If you want to display the Edge Bar on your Windows 11 desktop, here is how you can do it. Although this feature is mainly available for Windows 10, you can turn on or enable Edge Bar on Windows 11 desktop as well.
What is Edge Bar?
The Edge Bar is an additional sidebar that appears on the right side of your screen. It displays some Quick access icons along with a search box for surfing the web and some popular websites such as WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, Amazon, Hulu, etc. You can access them without opening the Edge browser, which is the main advantage of using the Edge Bar.
The problem is that Edge Bar is not available for Windows 11 users, even though it can be pretty handy at some point. That is why you can follow this guide to make it available for Windows 11.
How to display Edge Bar on Windows 11 Desktop
To display Edge Bar on Windows 11 desktop, you need to find the shortcut of the Edge browser. However, if you do not have a Desktop shortcut, you can press Win+R to open the Run prompt, type
%ProgramData%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs
and hit the Enter button.
Then, right-click on Microsoft Edge and create a desktop shortcut.
Once done, right-click on the desktop shortcut and select Properties. Then, head to the Target box and enter this at the end of the existing text:
--enable-features=msEnableEdgeBarOnWin11ForTesting,msEdgeBarAutoHideIntoTheRightFringe
You must give a space between the existing text and the parameter.
Next, click the Apply and OK buttons to save the change.
Then, use the desktop shortcut to open the Edge browser and go to the Settings wizard.
Now, switch to the Copilot and sidebar tab and head to the Edge Bar section. Finally, toggle the Enable Edge Bar button to turn it ON.
Once you do that, the Edge Bar will appear on the right-hand side. You can also toggle the Automatically open Edge Bar when the device starts button to make the Edge Bar appear at the startup.
Read: Microsoft Edge Bar, Edge Sidebar and Edge Office Bar explained
How do I enable the Edge Bar in Windows 11?
To enable the Edge Bar in Windows 11, you need to open the Properties of the Edge browser and enter this text at the end of the Target box: --enable-features=msEnableEdgeBarOnWin11ForTesting,msEdgeBarAutoHideIntoTheRightFringe. Then, save the change, open the Edge browser settings, and go to the Copilot and sidebar tab. Next, toggle the Enable Edge Bar button to turn it ON.
How do I enable the Edge search bar on my desktop in Windows 11?
To enable the Edge search bar on your desktop in Windows 11, open the Local Group Policy Editor and navigate to this path: User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Microsoft Edge. Double-click on the Enable the Search bar setting and choose the Enabled option. Click the OK button to save the change.
