Unveiling Zoho CRM's New User Interface - The NextGen UI

Unveiling Zoho CRM's New User Interface - The NextGen UI


Hello Everyone,

Last Wednesday, May 14th,2025, we announced the public release of Zoho CRM For Everyone, our most significant update yet. This release brings a modernized CRM experience with a redesigned user interface, new capabilities for cross-functional collaboration, and greater flexibility for users across your organization.
Read our PR announcement, our forum announcement, and the blog post to know more about this release. 

To help you get the most out of these updates, we’ll be publishing a series of announcements that walk you through the major enhancements now available to all Zoho CRM users.

We’re kicking off this series by spotlighting one of the most noticeable changes — the new and improved user interface, Zoho CRM's Nextgen UI.

What’s New in the NextGen UI? 

  1. A reorganized menu option
  2. The sidebar
  3. Teamspaces
  4. Additional Module Views
  5. Interactions Tab
  6. Enhanced Themes and
  7. Night Mode
Watch this video to get an idea of how your CRM could look!



Let's dive into each of these features in detail : 

Reorganization of menu options from the top band to the left-hand side vertical sidebar. 

Previously, Zoho CRM housed the menu bar on the top where most of the navigation took place, as shown below.


Now, We moved the top bar to the left with a vertical sidebar that is expandable as shown below. This not only declutters the top space but also makes it easier to access your modules and features with minimal clicks.

The Sidebar  

The new sidebar is now an extremely functional piece of the UI with contextual shortcuts for quick settings, neat folders for better organization of modules, and more. Learn more.

The top portion of the Sidebar houses icons to view and work with Modules, Reports, Dashboards, Requests, Marketplace, and Global Search.


The bottom portion of the sidebar now contains intuitive utility icons such as Quick create record, Mail magnet, Calendar, and more. (originally located on the top right corner of the UI).


Expanding the sidebar opens up quick-controls contextual to what you've chosen to work on. This is collapsible in order to allow you to maximize your right-hand side work area.


Contextual Shortcuts through the sidebar 

You have contextual shortcuts to Setup options from here, like creating new modules or folders. While the backend Setup is still intact, these options from the sidebar options offer a quick shortcut.

Create Modules 

You can create either org modules or team modules from the sidebar. This option makes it easy for users to quickly create their own modules and
configure processes instead of navigating to the setup menu every time.

Create folders 

You can create modules or folders right from this location without having to navigate to the backend Setup.  Folders are a great way to organize or group modules in different categories. Say you are part of the Sales teamspace and you have certain sales activities  that you need to perform to touch base with customers like creating tasks, scheduling calls or meetings. So you can group Tasks, Meetings, Calls into a "Sales Activities" folder for easy access and a clutter free side bar. Learn more.

You can also directly create layouts, webforms, wizards, canvas pages, etc from the sidebar.

Organized Teamspaces for Focused Work 

Tab Groups have been transformed into what we now call Teamspaces. If your CRM is used by multiple teams, organizing and managing their work and data can quickly become complex.

We offer a solution by giving each team a dedicated, folder-like space where all their related modules are grouped together. This setup ensures clear separation between teams, making collaboration more focused, and preventing the risk of teams crossing over or accessing modules that are not meant for them.

Hence, Teamspaces are dedicated workspaces for each department or function to organize their work. Whether you're in sales, support, or marketing, Teamspaces help reduce noise and keep your workspace relevant to your role. Learn more.

You have the option to create teamspaces from the bottom of the sidebar or from the Setup menu. The org admin would generally be the one who creates teamspaces, assigns users as teamspace admins and adds users to a teamspace.
Note : Users with the Manage teamspace permission enabled will be able to create and manage teamspaces in an org.
Teamspace Admin
A teamspace admin is generally the head of a department or a team. For example, a Sales Director could be assigned as the Sales Teamspace's Admin. Once a user becomes a teamspace admin, they can add or remove users, allow reports and dashboards to be created for modules within a teamspace.

