I have just finished downloading the new 2026.4.0 desktop app, which solved a long-standing CPU utilization bug.
Unfortunately, this new release has a few not-so-nice changes in how it looks.
The new main window notably increased the used vertical space for entries, and it also has a completely empty horizontal band on the top, which wastes even more vertical space.
So my request is this:
remove empty horizontal band at the top of the window
vertical space for the entries should be configurable (e.g. compact/tight, normal, high).
See screenshot below (2026.4.0 RPM package on openSUSE Tumbleweed with KDE Plasma 6.6.5).
In addition to the over-allocation of space to items in the vault list, the click target has been reduced to itâs smallest size ever; now itâs like needing to find a small hyperlink in a large paragraph. I donât understand why this is good.
This new interface is simply atrocious. Maybe it looks OK on mobile, but on PC is ridiculously bad. You waste space for displaying one record that displayed four records before. No option to revert to previous GUI, no scaling version, nothing.
Even previous version was already bad, but this new one is reason to switch to another password manager.
Just upgraded to the latest version and I have the same feedback, the previous layout was much more compact and efficient. It would be good to at least have a Compact option like in other apps, because it is unusable on small devices.
I felt the same when I discovered the new layout.
The vault record list appears to have significantly increased spacing compared to previous versions. At least, introducing an optional compact layout would be highly beneficial, particularly for users managing large vaults or working on smaller displays, as it would reduce unnecessary scrolling and improve usability.
Additionally, the behavior of the selected row has changed. Currently, updating the details in the right-hand panel requires clicking directly on the record title, which is less intuitive than before and adds extra friction to normal usage.
I join the request for reintroducing the previous layout behavior, or providing it as an alternative option, to improve efficiency and user experience.
I made an account just to voice the same frustrations with this updated UI.
I wonât go into detail as others have pretty much covered it. The only thing I will add is that I seriously considered moving everything back to KeePass and setting up a syncâing solution to push updated .kdb files to my mobile device after using this new UI for 5 minutes.
Thank you for this post, I agree that the new UI is a huge step backwards. I have a lot of desktop screen space and the new UI wastes it badly. By default the Note list takes up 3/4 of the screen, even though the names are usually one word, and you canât click on the empty space in a name, so whatâs all the empty space FOR? Actual Note contents are smaller than the screen on my cell phone. You can expand the contents vertically, but not horizontally, and if you change to another entry the size resets to the default postage stamp size again.
I have a suggestion that would not only fix this, but would actually rock. Make the GUI HTML based and give the user access to custom CSS overrides. As long as everything gets proper CSS IDs and classes then issues like this would be fixable by the end user.
Click targets are so small â you should be able to click anywhere in the row
Please stop re-designing for the sake of redesigning and STOP breaking muscle memory! This is a utility app that should prioritize stability and usability.
Itâs insane to me that this release was shipped. Canât upvote this post because of my âtrust levelâ
Kind of a joke, Iâm a paying enterprise customer with many users on our acccount.
This post doesnât even address the huge performance problems this version introduced. The app becomes unresponsive for me multiple times per day. Forcing me to quit it fully.
This is the official Bitwarden Community Forum â but it is not directly connected to Bitwarden vaults/accounts. Respectively every new user account here is âblindâ to any other BW status â and you can even join the forum without using BW at all.
Good news is: it doesnât take much to reach Trust Level 1 to get the ability to vote on feature requests:
The new list layout in the Bitwarden Desktop app significantly reduces information density and makes it harder to quickly scan or navigate large vaults.
I would like to request an optional compact view that:
reduces vertical spacing between list items
shows more entries on screen without scrolling
uses tighter padding and smaller margins
aligns visually with the previous, more efficient layout
This would greatly benefit users with large vaults, power users, and anyone who prefers a denser, productivityâfocused interface.
A toggle (e.g., Compact / Comfortable) would allow both UI styles to coexist and satisfy different user preferences.
@chisli Please understand that we regularly merge duplicate feature requests. This feature request may be older, but it targets all BW clients/apps, so it also encompasses the desktop app.
