7 Sidebar Windows — 11

Though it lacks the vertical persistence of a traditional sidebar, its overlay nature and ability to stay open while multitasking make it a functional side utility panel. Power users often resize their taskbar or move it to the left to make the search panel feel more like a true sidebar.

Clicking the chevron opens a small floating panel (roughly 250–300px wide) that lists all overflowed app icons in a vertical list with their labels. It has a clean, modern look with rounded corners and an acrylic background. The panel disappears when clicking outside.

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. 7 sidebar windows 11

The board stays open until clicked away, making it semi-persistent. It does not pin to the desktop permanently (unlike old gadgets), but it can be opened on top of any app. You can rearrange widgets by dragging. The panel also respects system theme settings (light/dark mode).

Click the “Open in Teams” or detach icon (a pop-out arrow), and the sidebar becomes a floating, resizable window that can be placed anywhere, including permanently docked to the side of your screen. This effectively turns it into a true persistent sidebar for messaging. Though it lacks the vertical persistence of a

Also from the right edge, this panel shows all system and app notifications grouped by app. At the top, a calendar view displays the current month. Notifications can be expanded, dismissed individually, or cleared all at once. The panel supports interactive notifications (e.g., reply directly to a message, accept a calendar invite).

The panel shows six to seven predefined layouts (e.g., two equal windows side-by-side, three columns, four quadrants, one large + two small side panels). The layouts adapt to your screen’s aspect ratio and resolution. It is essentially a pop-up sidebar of arrangement templates. It has a clean, modern look with rounded

Together, these function as the primary right-side control center—essentially two sidebars in one gesture zone. Ideal for quickly adjusting system settings, responding to messages, and checking the date. 3. Search Flyout (Center-Lower Sidebar) While not strictly a sidebar (it drops down from the taskbar), the Search panel in Windows 11 behaves like a floating sidebar with side-anchored behavior. Click the magnifying glass on the taskbar or press Win + S to open it.

Select a layout zone, and the current window snaps into that zone. Then Windows 11 suggests filling the remaining zones with other open windows via “Snap Assist,” which appears as another small sidebar on the remaining screen area. Once a snap group is created, hovering over any window in that group on the taskbar shows the entire group as a thumbnail sidebar.

Though small, it is a true pop-out sidebar that solves screen real estate issues. For ultra-wide or laptop users with many pinned apps, this is a lifesaver. It’s also a great example of a minimal, on-demand sidebar.