This tutorial will show you how to toggle the sidebar open in the Photos app for your account in Windows 11.
The updated Photos app on Windows 11 helps you browse, organize, and edit photos and videos from your PC, OneDrive, and iCloud. You can use Photos with pictures stored on your PC without signing in to OneDrive.
In Photos you can:
- Browse photos and videos from your PC, OneDrive, and iCloud in Gallery.
- Search by what's in your personal OneDrive photos, not only by file name. On a Copilot+ PC, search also covers indexed photos stored locally.
- With a personal Microsoft account, find photos of friends or family in People, filter Gallery by people you name, revisit highlights in Moments, and create Albums.
- Mark Favorites.
- Crop and adjust photos with the updated editor.
- Browse photos available on your device when you're not connected to the internet.
- Add local folders and use Windows actions with a photo: set it as your desktop background or lock screen, print it, or open it in File Explorer.
You can toggle the sidebar to either always be open or open on hover.
References:
Meet the new Photos app on Windows 11
Windows Blogs: Photos hold some of our most meaningful memories: the people we love, the milestones we celebrate, and the everyday moments we want to remember. They connect us to our past and help us share our stories. Finding, editing, and enjoying them on Windows should be simple, wherever...
www.elevenforum.com
Browse and manage your photos on Windows | Microsoft Support
Learn how to browse and search photos from your PC and OneDrive in Photos on Windows 11, add local folders, include iCloud photos, and turn off face grouping.
Here's How:
1 Open the Photos app.
2 Do step 3 (always open) or step 4 (open on hover) below for what you want for the sidebar.
3 Set Sidebar to Always be Open
This is the default setting.
A) Hover on the closed sidebar to automatically expand it open. (see screenshot below)
B) Click/tap on the Toggle sidebar button at the bottom of the opened sidebar. (see screenshot below)
4 Set Sidebar to Open on Hover
A) Click/tap on the Toggle sidebar button at the bottom of the opened sidebar. (see screenshot below)
That's it,
Shawn Brink
Related Tutorials
- Sign in or Sign out of OneDrive Photos app in Windows 11
- Add or Remove Favorites in OneDrive Photos app in Windows 11
- Create and Delete Albums in OneDrive Photos app in Windows 11
- Add or Remove Images for Albums in OneDrive Photos app in Windows 11
- Change Album Cover in OneDrive Photos app in Windows 11
- Change Album Name in OneDrive Photos app in Windows 11
- Change Gallery Layout View in OneDrive Photos app in Windows 11
- Filter Gallery in OneDrive Photos app in Windows 11
- Change Theme to Light or Dark Mode in OneDrive Photos app in Windows 11
Last edited:











