Microsoft Edge: Edge Bar feature first look

Martin Brinkmann
Feb 7, 2022
Microsoft Edge
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Microsoft is working on a new feature for its Microsoft Edge web browser that it calls Edge Bar. Edge Bar displays content in a floating window or pinned to the right side of the screen; both states are independent of the Edge browser window.

Edge Bar is an experimental feature at this point that is rolled out gradually to users of the browser. You can check Menu > More Tools to see if Edge Bar is listed as one of the options.

First launch displays a short reminder next to the bar with a link to a support page. The bar itself displays information that is very similar to Widgets of Windows 11 or the News & Interests feed of Windows 10, as all three are powered by the same source: MSN.

The bar features a Bing search option at the top, displays weather information and local headlines. The content is powered by MSN and Microsoft, and users may change what is displayed with a click on the "pen-icon" in the footer; this opens the edit area of the MSN website.

There you can change the language, enable or disable modules such as Sports, Traffic or Weather, and tell Microsoft about your interests to personalize the news feed.

The default interface displays several items in a small bar on the left side. From top to bottom, these are Home, Bing Search, Outlook, LinkedIn, Add Item, User Profile, Rewards, Settings, and Pin.

Most options are self-explanatory. The plus-icon opens a basic form that accepts a web address and a name. You may use it to add any website to Edge Bar permanently. A click on the icon displays the website in the interface. Note that it depends on the site whether it is displayed correctly in the small window that Edge Bar provides.

Basic navigation options are displayed at the bottom if a website is displayed. You may go back and forward, reload a page, go back to Home, or open the current page in the Edge browser. An option to load another URL directly is also provided.

Selecting Pin attaches the entire window to the left side of the screen. The window is set to be always on top by default, but you may activate the autohide button to see just a small vertical bar at the right side whenever the window is not used actively.

Closing words

Edge Bar is like a small browser window that you may attach to the side of the screen. It resembles the sidebar of the Vivaldi web browser, but is unattached from the browser window.

Edge Bar is configured to launch with the computer by default; this needs to be disabled in the Edge settings, edge://settings/edgeBar, while all personalization options are configured on the MSN website and not in Edge.

Microsoft continues to push its MSN news feed and Bing Search to users. Widgets and News & Interests are already available on Windows 10 and 11, and the default tab of the Edge browser displays the information as well already. Edge Bar's main attraction is the ability to display custom URLs. Many users do so already by displaying two browser windows side by side though.

The interface lacks customization options. You can't change the search engine or remove it, and you can't remove the default icons either in the interface.

Now You: what is your take on Edge Bar?

Summary
Microsoft Edge: Edge Bar feature first look
Article Name
Microsoft Edge: Edge Bar feature first look
Description
Microsoft is working on a new feature for its Microsoft Edge web browser that it calls Edge Bar. Edge Bar displays content in a floating window or pinned to the right side of the screen; both states are independent of the Edge browser window.
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Ghacks Technology News
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Comments

  1. easy peasy said on February 27, 2022 at 11:02 pm
    Reply

    what is your take on Edge Bar?

    I don’t use it, and thus I never see it. No problem here.

    Beyond that, I have tried Edge, Chrome, Brave, Firefox, Vivaldi, and Opera. Being that I like to have a minimal GUI with my browser, I have to change various settings with all those browsers. Furthermore, I like to have my home button go to my bookmarks, and new tabs open the downloads page. I do that with the URIs.

    Out of all of them, Edge easily helped me achieve my goals the best. The worst was Brave, as it has a useless toolbar that can’t be removed, that just nags the user to join their ad network and such. The next worse is Firefox, as it no longer supports URIs. The next worse is Vivaldi, as there is so much to be removed and changed.

    Yet if your needs are different than me, then I hope you find something that fits you.

  2. Test said on February 9, 2022 at 11:17 am
    Reply

    Looks nice. I like these additions. People complain like they have to use it. You don’t. Just disable it.

    1. Dick said on May 31, 2022 at 3:39 am
      Reply

      Unfortunately, disabling the Edge bar doesn’t work. My Edge is set to NOT load the Edge bar on startup…but it loads anyway.

    2. I have a purpose said on February 27, 2022 at 11:57 pm
      Reply

      Just disable it? We are too lazy and dumb to look in the settings. We would rather complain here and pretend to be worthy.

  3. beergas said on February 8, 2022 at 4:12 pm
    Reply

    ICK. It’s there, buried until looked Windows 11 Pro. Says 2 conflicts so turned off. LastPass & MS’s own Microsoft Editor. So that’s a big No Thankie.

