This update is genuinely one of the most frustrating UX changes I’ve experienced in a professional design tool 😡 😡 😡The new left-hand navigation panel permanently steals ~60px of horizontal space on small screens, which is completely unacceptable. That space is my primary working area — the canvas. I am literally losing room to do my job so a panel can sit there doing nothing most of the time.Yes, Variables, Files, Assets, Find, and Library are important.No — they are NOT minute-to-minute actions.They do not deserve permanent, always-visible real estate. This panel is idle 90% of the time, yet it constantly punishes my workflow.On smaller displays, this feels especially hostile. Instead of prioritising the canvas (the entire reason Figma exists), the UI forces a bulky navigation column that adds zero value moment-to-moment and actively makes precision design harder.This change feels like it was designed for: Large monitors only Product demos Feature discoverability …not for actual day-to-day designers working fast, zoomed in, and space-constrained.What makes this worse There is no way to fully hide or disable this panel Collapsing all UI is a blunt workaround, not a solution There is no respect for screen size or user preference The previous solution worked better and did not need fixing The two solutions that would actually fix this Remove this panel entirely and revert to the previous UI behaviour At an absolute minimum: let users completely hide this panel permanently Not temporarily.Not “collapse everything”.Not keyboard gymnastics.A simple, explicit option to turn it OFF.Right now, this feels forced, wasteful of space, and completely misaligned with how professionals actually use Figma. Please prioritise the canvas again — it is the core of the product, not an accessory.

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Figma, Your New Left-Hand Menu/Panel Is a Disaster – 7th Jan 2026

Forum|Forum|8 months ago
January 8, 2026
95 replies
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This update is genuinely one of the most frustrating UX changes I’ve experienced in a professional design tool 😡 😡 😡

The new left-hand navigation panel permanently steals ~60px of horizontal space on small screens, which is completely unacceptable. That space is my primary working area — the canvas. I am literally losing room to do my job so a panel can sit there doing nothing most of the time.

Yes, Variables, Files, Assets, Find, and Library are important.
No — they are NOT minute-to-minute actions.

They do not deserve permanent, always-visible real estate. This panel is idle 90% of the time, yet it constantly punishes my workflow.

On smaller displays, this feels especially hostile. Instead of prioritising the canvas (the entire reason Figma exists), the UI forces a bulky navigation column that adds zero value moment-to-moment and actively makes precision design harder.

This change feels like it was designed for:

Large monitors only
Product demos
Feature discoverability

…not for actual day-to-day designers working fast, zoomed in, and space-constrained.

What makes this worse

There is no way to fully hide or disable this panel
Collapsing all UI is a blunt workaround, not a solution
There is no respect for screen size or user preference
The previous solution worked better and did not need fixing

The two solutions that would actually fix this

Remove this panel entirely and revert to the previous UI behaviour
At an absolute minimum: let users completely hide this panel permanently

Not temporarily.
Not “collapse everything”.
Not keyboard gymnastics.

A simple, explicit option to turn it OFF.

Right now, this feels forced, wasteful of space, and completely misaligned with how professionals actually use Figma. Please prioritise the canvas again — it is the core of the product, not an accessory.

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jase_x

New Member

I’d love something like this.

IraX

Power Member

Oh I saw the other thread before finding this one - I won’t repeat what others have rightfully said; please remove/undo/fix. It’s terrible. @jase_x and @john-mainboard have it right!

Johnny Au

New Member

Just got the update today and am completely appalled.

Vytautas Šileika

New Member

It’s to promote their AI garbage which is being pushed by lulled VCs and monkey-brain marketing team. It won’t be removed, you can stop complaining, they will keep nagging you forever to use it because they invested tons of money into this hypeshit-train. 🤢

Jodi Kuehn

New Member

This update is genuinely one of the most frustrating UX changes I’ve experienced in a professional design tool 😡 😡 😡

I just spent 30 min trying to figure out how to collapse/remove the new 60px left-of-left panel (and fumbling to find where I can update my assets!) only to find this thread, and learn it can’t be removed 😭 I frequently work only on my Macbook Pro, and need as much width as possible for my canvas. I constantly use the layers panel, so minimizing isn’t an option. I hope with the outcry of designers who hate the new nav, this will get updated ASAP!

Kathleen_Illes

New Member

it was said before but having a left sidebar eats up too much real estate and is a waste of my time opening it and closing it. I use assets NONSTOP and frequently do finds and finds and replaces. No matter what changes you make in the future try to make them user choice. I need as much workspace as possible and you need to stop fixing what isn’t broken

Erica Smith

New Member

Previously it was simpler to search for an asset and find a component to use. The new experience will take some getting used to - now I have to remember that Assets exists as an individual rail item that I have to navigate to to find a component. Seems like a downgrade in efficiency for those who have company wide design libraries or assets that they use in their everyday workflows. Is there a way to switch back to the previous navigation?

Also, the clickable area for the AI hint on shape selection feels too large especially when I’m zoomed out of a screen. I keep accidentally triggering it when I’m trying to click through to a specific nested layer of an object.

Disent_Design

New Participant

All I can say is FIRE whoever designed this and whoever approved it - Disgusting counter intuitive waste of space, the tabs you used before worked perfectly well - why do I have the same library icon on screen twice? Just terrible in every regard.

Darah_Pereira

New Member

PLEASE please pleaseeeee put the "assets" tab back next to pages! It makes for a better work flow when searching and selecting elements on a page. Where it was it better fits the Law of Proximity.

Thank you!

ok luv u bye