What you need to know
- Microsoft Edge Canary has a new option in the Sidebar that allows you to switch between the desktop and mobile versions of websites.
- The Settings section of Edge has gained a subsection specifically for the Sidebar.
- Microsoft is also testing an option to let disable the automatic hiding of the forward button when it's not needed.
Microsoft Edge Canary has a small handful of new features in testing. Edge expert Leo Varela rounded them up in a Reddit post and shared screenshots of them in action. Two of the options relate to the browser's Sidebar, while the other allows you to control when the forward button appears.
The Sidebar is a relatively new feature for Edge that allows users to quickly access a variety of sites and services. For example, people can jump to Bing, Outlook, or Office directly through the Sidebar with a single click. The idea is that someone can access a website or shortcut without having to switch tabs or navigate to another page.
A new option that's in testing within Edge Canary allows users to switch between the mobile and desktop versions of sites easily. Since the Sidebar opens websites in an aspect ratio that is vertical rather than horizontal, mobile sites may be easier to navigate.
With the Sidebar gaining more features, the Settings section Edge now has a subsection to customize it. Users can select to show or hide the Sidebar and add or remove apps from it.
Varela also highlighted a new option in Edge Canary that lets people disable the automatic hiding of the Forward button. Microsoft previously enabled automatic hiding of the forward button by default. Now, users can choose to have the behavior occur or not.
As is normally the case, these features may not appear for all Edge Canary users. Microsoft tests things gradually, and some tools and options don't make their way to everyone.
