# Calendar layout: toolbar and sidebar

The [Calendar](/docs/docs-028-calendar-overview/) can wear two layouts, and you switch between them with one button. **Toolbar** mode puts the controls in a strip across the top and gives the grid the whole width. **Sidebar** mode moves the controls and a set of working panels into a column beside the grid. Same Calendar, same tasks, two different ways to sit on screen. The right one depends on how wide the leaf is and what you are doing.

## Switching modes

In toolbar mode, the toggle is the panel button at the start of the toolbar: **Toggle to sidebar**. In sidebar mode, the matching **Toggle to toolbar** button takes you back. The choice is per Calendar leaf, so one Calendar can run as a wide toolbar board while another lives as a narrow sidebar panel.

## Toolbar mode

Toolbar mode is the default and the roomiest. A single strip across the top holds the title, the date navigation, and the view controls, and everything below it is grid. Reach for it when the Calendar is your main, full-width surface and you want as much of the day or week visible as possible.

## Sidebar mode

Sidebar mode places a resizable column next to the grid that holds three collapsible sections:

- **Calendars**: the [external calendar](/docs/docs-048-external-calendars/) sources for the current preset, so you can see and toggle them without opening settings.
- **Task Pool**: a working list of tasks you can drag straight onto the grid to schedule them. It has modes (overdue, unscheduled, all, and finished) and a search box. For its modes, search, and how it relates to the preset filter, see [Calendar Task Pool](/docs/docs-095-calendar-task-pool/).
- **Finished Tasks**: completed work, kept out of the way but reachable.

You can drag the sidebar's edge to resize it, or set its width in settings. Each section can start expanded or collapsed, your choice. Reach for sidebar mode when the Calendar lives in a side dock, when the screen is narrow, or when you want the Task Pool at hand to drag unscheduled work onto your week.

## When to use which

- **Toolbar**: a wide, primary Calendar where grid space matters most. Planning a packed week, dragging timed blocks around, reviewing a full day.
- **Sidebar**: a narrow or docked Calendar, or any time you want the Task Pool and the external-calendar list one glance away. Good for steadily pulling unscheduled tasks into a plan.

Many people keep a main Calendar in toolbar mode and a second, docked Calendar in sidebar mode for quick capture and scheduling.

## FAQ

**Is the layout the same as the preset?** No. The preset is what the grid shows (type, range, filtering); the layout is whether the controls and panels sit on top or to the side. See [Calendar presets and time grid](/docs/docs-029-calendar-presets-and-time-grid/).

**Does switching layout change my tasks or preset?** No. It only moves the controls and panels. The grid, the preset, and your tasks are untouched.

**What is the Task Pool for?** It is a list of tasks, with modes and search, that you drag onto the grid to schedule. It lives in the sidebar. See [Calendar Task Pool](/docs/docs-095-calendar-task-pool/) for the full reference.

## Settings

Operon settings for this live in **Settings → Operon → Views → Calendar**, under the Calendar sidebar settings: the sidebar width, whether the Calendars, Task Pool, and Finished Tasks sections start expanded or collapsed, and whether the Task Pool follows the active Calendar preset filter.

## Related

- [Operon Docs MOC](/docs/docs-001-operon-docs-moc/)
- [Time tracking](/docs/docs-034-time-tracking/)