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




    Access your files securely from anywhere

        All-in-one knowledge management and training platform for your employees and customers.







                              Zoho Developer Community




                                                    • Desk Community Learning Series


                                                    • Digest


                                                    • Functions


                                                    • Meetups


                                                    • Kbase


                                                    • Resources


                                                    • Glossary


                                                    • Desk Marketplace


                                                    • MVP Corner


                                                    • Word of the Day


                                                    • Ask the Experts





                                                              Manage your brands on social media



                                                                    Zoho TeamInbox Resources



                                                                        Zoho CRM Plus Resources

                                                                          Zoho Books Resources


                                                                            Zoho Subscriptions Resources

                                                                              Zoho Projects Resources


                                                                                Zoho Sprints Resources


                                                                                  Qntrl Resources


                                                                                    Zoho Creator Resources



                                                                                        Zoho CRM Resources

                                                                                        • CRM Community Learning Series

                                                                                          CRM Community Learning Series


                                                                                        • Kaizen

                                                                                          Kaizen

                                                                                        • Functions

                                                                                          Functions

                                                                                        • Meetups

                                                                                          Meetups

                                                                                        • Kbase

                                                                                          Kbase

                                                                                        • Resources

                                                                                          Resources

                                                                                        • Digest

                                                                                          Digest

                                                                                        • CRM Marketplace

                                                                                          CRM Marketplace

                                                                                        • MVP Corner

                                                                                          MVP Corner









                                                                                            Design. Discuss. Deliver.

                                                                                            Create visually engaging stories with Zoho Show.

                                                                                            Get Started Now


                                                                                              Zoho Show Resources

                                                                                                Zoho Writer

                                                                                                Get Started. Write Away!

                                                                                                Writer is a powerful online word processor, designed for collaborative work.

                                                                                                  Zoho CRM コンテンツ




                                                                                                    Nederlandse Hulpbronnen


                                                                                                        ご検討中の方




                                                                                                                • Recent Topics

                                                                                                                • FNB South Africa Bank Feed

                                                                                                                  I should've thought this wouldn't work. As suspect, Zoho claims to be able to pull bank feeds from First National Bank (South Africa), but fails everytime. I suppose Xero (or even Sage One) is the way to go? If they (miraculously) get it to work again,
                                                                                                                • Zoho unreliable

                                                                                                                  Some mails are delivered, others not. How can I trust Zoho any more? Some friends get my e-mail, some don't. Same with receiving e-mails: Some I get, some not. If I use Google, everything works well. But Zoho?!!! How to solve this problem? I already reported this problem before, but didn't get any reply. Thanks, Kim
                                                                                                                • the custom domain forwards by default to the old career site / how to switch it off??

                                                                                                                  dear friends, how to switch off the old version of the career site?? The set up custom domain forwards directly to the old site, so that I cant publish it... Any ideas? Thank you! KR, Victoria
                                                                                                                • Preserve Ticket Issue Mapping When Migrating from Jira to Zoho Projects

                                                                                                                  Hello Zoho Projects Team, We hope you are doing well. We are currently exploring a full migration from Jira to Zoho Projects, and we identified a critical limitation during the migration process involving Zoho Desk integration. Current Situation: We use
                                                                                                                • Recording Shopify/Amazon fees in Zoho Books - Zoho Inventory

                                                                                                                  We are currently flushing out the connections between Shopify/Amazon and Zoho Inventory. For other users of Zoho Books - Zoho Inventory, where and at what point do you record the merchant fees associated with theses channels? I have gotten mixed responses
                                                                                                                • Pre-fill webforms in Recruit

                                                                                                                  I don't want to use the career site portal (as I have my own already), but I would like to direct users to the application forms for each role, from my website job pages. Is there a way to pre-fill fields in Recruit application forms, so that I only have
                                                                                                                • Taxes Payable Adjustment

                                                                                                                  I am from Canada and I need to make an adjustment to my Taxes Payable (HST) account.  Basically I need to take a portion of the amount within Taxes Payable and expense that portion to another account.  The adjusting entry would like like the following:
                                                                                                                • ASAP Widget Not showing "My Tickets"ed

                                                                                                                  Hello Team, I have created a ZOHO ASAP Widget and embedded to my portal app.clearvuiq.com , widget renders ok and I can open tickets from widget. However I want my opened tickets to be visible in the widget. How can I achieve that?
                                                                                                                • Bug Causing Major Sync & SO Access Failures in Zoho POS

