Users can add, remove, resize, and customize widgets from a built-in gallery. Widgets connect to Microsoft Start, Outlook, Calendar, To Do, and third-party apps (e.g., Spotify, Phone Link). The board adapts to user interests, showing personalized news headlines alongside interactive data like stock tickers or local traffic incidents.
It doesn’t dock to screen edges natively, but you can manually place it at the side of your monitor. Third-party tools like Ditto or CopyQ offer more advanced persistent sidebars. 7. Microsoft Teams Chat Flyout (Taskbar Sidebar) Microsoft deeply integrated Teams (Chat) into Windows 11. Click the Teams chat icon on the taskbar (or press Win + C ) to open the Chat flyout , which slides out from the right edge of the screen—directly overlapping the Quick Settings/Notification Center area.
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. 7 sidebar windows 11
The Widgets Board is the most direct replacement for the old Windows Sidebar. Accessed by clicking the Widgets icon on the taskbar (or pressing Win + W ), it slides out from the left edge of the screen as an overlay.
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. Users can add, remove, resize, and customize widgets
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.
It’s not truly dockable, so it disappears when you click elsewhere. Many users wish for a persistent search sidebar like in macOS Spotlight but with a side-anchored mode. 4. Snap Layouts & Snap Groups (Contextual Sidebar) Snap Layouts is one of Windows 11’s flagship multitasking features. When you hover over the maximize/restore button of any window (or press Win + Z ), a sidebar-like panel appears near the top-right corner of the focused window, but it can be considered a floating sidebar for window management. It doesn’t dock to screen edges natively, but
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.