Note :  If a user is a Teamspace admin but does not have the "Manage Teamspace" permission enabled, they can only manage the specific Teamspace they’ve been assigned to as an admin. They won't be able to create new Teamspaces or manage any others.
Notes

Features offered as part of this enhanced UI 

  • Additional Module Views have been added to provide you with more flexibility, better insights, and improve productivity when working with module data. Thee view added are :
     --> Chart View : Get a visual representation of your module data with this View
     --> Grid View : Convert your module data into a spreadsheet-like interface where you can edit and manage records directly without having to open each record individually.
    --> Timeline View : Look at how your module is created by viewing data plotted over a specific period of time.
    --> Split View : Split your module data based on picklist fields /users or criteria to segment them for further inferences.
  • Interaction tab : This feature displays a timeline of a customer's journey and their engagements across different channels within your CRM.
NotesWe will post individual announcements for each of the above features in the upcoming days.

Themes

The new UI introduces a refreshed theming experience with 13 vibrant colour options to personalize your workspace. These themes go beyond just cosmetic changes: the selected theme isn't limited to the sidebar; it flows throughout the product interface.

Once you choose a theme, the colour is consistently applied across key areas of the CRM, including buttons, tabs, menus, and other interactive elements. This cohesive design enhances visual clarity and gives your team a more engaging, unified experience tailored to their preferences.

If you want to match your brand colours or give your CRM tool a refreshed appearance, the new themes bring both customization and character to your work environment.

Dark-Mode 

With the new UI, we’re excited to bring Dark Mode to your CRM experience. This feature was designed with both comfort and usability in mind.
Dark Mode offers a visually soothing alternative to the standard light interface, reducing eye strain during long hours of work, especially in low-light environments. It's not just a cosmetic change; it’s about enhancing usability and making your workspace more comfortable.

Once enabled, Dark Mode is applied consistently across the entire product, including the new UI elements like the left sidebar, buttons, forms, and interaction panels. Whether you're viewing records, managing tasks, or collaborating within Teamspaces, the darker interface ensures clarity without compromising on aesthetics or function.

This addition is part of our effort to make Zoho CRM more adaptable to user preferences and modern work styles. You can switch to Dark Mode at any time from your profile settings and choose what works best for you. Learn more.

What can you choose in this implementation?

Day : Prefer a brighter interface? Day Mode offers a clean, crisp, and classic appearance of your CRM, making it not just functional but also visually pleasing. 

Night : Enjoy a sleek, modern look with reduced eye strain, especially in low-light environments. Darker UI minimizes glare and helps reduce fatigue, making it easier to work for longer periods.

Auto : Let the system decide! Auto Mode automatically switches between dark and light themes based on your device settings.


We invite you to explore these exciting updates and see how productivity increases in your CRM journey. Stay tuned for our upcoming announcements where we’ll dive deeper into each feature, helping you make the most of everything the NextGen UI has to offer. 

Regards,
Serena Woolridge




    • Recent Topics

    • Tip of the week #27: Edit personal calendars in Zoho Calendar.

      In Zoho Calendar, the personal calendars you create can be edited to make changes you need to make. Edit a Personal Calendar The following changes can be made to the personal calendar by editing it: Calendar title Calendar color Reminders and Description
    • Tip of the week #28: Show/ hide, enable/ disable and empty/ delete your calendars in Zoho Calendar.

      The popularity of online calendars has soared in recent years. It's used both for personal and professional reasons. Calendars have evolved into an effective productivity tool in our lives, from creating events for birthdays and anniversaries to scheduling
    • Tip of the week #30: Share calendars publicly in Zoho Calendar.

      In Zoho Calendar, calendars that are created under My Calendars can be shared publicly. Making your calendar public allows others to view it. When you need to share your calendar with a larger group, public sharing can help. You can restrict others from
    • Tip of the week #31: Share your personal calendars within organization.

      Keep your Organization members aware of what's happening. In Zoho Calendar, you can share your personal calendar with all the members in your organization using the Share with org option.When you enable org sharing for a particular personal calendar,
    • Tip of the Week #33: Appointment scheduler in Zoho Calendar.

      In Zoho Calendar, you can use the Schedule Appointment option to share your appointment request form with the public, allowing people to fill out the form to request an appointment with you. This form can be embedded on your website or blog. Visitors
    • Tip of the Week #34: Embed Calendars using Zoho Calendar

      You can make your calendars public and visible to the general public by embedding them in your websites/blogs using Zoho Calendar. You can use the embed code to add your own calendars to your website's/ blog's HTML code, and the calendar will appear on
    • Tip of the week #35: Migrate to Zoho Calendar from Google Calendar.

