Google Redesigns Gemini's Side Panel on the Web, Adds Infinite Scrolling for Past Conversations

Google recently redesigned Gemini's side panel on the web client. The Mountain View-based tech giant has now added an infinite scrolling feature that lets users find older conversations with the artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot. The new side panel design also pushes Gems higher up on the panel, and consolidates menu options that were previously directly available within the “Settings & help” option. The tech giant reportedly began shipping this new design earlier this month, and it appears to be rolling out to even more users.

Gemini's Side Panel on the Web Gets a Makeover

9to5Google spotted the redesigned side panel on Gemini's web client that offers a couple of quality of life improvements. While the positioning of several icons has been changed to make the layout look cleaner, and to let users see the more important options first. Additionally, infinite scrolling for past conversations enables users to easily scroll and find particular chats with the AI.

Gadgets 360 staff members were able to access the redesigned side panel on the free version of Gemini as well as Gemini Advanced. This indicates that the design tweak is being implemented for all users. 

When users open the side panel by tapping the 'hamburger' menu, they will see the “new chat” option without any pill-shaped outline. The plus icon has been replaced with a pencil and writing pad icon.

Gems Manager from the older design is now changed to “Explore Gems” and has been pushed to the second slot. Gems are the custom mini chatbots that can be instructed to perform specific tasks, while being grounded in a select knowledge base.

Other than that, the tech giant has also added infinite scrolling to the recent conversations. The older version showed five recent chats (and the pinned chats), and tapping on “more” would open a few more older conversations. 

However, users would have to scroll and tap “more” repeatedly to access additional conversations. The new design eliminates this issue by letting users scroll till their first conversation with Gemini. However, there is still no search bar to quickly find a chat — this functionality is available on rival ChatGPT.

Finally, the “Settings” menu is now called “Settings & help,” and contains Help and Activity options, which were earlier available directly in the side panel. The new settings menu also contains previously available options, such as Apps, Dark Theme, and Feedback.