Configurations are created only on a browser (in a Part Studio or an Assembly) . See Using configurations for more details. For information creating configurations in an Assembly, see Assembly Configurations.

Create part families by creating variations of an entire Part Studio or specific part. You are able to configure any feature or parameter value and even part properties, custom part properties, face and part appearance, and sketch text. For example, you are able to configure the depth of an extrude feature, the application of a fillet feature, the faces selected for a fillet, the FeatureScript of a custom feature, and part numbers, colors, and materials.

All of the features and parameters you configure in one Part Studio are referred to as a Configuration. Each Part Studio can have one Configuration. You are able to, however, create multiple Configuration inputs within one Configuration. This is especially helpful when the feature or parameter values you want to configure are not necessarily related to each other. For example, when the length and diameter of a part are not related to whether a fillet is applied, you can use two Configuration inputs. This allows more flexibility and can aid in keeping each Configuration input from becoming unnecessarily complicated.

The Configuration inputs you define in a Part Studio become options in the Insert dialog when you are inserting parts into an Assembly or Drawing. For example, you create a Configuration input to place a flange at either the top or the left side of a sheet metal part. When inserting the sheet metal part into an Assembly, you select not only the part, but the configuration of the flange:

example of inserting sheet metal into an Assembly

When more than one person is working in the same document, each sees their own selected configuration, except when working in Follow Mode; at that point the follower sees the configuration selected by the leader.

Below is an explanation of the basic steps for creating a Configuration with a single Configuration input in Onshape, and then an explanation of creating additional Configuration inputs in the same Part Studio. Lastly, there's an explanation of configuring part properties within any Configuration input.

For additional Learning center resources, see: Self-Paced Courses > Configurations. You can also follow the learning pathway course here: Introduction to Part Configurations (Onshape account required), and the technical briefing article here: Parametric Variables vs Configuration Variables (Onshape account required).