A graphical user interface or GUI ( ) is a type of user interface which allows people to interact with a computer and computer-controlled devices. It presents graphical icons, visual indicators or special graphical elements called "widgets". Often the icons are used in conjunction with text, labels or text navigation to fully represent the information and actions available to a user. But instead of offering only text menus, or requiring typed commands, the actions are usually performed through direct manipulation of the graphical elements.

The term GUI is historically restricted to the scope of two-dimensional display screens with display resolutions capable of describing generic information, in the tradition of the computer science research at Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) (formerly Xerox PARC and still a subsidiary of Xerox). The term GUI does not apply to other high-resolution types of interfaces that are non-generic, such as videogames, or not restricted to flat screens, like volumetric displays.