diff --git a/e2e-playwright/dashboard-new-layouts/dashboards-add-panel.spec.ts b/e2e-playwright/dashboard-new-layouts/dashboards-add-panel.spec.ts
index c2af96349cf..78373c5e094 100644
--- a/e2e-playwright/dashboard-new-layouts/dashboards-add-panel.spec.ts
+++ b/e2e-playwright/dashboard-new-layouts/dashboards-add-panel.spec.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 import { test, expect } from '@grafana/plugin-e2e';
 
+import { addNewPanelFromSidebar } from './utils';
+
 test.use({
   featureToggles: {
     kubernetesDashboards: true,
@@ -44,5 +46,94 @@ test.describe(
         .click();
       await expect(dashboardPage.getByGrafanaSelector(selectors.components.PanelEditor.General.content)).toBeVisible();
     });
+
+    test('can add a panel from the sidebar on a new dashboard', async ({ gotoDashboardPage, selectors, page }) => {
+      const dashboardPage = await gotoDashboardPage({});
+      // check that the sidebar is open on Add section
+      expect(await dashboardPage.getByGrafanaSelector(selectors.components.Sidebar.newPanelButton)).toBeVisible();
+      await dashboardPage.getByGrafanaSelector(selectors.components.Sidebar.newPanelButton).click();
+      // check that new panel has been added
+      await expect(
+        dashboardPage.getByGrafanaSelector(selectors.components.Panels.Panel.title('New panel'))
+      ).toBeVisible();
+      addNewPanelFromSidebar(dashboardPage, selectors);
+      // check that another has been added
+      await expect(
+        dashboardPage.getByGrafanaSelector(selectors.components.Panels.Panel.title('New panel'))
+      ).toHaveCount(2);
+    });
+
+    test('adds a new panel from the sidebar into the layout that was selected last', async ({
+      gotoDashboardPage,
+      selectors,
+      page,
+    }) => {
+      const dashboardPage = await gotoDashboardPage({});
+      await dashboardPage.getByGrafanaSelector(selectors.components.Sidebar.newPanelButton).click();
+
+      // group into tab
+      await dashboardPage.getByGrafanaSelector(selectors.components.CanvasGridAddActions.groupPanels).click();
+      await page.getByText('Group into tab').click();
+
+      // add new panel from the sidebar
+      addNewPanelFromSidebar(dashboardPage, selectors);
+
+      // check that another panel has been added inside the tab
+      const tab = dashboardPage.getByGrafanaSelector(selectors.components.LayoutContainer('tab New tab'));
+      await expect(tab.getByTestId(selectors.components.Panels.Panel.title('New panel'))).toHaveCount(2);
+
+      // add new tab
+      await dashboardPage.getByGrafanaSelector(selectors.components.CanvasGridAddActions.addTab).click();
+
+      // add new panel from the sidebar
+      addNewPanelFromSidebar(dashboardPage, selectors);
+      //check that new panel has been added there
+      const tab2 = dashboardPage.getByGrafanaSelector(selectors.components.LayoutContainer('tab New tab 1'));
+      await expect(tab2.getByTestId(selectors.components.Panels.Panel.title('New panel'))).toHaveCount(1);
+
+      // panel is selected
+      await expect(
+        dashboardPage.getByGrafanaSelector(selectors.components.PanelEditor.OptionsPane.fieldInput('Title'))
+      ).toBeVisible();
+      addNewPanelFromSidebar(dashboardPage, selectors);
+      await expect(tab2.getByTestId(selectors.components.Panels.Panel.title('New panel'))).toHaveCount(2);
+
+      // group into row
+      await dashboardPage.getByGrafanaSelector(selectors.components.CanvasGridAddActions.groupPanels).click();
+      await page.getByText('Group into row').click();
+      // add into the row
+      addNewPanelFromSidebar(dashboardPage, selectors);
