Bug 170206 - Replace the 'hamburger menu' in the start center with an appropriate control
Summary: Replace the 'hamburger menu' in the start center with an appropriate control
Status: UNCONFIRMED
Alias: None
Product: LibreOffice
Classification: Unclassified
Component: LibreOffice (show other bugs)
Version:
(earliest affected)
25.2.7.2 release
Hardware: All All
: medium minor
Assignee: Not Assigned
URL:
Whiteboard:
Keywords:
Depends on:
Blocks: Start-Center
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Reported: 2026-01-02 16:12 UTC by Eyal Rozenberg
Modified: 2026-01-29 10:24 UTC (History)
0 users

See Also:
Crash report or crash signature:


Attachments
Screenshot - Start center with hamburger menu in LO 25.2 (144.29 KB, image/png)
2026-01-02 16:13 UTC, Eyal Rozenberg
Details

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Description Eyal Rozenberg 2026-01-02 16:12:47 UTC
Hamburger menus for desktop applications are generally useless and ridiculous. They are borrowed from smartphone apps where there is no screen real-estate for controls, so they're all squelched in under one button - creating the hamburger.

When you do have area for your controls, - toolbar, sidebar, menu bar, etc. - there's no sense in it; plus, it will have very few items, so that it doesn't even actually have the "hamburger-nature". So, it should be avoided.

Sometimes, a menubutton is necesary - we can use that with an appropriate icon; sometimes, another control is appropriate, rather than opening up a small menu.

In the specific case of this bug: The LO start center currently has a corner 'hamburger' menubutton, with no arrow, offering two commands:

* Clear recent documents
* Clear unavailable files

So, just two commands, both of them "clear items of type X". We should allow access to this command in another way. It could be two buttons, it could be one button and a radio box selection, or something else - we can bikeshed this.
Comment 1 Eyal Rozenberg 2026-01-02 16:13:58 UTC
Created attachment 204904 [details]
Screenshot - Start center with hamburger menu in LO 25.2
Comment 2 Eyal Rozenberg 2026-01-03 08:21:42 UTC
This is not an enhancement request; the use of a hamburger menu is a design bug.
Comment 3 Volodymyr 2026-01-18 22:30:37 UTC
I agree with the observation that the hamburger menu in the Start Center currently provides very limited functionality and may seem unnecessary on a desktop interface. In my opinion, this menu could be enhanced to increase its usefulness for users. For example, it could include options such as “Reset User Profile” or “Open Template Manager”, giving quick access to actions that are relevant and helpful. Adding such options would make the menu more meaningful and improve the overall user experience.
Comment 4 Eyal Rozenberg 2026-01-19 20:06:39 UTC
(In reply to Volodymyr from comment #3)
> I agree with the observation that the hamburger menu in the Start Center
> currently provides very limited functionality

That's not the main point of this bug. The point is that we should not present a hamburger menu. Even if the menu had a lot more functionality.

> In my opinion, this menu could be enhanced to increase
> its usefulness for users.

That's the opposite of what this bug is about. Additional functionality belongs in buttons, named menus  and other widgets (even possibly a named menubutton) - not in a hamburger menubutton.