The left sidebar in the Tella editor (the toolbar with Setup, Trim, Layout, Zoom, and the other tools) is always visible. There is no way to hide, close, minimize, or collapse it, on Mac, Windows, or the web. This is the same on every platform.
When you open the editor, the first panel you see is Setup, where you change general settings for your video like its dimensions, title, and description. Setup is a tool, not a popup, so it stays on screen until you switch to a different tool.
You do not need to close it to keep editing
The sidebar is meant to stay open while you work. To move on from Setup, just:
- Click any other tool in the left toolbar (for example Trim, Layout, or Background). The panel updates to show that tool.
- Click directly on your video in the timeline or on the canvas to start making edits.
About the keyboard shortcuts
Each tool has a shortcut key that opens it (for example 1 opens Setup, C opens Trim, Y opens Layouts). These keys switch between tools, they do not toggle a panel open and closed:
- Pressing 1 always opens Setup. Pressing 1 again while Setup is already open does nothing, because you are already there.
- Escape closes the command menu (the one you open with ⌘ + K / Ctrl + K). It does not close the sidebar.
So if pressing 1, clicking the Setup icon, or pressing Escape seems to “do nothing” to the sidebar, that is expected. The sidebar is simply always on, and the right move is to pick the tool you want or click into your video to continue.
Want a way to collapse the sidebar for more room on screen? Let us know, we track feature requests like this from support.
