Notion users dislike sidebar clutter
18 posts across 4 communities in the last 30 days; 61% from r/Notion.
“It threw me off for a minute, after the update. And I don't care about things being centered. [re: Is it just me or did anyone else's UI and title formatting change? It pettily bothers me that it isn't centered anymore.]”
“I'm blind i think i accidentally triggered the expand right sidebar and not finding the collapse sidebar somehow, i right clicked and close ALL toolbar items associated with the right sidebar. And of course i didn't remember what were those entries LOL Now i wonder if i could…”
“sidebar on mobile is right, takes like two taps to make one [re: how to create this ?]”
Several users find Notion's sidebar overwhelming and appreciate the new ability to collapse sections. Previously, the sidebar displayed all pages, making navigation difficult. Users welcome the option to reduce visual clutter.
SOURCES (29)
“I'm blind i think i accidentally triggered the expand right sidebar and not finding the collapse sidebar somehow, i right clicked and close ALL toolbar items associated with the right sidebar. And of course i didn't remember what were those entries LOL Now i wonder…”
“sidebar on mobile is right, takes like two taps to make one [re: how to create this ?]”
“drives me nuts too, that view all button is such a pointless extra step. been using notion since the early days and the sidebar was way cleaner before they started burying everything if you collapse any nested pages inside your favorites they'll show up with a tiny arrow but yea the full-page list is gone, no toggle to bring it back as far as i know [re: How can I make it show ALL OF MY PAGES in the side bar like it used to when notion first launched?]”
“Handy plugin but each entity highlight group takes up a 1/3 of the vertical height sidebar so once you have 3 4 it gets pretty clunky. Would be cool if you could collapse groups after configuring them to just show the group name to make it easy to find and configure or toggle individual ones.”
“It threw me off for a minute, after the update. And I don't care about things being centered. [re: Is it just me or did anyone else's UI and title formatting change? It pettily bothers me that it isn't centered anymore.]”
“bri it's already in it's name it's a side bar it will be in the side [re: why we don't have an side bar in notion mobile lick we have in notion windows]”
“its a phone, where exactly do you want the sidebar to go [re: why we don't have an side bar in notion mobile lick we have in notion windows]”
“imo the messy in-between state is worse than either version on its own [re: Is it Possible to Move Workspaces Menu from Bottom to Top of Sidebar?]”
“What makes it "obnoxious"? [re: Is it Possible to Move Workspaces Menu from Bottom to Top of Sidebar?]”
“What would you like? Once I configured it to my liking i'd like to hide the sidebar. Sidebar bloat is real and any plugin that adds a toggle is a godsend. I like the plugin but it's not worth having a permanent sidebar button. (For me personally) What makes the game better about it? N/A just makes the experience better not having sidebar bloat. Roughly what kind of thing is it? A new setting or control”
“I haven't found anything actually different other than cosmetics. I kinda like it. LOVE that you can shrink the left side bar. [re: WHO APPROVED THIS AND WHY??]”
“ugh tell me about it, my own notion is already in chaos [re: Sidebar presets rolling out today!]”
“Tab presets and Optional tabs sitting right next to each other doing half the same job. Notion has been selling sidebar customization for years while search still can't find a page I made yesterday, meanwhile Craft and Anytype just get it right out of the box. [re: Sidebar presets rolling out today!]”
“so the fix for the sidebar being a mess is more tabs in the sidebar. ok. and its not even me deciding anymore, some admin is gonna tick Chat and Meetings for the whole org and i get a Meetings tab staring at me for the two calls i have in a month. who asked for that. when it was just pages i could ignore it, now theres presets so theres gonna be some nested menu i have to dig through every time a teammate says there sidebar doesnt look like mine. Slack did this years ago and it still annoys me.”
“You can now find "Sidebar" in your settings and configure default and optional sidebar tabs for your organization. Super helpful for teams! What are you adding? submitted by /u/typeoneerror [link] [comments]”
“Four Untitled notes is just chaos waiting to happen. That sidebar's practically a to-do list for a Sunday afternoon cleanup session.”
“The full width toggle is the single biggest space saver. Open the page menu at the top right and turn on Full width plus Small text. It will not fix the embedded view padding, but it gives you back most of that lost height. For the database views, try linked views of the database instead of embeds, and hide the page title and icon on those pages. Same data, much less clutter on screen.”
“i keep a dedicated desktop folder of svgs just to make my sidebar look consistent. manually dragging custom icons in one by one gets old really fast.”
“I want more flexibility when editing a layout. I want properties that hide and show dynamically depending on other properties. I want collapsible panels on the left. I want the option to keep the right panel open.”
“just tried this and it works but you gotta make sure you're not in full width mode too. small sidebar on the left and the properties will stack vertically”
“I've always had sidebars enabled. The sidebars worked even when I had just installed the Baseline theme, just that the settings option didn't show. However, once I disabled Minimal Theme Settings, the settings showed again on the sidebar.”
“been there maybe 6-8 weeks? the mobile app not reflecting it is a known gap, they seem to treat desktop and mobile as separate rollout tracks for some reason”
“i highlighted a massive doc in red yesterday just so i could actually skim it for a meeting. my page looked like a crime scene, but it's literally the only color that doesn't vanish on a bright monitor.”
“I mean, we can also separate page between Tab too. previously, it show all pages in sidebar”
“oh nice they actually let you collapse that whole section now? that sidebar clutter was half the reason i'd avoid opening it some days”
“https://preview.redd.it/pb9p6k2j2osh1.png?width=534&format=png&auto=webp&s=36ecb8a6337409a417f1e17e89dd558351cf37cd Maybe I should give Notion another try after feeling too lazy to open it lately. Update: Seems the mobile app doesn't reflect the desktop sidebar. It still shows all pages plus unused features submitted by /u/AreaExact7824 [link] [comments]”