How do I remove or hide the left sidebar?

[AlanGiddens]

I find it annoying and a waste of screen real estate.  

[Bri]

Hi @AlanGiddens, there isn't currently the ability to remove or hide the left side bar. However, you can adjust the width of the sidebar. Also, this article from our support site provides more helpful information regarding customizing your sidebar.  

[mckinney700]

The article isn't that helpful and saying it's fully customizable when you can only reorder the icons, is a stretch.
Who asked for this?
Please, Zoom, in the next update, let us disable the sidebar.

[Zenni]

Hi Bri, is there any talk about the possibility of having this new feature optinal, ie the ability to turn it off or revert back to how it was before this update? 

[JasonSNMP]

Yes, sam concern. Along with having controls at the top, you forcibly added a toolbar with actions not needed to be upfront. And no Bri, you cannot change th width of the new sidebar that includes the: All / Mentions / DM's / Channels / Meeting chats  Shared spaced / Apps / More. I assume these actions all existed before, and never needed to be permanent, why now? This vertical toolbar SHOULD be optional. The best tools are those that your customers can customize for their best ways of working, and you've usually been very good at this.