--- title: "Feature Preview" slug: "feature-preview" description: "Learn how to enable feature previews in Rocket Chat. Test upcoming features while maintaining secure collaboration." updated: 2026-09-24T19:33:29Z published: 2026-09-24T19:33:29Z canonical: "docs.rocket.chat/feature-preview" --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.rocket.chat/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Feature Preview **Feature Preview** in Rocket.Chat allows workspace administrators and users to try out experimental features that are still in development. These features may be unstable, incomplete, or subject to change before official release. ## Accessing feature preview Feature previews are turned on by a workspace administrator. Once enabled, users can manage their own feature preview settings from **Feature preview** in the avatar menu, or from **Account → Feature preview**. ### For administrators To make feature previews available in your workspace: 1. Go to **Manage → Workspace → Settings → Accounts**. 2. Enable **Allow Feature Preview**. This makes feature preview available to all workspace members. To see and manage the preview features for the workspace, go to **Manage → Workspace → Feature preview**. This page lists all available feature previews. Any features enabled here become available to users in their individual **Feature preview** settings. > [!WARNING] > Feature previews are being tested and may not be stable or fully functional. Features may become premium capabilities once officially released. ### For users After the administrator enables **Feature Preview**, users can open their feature preview settings in either of these ways: - Click your avatar and select **Feature preview** under the **Account** section of the menu. - Go to your account settings and select **Account → Feature preview** from the left menu. Then enable or disable the available experimental features according to your preference. Individual user settings will override the workspace defaults. --- ## Feature preview options Below are the currently available preview features: ### Navigation - **Filters and secondary sidebar**: Reduce noise and increase focus using sidebar filters and a secondary navigation layer. Filter your mentions, favorite rooms, or discussions, or filter by a specific room to see its associated channels and discussions. - **Sidebar rail**: Navigate with a compact, icon-only sidebar rail. It also adds a quick-access Voice Call panel that is unified with Call History. #### Use the sidebar rail After you enable the **Sidebar rail** preview, a narrow column of icons appears along the left edge of the workspace, and the icons from the top navigation bar move into it. The rail contains these icons, from top to bottom: - **Home**: Opens the workspace home screen. It appears only when the home button is turned on for your workspace. - **Display**: Opens the options for how rooms are sorted and shown in the sidebar. - **Create new**: Opens the menu to create a room, such as a channel, team, direct message, or discussion. It appears only if you have permission to create at least one of them. - **Directory**: Opens the workspace directory. - **Marketplace**: Opens the Marketplace menu. It appears only if you have access to the Marketplace. - **Calls**: Opens your Call History with the Voice Call panel next to it. It appears only when [Rocket.Chat](http://Rocket.Chat) Voice is available to you. - **Omnichannel** icons, when Omnichannel is enabled in your workspace. - **Manage** and your avatar, at the bottom of the rail. From the Voice Call panel, you can start a voice call and control an ongoing call. For example, you can mute your microphone or put the call on hold. The Voice Call panel stays open after a call ends, so you can start another call right away. For more on voice calls, see the [Rocket.Chat Voice User Guide.](/v1/docs/team-voice-calls-user-guide) The sidebar rail isn't shown on small screens or when Rocket.Chat is embedded in another application. In those layouts, the standard navigation appears instead. ### AI - **AI Search**: Adds semantic, AI-assisted results to workspace search, finding relevant messages even when the exact words are not used. Refer to [AI Search guide](/v1/docs/ai-search) for more details. ### Room - **Room Toolbox Layout**: Lets workspace administrators choose which actions appear in the room header, set their order, and decide how many stay visible before the rest collapse into the kebab menu. The layout is defined in JSON under **Manage → Workspace → Settings → Layout → Room Header**. Refer to the [Customize the Room Header Toolbox](/v1/docs/customize-the-room-header-toolbox) guide for details. ### Message - **Realtime message composer**: Shows a live preview of message formatting (such as bold, italics, and code) as you type in the composer. With the preview on, the composer styles your text as you type. The formatting characters stay visible: typing `*bold*` shows the word in bold with the asterisks around it. Italic, strikethrough, inline code, code blocks, headings, quotes, lists, spoilers, links, and mentions are styled the same way. While the preview is on, the composer shows an **Experiment: Realtime message composer** label above the message box. In the realtime composer: - To open a link in the composer, hold **Ctrl** (**Cmd** on macOS) and click it. - When you paste formatted content, such as text copied from a web page, it is pasted as plain text. You can undo and redo your changes in the composer: - To undo, press **Ctrl**+**Z** (**Cmd**+**Z** on macOS). A formatting change, such as applying bold, is undone in one step. - To redo, press **Ctrl**+**Shift**+**Z** (**Cmd**+**Shift**+**Z** on macOS). - After you send a message, pressing undo in the empty composer brings the sent text back into the composer. The message you sent stays in the room. > [!WARNING] > Undo history is kept per room. When you switch to another room, the history starts over. --- ## Drafts in the sidebar, side panel, and threads When you start typing a message and leave the room without sending it, a **pencil icon** appears next to the room name in the sidebar and in the side panel. This lets you find the message you started without opening every room. The indicator works the same way for channels, teams, and direct messages. Unsent thread replies are kept per thread. A reply typed in one thread stays with that thread, and typing in a second thread no longer clears it. A thread with an unsent reply is marked in the room's **Threads** list, and the room itself shows the pencil icon in the sidebar. Drafts survive switching rooms and reloading Rocket.Chat. Sending the message or clearing the composer removes the indicator. > [!WARNING] > **No setup is required. The draft indicator is now enabled for all users.**