+      const row = dashboardPage.getByGrafanaSelector(selectors.components.LayoutContainer('row New row'));
+
+      // scroll to the bottom of the row to load all panels
+      const scrollContainer = page
+        .getByTestId(selectors.components.DashboardEditPaneSplitter.primaryBody)
+        .locator('> div')
+        .first();
+      await scrollContainer.evaluate((el) => el.scrollTo(0, el.scrollHeight));
+
+      await expect(row.getByTestId(selectors.components.Panels.Panel.title('New panel'))).toHaveCount(3);
+      // add new row and add into it
+      await dashboardPage.getByGrafanaSelector(selectors.components.CanvasGridAddActions.addRow).click();
+      addNewPanelFromSidebar(dashboardPage, selectors);
+
+      const row1 = dashboardPage.getByGrafanaSelector(selectors.components.LayoutContainer('row New row 1'));
+      await expect(row1.getByTestId(selectors.components.Panels.Panel.title('New panel'))).toHaveCount(1);
+
+      // panel is selected
+      await expect(
+        dashboardPage.getByGrafanaSelector(selectors.components.PanelEditor.OptionsPane.fieldInput('Title'))
+      ).toBeVisible();
+      addNewPanelFromSidebar(dashboardPage, selectors);
+
+      await scrollContainer.evaluate((el) => el.scrollTo(0, el.scrollHeight));
+
+      // check that the new panel is added next to the last panel selected
+      await expect(row1.getByTestId(selectors.components.Panels.Panel.title('New panel'))).toHaveCount(2);
+    });
   }
 );
+
+// utils
+
+// add new panel through sidebar
diff --git a/e2e-playwright/dashboard-new-layouts/utils.ts b/e2e-playwright/dashboard-new-layouts/utils.ts
index 69851994812..7294f270089 100644
--- a/e2e-playwright/dashboard-new-layouts/utils.ts
+++ b/e2e-playwright/dashboard-new-layouts/utils.ts
@@ -249,3 +249,8 @@ export async function switchToAutoGrid(page: Page, dashboardPage: DashboardPage)
     await confirmModal.click();
   }
 }
+
+export async function addNewPanelFromSidebar(dashboardPage: DashboardPage, selectors: E2ESelectorGroups) {
+  await dashboardPage.getByGrafanaSelector(selectors.pages.Dashboard.Sidebar.addButton).click();
+  await dashboardPage.getByGrafanaSelector(selectors.components.Sidebar.newPanelButton).click();
+}
diff --git a/packages/grafana-e2e-selectors/src/selectors/components.ts b/packages/grafana-e2e-selectors/src/selectors/components.ts
index 0e7e7bf6150..fb1f271314c 100644
--- a/packages/grafana-e2e-selectors/src/selectors/components.ts
+++ b/packages/grafana-e2e-selectors/src/selectors/components.ts
@@ -64,6 +64,9 @@ export const versionedComponents = {
     dockToggle: {
       '12.4.0': 'data-testid sidebar-dock-toggle',
     },
+    newPanelButton: {
+      '12.4.0': 'data-testid sidebar add new panel',
+    },
   },
   EditPaneHeader: {
     deleteButton: {
@@ -79,6 +82,9 @@ export const versionedComponents = {
       '12.1.0': 'data-testid EditPaneHeader duplicate',
     },
   },
+  LayoutContainer: {
+    '12.4.0': (identifier: string) => `data-testid Layout container ${identifier}`,
+  },
   TimePicker: {
     openButton: {
       [MIN_GRAFANA_VERSION]: 'data-testid TimePicker Open Button',
diff --git a/public/app/features/dashboard-scene/edit-pane/DashboardSidePaneNew.tsx b/public/app/features/dashboard-scene/edit-pane/DashboardSidePaneNew.tsx
index 6867aadd1c2..e7f221b0aba 100644
--- a/public/app/features/dashboard-scene/edit-pane/DashboardSidePaneNew.tsx
+++ b/public/app/features/dashboard-scene/edit-pane/DashboardSidePaneNew.tsx
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import { css, cx } from '@emotion/css';
 import { DragDropContext, Draggable, Droppable } from '@hello-pangea/dnd';
 
