diff --git a/src/state/actions/window.js b/src/state/actions/window.js
index 85a1ecf0f5526f3e8ff045fb6ea126a7370e309c..706c5af7c6d22a0f9408ba4208b68c0176e22648 100644
--- a/src/state/actions/window.js
+++ b/src/state/actions/window.js
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ export function focusWindow(windowId) {
  * @memberof ActionCreators
  */
 export function addWindow(options) {
+  const cwDefault = `cw-${uuid()}`;
   const defaultOptions = {
     id: `window-${uuid()}`,
     canvasIndex: 0,
@@ -30,12 +31,13 @@ export function addWindow(options) {
     height: 400,
     x: 2700,
     y: 2700,
-    companionWindowIds: [],
+    companionWindowIds: [cwDefault],
+    sideBarPanel: 'info',
     rotation: null,
     view: 'single',
     maximized: false,
   };
-  return { type: ActionTypes.ADD_WINDOW, window: { ...defaultOptions, ...options } };
+  return { type: ActionTypes.ADD_WINDOW, window: { ...defaultOptions, ...options }, companionWindow: { id: cwDefault, position: 'left', content: 'info' } };
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/src/state/reducers/companionWindows.js b/src/state/reducers/companionWindows.js
index c5cfc2dcc685b5570d1563974c423124591fcaf9..a221bf97df82b2c88e929204ebf3862dd887a516 100644
--- a/src/state/reducers/companionWindows.js
+++ b/src/state/reducers/companionWindows.js
@@ -9,6 +9,9 @@ export function companionWindowsReducer(state = {}, action) {
     case ActionTypes.ADD_COMPANION_WINDOW:
       return setIn(state, [action.id], action.payload);
 
+    case ActionTypes.ADD_WINDOW:
+      return setIn(state, [action.companionWindow.id], action.companionWindow);
+
     case ActionTypes.UPDATE_COMPANION_WINDOW:
       return updateIn(state, [action.id], orig => merge(orig, action.payload));