---
title: The Admin Panel
label: Overview
order: 10
desc: Manage your data and customize the Payload Admin Panel by swapping in your own React components. Create, modify or remove views, fields, styles and much more.
keywords: admin, components, custom, customize, documentation, Content Management System, cms, headless, javascript, node, react, nextjs
---

Payload dynamically generates a beautiful, [fully type-safe](../typescript/overview) Admin Panel to manage your users and data. It is highly performant, even with 100+ fields, and is translated in over 30 languages. Within the Admin Panel you can manage content, [render your site](../live-preview/overview), preview drafts, [diff versions](../versions/overview), and so much more.

The Admin Panel is designed to [white-label your brand](https://payloadcms.com/blog/white-label-admin-ui). You can endlessly customize and extend the Admin UI by swapping in your own [Custom Components](./components)—everything from simple field labels to entire views can be modified or replaced to perfectly tailor the interface for your editors.

The Admin Panel is written in [TypeScript](https://www.typescriptlang.org) and built with [React](https://react.dev) using the [Next.js App Router](https://nextjs.org/docs/app). It supports [React Server Components](https://react.dev/reference/rsc/server-components), enabling the use of the [Local API](/docs/local-api/overview) on the front-end. You can install Payload into any [existing Next.js app in just one line](../getting-started/installation) and [deploy it anywhere](../production).

<Banner type="success">
  The Payload Admin Panel is designed to be as minimal and straightforward as possible to allow easy customization and control. [Learn more](./components).
</Banner>

<LightDarkImage
  srcLight="https://payloadcms.com/images/docs/admin.jpg"
  srcDark="https://payloadcms.com/images/docs/admin-dark.jpg"
  alt="Admin Panel with collapsible sidebar"
  caption="Redesigned Admin Panel with a collapsible sidebar that's open by default, providing greater extensibility and enhanced horizontal real estate."
/>

## Project Structure

The Admin Panel serves as the entire HTTP layer for Payload, providing a full CRUD interface for your app. This means that both the [REST](../rest-api/overview) and [GraphQL](../graphql/overview) APIs are simply [Next.js Routes](https://nextjs.org/docs/app/building-your-application/routing) that exist directly alongside your front-end application.

Once you [install Payload](../getting-started/installation), the following files and directories will be created in your app:

```plaintext
app/
├─ (payload)/
├── admin/
├─── [[...segments]]/
├──── page.tsx
├──── not-found.tsx
├── api/
├─── [...slug]/
├──── route.ts
├── graphql/
├──── route.ts
├── graphql-playground/
├──── route.ts
├── custom.scss
├── layout.tsx
```

<Banner type="info">
  If you are not familiar with Next.js project structure, you can [learn more about it here](https://nextjs.org/docs/getting-started/project-structure).
</Banner>

As shown above, all Payload routes are nested within the `(payload)` route group. This creates a boundary between the Admin Panel and the rest of your application by scoping all layouts and styles. The `layout.tsx` file within this directory, for example, is where Payload manages the `html` tag of the document to set proper [`lang`](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Global_attributes/lang) and [`dir`](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Global_attributes/dir) attributes, etc.

The `admin` directory contains all the _pages_ related to the interface itself, whereas the `api` and `graphql` directories contains all the _routes_ related to the [REST API](../rest-api/overview) and [GraphQL API](../graphql/overview). All admin routes are [easily configurable](#customizing-routes) to meet your application's exact requirements.

<Banner type="warning">
  <strong>Note:</strong>
  If you don't use the [REST API](../rest/overview) or [GraphQL API](../graphql/overview), you can delete the [Next.js files corresponding to those routes](../admin/overview#project-structure), however, the overhead of this API is completely constrained to these endpoints, and will not slow down or affect Payload outside of the endpoints.
</Banner>

Finally, the `custom.scss` file is where you can add or override globally-oriented styles in the Admin Panel, such as modify the color palette. Customizing the look and feel through CSS alone is a powerful feature of the Admin Panel, [more on that here](./customizing-css).

