Microsoft plans to simplify the toolbar and reduce the size of the title bar in its Edge browser. This initiative could reflect Microsoft’s desire to hide certain features considered too many by users.
Edge browser toolbar is often cluttered with unnecessary icons, which can make navigation difficult for users. Microsoft has recognized this issue and is working to fix it by simplifying Edge’s title bar and toolbar. The goal is to create a minimal browsing experience by default, similar to that offered by Chrome.
The transition from Edge to Chromium/Blink allowed Microsoft to significantly improve the performance of its browser. However, some features have also made using Edge heavier and more complex. To remedy this, Microsoft is now focusing on reduce the superfluous to offer a lighter and more pleasant browsing experience to its users.
Also read: Edge – built-in VPN lands on Microsoft’s browser
Edge reinvents its toolbar for a streamlined browsing experience
Edge users are increasingly unhappy with the frequency of updates and feature additions that can complicate the browsing experience. Some features, such as workspaces or VPN, have never even been released, while others are in development and are only available in beta in some countries. In order to address these concerns, Edge started working on simplifying the toolbar to improve the user experience.
Edge notably plans to move the profile icon to the left side and now offers an option “Microsoft Edge basic toolbar & title bar experience” which removes most buttons from the toolbar for a cleaner look. However, this means that users will no longer be able to customize their toolbar to their preferences.
Read also: Edge 111 integrates a co-pilot to get all the information from a site in seconds
How to manually enable Basic Toolbar in Microsoft Edge?
If you are using Windows 10 or Windows 11you can follow these steps to enable basic toolbar in Microsoft Edge
- Enter edge://flags in the search bar of your Microsoft Edge browser.
- Search for “Edge basic toolbar title bar” in the search bar on the flags page.
- Enable the “Edge basic toolbar title bar” option by selecting “Enabled” from the drop-down menu.
- Restart your Edge browser for the changes to take effect.
- Go to your browser’s Settings by clicking on the three dots in the menu bar and selecting “Settings”.
- Go to the “Appearance” tab.
- Enable the “Show Basic Toolbar” setting to show Edge’s title bar and basic toolbar.
After modifying the toolbar, the Screenshot, Webshot and Favorites buttons will be displayed correctly, while some other buttons like the extensions menu will no longer be visible on the toolbar. Despite criticism from some users, Bing’s discovery button will still be present on the toolbar.
