7 Sidebar Windows 11 Direct

The Widgets board is often called a “modern sidebar” but criticized for forcing news content even when disabled. Still, for quick glances at weather, calendar, and tasks, it works well as a temporary side panel. 2. Notification Center & Quick Settings (Right-Slide Sidebar) Though not a single panel, Windows 11 combines two sidebars into one unified flyout from the right edge. Clicking on the network/volume/battery area (or pressing Win + A ) opens Quick Settings . Clicking the time/date (or pressing Win + N ) opens Notification Center . These two are now separate but both slide from the right.

For power users who want a truly persistent sidebar (e.g., system monitoring, RSS feeds, calendar, to-do list), third-party tools like , SideSlide , or AquaSnap can restore classic sidebar functionality. But within Windows 11 itself, these seven sidebars represent the operating system’s current philosophy: “Sidebars on demand, not always on top.” 7 sidebar windows 11

The Widgets board occupies roughly the left third to half of the screen, depending on display resolution. It has a semi-transparent acrylic background (Mica or similar), with a clean, card-based layout. At the top, there’s a search bar powered by Bing. Below that, a weather widget typically appears first, followed by news, stocks, traffic, sports, and other dynamic widgets. The Widgets board is often called a “modern

Both panels auto-dismiss when clicking outside. You can open them via touch swipe from the right screen edge (on touchscreens). The Quick Settings sidebar can be edited: add/remove buttons, reorder them, and control advanced network settings directly. These two are now separate but both slide from the right

It behaves exactly like a secondary taskbar section. You can click any icon to launch or switch to that app, drag icons from the overflow into the main taskbar and vice versa, and even see progress bars (e.g., file downloads) on the icons within the overflow. It supports right-click context menus too.

From this sidebar, you can start a chat, share a file, join a meeting, or manage contacts. It shows presence indicators (available, busy, away) and integrates with your Microsoft account (personal or work/school). Notifications from Teams appear in the Notification Center, but the sidebar gives full conversation access without opening the main Teams app.

One of the most powerful sidebar-like features is the clipboard history (enable it in Settings > System > Clipboard). When you press Win + V , a small panel appears showing your last 25 copied items (text, HTML, images). You can pin frequently used items, delete them, and sync across devices. This panel remains open until you close it, acting like a persistent data sidebar for copy-paste workflows.