  4. cutelittlepuppy said on February 8, 2022 at 3:49 pm
    Reply

    Alright! Bing and MSN! More news story headlines! I love being force-fed algorithms. I am becoming machine and am being assimilated like all other good citizens. Thank you.

    1. roblox fanboy chatbot said on February 27, 2022 at 11:40 pm
      Reply

      Wow, you sound cool. Can I join your rebellious cult of extreme naysayers?

  5. Stuart said on February 8, 2022 at 11:15 am
    Reply

    Been using and really like it so far. It’s very handy.

  6. Bong said on February 8, 2022 at 11:07 am
    Reply

    Edge is the same as taking an open source app from GitHub, shove it full of ads and spread it on Google Play. Except it can’t be removed.
    They were GIVEN a FREE opportunity to develop a good browser for their catastrophically bad OS, and they failed miserably. Everybody DETESTS Edge. Everybody HATES Bing. NOBODY uses either one. And never will. That’s not the users fault, it’s the products that are S**T.
    Here’s a bonus tip: in edge flags, search for bing and disable everything. Also block ntp.msn.com in your hosts file.

    1. darker than black said on February 27, 2022 at 11:31 pm
      Reply

      > Everybody DETESTS Edge. Everybody HATES Bing. NOBODY uses either one.

      I don’t find such extreme hyperbole to be very effective or persuasive, as it makes you sound like a dopey kook, of which I doubt you are. Hmm, so why use it?

      Are you trying to reach gullible simpletons? Are you practicing to be a dictator?

      Well, you only have to fool a few fools to claim you have achieved something, thus I’ll give you that.

  7. ULBoom said on February 8, 2022 at 4:25 am
    Reply

    One Bourbon, one Scotch, one Beer…

    Wrong kind of bar?

  8. DarkPattern11 said on February 7, 2022 at 10:51 pm
    Reply

    I wish they fired the person who come up with these dumb ideas. Time to get off this boat and head back to Firefox.

    1. goober said on February 27, 2022 at 11:48 pm
      Reply

      Back in the day I used Firefox, until that fox got mange.

      R.I.P. Firefox.

  9. Modson said on February 7, 2022 at 10:20 pm
    Reply

    more bloat to Edge….man MS knows how to make everyone to hate their browser once again just like IExplorer …

  10. computer said no said on February 7, 2022 at 6:39 pm
    Reply

    It seems microsoft have gone back to their roots and is employing toolbars which were the scourge of internet exploder so many moons ago lol.

  11. Anonymous said on February 7, 2022 at 6:27 pm
    Reply

    wtf

  12. Paul(us) said on February 7, 2022 at 3:33 pm
    Reply

    Will this be seen as a spam window by the existing programs like canvasblocker, NoScript, LocalCDN & others?
    Is this a first try-out from Microsoft to reintroduce controlled by Microsoft spam in pop-out windows?
    Is this again the beginning of a new episode of spyware nightmare?

  13. Anonymous said on February 7, 2022 at 3:29 pm
    Reply

    Wow, what a load of rubbish. They are trying hard to force MSN on you. Does anyone know how to completely remove Edge from Windows 10 and 11?

    1. ULBoom said on February 8, 2022 at 4:26 am
      Reply

      Powershell. Search for it and you’ll find the method.

  14. common sense computing said on February 7, 2022 at 3:02 pm
    Reply

    This is why you use powershell and completely uproot Edge from your install.

  15. JohnIL said on February 7, 2022 at 1:53 pm
    Reply

    Was all in on Edge early, but now that Microsoft keeps pilling on bloat, I am having second thoughts. It’s really not what I want in a web browser to have all this crap baked in. Why not offer it as an extension instead?

    1. JT said on February 7, 2022 at 4:25 pm
      Reply

      Yeah, same here.

  16. ShintoPlasm said on February 7, 2022 at 12:31 pm
    Reply

    Useless rubbish. Bloatfest.

  17. deja vu said on February 7, 2022 at 11:38 am
    Reply

    Bing/MSN Toolbar lol. What a deja vu. No matter how they name their awful browser, it’s IE and Microsoft is always Microsoft.

  18. dwa said on February 7, 2022 at 11:37 am
    Reply

    i hope it’s disabled by default on windows…. why would anyone want one, let alone 2 of that piece of crap?

  19. John G. said on February 7, 2022 at 9:33 am
    Reply

    Useless idea I have ever seen, such a big annoyance while browsing. Thanks for the article. :]

    1. Ian Breach said on February 10, 2022 at 1:40 am
      Reply

      I couldn’t agree more.I’ve got rid of Edge in it’s entirety because it, and that horrible Bing, are so intrusive, and annoying. I’ve reverted to Chrome so I don’t get all those irritating and irrelevant pop ups. I hate Bing!

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