                                                                                                                  We are experiencing critical and recurring issues in Zoho POS that all trace back to role-permission handling defects in the latest POS app version. These issues directly affect syncing, login ability, and Sales Order access for role-restricted users
                                                                                                                • How to view CRM Sales Orders in Desk

                                                                                                                  What's the usual way to view all CRM sales orders linked to a contact, when viewing a ticket in Desk? I don't want to have to open a new tab to see the order in CRM. And the Desk CRM sidebar doesn't seem to be configurable. Would I have to use an extension
                                                                                                                • Kaizen #219: Actions API - Webhooks APIs - Part 1

                                                                                                                  Hello all!! Welcome back to a fresh Kaizen week. In the previous weeks, we covered Workflow Rules APIs, Actions APIs - Email Notification APIs, Tasks Update API, and Field Update API. This week, we will continue with another Actions API - Webhooks API
                                                                                                                • Pricing Strategies: #3 Services never Stop with just Plans

                                                                                                                  "Hey, while you're here, could you also take a look at the vegetable patch?" Aaron hears that line almost every week. He runs a small gardening service, the kind where customers subscribe to a simple monthly plan that includes basic maintenance, mowing,
                                                                                                                • Cropping Photos for Zoho Sites

                                                                                                                  Hi, I'm wondering if there is a built in crop tool for zoho sites for my photos so I can crop them and see what the crop looks like on the site?
                                                                                                                • Possible for first Signer of Sign Form to specify the next signer in the sequence

                                                                                                                  We have many use cases where multiple signers need sign the same document. We'd love to be able to use sign forms, where the a signer who uses the Sign Form link can specify the name and email address for the next person in the sequence.
                                                                                                                • BUG: Can't copy-paste data outside Sheet

                                                                                                                  Currently I can't paste data copied from inside any of my Zoho Sheet files to any other app. Copy-paste works inside the sheet It does NOT work between two different sheets These sheets are built from automation templates Everything works fine if I create
                                                                                                                • Zoho CRM Community Digest - November 2025 | Part 1

                                                                                                                  Hello Everyone! Here’s what came through in the first half of November: new updates and a few helpful community discussions with real, notable solutions. Product Updates: Android App Update: Inctroducing Swipe Actions You can now swipe left or right on
                                                                                                                • Upload own Background Image and set Camera to 16:9

                                                                                                                  Hi, in all known online meeting tools, I can set up a background image reflecting our corporate design. This doesn't work in Cliq. Additionally, Cliq detects our cameras as 4:3, showing black bars on the right and left sides during the meeting. Where
                                                                                                                • Truesync for Linux

                                                                                                                  Is Truesync available on linux ?
                                                                                                                • Hidding/excluding specific picklist options from filter

                                                                                                                  Hi. Is it possible to hide/exclude specific picklist options from this filter? I don't want them to be shown when someone tries to filter in the leads module
                                                                                                                • Subforms to Capture Multi-Row Data in Job Sheets

                                                                                                                  Subforms transform your job sheets from simple checklists to powerful, data-rich forms. In field service work — whether maintenance, inspection, installation, or repair — a single job can involve multiple repeatable entries: readings, parts used, activities
                                                                                                                • Add "Fetch Composite Item" Action for Inventory

                                                                                                                  I want to make a Flow that uses information returned in the GET call for Composite Items, and it's not currently available in Zoho Flow. Please consider adding this functionality.
                                                                                                                • Adress Labels for sending of the oder und barcode

                                                                                                                  We want to print with my address labels to stick on the order of the ware can. there are these options?
                                                                                                                • printing individual labels - Dymo LabelWriter

                                                                                                                  I am trying to print individual labels to my Dymo LabelWriter - has anyone done this? Latest Update (December 2025): The Canvas Print View is now available! We encourage you all to try it out and share your feedback with us. Learn more here: Zoho CRM
                                                                                                                • Zoho Creator for Agriculture

                                                                                                                  Greetings, I am starting to work on  Zoho Creator specifically for the agricultural field, any recommendations, tips or ideas that might be helpful ? Also, if you are interested by any means in working on such project, kindly contact me. The project is
                                                                                                                • Custom Print Layout

                                                                                                                  I would like to create a custom print layout of a Lead or Contact. Is there a way to do that? What I mean is that if I'm viewing a specific lead or contact I'd like to be able to print or export that lead/contact and only print and/or export certain information.
                                                                                                                • Print View

                                                                                                                  Nothing happens when I'm in a module , ie; Contacts, and I hit the Print View Button. Even when it does come up and say "loading", nothing loads
                                                                                                                • Get Holiday ready with Zoho Mail's Offline mode

                                                                                                                  With the holiday season right around the corner, this is the perfect time to get ready to unplug, relax, and enjoy a well-deserved break. In addition to preparing yourself, you can also make sure your organization members are set for their time away from
                                                                                                                • Solution to Import OST File into Office 365.