 import { GrafanaTheme2 } from '@grafana/data';
+import { selectors } from '@grafana/e2e-selectors';
 import { t } from '@grafana/i18n';
 import { SceneObject } from '@grafana/scenes';
 import { Sidebar, Text, useStyles2 } from '@grafana/ui';
@@ -30,6 +31,7 @@ export function DashboardSidePaneNew({ onAddPanel, dashboard }: { onAddPanel: ()
                     return (
                       <div
                         role="button"
+                        data-testid={selectors.components.Sidebar.newPanelButton}
                         tabIndex={0}
                         ref={dragProvided.innerRef}
                         {...dragProvided.draggableProps}
diff --git a/public/app/features/dashboard-scene/scene/DashboardSceneRenderer.tsx b/public/app/features/dashboard-scene/scene/DashboardSceneRenderer.tsx
index 9e1b17ede0f..ab055461855 100644
--- a/public/app/features/dashboard-scene/scene/DashboardSceneRenderer.tsx
+++ b/public/app/features/dashboard-scene/scene/DashboardSceneRenderer.tsx
@@ -9,12 +9,10 @@ import { getNavModel } from 'app/core/selectors/navModel';
 import { useSelector } from 'app/types/store';
 
 import { DashboardEditPaneSplitter } from '../edit-pane/DashboardEditPaneSplitter';
-import { isEmptyDashboard } from '../saving/DashboardPrompt';
 
 import { DashboardScene } from './DashboardScene';
 import { PanelSearchLayout } from './PanelSearchLayout';
 import { SoloPanelContextProvider, useDefineSoloPanelContext } from './SoloPanelContext';
-import { getDashboardSceneFor } from '../utils/utils';
 
 export function DashboardSceneRenderer({ model }: SceneComponentProps<DashboardScene>) {
   const {
diff --git a/public/app/features/dashboard-scene/scene/layout-auto-grid/AutoGridLayoutRenderer.tsx b/public/app/features/dashboard-scene/scene/layout-auto-grid/AutoGridLayoutRenderer.tsx
index a45e4507ed6..8246bacc8d4 100644
--- a/public/app/features/dashboard-scene/scene/layout-auto-grid/AutoGridLayoutRenderer.tsx
+++ b/public/app/features/dashboard-scene/scene/layout-auto-grid/AutoGridLayoutRenderer.tsx
@@ -1,10 +1,12 @@
 import { css, cx } from '@emotion/css';
 
 import { GrafanaTheme2 } from '@grafana/data';
+import { selectors } from '@grafana/e2e-selectors';
 import { SceneComponentProps, sceneGraph } from '@grafana/scenes';
 import { useStyles2 } from '@grafana/ui';
 
 import { isRepeatCloneOrChildOf } from '../../utils/clone';
+import { getTestIdForLayout } from '../../utils/test-utils';
 import { useDashboardState } from '../../utils/utils';
 import { useSoloPanelContext } from '../SoloPanelContext';
 import { CanvasGridAddActions } from '../layouts-shared/CanvasGridAddActions';
@@ -33,6 +35,7 @@ export function AutoGridLayoutRenderer({ model }: SceneComponentProps<AutoGridLa
 
   return (
     <div
+      data-testid={selectors.components.LayoutContainer(getTestIdForLayout(model))}
       className={cx(styles.container, fillScreen && styles.containerFillScreen, isEditing && styles.containerEditing)}
       ref={model.containerRef}
     >
diff --git a/public/app/features/dashboard-scene/scene/layout-default/DefaultGridLayoutManager.tsx b/public/app/features/dashboard-scene/scene/layout-default/DefaultGridLayoutManager.tsx
index e299272de78..94bc35458e4 100644
--- a/public/app/features/dashboard-scene/scene/layout-default/DefaultGridLayoutManager.tsx
+++ b/public/app/features/dashboard-scene/scene/layout-default/DefaultGridLayoutManager.tsx
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import { css, cx } from '@emotion/css';
 
