Microsoft is testing a Split Mode in Edge

Martin Brinkmann
Jan 24, 2023
Microsoft Edge
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Microsoft is testing a Split Mode feature in development versions of Microsoft Edge currently that allows users to display two webpages or internal pages side-by-side in a single tab.

microsoft edge split mode

Microsoft Edge's Split Mode feature is not the first of its kind. Vivaldi Browser, also based on Chromium, supports several options to display multiple websites in a single tab in the browser. There have also been extensions and experiments, for instance Mozilla's Side View experiment or the extension Tile Tabs WE for Firefox and Chrome, that supported similar functionality.

Split Mode is an experimental feature that is only available in development versions of Microsoft Edge. It supports splitting a tab so that two different webpages may be displayed in it. The feature is easy to use once enabled: all it takes is a click on the split icon in the Microsoft Edge toolbar to split it in the middle.

Edge users may select one of the open tabs to display it next to the active tab. There is also an option to create a new tab and load any web address using the address bar.

Speaking of which, the address bar is split in two, which may be confusing to some users. Both URLs are displayed next to each other, separated by a "|" symbol. When one of the addresses is selected, it is expanded in the address bar and the other is hidden automatically.

Tab controls become available on hover. These controls include a close button to end split mode right away, an option to switch the link opening mode from opening links in the current tab to open links from the left tab in the right tab, to view the split screen pages in individual tabs, and to open one of the open webpages in a new tab.

The tab tiling feature is limited to two tabs at the moment, which makes it less functional than Vivaldi's tab tiling feature. Vivaldi has no restrictions and users may display more tabs in a single tab in the browser using its excellent tab stacking and tiling functionality.

microsoft edge split screen

Microsoft Edge users who want to give it a try need to load edge://flags/#edge-split-screen and set the experimental feature to Enabled. The new Split icon is placed on the taskbar after the required restart of the browser.

Please note that experimental features may not land in stable versions of the Edge browser. Some features are removed prior to that.

Now You: do you use Split functionality or would use it?

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Microsoft is testing a Split Mode in Edge
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Microsoft is testing a Split Mode in Edge
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Microsoft is testing a Split Mode feature that allows users to display two webpages or internal pages side-by-side in a single tab.
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Ghacks Technology News
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Comments

  1. Nick said on January 25, 2023 at 2:29 pm
    Reply

    Dear Edge developers… how about doing something usable for once and do something about that huge context menus Edge has???? How about using submenus? You made it even worse by adding and adding stuff there too. Seriously everytime I try to make a relative or a friend to try Edge they always go back to Chrome because they think Edge menus are too big and confusing. No wonder why Edge’s marketshare can’t gain more than 2% every year no matter why much you push it in Windows. Adding stuff all the time and make everything more confusing never gains marketshare, simplicity is what it does.

  2. Anonymous said on January 25, 2023 at 6:30 am
    Reply

    This feature is one of the reasons I’ve stuck with Vivaldi all these years. Might actually give Edge a serious try once this is implemented.

  3. Anonymous said on January 24, 2023 at 10:23 pm
    Reply

    Pretty stupid feature. Just stack your windows side by side.

  4. Tachy said on January 24, 2023 at 5:01 pm
    Reply

    Why?

    Each tab is just another instance of Edge, just drag the tab out of the current window and drop it on the desktop. Then grab the new window and drag it to the edge of the screen to resize both windows to fit the screen side by side.

    Just a another *feature no one needs or wants that will no doubt be annoyingly turned on by default.

    1. Anonymous said on January 25, 2023 at 12:46 am
      Reply

      @Tachy
      for the same reason Vivaldi has it, even if it conflicts with a lot of features Vivaldi has like stacking tabs to the point it can break.
      Some people apparently can’t just snap two windows side by side and need this feature, I mean even powertoys have a nice way to snap windows so this type of stuff is not necessary, the only thing this is doing is saving some space by not having to have 2 windows with a tab rows or sidebars each
      But that’s it, always seemed useless to me, but somehow faster especially if you use Vivaldi and then it freezes and acts slow whenever you detach tabs to put them in their own window, not a problem with Edge.

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