL, you will be prompted for your credentials. Most organizations use Single Sign-On (SSO), meaning you'll log in with your company email.

The Landing Page (Home)

Once you log in, you are greeted by the Home screen. This page is designed to get you back to work quickly.

• The Unified Sidebar: all Databricks related features are accessed from here;
• User Settings: by clicking on the right-hand side upper corner, you can open your personal settings, a menu that allows you to configure your custom experience with Databricks, as well as access personal developer functions;
• Recents: in the center of the screen, you will usually see a list of the notebooks and tables you've touched most recently. This is customised the more you use Databricks.

Mastering the Unified Sidebar

As we saw in the previous section, the sidebar is your primary tool. Let's look at how to navigate it efficiently:

• The Search Bar: located at the top of the sidebar. It is the fastest way to find anything. Pro tip: You can use the shortcut Cmd + P (Mac) or Ctrl + P (Windows) to open the search bar from anywhere in the workspace;
• Workspace Folders: clicking the "Workspace" icon opens a tree-style menu. Here you will find:
  • Users: your personal folder where you can create private work;
  • Shared: a folder where files are visible to everyone in your workspace—ideal for team collaboration.
• Catalog & Compute: these are the two tabs we will visit next. Catalog shows your data; Compute shows your processing power.

Personalizing Your Profile

Before we start building, click on your email address or the profile icon in the corner.

• User Settings: here you can change your display theme (Dark Mode vs. Light Mode) and manage your language preferences;
• Appearance: you can choose to keep the sidebar expanded or "pinned" so it only shows icons when you hover over it, giving you more screen real estate for your code.