# New Admin Visual Refresh issues **URL:** \ **Category:** Shopify Discussion\ **Tags:** design\ **Created:** [September 30, 2026, 3:13pm UTC](https://community.shopify.com/t/new-admin-visual-refresh-issues/690066 "2026-09-30T15:13:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1 ## AI-generated summary Shopify’s refreshed admin has prompted complaints about the black sidebar’s readability and a persistent Sidekick widget that occupies and blurs part of the bottom of the screen. Store owners want options for light/dark themes, colors, and hiding or minimizing Sidekick; commenters report that the blur can make the rest of the page harder to read. No built-in controls for these changes have been found. Temporary browser-side workarounds include custom CSS to hide Sidekick (one shared rule targets Shopify’s ribbon container) and tools such as Dark Reader to alter colors or contrast. These may not fully address the problems and CSS selectors could break after updates. Users were also advised to report specific accessibility impacts to Shopify’s accessibility email, as well as through admin feedback or support. A newer concern is that the refresh may change the viewport height available to embedded apps, affecting layouts such as sticky footers on some screen sizes. The discussion has no official Shopify response or lasting solution; whether other apps are affected remains unanswered.
**Author:** ![Agreeableagony](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@Agreeableagony](https://community.shopify.com/u/Agreeableagony)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2026, 3:13pm UTC](https://community.shopify.com/t/new-admin-visual-refresh-issues/690066/1 "2026-09-30T15:13:00Z")
The hovering sidekick widget blocking the bottom inch of the screen that cannot be hidden is …infuriating. ## Can we turn that off? - Can you please make a way for those us of not using sidekick constantly to minimize or hid this? The black works for some folks, but why cant we set colors or light/dark mode for folks that need different visuals for visibility? this is …not accessible to store owners at all. ---
**Author:** ![Taha\_Dev](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/shopifyforum/user_avatar/community.shopify.com/taha_dev/32/415856_2.png) [@Taha\_Dev](https://community.shopify.com/u/Taha_Dev)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2026, 3:47pm UTC](https://community.shopify.com/t/new-admin-visual-refresh-issues/690066/2 "2026-09-30T15:47:46Z")
Hi @Agreeableagony, as far as I can find there’s no setting yet to hide the Sidekick bar or change the colours in the new admin. It started rolling out in mid-September and Shopify hasn’t added a toggle for either. Two things that might help in the meantime: - **Sidekick bar:** in the thread “I don’t want to Work with Sidekick!”, Laza\_Binaery posted a CSS rule that hides it. You can apply it in your own browser with an extension that adds custom CSS to a website (Stylus is one). It only changes what you see, not your store. I haven’t tested that selector myself, and it may stop working whenever Shopify updates the admin. - **Colours / readability:** there’s a longer thread called “Side bar went black” where people are collecting this feedback. I’d also send it through the feedback option in the admin itself, since that goes straight to Shopify. ---
**Author:** ![Ploqo](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/shopifyforum/user_avatar/community.shopify.com/ploqo/32/398219_2.png) [@Ploqo](https://community.shopify.com/u/Ploqo)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2026, 2:48am UTC](https://community.shopify.com/t/new-admin-visual-refresh-issues/690066/3 "2026-10-01T02:48:24Z")
you can create a chrome extension using claude/chatgpt which targets its CSS, etc. and hides it out. ---
**Author:** ![soulchild37](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/shopifyforum/user_avatar/community.shopify.com/soulchild37/32/238235_2.png) [@soulchild37](https://community.shopify.com/u/soulchild37)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2026, 8:45am UTC](https://community.shopify.com/t/new-admin-visual-refresh-issues/690066/4 "2026-10-01T08:45:19Z")
If you are using Google Chrome, you can download chrome extension that injects CSS code, to hide the Sidekick widget. I am using the “[Custom CSS by Denis](https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/custom-css-by-denis/cemphncflepgmgfhcdegkbkekifodacd?)” chrome extension, after installing the extension, open your Shopify Admin tab, then open the extension, and paste in the following code `div[class^='_GlobalRibbonContainer'] { display: none }` After pasting the code, refresh the Admin page, the Sidekick widget should now be hidden ---
