Aspects of a system for automatically managing a pane in a user interface on a small form factor computing device include an adaptive pane module for determining when an event that affects the canvas size occurs, such as changing the display configuration or reorienting the display, which in turn affects pane management, or the opening or closing of a pane. The adaptive pane module manages the pane. After managing the pane, the system resizes the canvas and reflows the content as appropriate for a small form factor computing device.