How to Show or Hide the Sidebar in Microsoft Edge

This article describes steps one can take to add or remove the sidebar when using the Microsoft Edge browser.

The Microsoft Edge browser is the default browser in Windows 11. Users are allowed to switch to their preferred or favorite browser anytime. Edge is based on Chromium, similar to Google Chrome and other Chromium-based browsers in use today.

There are lots of features one can use with Edge. The new Edge comes with a sidebar that appears on the right and includes items like Search, Discover, Tools, Internet Speed Test, Games, and Microsoft Office icons for quick access.

If you do not want to see that sidebar, you can quickly disable it. If you want to use it but can’t find it, here’s how to add it.

Add or remove the sidebar in the Microsoft Edge web browser

As described above, the new Edge comes with a sidebar that appears on the right and includes items like the SearchDiscoverTools, Internet Speed TestGames, and Microsoft Office icons for quick access.

Below is how to hide or show the sidebar.

With the sidebar enabled, you will find a push button to hide the side. Use the highlighted button in the image below to quickly hide the sidebar.

hide edge sidebar via button
hide the edge sidebar via the button

Show or hide the sidebar in Edge from the settings

If you don’t see the sidebar when you use Edge, you can add or remove it from its settings pane.

Open Microsoft Edge, then select Settings and More (3 dots) or use the keyboard shortcut (Alt + F). On the context menu, select Settings.

micrsoft edge browser more option and settings
Microsoft Edge browser has more options and settings

On the Settings page, click on Appearance on the left.

microsoft edge settings appearance
microsoft edge settings appearance

On the Settings –> Appearance page, under Customize toolbar, toggle the button on the tile that says “Show sidebar” to the On position to enable the side.

To disable it, simply toggle the button back to the Off position.

microsoft edge settings show or hide sidebar button
microsoft edge settings show or hide the sidebar button

Add or remove the sidebar in Edge via the registry

Alternatively, users can use the Windows registry to add or remove the sidebar in the Microsoft Edge web browser.

Open the Windows Registry, and navigate to the folder key path as listed below.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge

If you don’t see the Edge folder key, right-click on the Microsoft parent key, then create the subkey (Edge) folder.

microsoft edge show or hide sidebar via registry
microsoft edge show or hides the sidebar via the registry

On the right pane of the Edge folder key, right-click and select New -> DWORD (32-bit) Value. Type a new key named HubsSidebarEnabled.

Double-click the new value name (HubsSidebarEnabled) and enter the Value data of 1 to show the sidebar in Microsoft Edge.

Value data of 0 will hide the sidebar in Microsoft Edge.

microsoft edge show or hide sidebar via registry value data
microsoft edge show or hide the sidebar via registry value data

That should do it!

Conclusion:

This post showed you how to show or hide the sidebar in the Microsoft Edge web browser. If you find any error above or have something to add, please use the comment form below.