Left sidebar

The left sidebar in the Zulip web and desktop apps helps you navigate your conversations. It has three main sections:

• Views provide various ways to get an overview of your messages.
• The direct messages section shows your direct message conversations.
• The channels section shows the channels you are subscribed to.

You can customize how channels are organized within the channels section by:

• Pinning channels so that they appear in the top section.
• Changing channel colors.
• Configuring whether inactive channels are sorted at the bottom.

You can also configure where clicking on channel links in the left sidebar takes you.

Adjust what information is shown

There are many ways you can adjust the left sidebar to help you focus on the information you need in the moment.

Expand or collapse the views section

Expand or collapse the direct messages section

Show more direct message conversations

Show all topics in a channel

Hide or show the left sidebar

Configure where channel links in the left sidebar go

You can configure whether channel links in the left sidebar go to the channel feed, or to the top topic in the channel.

Related articles

• Reading strategies
• Configuring unread message counters
• Inbox
• Recent conversations
• Combined feed
• Channel feed
• View your mentions
• Star a message