Microsoft tests a new quick actions sidebar in Edge

Martin Brinkmann
Jan 24, 2022
Microsoft Edge
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5

Some Microsoft Edge Canary users are seeing a new quick actions sidebar on the right side of the web browser. It appears that Microsoft is A-B testing the functionality at the time; there is no option to enable it if it is not enabled by default.

microsoft edge quick actions sidebar

source: Benjamin MathisThe quick actions sidebar is a small bar that is attached to the right side of the Edge web browser. Twitter user Benjamin Mathis was one of the first users that mentioned it on the site. Mathis published several screenshots of the feature on his Twitter account.

Mathis' version of the quick actions sidebar displayed five icons at the top, which opened the following features in a sidebar on the right side:

  • Discover -- display site information.
  • Microsoft Rewards Daily Activity
  • Internet Speed Test -- a basic speed test that benchmarks the upload and download speed, and the ping.
  • Games -- MSN games
  • Microsoft 365 Quick Actions -- quick actions to launch Microsoft 365 apps and features.

Microsoft 365 Actions

Games

Internet Speed Test

Microsoft Rewards

Discover

Microsoft Edge Canary who have the feature in the browser may disable it in the browser's Settings.

Microsoft is not the first browser maker that is introducing a quick actions sidebar in the browser.  The Chromium-based browsers Vivaldi and Opera support similar functionality.

Vivaldi, for example, has an option to display lots of content in the sidebar. From downloads, bookmarks and the history to specific web applications, mail or other handy features such as translate functionality.

The features that Microsoft added to the Quick Actions bar look less useful on first glance and more like another way to push certain company services. The speed test may be useful in some situations, but everything else is either already available elsewhere with just a click or only useful to a small subset of users.

Options to customize the display, similarly to how Vivaldi and Opera allow users to add or remove quick action icons from their sidebars, could make the feature more useful, provided that Microsoft is adding quick actions to it that appeal to a wider audience.

Now You: what is your take on the new quick actions sidebar? (via Deskmodder, Benamin Mathis)

Summary
Microsoft tests a new quick actions sidebar in Edge
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Microsoft tests a new quick actions sidebar in Edge
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Some Microsoft Edge Canary users are seeing a new quick actions sidebar on the right side of the web browser.
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Comments

  1. Anonymous said on January 24, 2022 at 11:38 pm
    Reply

    Not even a note feature for sidebar.. Except for the speed test, all the features are just ads lol

  2. SergeyMusk said on January 24, 2022 at 10:57 pm
    Reply

    This is becoming worse than IE 6 with all the toolbars. https://i.imgur.com/fTU1HXo.jpg

    Please stop Microsoft!

  3. ULBoom said on January 24, 2022 at 9:11 pm
    Reply

    Part of the reason I’m not an insider, beta tester or whatever. A constant stream of stuff I’d never use or disable wouldn’t be much fun.

  4. Anonymous said on January 24, 2022 at 9:06 pm
    Reply

    Yay more bloat! Just what I needed!

  5. Leopeva64 said on January 24, 2022 at 3:09 pm
    Reply

    If I hadn’t mentioned that tweet on Reddit it would have gone completely unnoticed…

    https://www.reddit.com/r/MicrosoftEdge/comments/sajnus/comment/htvftjh/

    ?

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