Bug 170905 - Need option to hide the layer bar
Summary: Need option to hide the layer bar
Status: RESOLVED DUPLICATE of bug 90320
Alias: None
Product: LibreOffice
Classification: Unclassified
Component: Draw (show other bugs)
Version:
(earliest affected)
25.8.0.0 alpha0+
Hardware: All All
: medium enhancement
Assignee: Not Assigned
URL:
Whiteboard:
Keywords:
Depends on:
Blocks: Layers Draw-UX
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Reported: 2026-02-19 21:52 UTC by Eyal Rozenberg
Modified: 2026-02-20 15:12 UTC (History)
2 users (show)

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Crash report or crash signature:


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Description Eyal Rozenberg 2026-02-19 21:52:40 UTC
Layers in LO Draw are a feature used by a minority of users; and most of us who do use them - do so only occasionally. object grouping and ordering - which is usable within each layer - is enough for most drawings. Or if you believe othewise somehow  - then for a good fraction of drawing.

For which reason a user should be able to hide the UI for multiple layers. It takes up vertical space that is quite precious on smaller screens (e.g. 1280x800 - a supported resolution), especially when you want to use more toolbars.

And - if it's possible to toggle the status bar off, then certainly it should be possible to toggle this thing off.

So far for the principle.

Now, how should this be achieved? That is the bikeshedding part of this bug. Here are some ideas

* Context-menu on the layers bar for hiding.
* Could be collapsible onto the status bar, basically like the sidebar is collapsible onto the edge of the window, and then we could uncollapse it by dragging. But - maybe it's not worth it, since it's not a variable-height area.
* Could have a collapse/uncollapse elongated button like the sidebar, or not have it.
* It could be expandable via a toggle in the context menu when right-clicking
* Finally, it could be an item on the view menu - like the status bar.
Comment 1 Heiko Tietze 2026-02-20 07:15:34 UTC
This is clearly a duplicate of bug 167974.

(In reply to Eyal Rozenberg from comment #0)
> Layers in LO Draw are a feature used by a minority of users
How do you come to this conclusion? It's a core feature and essential for power users. Some numbers in https://design.blog.documentfoundation.org/2016/04/01/the-many-faced-god-part-1-how-libreoffice-draw-is-being-utilized/ (and the 2nd part).
Comment 2 nutka 2026-02-20 08:38:42 UTC
See also Bug 90320
("Ability to hide the layers bar and its default state")
Comment 3 Heiko Tietze 2026-02-20 09:22:19 UTC

*** This bug has been marked as a duplicate of bug 90320 ***
Comment 4 Eyal Rozenberg 2026-02-20 15:10:40 UTC
(In reply to Heiko Tietze from comment #1)
> This is clearly a duplicate of bug 167974.

You can't say that, and close 167974 the way you did. But - let me now assume that this bug is indeed a duplicate, so I can expand bug 167974 and reopen it.

> 
> (In reply to Eyal Rozenberg from comment #0)
> > Layers in LO Draw are a feature used by a minority of users
> How do you come to this conclusion? 

By the fact that I almost can't remember anyone mentioning it. The blog post does mention it once, plus once in the list of surveyed features.

> It's a core feature and essential for power users.

I suppose I can accept that; but most users are not power users. Still, I've been encouraged by your comment to consider using it more...
Comment 5 Eyal Rozenberg 2026-02-20 15:12:03 UTC
(In reply to nutka from comment #2)
> See also Bug 90320
> ("Ability to hide the layers bar and its default state")

Ah, oh, that's better. So, I don't need to argue about the closed bug, we have another one. Sorry for the noise.