The Microsoft Edge sidebar is one of my favorite features in the browser. I use it as a phone in my browser that syncs with all my services, such as Telegram, Spotify, and Instagram. It’s also convenient for other things, like searching the internet. without leaving your existing window and sending files to yourself, the Edge Drop feature (which is arguably the most productive Edge feature you don’t use). But as much as I love Edge’s sidebar, it has some flaws that need to be fixed.
I’m concerned that the Edge sidebar has taken a back seat to Copilot, probably in part due to the fact that Copilot takes up the same area in Edge as the sidebar. A few small tweaks to the sidebar can go a long way. and, in one case, repair it to restore it to its former glory.
Maybe I’m just misusing Edge’s Sidebar, but I can’t imagine a time when I’d want the Sidebar open within two Edge windows simultaneously. Even if there are people who like having the Sidebar appear on every window, it doesn’t make sense for that to be the only option.
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Microsoft has added the ability to display vertical tabs for all existing browser windows or vertical tabs in a quick window, so the company obviously agrees to allow users to view other Edge windows in another way. Adding the same option so that the sidebar appears in all windows, or just one, would be very useful.
For a brief period, Microsoft allowed users to detach the Sidebar on Microsoft Edge. This gave instant access to any web apps, websites, or tools within your personalized Sidebar straight on the desktop. It was a glorious period, as I could open up my favorite sites with a keyboard shortcut regardless of where I was on my PC.
Unfortunately, Edge’s sidebar splitter feature turns out to have been powered through Copilot. Opening Copilot from the desktop calls the AI tool to the same area where Edge’s sidebar appeared to be separate. I guess Microsoft doesn’t need competing apps in this area. , so they turned to Copilot.
As far as I can tell, Microsoft has scrapped any plans to let you detach the Sidebar from Edge. It’s no longer available on my system, at least on Edge Canary or Edge Dev. There also don’t appear to be any flags about that option.
It’s possible to replace the computers and websites that appear in the Edge sidebar, but you don’t have full control over their order. Even getting the desired sites in the sidebar is a bit tricky. You want to load an item for quick access and pin it to the sidebar. This puts the most recently fixed site in the maximum sense of your internet sites, and you can’t drag and drop sites in a traditional order.
On most of your sites, Edge literally places your own team on most of the online pages you’ve pinned. However, teams appear in a predetermined order unlike their sites. There is a hierarchy of Edge sidebar teams, which is the order in which they appear on the Edge settings page.
Combine those two setups, and you will end up with a list of sites that can only be below any tools you have pinned and can’t appear in your preferred order. Plus, changing the site’s order is entirely different from how arranging tools works, but neither of the setups is intuitive.
Can I recommend that Microsoft take a page from its own playbook and make the Edge sidebar work like the Windows Start menu? The Start menu has been around for a few decades, so I bet Microsoft could use its drag-and-drop experience in Edge’s sidebar.
Update: March 13, 2024 at 9:35 a. m. m. : Microsoft has the option to reorder parts in the sidebar. Leo Varela highlighted the feature and shared a video of it in action.
“…and you can’t drag and drop the sites into a customized order”The option to reorder sidebar items is already available in Edge Canary:https://t.co/QdbPFWNlJw pic.twitter.com/GjYJt29Z4mMarch 13, 2024
The sidebar is one of my favorite features in Edge, and I’m not alone. Our editor-in-chief, Richard Devine, said that Edge Sidebar has replaced the way it works every day. I’ve been following the progresión. de the Edge sidebar and appreciate the maximum of the possible choices Microsoft has made regarding this feature. But with Copilot in the spotlight, I’m worried that Microsoft will leave the Edge sidebar behind. I hope that’s not the case and that Microsoft continues to the sidebar, which offers an exclusive internet browsing experience.
By offering users more information about the sidebar in Edge, Microsoft will make the feature feel more like an extension of the browsing experience than a placeholder until the company figures out how to fully integrate with Copilot.
Sean Endicott brings nearly a decade of delight covering Microsoft and Windows news to Windows Central. He joined our team in 2017 as an app reviewer and now leads our news coverage. If you have a tip or app to check out, tap on sean. endicott@futurenet. com.
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