Originally introduced into public preview on May 15, 2025, and reaching its September 2026 general availability milestone, this update represents what Microsoft Learn documentation designates as Wave 2 of the model-driven app modernization arc. While the underlying Dataverse tables, security roles, and business rules remain untouched, the presentation layer across the app shell, form pages, and view pages gets a purposeful structural overhaul aimed at reclaiming vertical space and aligning the interface with modern Microsoft 365 Fluent design patterns. Crucially for enterprise IT administrators and app makers, general availability does not mean a sudden, mandatory UI change for every existing line-of-business application tomorrow morning: the refresh remains an opt-in setting at GA for existing apps, allowing organizations to validate and adopt the layout at their own pace.
Reclaiming Screen Real Estate: What Actually Changes
The headline improvement in version 2609.1 is how model-driven forms handle vertical scrolling and fixed headers. In the older layout, the form header and summary elements stayed pinned at the top of the viewport, permanently consuming valuable vertical pixels while users scrolled through tabs and subgrids.
Under the refreshed Wave 2 architecture, Microsoft has restructured the page hierarchy:
- Scrollable Form Headers with a Sticky Fallback: The command bar is now the single element permanently fixed at the top of the page. As a user scrolls down a record, both the summary area and the main form header scroll smoothly out of view along with the rest of the form. Once the primary form header disappears off the top edge, a condensed sticky header snaps right below the command bar so the user never loses sight of which record they are editing.
- Full-Width Command Bar: If your team tested the early public preview of this refresh, take note of a key design reversal. Microsoft Learn documentation confirms that the "compact commands" layout from earlier previews has been retired. Instead, the command bar returns to a full-width container across both view and form pages, preventing primary actions from being prematurely shoved into the overflow (
...) menu. - Updated Command Ordering: System-injected commands have been reshuffled for predictability. Specifically, Show As and Show Chart now sit in the third position on the bar, directly following New and Delete.
- Simplified App Header and Streamlined Sitemap: The global app header features updated iconography and cleaner spacing to match broader Microsoft 365 conventions, while the left-hand navigation sitemap has been tidied up for faster visual scanning. Form headers have also been tuned to adapt more gracefully across varying browser window widths and content densities.
Summary of UI Changes
By unpinning the bulky form header and replacing it with a slim sticky identifier during scrolling, users gain substantial working space without sacrificing record context, while the return to a full-width command bar keeps critical tools visible in a single click.
Wave 1 vs. Wave 2: Untangling the Modernization Rules
In the Power Platform ecosystem, phrases like "New Look" and "classic experience" can easily cause confusion during helpdesk troubleshooting. According to Microsoft Learn's Modern, refreshed look for model-driven apps documentation, Microsoft splits its Fluent UI overhaul into distinct waves with very different enforcement rules:
| Modernization Stage | Core Components Included | Current Rollout & Enforcement Status |
|---|---|---|
| Wave 1: The New Look | Updated Fluent styling across forms, views, dashboards, dialogs, and field controls; floating command bar; infinite-scrolling Power Apps grid control. | Mandatory for all users starting with the 2026 Wave 1 release. Makers can no longer toggle individual apps back to the legacy look in the standard UI (though an environment/solution-level admin override setting still exists). |
| Wave 2: Header and Navigation Refresh | Simplified app header, streamlined sitemap, scrolling form header with condensed sticky bar, full-width command bar, updated command ordering, tighter margins. | Generally Available (Opt-In) starting with version 2609.1. Requires Wave 1 to be active; cannot be enabled independently of the New Look. |
Why does this distinction matter? When the roadmap and release plan describe the Header and navigation refresh setting as letting makers switch between the "classic" and "refreshed" experience, "classic" strictly refers to the Wave 1 header and navigation behavior—not the retired legacy Dynamics-era interface. You cannot turn on Wave 2 without having Wave 1 active.
