You can unlock the sidebar using the toolbar. Then you only bring it up when you need it. It can’t be invisible ALL the time, otherwise you would have no way to choose other folders / albums.
Oh yes I understand the last bit Nik, What I’m saying is if I use the “hide sidebar” from the view menu or the shortcut key the next time I go back to the viewer the sidebar is there again even though I haven’t turned it back on myself? Hence asking if it was meant to reset itself like that or if that’s a bug
If you unlock the sidebar, then it stays visible (but covers part of the grid). It’s basically waiting for you to pick a container or click in the grid. Then it will stay hidden until you press the sidebar button. When you press the sidebar button, it will appear again as before (covering part of the grid). When you click on a new container (or in the grid) it will hide itself again.