Deactivating a widget can fail causing data loss

[lev0]

You cannot hide/toggle visibility of widgets. To stop one from showing on your site, you have to delete it which loses the widgets' content and settings. Surely this has been brought up before but I couldn't find a ticket. You can change posts' visibility without permanent deletion, why not widgets'? It seems like a large oversight.

[SergeyBiryukov]

Hi there, welcome to WordPress Trac! Thanks for the ticket.

You can hide a widget and keep its settings by moving it to the Inactive Widgets area, that's exactly what it is for.

Per ​WordPress Widgets support article:

If you want to remove the widget but save its setting for possible future use, just drag it into the Inactive Widgets area. You can add them back anytime from there. This is especially helpful when you switch to a theme with fewer or different widget areas.

[lev0]

Oops.

But there is still a bug, dragging a widget out of a sidebar, but not down to the Inactive section which is off-screen, reveals the "Deactivate ..." text next to Aavailable Widgets, but releasing the mouse causes the widget to disappear, not actually be deactivated.

[lev0]

@SergeyBiryukov It would also be better if the "Delete" link on published widgets was instead "Deactivate", and the "Delete" link only showed on widgets in the inactive area.