 import { GrafanaTheme2 } from '@grafana/data';
+import { selectors } from '@grafana/e2e-selectors';
 import { t } from '@grafana/i18n';
 import { config } from '@grafana/runtime';
 import {
@@ -31,6 +32,7 @@ import {
 import { serializeDefaultGridLayout } from '../../serialization/layoutSerializers/DefaultGridLayoutSerializer';
 import { isRepeatCloneOrChildOf } from '../../utils/clone';
 import { dashboardSceneGraph } from '../../utils/dashboardSceneGraph';
+import { getTestIdForLayout } from '../../utils/test-utils';
 import {
   forceRenderChildren,
   getPanelIdForVizPanel,
@@ -657,7 +659,10 @@ function DefaultGridLayoutManagerRenderer({ model }: SceneComponentProps<Default
   }
 
   return (
-    <div className={cx(styles.container, isEditing && styles.containerEditing)}>
+    <div
+      className={cx(styles.container, isEditing && styles.containerEditing)}
+      data-testid={selectors.components.LayoutContainer(getTestIdForLayout(model))}
+    >
       {model.state.grid.Component && <model.state.grid.Component model={model.state.grid} />}
       {showCanvasActions && (
         <div className={styles.actionsWrapper}>
diff --git a/public/app/features/dashboard-scene/utils/test-utils.ts b/public/app/features/dashboard-scene/utils/test-utils.ts
index f121e185d6f..17e6ab76709 100644
--- a/public/app/features/dashboard-scene/utils/test-utils.ts
+++ b/public/app/features/dashboard-scene/utils/test-utils.ts
@@ -23,12 +23,18 @@ import { ALL_VARIABLE_TEXT, ALL_VARIABLE_VALUE } from 'app/features/variables/co
 import { DashboardDTO } from 'app/types/dashboard';
 
 import { VizPanelLinks, VizPanelLinksMenu } from '../scene/PanelLinks';
+import { AutoGridLayout } from '../scene/layout-auto-grid/AutoGridLayout';
 import { DashboardGridItem, RepeatDirection } from '../scene/layout-default/DashboardGridItem';
 import { DefaultGridLayoutManager } from '../scene/layout-default/DefaultGridLayoutManager';
 import { RowRepeaterBehavior } from '../scene/layout-default/RowRepeaterBehavior';
+import { RowItem } from '../scene/layout-rows/RowItem';
+import { TabItem } from '../scene/layout-tabs/TabItem';
+import { DashboardLayoutGrid } from '../scene/types/DashboardLayoutGrid';
 import { transformSaveModelSchemaV2ToScene } from '../serialization/transformSaveModelSchemaV2ToScene';
 import { transformSceneToSaveModelSchemaV2 } from '../serialization/transformSceneToSaveModelSchemaV2';
 
+import { getRowOrTabForSceneObject } from './utils';
+
 export function setupLoadDashboardMock(rsp: DeepPartial<DashboardDTO>, spy?: jest.Mock) {
   const loadDashboardMock = (spy || jest.fn()).mockResolvedValue(rsp);
   const loadSnapshotMock = (spy || jest.fn()).mockResolvedValue(rsp);
@@ -311,3 +317,12 @@ export function getTestDashboardSceneFromSaveModel(spec?: Partial<DashboardV2Spe
 
   return dashboard;
 }
+
+// returns e.g. data-testid Layout container row Row title 
+export function getTestIdForLayout(model: AutoGridLayout | DashboardLayoutGrid) {
+  const parentRowOrTab = getRowOrTabForSceneObject(model);
+  const parentType = parentRowOrTab instanceof TabItem ? 'tab' : parentRowOrTab instanceof RowItem ? 'row' : '';
+  const parentTitle =
+    parentRowOrTab instanceof TabItem || parentRowOrTab instanceof RowItem ? parentRowOrTab.state.title : '';
+  return `${parentType} ${parentTitle}`;
+}