Library module Side Panels Keep Collapsing

[jeff.goulden]

Lightroom Version Number

14.2

Operating System

1. Windows 11

I haven't installed the new Lightroom Classic 14.3 update yet but I'll bet anyone $100 that they still haven't fixed the problem that causes the two side panels to collapse. This happens when you are trying to click on the slide bar and don't click precisely in the right place. You should hear me cuss when I do this 4-5 times a day. To me, it's the most annoying bug in Lightroom and I think it has been going on since Version 1. Why the (expletive) can't they fix this?

 

[Gnits]

Do you have the side panels in manual mode. Then they only collapse when you click on the tiny triangle/arrow.

I think if you right click on the little triangles you can select the different types of panel behaviour.

 

[clee01l]

Agree with Matt, I don't think that Adobe considers this a problem but working as designed. Have you ever located this in a bug report at Adobe? It needs to be a bug recognized by Adobe and have sufficient user support to be fixed before Adobe will devote the resources.

 

[Hal P Anderson]

The OP is right: if you click to the right of the thumb, not even on the little triangle, the side panel collapses, and setting manual mode won't prevent that.

That said, if you then click again without moving the mouse, the panel uncollapses, and you can try again. Personally I use the mouse wheel to scroll, so I never run into the problem.

 

[John R Ellis]

Fixing this is one of the most popular feature requests in the Adobe forum:
https://community.adobe.com/t5/ligh...nel-scroll-bar-close-annoyance/idi-p/12248801

Given how long people have been complaining about this, it seems unlikely Adobe will ever change it.

 

[Califdan]

Then they only collapse when you click on the tiny triangle/arrow.

That little white triangle is in the middle of a vertical black bar. Clicking anywhere on that bar is the same as clicking on the triangle itself.

Both side panels coming and going together is a seting you can choose after right clicking on either the left or right "collapse" bar. If you decouple them then only the one you (accidentally) clicked on collapses

Hitting the "tab" key on the keyboard will collapse or expand both the left and right panels, so if you accidentally click on the collapse bar when trying to move the scroll bar, just hit the tab key.

I agree that it is way too easy to hit that collapse bar when trying to grab the scroll bar. I've just gotten used to it and am more careful now and rarely hit it by mistake. One thing you may want to try is to change your "mouse speed" setting in your OS to move the screen pointer more slowly as you drag the mouse around. This helps quite a bit in being able to hit small targets. Set it so that you can still go across the entire screen without having to lift the mouse (depends on how much space you have on your table to move the mouse around in) but a bit slower than you have it now. I think you'll find that it helps

 

[clee01l]

Maybe this is a Windows OS issue. I certainly do not see it happening on MacOS. The little gray triangles are there, but dark gray on black and the panel bar on the edge only a few pixels wide and hard to see much less click on. Both side panels stay open on my 32" screen. I've never had this problem.

 

[Gnits]

That little white triangle is in the middle of a vertical black bar. Clicking anywhere on that bar is the same as clicking on the triangle itself.

Thanks for the clarification. I will check it out in more detail when I get back to my office tomorrow.

I use a really good gaming mouse… which is very accurate and precise… so that may be a reason I do not bump into the problem.

 

[Gnits]

Just confirming that when I click on the right hand frame the panel opens /closes as per the original post.

However, perhaps the incidence of that happening might be reduced by removing all the auto options .. incl sync with Opp Panel..

I did notice my manual setting was turned off ... which is strange ... so I am not sure if I made this change or it happened as part of some upgrade.

I will monitor for future upgrades.

 

[Califdan]

The OP is not saying anything. Perhaps he lost interest or is busy.

 

[GGR001]

On Windows at least, the little triangle used for collapsing the side panels gets slightly brighter when you are over the area of the UI which will collapse/expand the side panels.

I use this as a hint to indicate whether it will collapse when I click there. But then, I also use my mouse wheel to scroll the side panels up and down, so I rarely use the sliders move the side panels.

I do agree with the OP; it should be possible to make this work better.

 

[BobT]

For this reason, I avoid opening and closing the panels with the mouse. I use tab or shift-tab. It's muscle memory now.