      If you are looking to move your Google Calendar events to Zoho Calendar, never worry about missing out the events from your Google Calendar. You can migrate the events from Google Calendar using the export option and import it to Zoho Calendar and manage
    • Tip of the week #36: Migrate to Zoho Calendar from Outlook Calendar.

      If you've been using Outlook calendar and looking to migrate to Zoho Calendar, you can seamlessly export your calendars from Outlook and import them into Zoho Calendar without losing any events, participants, and the reminders set for each event. To migrate
    • Shared calendar issues and duplications

      Apparently there was a calendar update?  Now when I schedule an event for a team member that has shared his calendar with me, the event makes me the organizer and adds the event to my calendar as well.  Previous to this "update" I would scheduled an event
    • Subscribed Calendar

      Hi i have subscribed to a calendar for Holidays in Canada it shows all the holidays perfectly but every one of them has the word Canada before the rest of the name is there a way to remove that word Canada? It takes up a lot of space in the square on
    • The year that was at Zoho Calendar 2023- Part 1

      Hello, amazing community members! Happy new year from all of us here at Zoho Calendar. As we begin the new year, we'd like to thank each and everyone of our community members for your unwavering support and love that you have shown for Zoho Calendar.
    • Zoho Calendar 2024: A Year in Review

      Hello, community members! Happy new year from all of us here at Zoho Calendar. As we turn the page to a new year, we extend our heartfelt gratitude to every member of our Zoho Calendar community for your continued support and enthusiasm. Your feedback
    • Zoho Calendar not syncing correctly with personal Google Calendar

      Coming to this forum as Zoho Calendar support team is not responding, any more. For the past 8 weeks, I have been having an issue with Zoho Calendar not syncing with my personal Google Calendar correctly. I subscribed to Zoho Calendar iCal in my personal
    • MTA - BAD IP reputation by outlook/hotmail

      Messages to Microsoft email servers are bouncing back due to poor reputation. Message: 4.7.650 The mail server [136.143.188.206] has been temporarily rate limited due to IP reputation. For e-mail delivery information see https://postmaster.live.com (S775)
    • Zeptomail API error 500 internal server error

      Hi Everyone, getting this eror continuously! Can anyone please guide around the same! Zeptomail API error 500 internal server error Best Regards
    • Waiting multiple days to buy credits, causing my website to suffer

      So I own a fairly large website that gets a lot of registered users. I use transmail send activation emails, and also forgot password emails. I sent an email to zoho's presales team when I was only at 4K/10K emails sent, hoping to buy more credits before
    • Follow up

      Hello, I sent a message 2 days ago but I don't receive any response and I cannot find my ticket here. this is the ticket: Your ticket has been created with the ticket ID 68925465 and subject "Fwd: Fishing-alert" looking forward to seeing your response.
    • What's new in TransMail!

      Note: TransMail is now ZeptoMail. Click here to know more. Hello again, everyone! We've recently crossed the 6 months mark of TransMail's launch. In this time post our launch, we have been constantly working on updating our platform and adding new features
    • June 2021 in TransMail!

      Note: TransMail is now ZeptoMail. Click here to know more. Hello again, everyone! Hope you and your loved ones are doing well. If you're doing less than fine, we truly hope that things only get better for you.  We've had a few updates in the past month
    • TransMail has a new name—ZeptoMail!

      Tried navigating to TransMail's community forum but see a different name now? That's because TransMail has a new name. TransMail is now ZeptoMail! As we’ve grown from an internal service used mainly by other Zoho products to an up-and-coming competitor
    • July 2021 in ZeptoMail!

      Note: TransMail is now ZeptoMail. Click here to know more. Hello again, everyone! Hope you and your loved ones are doing well.  We've had a few updates in the past month in ZeptoMail—some new features and some important announcements. Take look at what
    • Send Email From the ZeptoMail BY API

      What is Zeptomail:- Transactional email service with reliable and fast delivery How we can Create a Connection for Zeptomail in Zoho CRM Go to the Setup Click on Connection Enter Connection Details:- Generate Consumer Key & Consumer Secret Using Zoho
    • Customer email on Opencart 3

      When I place an order, 2 emails are sent: 1) administrator 2) to the user The administrator receives a beautiful letter, but the user receives a damaged letter (see screenshot). What could be the problem?
    • [Announcement] Insert image from URL changes in Zoho Writer

