The Lock/unlock button toggles the locked state of the patcher window.

The New Object button is used to open the Object Palette.

The Navigate Zoom button is used when navigating in the patcher window.

The Presentation Mode/Patching Mode button lets you choose whether to view the patcher in patching or presentation mode.

The Inspector button is used to open an object’s Inspector. This button is enabled when an object in the patcher window is selected.

The Bring Forward and Send Backward buttons are used to change the relative front-to-back ordering of objects.

The Show Grid/Hide Grid button shows or hides the grid.

The Enable Snap To Grid/Disable Snap To Grid button toggles Snap To Grid for automatic alignment of objects as you drag them.

When using Max for Live, a few new icons will appear in the Patcher Window toolbar.

The Freeze Device button icon toggles whether or not a Max for Live device is currently frozen (and thus cannot be edited).

The Conflict Icon is generally greyed out. It will only be highlighted if you open a frozen Max for Live device for editing whose contents conflict with the files that you have on your disk. If this icon is highlighted, you will need to resolve any conflicts before you can unfreeze the device.

The Preview Mode button icon toggles whether or not a Max for icon is used to toggle between having the effect processing done within the Live application or within Max while you are editing or developing a device.