How Makers and Admins Control the Rollout
Because Microsoft kept Wave 2 opt-in at general availability, existing production apps will not change overnight unless they already had the preview toggle switched on (in which case, the Microsoft Power Platform Blog notes they receive the GA refinements automatically).
The behavior is governed by the Header and navigation refresh app setting, which supports three states:
- Auto (Default): Keeps the refreshed header and navigation off for standard existing apps, except for apps created using the Plan designer (Plans), where the refresh is applied automatically by default. (Note: Plan-generated apps also default to a flatter sitemap with Home, Recent, Pinned, and sitemap groups turned off.)
- Yes: Explicitly enables the Wave 2 header and navigation experience for the app.
- No: Retains the prior header and navigation layout.
Step-by-Step: Enabling the Refresh in an Existing App
If you are a maker or administrator ready to test or deploy the refreshed layout in an existing model-driven app, Microsoft Learn outlines a straightforward opt-in procedure:
- Sign in to the Power Apps maker portal and open your target application in the app designer.
- Select Settings on the command bar.
- Navigate to the Features tab.
- Locate Header and navigation refresh, switch the setting to enable it, save your changes, and publish the app.
Bonus Companion Feature: Display Density Enters Public Preview
Arriving alongside version 2609.1 is a closely coupled feature that veteran Dynamics 365 and Power Apps users have requested ever since Fluent UI initially padded out form whitespace: adjustable Display Density.
As detailed by Vice President of Product Tiffany Treacy on the Microsoft Power Platform Blog and in Microsoft Learn's Appearance settings documentation, Display Density is currently in public preview and requires the Wave 2 Header and Navigation Refresh to be enabled first. Once the Wave 2 header refresh is turned on for an app, Display Density is enabled by default and offers three spacing tiers:
- Comfortable (Default): Standard modern Fluent spacing.
- Cozy: A balanced middle ground that tightens padding.
- Compact: Maximum data density for users who want to see as many fields and rows as possible without scrolling.
Crucially, changing display density adjusts the whitespace and margins using Fluent spacing tokens rather than shrinking interactive hit targets, ensuring accessibility standards remain intact. End users can personalize their view across all Wave 2-enabled apps by clicking the Settings gear in the app header and navigating to Personal settings > Appearance. Administrators can define an environment-wide default, makers can configure an app-specific default (or disable density options for an app altogether), and an individual user's explicit personal setting takes top priority whenever the feature is active. Custom Power Apps Component Framework (PCF) controls can also respond dynamically to these density shifts if developers bind their layouts to supported Fluent spacing tokens.
Practical Caveats and Governance Checklist Before You Flip the Switch
While an opt-in UI polish sounds completely benign, seasoned Power Platform administrators know that even minor navigation shifts can trigger a flurry of Monday-morning support tickets if users rely on muscle memory. Before switching Header and navigation refresh from Auto to Yes in production, review these documented technical boundaries from Microsoft Learn:
- Audit Custom Navigation Icons (SVG Only): Under the modernized navigation shell, only SVG icons are supported. If your sitemap still references legacy PNG or JPG web resources for custom table icons, the navigation pane will refuse to render them and display a generic default icon instead.
- Update Training Materials for Command Bar and Help Locations: Because Show As and Show Chart have moved to the third command position (right after New and Delete) and the command bar has reverted from compact preview mode to full-width, internal job aids with screenshots may need a quick refresh. Additionally, if users ask where the global Help (
?) icon went, it has been tucked inside the Settings pane. Similarly, the side-pane switcher rail next to the Copilot chat pane now hides itself automatically when Copilot chat is the only active side pane. - Check Branding and Theme Overrides: The modern experience does not honor classic theme customizations. Organizations that want custom header branding must use modern theme overrides via XML/web resources (
Use modern themes), and dark mode or user-switched themes remain unsupported at this stage.
By keeping Wave 2 opt-in at general availability, Microsoft has given enterprise IT teams the best of both worlds: immediate production support for a much more space-efficient form layout in version 2609.1, paired with total administrative control over when and how end users make the jump.