Micorsoft Edge has received Google Chrome’s Side Panel with the latest Canary update and is now enabled and available out of the box. However, the feature could be removed with the next update. Here is how you can open and use Side Panel in Edge while it lasts.
What is Side Panel?
Google developed Side Panel for Chrome to quickly access bookmarks and Reading List. initially, it supported bookmarks only, later Reading list has been added to the panel as well. You can notice the change in the Chrome 99 update delivered on March 23.
Recently, Google started testing Side Search in the Chrome browser. It also uses a side panel to display Search results
It’s worth noting, Chrome will display one only side panel means the browser, either shows search results or Bookmarks and a reading list.
How to open and use Side Panel in Microsoft Edge
Like other Chromium features, Microsoft Edge for the first time has gained Side Panel in the Canary channel.
The feature is available out of the box in Edge 101 without needing to enable any flag and is visible on the toolbar, it uses the same icon as Chrome.
You can able to open the Side Panel in Edge by clicking its icon on the toolbar.
Edge displays Reading List and Favorites in the Side Panel.
As you’ve seen in Chrome, the feature usage is quite straightforward.
Side Panel to be Short-lived in Edge
Citing low usage in Edge Legacy, Microsoft has said it won’t bring Reading Lists to the new Edge. The Side Panel availability in Edge may fill the feature gap if it makes into stable
Seems that’s not going to happen, as Microsoft Edge’s developer William Devereux confirmed the side Panel feature presence in Edge as a bug. So it could go away anytime.
This is not the first time, Chromium upstream change picked up chrome only feature, in the past, Edge got Chrome extensions menu button in this fashion, but it has vanished the next day.
When using a highly unstable Canary build, you should expect these things. After all, there is no guarantee for every feature that gets tested or appears in the Canary branch to get into an Edge public release.
Final words: Latest Canary update brought Side Panel to Microsoft Edge for users to quickly access favorites and Reading lists. However, the feature could soon vanish with the next update as Microsoft Edge Senior PM confirmed that as a bug.
What’s your take on Side Panel’s first appearance in Microsoft Edge? Let us know in the comments below.
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