All auto-generated files will contain the following comments at the top of each file:

```tsx
/* THIS FILE WAS GENERATED AUTOMATICALLY BY PAYLOAD. */,
/* DO NOT MODIFY IT BECAUSE IT COULD BE REWRITTEN AT ANY TIME. */
```

## Admin Options

All options for the Admin Panel are defined in your [Payload Config](../configuration/overview) under the `admin` property:

```ts
import { buildConfig } from 'payload'

const config = buildConfig({
  // ...
  admin: { // highlight-line
    // ...
  },
})
```

The following options are available:

| Option        | Description                                                                                                                                                           |
|---------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| **`avatar`**      | Set account profile picture. Options: `gravatar`, `default` or a custom React component.                                                                              |
| **`autoLogin`**   | Used to automate log-in for dev and demonstration convenience. [More details](../authentication/overview).                                                            |
| **`buildPath`**   | Specify an absolute path for where to store the built Admin bundle used in production. Defaults to `path.resolve(process.cwd(), 'build')`.                            |
| **`components`**  | Component overrides that affect the entirety of the Admin Panel. [More details](./components).                                                                        |
| **`custom`**      | Any custom properties you wish to pass to the Admin Panel.                                                                                                            |
| **`dateFormat`**  | The date format that will be used for all dates within the Admin Panel. Any valid [date-fns](https://date-fns.org/) format pattern can be used.                       |
| **`disable`**     | If set to `true`, the entire Admin Panel will be disabled.                                                                                                            |
| **`livePreview`** | Enable real-time editing for instant visual feedback of your front-end application. [More details](../live-preview/overview).                                         |
| **`meta`**        | Base metadata to use for the Admin Panel. [More details](./metadata). |
| **`routes`**      | Replace built-in Admin Panel routes with your own custom routes. [More details](#customizing-routes).                                                                 |
| **`theme`**       | Restrict the Admin Panel theme to use only one of your choice. Default is `all`.
| **`user`**        | The `slug` of the Collection that you want to allow to login to the Admin Panel. [More details](#the-admin-user-collection).                                          |

<Banner type="success">
  <strong>Reminder:</strong>
  These are the _root-level_ options for the Admin Panel. You can also customize [Collection Admin Options](./collections) and [Global Admin Options](./globals) through their respective `admin` keys.
</Banner>

### The Admin User Collection

To specify which Collection to allow to login to the Admin Panel, pass the `admin.user` key equal to the slug of any auth-enabled Collection:

```ts
import { buildConfig } from 'payload'

const config = buildConfig({
  // ...
  admin: {
    user: 'admins', // highlight-line
  },
})
```

<Banner type="warning">
  <strong>Important:</strong>
  <br />
  The Admin Panel can only be used by a single auth-enabled Collection. To enable authentication for a Collection, simply set `auth: true` in the Collection's configuration. See [Authentication](../authentication/overview) for more information.
</Banner>

By default, if you have not specified a Collection, Payload will automatically provide a `User` Collection with access to the Admin Panel. You can customize or override the fields and settings of the default `User` Collection by adding your own Collection with `slug: 'users'`. Doing this will force Payload to use your provided `User` Collection instead of its default version.

You can use whatever Collection you'd like to access the Admin Panel as long as the Collection supports [Authentication](/docs/authentication/overview). It doesn't need to be called `users`. For example, you may wish to have two Collections that both support authentication:

- `admins` - meant to have a higher level of permissions to manage your data and access the Admin Panel
- `customers` - meant for end users of your app that should not be allowed to log into the Admin Panel

To do this, specify `admin: { user: 'admins' }` in your config. This will provide access to the Admin Panel to only `admins`. Any users authenticated as `customers` will be prevented from accessing the Admin Panel.  See [Access Control](/docs/access-control/overview) for full details.

### Role-based Access Control

It is also possible to allow multiple user types into the Admin Panel with limited permissions, known as role-based access control (RBAC). For example, you may wish to have two roles within the `admins` Collection:

- `super-admin` - full access to the Admin Panel to perform any action
- `editor` - limited access to the Admin Panel to only manage content

To do this, add a `roles` or similar field to your auth-enabled Collection, then use the `access.admin` property to grant or deny access based on the value of that field. See [Access Control](/docs/access-control/overview) for full details. For a complete, working example of role-based access control, check out the official [Auth Example](https://github.com/payloadcms/payload/tree/main/examples/auth/payload).

