Microsoft testing Edge’s Sidebar that can be pinned to Windows 11 desktop

Reportedly, Microsoft is testing an updated Edge Sidebar that could push the sidebar out of the browser and pin it to the desktop.

When Microsoft Edge’s Sidebar is detached it will look like a vertical Taskbar

Microsoft testing a new Edge feature that will make the sidebar even more useful. Spotted by GeekerMag, in Edge Canary version 114.0.1789.0, users can detach and mount the browser’s sidebar to the desktop.

When Sidebar is detached it looks like a vertical Taskbar that lets users access Bing, a variety of tools, and any website you pin to it without opening a web page, and the sidebar will remain open even if users minimize the browser window.

GeekerMag’s Viney Dhiman shows how the feature works in the tutorial video below:

The Edge sidebar also contains several useful tools, such as the Bing chatbot, an image generator, shortcuts to email and Office, play games and access the pinned sites of choice. And users can customize all of these tools to suit their needs.

According to Windows Central, the feature is only appearing for a subset of Edge Canary and Dev users, so some users might not see it even if they have access to either channel.

The ability to detach the Sidebar is part of a controlled rollout, so it will appear for a subset of users on Edge Dev and Canary. There does not seem to flag to enable the feature if it does not appear for you, so you may just have to sit tight and wait.

The Sidebar feature can be really useful, for instance, when users are working on a document in Microsoft Word and need to ask the Bing AI chatbot something. Hopefully, the feature will make it to the stable version of Edge.