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Add controls to show/hide the side pane #16949
Description
Situation
The side pane shows when at least one of its panels is enabled (Web search, Groups, OpenOffice) and does not show when none of these is enabled.
Problem
If all three are panels are enabled, users must close each one to hide the side pane and then enable each one in a specific order to restore the previous configuration. There are keyboard shortcuts for the three panels, but they don't seem to work on macOS. Option-4 and Option-3 insert special characters in text fields and don't have any noticeable effect when something else has focus.
Implication
It takes too long to hide and restore the side pane, so I leave it showing and don't have as much space as I would like for the main table when I work on a smaller screen (a laptop).
Need
I want to show the side pane when needed and hide it at other times to give more space to the main table. There is no keyboard shortcut, menu item, or mouse control to do this in a single step (if more than one panel is enabled), so I suggest adding this capability. The side pane should not have to be focused for the shortcut to work.
Edit: Rewrote the description with more detail.
Activity
asmaatefomran commentedon Sep 9, 2026
/assign-me
jabref-machine commentedon Sep 9, 2026
Hi @asmaatefomran, this issue is currently assigned to @Maran23.
Note
If no progress is made within 8 days, the issue will be automatically unassigned.
Options for contributors
github-actions commentedon Sep 17, 2026
A pull request addressing the issue has been created. You can try out the pull request by following the steps at How to try out any JabRef pull request?.
For any feedback, add a comment to the pull request at #17202.
ryan-carpenter commentedon Sep 18, 2026
Here are a couple of examples from different messaging clients than have a collapsible side pane. There are lots of apps that have a collapsible side pane, and lot of different GUI designs featuring buttons at the top, bottom, or in the middle.
Collapse button at the top of a side pane
Collapse button at the bottom of a side pane.