**Author:** ![VikashJ](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/shopifyforum/user_avatar/community.shopify.com/vikashj/32/238167_2.png) [@VikashJ](https://community.shopify.com/u/VikashJ)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2026, 10:04am UTC](https://community.shopify.com/t/new-admin-visual-refresh-issues/690066/5 "2026-10-02T10:04:50Z")
Hi @Agreeableagony, Adding one more practical note to what @Taha_Dev already laid out, since the colour part of this is really an accessibility issue, not just a preference, it’s worth filing it specifically as an accessibility complaint rather than general feedback. If forced colour combinations make text hard to read for you, that falls under genuine accessibility compliance territory, and framing it that way in your support ticket, rather than “I don’t like the new colours,” tends to get escalated faster internally than a cosmetic complaint would. For the colour problem specifically, separate from the Sidekick bar issue, a more durable workaround than a hand-written CSS selector is a browser extension like Dark Reader, which can force alternate colour schemes or improve contrast across the admin without depending on Shopify’s specific class names. Since it works by recolouring the page generally rather than targeting one exact element, it tends to survive Shopify’s admin updates better than a one-off selector would, though it won’t do anything for the Sidekick bar’s placement, that’s a layout and visibility problem, not a colour one, so it still needs the separate fix Taha\_Dev already linked. Best, [Vikash Jha - Apploy](https://apps.shopify.com/apploy-mobile-app-builder/?utm_campaign=shopcom&utm_medium=signature&utm_source=shopify-community) ---
**Author:** ![Agreeableagony](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@Agreeableagony](https://community.shopify.com/u/Agreeableagony)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2026, 6:27pm UTC](https://community.shopify.com/t/new-admin-visual-refresh-issues/690066/6 "2026-10-02T18:27:41Z")
Thanks. The sidebar went black really is an accessibility issue for some folks and I hope it gets attention. The sidekick widget is awful because it actually blurs 1-2" of the screen just for its tiny search bar. Hiding with CSS is a nice work around but silly that shopify cant give us settings. ---
**Author:** ![Agreeableagony](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@Agreeableagony](https://community.shopify.com/u/Agreeableagony)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2026, 6:43pm UTC](https://community.shopify.com/t/new-admin-visual-refresh-issues/690066/7 "2026-10-02T18:43:37Z")
Thats a good point, I am not sure how to do that personaly, but it looks like it may have already been done by the other thread? The sidekick bar isnt as big of an accessibility issue its true, although the blurry section on the bottom of the screen does draw the eye and has been giving me difficulty in reading the rest of the screen. I’m not sure if its just my brain making me think theres more blur than there is, or if I need to switch my glasses prescription, but having put in the CSS on one browser the whole screen looks crisper and easier to read to my eyes with that widget gone. The lack of settings to change these things in general is just an issue with shopify admin that feels weird. Like, almost everything I use supports color themes, and/or settings to control widgets. ---
**Author:** ![barrierlist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d78d45/32.png) [@barrierlist](https://community.shopify.com/u/barrierlist)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2026, 8:00am UTC](https://community.shopify.com/t/new-admin-visual-refresh-issues/690066/8 "2026-10-23T08:00:54Z")
@Agreeableagony on how to file it as an accessibility issue: Shopify has a separate address for exactly this. Its accessibility statement says “If you notice aspects of our site or products that aren’t working for you or your assistive technology, please let us know” and gives [accessibility@shopify.com](mailto:accessibility@shopify.com). It’s separate from support tickets and the in-admin feedback button, so it’s worth using as well as those. What makes a report like that easy to act on: - The exact elements: the black sidebar with small grey text, and the blurred strip behind the Sidekick bar at the bottom of the screen. - What they do: eye strain, trouble reading the rest of the screen, and roughly how far into a working day it starts. - What you’ve already tried: hiding the Sidekick bar with custom CSS made the whole screen easier for you to read. That tells them the blur itself is part of the problem. - What you’re asking for: a light sidebar option and a way to hide or dock Sidekick. Short and specific is enough. Separate reports that each describe a concrete effect also show the team it isn’t one person’s preference. ---
**Author:** ![Arslan\_Shopify\_Dev](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/shopifyforum/user_avatar/community.shopify.com/arslan_shopify_dev/32/417754_2.png) [@Arslan\_Shopify\_Dev](https://community.shopify.com/u/Arslan_Shopify_Dev)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2026, 10:40am UTC](https://community.shopify.com/t/new-admin-visual-refresh-issues/690066/9 "2026-10-29T10:40:39Z")
The part that caught me off guard wasn’t the colour change itself — it was the iframe sizing shift inside embedded apps. After the refresh rolled out, one of my App Bridge apps started rendering with a slightly different viewport height because the new nav takes up more vertical space than the old one. Nothing broke visually, but it pushed a sticky footer element out of alignment on certain screen sizes. Worth checking if you have any embedded app UI that relies on calculated viewport height. Did the refresh affect any of your installed apps visually, or was it purely the admin chrome that changed for you?