The side panel

The side panel opens beside a chat, and the chat's working surfaces live there as tabs. This page covers the panel itself: opening and hiding it, arranging its tabs, splitting and floating them, and what it remembers. Chat surfaces and status maps the surfaces you can put in it.

Open and hide the panel

1. Open a chat. The control that shows the panel sits in the corner of the chat header, and it appears only while the panel is hidden. Its tooltip reads Show panel, and screen readers call it Open right sidebar.
2. Choose it: the panel opens on the chat's Start page. The shortcut Ctrl Alt B reveals it the same way; Keyboard shortcuts explains where it applies.
3. To hide the panel, choose Collapse sidebar in the panel's controls.

The panel belongs to a chat: before you open one, there is nothing to show and no control to show it.

Work with tabs

The strip across the panel's top shows a tab for every open thing.

• Choose a tab to bring it forward. The active tab's content fills the panel.
• Point at a tab for its close control, or right-click it and choose Close.
• Closing the panel's last tab also hides the panel; open it again and it starts on the Start page.
• Drag a tab along the strip to reorder the tabs. Drag it to the panel's edge to split the panel in two, or out of the panel to float it over the chat; the sections below cover both.
• A New tab control in the strip brings the Start page back when it is not showing, so you can choose something else to open.
• The Start page cannot be closed while it is the panel's only tab. In the desktop app Activity is pinned: it keeps the first place in its pane, has no close control, and it does not drag or float.
• If nothing in the panel can show a tab's content, the pane says Nothing here can view this kind of content yet. instead of showing an empty box.

Split the panel in two

• Choose Split in the strip, or drag a tab to the panel's edge, and the panel shows two panes side by side, each with its own tabs.
• A new split starts half and half; drag the divider between the panes to change that, and each pane keeps between 20% and 80% of the panel. Closing the only tab in one pane drops that pane.
• The panel holds two panes at the most. At two, the Split control is hidden, and a further split is blocked with Two panes is the limit.
• When there is not enough width for two panes, a split is blocked with Not enough width to split, widen the sidebar; widen the window and try again.

Float a tab over the chat

• Drag a tab out of the panel and it floats over the chat in a view of its own, so you can keep it beside your work.
• Choose Send back to the sidebar to dock it again, or Close to close it.
• Press Escape to put the floating view away. A click outside it does not close it.
• Floating views keep their place when you collapse the panel.

Full screen, narrow windows and resizing

• The Fullscreen switch in the panel's controls covers the window with the panel; Exit fullscreen returns the docked view.
• On a window narrower than about 768 pixels the panel cannot sit beside the chat: a file preview opens full screen instead of squeezing the chat, and Activity floats over the chat instead, never filling the window on its own. Widening the window returns an open panel to its docked place.
• While the panel is docked, drag the edge between the chat and the panel to change the split; by default the chat keeps about half the window.
• Wide content scrolls sideways, and a wide table in a preview takes the keyboard focus and scrolls with the arrow keys.

The panel's Start page

• The panel opens on Start: one card per thing you can open here, each with an icon and a line describing it.
• Workspace files opens the chat's folder as a tree, and files open from it as previews (Browse workspace files, Preview files in Oda). The tab it opens reads Files.
• Browser and New terminal appear as cards when those features are on (The browser in Oda, The terminal).
• Choosing a card opens it in the panel, and it takes the Start page's place. Use New tab to bring the Start page back.

What the panel remembers

• Each chat has its own panel: switching chats switches the panel too.
• A chat keeps its own tabs, splits and floating views; come back and the arrangement returns, even after a reload. It is kept on this computer.
• A panel with nothing to restore opens on Start.

Questions, answered

How do I open the side panel?

Choose the control in the corner of the chat header; it appears only while the panel is hidden, and its tooltip reads Show panel (screen readers hear Open right sidebar). The shortcut Ctrl Alt B reveals it the same way; Keyboard shortcuts explains where it applies.

Can I keep two things open side by side?

Yes, up to two. Choose Split in the strip, or drag a tab to the panel's edge, and the panel shows two panes side by side; drag the divider between them to change how the space is shared.

Why can't I split the panel?

The panel holds two panes at the most: at two, the Split control is hidden, and a further split is blocked with Two panes is the limit. When the panel is too narrow for two panes, a split is blocked with Not enough width to split, widen the sidebar; widen the window and try again.

What does it mean when a tab floats over the chat?

You dragged the tab out of the panel, so it floats over the chat in a view of its own. Put it back with Send back to the sidebar, or press Escape to put it away; a click outside it does not close it.

Why did the panel open full screen?

Your window is narrower than about 768 pixels, where the panel cannot sit beside the chat: a file preview opens full screen, and Activity floats over the chat instead. Widening the window returns an open panel to its docked place.

How do I leave full screen?

Choose Exit fullscreen in the panel's controls. If the window is still narrow the panel is put away instead of docked; widen the window, then open the panel again from the chat header.

Does each chat keep its own panel layout?

Yes. The panel belongs to a chat: switching chats switches the panel, and each chat keeps its own tabs, splits and floating views. The arrangement comes back when you return, even after a reload, and it is kept on this computer.

What happens when I close the last tab in the panel?

Closing the panel's last tab also hides the panel. Open it again and it starts on the Start page. A floating view is separate and keeps its place.

Why can't I close the Activity tab?

In the desktop app Activity is pinned by default: it keeps the first place in its pane, has no close control, cannot be dragged and cannot float. Hide the whole panel with Collapse sidebar when you do not want to see it.

What is the Start page?

The panel's home page: one card per thing you can open here, each with an icon and a line describing it. Choosing a card opens it in the panel, and it takes the Start page's place; New tab in the strip brings the page back.

I opened a file that was already in the panel. Why did no second tab appear?

It was already open, so the panel brings its tab forward instead of opening a copy. The same thing does not open twice.