      Hi Zoho Writer users! We'd like to let you know that we've changed the behavior of the Insert image from URL option in Zoho Writer for security reasons. Earlier behavior Once you inserted an image URL in a Writer document, the image would be fetched from
    • Dynamic Signature - Record owner

      Hi everyone, I’m using Zoho Writer merge templates from Zoho CRM and have two questions: Owner signature: How can I automatically insert the CRM record owner’s signature in the merged document? I’m not sure where this signature is stored or how to reference
    • Writer sing up problom

      Zoho writer sing up prolom face
    • Unable to copy into a new document

      Whe I create a new Writer doc and attemp to copy and past I get this message. The only way to copy into a document is I duplicate an existing document, erase the text and save it under a different name and then paste the information. Not ideal. Can you
    • [Webinar] Live demos and user Q&A with Zoho Writer product experts

      Join us on June 12, 2025 for live demos based on your use cases and real-world scenarios raised via form. This is also an opportunity to get your questions answered directly by product experts from the Zoho Writer team. Webinar agenda Live demos based
    • Zoho Writer's built-in citation and bibliography generator

      Hey researchers and writers! Do you manually format citations and bibliographies, spending hours jumping between apps and tabs? If so, then check out Zoho Writer's built-in "Citations and Bibliography" feature. Imagine you're writing a thesis on the future
    • Single and group checkboxes in Zoho Writer's fillable forms

      Hey Writer Fam, Are you making the most out of single and group checkboxes in fillable forms in Zoho Writer? Here is a handy tip to optimize your use of checkboxes, both single and group, and enhance your data collection process. Single checkboxes: Single
    • Collaborate efficiently with Zoho Writer's track changes feature

      Hi Zoho Writer Community, Zoho Writer's track changes feature is a simple, built-in solution that helps you and your team work together efficiently. Instead of juggling multiple versions of a document or building up a long email chain of comments, each
    • Zoho Writer's WordPress extensions

      Hey Zoho Writer users! Say goodbye to all your WordPress content publishing woes with Zoho Writer's WordPress extensions. Publish content with all your formatting and images, republish content when you update a document, and more—from a single window
    • Time-saving table hacks

      Hey Zoho Writer Community, Do you find yourself using a lot of tables in your documents? We're here to share some of our time-saving hacks that will help you work more efficiently, organize your data, and make your documents look neat and professional.
    • Automating document approval and signing with Zoho Writer and Zoho Sign

      Hey Zoho Writer Community! Here's another automation tip to make your processes more efficient! Question: Can I send a document for client approval first, then automatically send it for signing with Zoho Sign if they approve? Since it's the same person
    • Customization hacks in Zoho Writer - Part 2

      Hey community, We're back with some more tricks to personalize your documents, save time, and get in the zone when you work in Writer. Check out part 1 of this post if you haven't already. Let's dive right in! Document ruler units Imagine you're creating
    • Simplify your tax calculations with Zoho Writer

      Hello Zoho Writer Community! Tax season can be stressful, but with Zoho Writer, managing your income tax calculations becomes straightforward and efficient. Here’s an example of how you can use the tables and formulae of Zoho Writer to calculate income
    • Enhance document navigation with headings and TOC

      Hey Zoho Writer Community! We're back with some useful features in Zoho Writer that can simplify your document creation and navigation process. Let's dive right in! Check out our video on how to make the most of Zoho Writer's heading and table of contents
    • Use and download in PDF format of Zoho wirter Merge template using deluge

      Hello Zoho Developers. Here is some information about Zoho Writer. Writer is not just another online word processor, it's a powerful tool for editing, collaboration, and publishing. Even with its wide range of features, Writer's pared-down user interface
    • Customization hacks in Zoho Writer - Part 3

      Hello everyone, Welcome back to Part 3 of our customization tips in Zoho Writer! In this third installment, we'll be diving into some essential customization settings that can enhance your document creation experience. Sender email address in mail merge
    • Daytime saving timezones messing up writer pdf

      Hi, I need help for something I can't figure out. I created a Form to collect data and it is set up with my current Daylight Saving Time (GMT-3). This form is used to generate a contract (pdf Writer) with dates from an event that is being held in 4 months
    • Next Page