                                                                                                                  MailsDaddy OST to Office 365 Migration Tool is an outstanding solution to recover OST files and migrate them into Office 365 without any hassle. Using this software users can multiple OST files into Office 365 with complete data security. It offers users
                                                                                                                • Zoho CRM Kiosk issues

                                                                                                                  Firstly this is for a system on the AU servers if that makes a difference. Issues are as follows (For Kiosk): 1. Re-ordering fields in the screen builder is broken. The fields seem to be re-ordering themselves, unless you order everything by moving the
                                                                                                                • Email Template Edits Not Saving

                                                                                                                  I can make an edit, click save, and see the blue bar annimation at the top, but the edits don't actually save. Important, because my email templates are now broken and clients are receiving bad emails. Tried on Chrome, Firefox and IE.
                                                                                                                • Default Ticket View - Table?

                                                                                                                  Guys, We mostly use the table view to queue tickets. Maybe I am missing it - but how can I set that view as 'default" for all our agents? Thanks JV
                                                                                                                • Can I have different users see different pick list values for Potential Stage?

                                                                                                                  We have some users focusing on new business and others focusing on existing business, and they follow different sales processes/cycles, so we would like them to see different pick list values for Stage (eventually leading up to Closed Won/Lost in both cases).   And just to keep it interesting - some of these users will of course do a combination, so would need to see one pick list for their New business potentials and a different pick list for their Existing business ones.   Salesforce does this
                                                                                                                • Tracking Snippet not working in Zoho Marketing Automation!

                                                                                                                  First off, the fact that you have to wait about 12-24 hours for every response is terrible. How are we supposed to conduct business? Second, we have been trying for several days to get the Tracking Code Snippet in marketing automation to work, to no avail.
                                                                                                                • Is there any way to send an Excel received by email to Dataprep?

                                                                                                                  Every day I receive an email alert with an Excel file that I want to process through a Dataprep pipeline. To do this, I need to: -Save the file to disk -Open the pipeline -Run the pipeline -Update the source -Several clicks to select and open the saved
                                                                                                                • Read webpage - MSXML2.ServerXMLHTTP

                                                                                                                  I have the following VBA script, put together from various sources (mainly zoho forum/help/support, so it once worked, I guess): private Sub GetListOfSheets() Dim url As String Dim xmlhttp As Object Dim parameters As String Dim html As String range("B1").value
                                                                                                                • Zoho Creator Form Search

                                                                                                                  I'm new to Zoho Creator and so far i do like it but im shocked there seems to be no easy way to add a search function and/or navigation to there forms as this readily available in every platform i have used in the past. Anyway i have a form which i have
                                                                                                                • How to setup DKIM / SPF in Zoho Mail

                                                                                                                  Hello there! I'm having a hard time understanding how to setup the TXT records for SPF and DKIM with Zoho Mail. I'm following the instructions here: https://www.zoho.com/campaigns/help/setup-spf-dkim.html Specifically, when it comes to the value for the
                                                                                                                • Mass update cant trigger a workflow?

                                                                                                                  Hello there, Is this a normal Creator behaviour? In a report, if I manually edit each data row, it will pass those changes to all other reports. However, if I perform a Mass Update on a few data rows at once, the new data is not pushed to other reports.
                                                                                                                • search and Smart Bar both missing in Mail

                                                                                                                  One of the users on my account does not have the search bar at the top right or the Smart Bar at the bottom left of the desktop Mail app. Any ideas how to get those back?
                                                                                                                • Let us add Lookup fields in the Blueprint Transitions

                                                                                                                  We are unable to add Lookup Fields in the blueprint transitions in Zoho Desk, we wanted to make it a requirement for our workflow but since it's not available in the transition we cannot. The lookup field exists in the Layout: But it cannot be added/selected
                                                                                                                • Next Page