How to Activate the Chrome Bookmarks Side Panel + Tips and Tricks

I was saying about the launch of Chrome 95 that although that version was just a little short in terms of ‘cash and hard’ news, those that the user can feel from the start, these are not bad times for Google’s browser thanks to the competence.

Or, to put it another way, these are not bad times for web browsers in general when it comes to the intention to innovate, even though everything is Chromium and apparently there is no innovation. But it is just the opposite: apparently there is innovation and the differences from one browser to another, despite sharing a base, are obvious.

Thus, in the wake of the thrust of spearheads such as Microsoft Edge or Vivaldi, Chrome developers have woken up from lethargy and for a year now they have not stopped including small practical novelties in a browser that can boast market share, but in terms of features had fallen behind.

Little by little, however, Chrome has begun to brighten up its interface and options and thus basic functions such as a menu from which to search between open tabs or retrieve recently closed ones, tab groups, the reading list, RSS support and more, including some that are yet to come, have arrived.

Today we talk about panel lateral de Chromea feature that you can find in browsers such as Microsoft Edge, Opera or Vivaldi and that Google was reluctant to implement in Chrome, due to the greater comfort and usefulness that it provides to more advanced users… and that is because not everyone likes to waste vertical space in marker bars.

In effect, Chrome’s new side panel is for the time being reduced to the sample bookmarks and reading list, although later the user may be offered the possibility of expanding its functionality, with or without extensions, to customize the usability of the application, which is what it is all about. We will have to see it, because at the moment the function is still in test mode…

… But it is already available in the stable version of the browser, so it can now be activated without complications, as we usually do with many other functions that take time to spread among the general public. That is, it is not clear if Google will enable the side panel in Chrome 96 or later, but if you are a heavy user you will like to try it now.

As always, to activate Chrome’s new side panel you have to go to the browser’s advanced preferences, which remain hidden in the internal URL:

chrome://flags/

Once there, filter the term “side panel” (without the quotes) and you will see a couple of options: “Side panel” and “Side Panel drag and drop» that you must activate in the drop-down menu (“Enabled”). Restart the browser and…

Have you noticed the new button on the toolbar, next to the user profile icon? From there you can show and hide the new bookmarks and reading list side panel, whose operation is elementary like a jug. Thanks to the second option you activated, you can also add bookmarks simply with drag and dropwithout having to go through the little star button.

Cool or not? If your answer is negative, it is that you do not use bookmarks much, which is a mistake, because they are a way of keeping at hand not only the sites that we visit the most, but also the ones that we visit the least, but it is still important not to forget. And this is just the beginning.