## Customizing Routes

You have full control over the routes that Payload binds itself to. This includes both [Root-level Routes](#root-level-routes) such as the [REST API](../rest-api/overview), and [Admin-level Routes](#admin-level-routes) such as the user's account page. You can customize these routes to meet the needs of your application simply by specifying the desired paths in your config.

### Root-level Routes

Root-level routes are those that are not behind the `/admin` path, such as the [REST API](../rest-api/overview) and [GraphQL API](../graphql/overview), or the root path of the Admin Panel itself.

To customize root-level routes, use the `routes` property in your [Payload Config](../configuration/overview):

```ts
import { buildConfig } from 'payload'

const config = buildConfig({
  // ...
  routes: {
    admin: '/custom-admin-route' // highlight-line
  }
})
```

The following options are available:

| Option              | Default route         | Description                                       |
|---------------------|-----------------------|---------------------------------------------------|
| `admin`             | `/admin`              | The Admin Panel itself.                           |
| `api`               | `/api`                | The [REST API](../rest-api/overview) base path.   |
| `graphQL`           | `/graphql`            | The [GraphQL API](../graphql/overview) base path. |
| `graphQLPlayground` | `/graphql-playground` | The GraphQL Playground.                           |

<Banner type="success">
  <strong>Tip:</strong>
   You can easily add _new_ routes to the Admin Panel through [Custom Endpoints](../rest-api/overview#custom-endpoints) and [Custom Views](./views).
</Banner>

#### Customizing Root-level Routes

You can change the Root-level Routes as needed, such as to mount the Admin Panel at the root of your application.

Changing Root-level Routes also requires a change to [Project Structure](#project-structure) to match the new route. For example, if you set `routes.admin` to `/`, you would need to completely remove the `admin` directory from the project structure:

```plaintext
app/
├─ (payload)/
├── [[...segments]]/
├──── ...
```

<Banner type="warning">
  <strong>Note:</strong>
  If you set Root-level Routes _before_ auto-generating the Admin Panel, your [Project Structure](#project-structure) will already be set up correctly.
</Banner>

### Admin-level Routes

Admin-level routes are those behind the `/admin` path. These are the routes that are part of the Admin Panel itself, such as the user's account page, the login page, etc.

To customize admin-level routes, use the `admin.routes` property in your [Payload Config](../configuration/overview):

```ts
import { buildConfig } from 'payload'

const config = buildConfig({
  // ...
  admin: {
    routes: {
      account: '/my-account' // highlight-line
    }
  },
})
```

The following options are available:

| Option            | Default route           | Description                                     |
| ----------------- | ----------------------- | ----------------------------------------------- |
| `account`         | `/account`              | The user's account page.                        |
| `createFirstUser` | `/create-first-user`    | The page to create the first user.              |
| `forgot`          | `/forgot`               | The password reset page.                        |
| `inactivity`      | `/logout-inactivity`    | The page to redirect to after inactivity.       |
| `login`           | `/login`                | The login page.                                 |
| `logout`          | `/logout`               | The logout page.                                |
| `reset`           | `/reset`                | The password reset page.                        |
| `unauthorized`    | `/unauthorized`         | The unauthorized page.                          |

<Banner type="success">
  <strong>Note:</strong>
  You can also swap out entire _views_ out for your own, using the `admin.views` property of the Payload Config. See [Custom Views](./views) for more information.
</Banner>

## I18n

The Payload Admin Panel is translated in over [30 languages and counting](https://github.com/payloadcms/payload/tree/beta/packages/translations). Languages are automatically detected based on the user's browser and used by the Admin Panel to display all text in that language. If no language was detected, or if the user's language is not yet supported, English will be chosen. Users can easily specify their language by selecting one from their account page. See [I18n](../configuration/i18n) for more information.

## Light and Dark Modes

Users in the Admin Panel have the ability to choose between light mode and dark mode for their editing experience. Users can select their preferred theme from their account page. Once selected, it is saved to their user's preferences and persisted across sessions and devices. If no theme was selected, the Admin Panel will automatically detect the operation system's theme and use that as the default.
