Table of Content

• Getting Started with Postman Interface
• Features in the Home Screen
• Working with Requests and Collections
• Using Environments And Variables
• Collaboration and Sharing
• Testing and Automation in Postman
• Conclusion
• FAQs for Postman Navigation

Menu Option	Functions
1. File	Allows to open & close tabs and windows
2. Edit	Allows to undo / redo changes, cut, copy & paste selections, select all as well as delete.
3. View	Allows to toggle & zoom, open Postman console, DevTools and view logs in Explorer
4. Help	Allows to disable hardware acceleration, access documentation, GitHub & Twitter accounts of Postman, check for new updates, clear cache & reload, select region preference for new accounts

• Back and Forward Navigation Arrows

The left-pointing arrow allows to travel to the previously opened screen and the right-pointing arrow allows to travel to the next screen opened (if any), just like in browser windows.

• Home Tab

Launches the Home screen of the Postman app. Provides official documentation on a variety of use cases of Postman, and links to the learning and support centers. Also, lists the recent workspaces used in the application.

• Workspaces Tab

Provides a button to create a new workspace, as well as the facilities to search & view all the workspaces created, lists the recently visited workspaces, and the additional workspaces (if any).

• Search Bar

Search bar can be used to search for API requests, workspaces, collections, flows and teams. Can be customized to search for in all of Postman, in the user’s personal space on Postman, and in the public API network.

• Invite Button

Allows to invite people to your Postman workspace by entering the names of individuals and groups, or their email ID’s. Then Postman sends an invitation link to the people.

• Settings Button

Allows to access the app’s settings, release notes, support center as well as Postman’s resources on Trust and Security, Privacy Policy, Terms of usage. Keep in mind, Scratch Pad has been termed obsolete by Postman and it asks the user to migrate any data on the pad into the user’s workspace.

• Notifications Button

Shows the user in-app notifications segregated into – Active, Direct and Watching, besides allowing them to customize notification settings – allowing users to set when and how they want to be notified, what notifications to send and what notifications to avoid.

• Account Button

Allows users to view & edit the account profile, create a new team for collaborating on the same API workflows, switch accounts, create a new account, access settings, as well as sign out.

• Upgrade Button

Allows to change the pricing tier of the currently used Postman version, or upgrade from the free version to a paid version.

2. Left Menu

• Collections

Shows all the API request collections saved and in use. Allows to create a new collection, search for an existing collection in the workspace, open deleted collections within 24 hours of their deletion, star, work on and manage collections.

• History

Shows the date-wise history of all the API requests executed in the current workspace, similar to a browser’s search history.

• Configure Workspace Sidebar

Allows to custom-set the currently opened workspace’s sidebar settings and themes. Also allows to delete the workspace. Allows to customize the workspace’s accessibility – only to user, anyone on the Internet (free) , to invited team members or/and partners (paid).

Working with Requests and Collections

On right-clicking any collection, a menu pops up providing a range of options to work on. The upper bar also allows to easily add a new request to the collection, star it, search any API request present inside it, and open any API request / collection deleted in the last 24 hours.

On right-clicking any API request, we get a menu with multiple options: view documentation (the body & the description of the API), share it, open it in a new tab, add example, rename, duplicate and delete.

Reference: creating and managing requests and Collections on Postman.

Using Environments And Variables

• Variables in Postman store values that can be referenced from environments and collections.
• These values are key-value pairs, where the key denotes the name of the variable and the value denotes the value stored by the variable.
• Variables can be used to store base URLs. Like variables in programming languages, Postman variables have scopes ranging from the broadest to the narrowest: global, collection, environment, data and local.
• Environment in Postman refers to a collection of variables. Environments allow CRUD (Create-Read-Update-Delete) operations by the user on them. ​The contained collection can also be sorted and made unavailable without deletion.

By default, localhost is taken as the environment to run the API’s in Postman.

Collaboration and Sharing

Postman allows to share both the individual API’s as well as their collections to people both in the same team or external teams. It allows to share the Postman-generated API​ keys (URLs on clicking which the API can be accessed) to people not part of any team too seamlessly. A custom environment or workspace can be set by the user for sharing purposes.

Testing and Automation in Postman

Postman allows both automated and manual API testing, allowing users to define and automate their custom functional, unit, regression, end-to-end, mock, integration tests, and more. All of these tests are automated by the making of automated test suites that iterate the running of the tests periodically, as per user requirements.

Conclusion

Postman has wide variety of features, and offers a range of 20+ options for working with API requests and collections. Its development team continues to strive for a smoother navigation than before, growing the application’s popularity by leaps and bounds today to being used by 30 million registered users and 500,000 companies as reported by BW Disrupt on May 2024, only 12 years after its launching.

Frequently Asked Questions for Postman Navigation

How easy/difficult is it to navigate Postman?

Postman has a clean UI that makes it easy to get started with.

Is the Postman free edition enough for students?

Postman free edition has features which are sufficient for almost all the use cases of a student, making it a popular choice amongst the student developer community.

Should l download Postman desktop app or continue working in the browser?

There is no difference in the UI & UX of postman. However Postman Desktop app provides the added facility of working on your API’s offline, though some environments may need an Internet connection.