The Microsoft Edge sidebar has become in in recent months a very important element of the Redmond browser. Because? Well, because, in addition to many other functions, more or less practical depending on the interests of each one, it is now also responsible for providing direct access to the new Bing chatbot directly from the browser, that is, without the need to access your website page.

That is already more than known Microsoft is focused on bringing such a chatbot to as many places as possible. Just yesterday we told you that after an incredibly short beta phase, Swiftkey is now providing access to it for Android and iOS, and that in the same update they brought it to the Start app and improved its integration with Skype. It’s normal, they know they currently have an advantage in the implementation of artificial intelligence and of course they play into their hands.

However, it would be a mistake to think that Redmond has lost its mind and is only interested in the new Bing. On the contrary, and quite intelligently, They are trying to use the attraction of the chatbot to give more importance to other products and services in their catalog. The most obvious example is of course Microsoft Edge, which shared the spotlight at the presentation of the new Bing, but will also play a key role in the reach of Microsoft 365, among other things.

On the right side of the desktop, you can see the Microsoft Edge sidebar disconnected from the browser.

The latest movement is particularly interesting in this regard and is, as we can read in The Verge, Microsoft Edge lets you detach its sidebar and dock it to your Windows desktop. This way we will have permanent access to it when the browser is open, even if it is minimized. This feature is currently being tested in the Canary and Dev version, and as we can read, its deployment is limited, so not all users of both can use it yet.

Its operation is very simple. Just look for the “Disconnect from Edge” button at the bottom. Clicking on it slightly modifies its appearance, but if we minimize Microsoft Edge or go to another window, we will see that the bar remains visible, as you can see in the image above the previous paragraph. This way we can access the chatbot anytime and from anywhere. To return it to its normal location in the browser, we will have to click on “Connect to Edge”.

However, as I mentioned before, heThe sidebar in Microsoft Edge doesn’t just provide access to the new Bing. From it we will also have Microsoft 365, Outlook, Drop, a selection of useful mouse-click tools… plus, of course, being able to customize it by adding new shortcuts, deleting existing ones, and so on.

This of course depends on preference, but after trying it for a few minutes, since in my case I already got access to it, I have to admit that it seems like a very useful option for many cases. At the moment I’m only going to test it because it’s limited to the test versions of Microsoft Edge, but when I get to the final version I don’t rule out using it at least for a while to see if it’s finally as practical as I think it is at the moment whether. If so, Microsoft will have an important achievement.