Author: Martin Brinkmann

When I was young, I studied German, History and English at Essen University in Germany. I worked in computer support for several years at the time to help other computer users when they ran into issues. Writing started out as a passion project, as I wanted to help more users and not just the ones that I handled in support. This lead to the founding of Ghacks Technology News in 2005. First, as a side-project, but shortly thereafter as a full-time project as the site's popularity exploded. I sold Ghacks to Softonic some years ago, but stayed on as Editor. You can still read my articles on the site. I do publish on Betanews as well. In recent years, I started to write and publish technology books, including my latest book "Windows 11 From Beginner to Advanced", which is available on Amazon. I'm also a freelance writer for the German publisher Gamestar. Chipp.in is my newest project. I want to use it to talk about my book projects, sell my books directly, and write about technology, as this is what interests me.

Vivaldi 6.6 update introduces massive improvements

Posted on February 29, 2024February 29, 2024 by Martin Brinkmann

Vivaldi Browser, contender for the world’s most customizable desktop browser, is available as a new version. Vivaldi 6.6 is a major update for the web browser. The update improves web panels, a feature of Vivaldi that allows users to display websites in a sidebar.

A web panel may display websites, e.g., Spotify, YouTube, yours truly Chipp.in, or eBay, next to other sites. One of the main uses for web panels is to control functionality of one site or service while using others.

Other new features include mail search improvements, an interesting new overview of website permissions, and the ability to set a preferred webpage color theme.

Vivaldi 6.6 is available already. Most installations of the web browser should update automatically. Users may also download the latest installer from the official Vivaldi website.

Vivaldi 6.6: web panel improvements

Vivaldi includes a few default web panels that you may launch directly from the sidebar. There is the Wikipedia web panel, for instance, which opens Wikipedia in the sidebar. You may add custom webpages and sites as web panels for easy access.

Existing web panel users may notice the new navigation options for web panels. This makes it easier to navigate back and forward, as the browser’s default navigational items are reserved for its main website view.

The second big change in regards to web panels is that extensions work there now. This means that you may install extensions, e.g. content blockers, media players, or other extensions, and use their features there as well.

Last but not least, extension developers may use the new Side Panel extension API to add “entire new Panels” to the browser.

Central Website Permission Management

Vivaldi, being a Chromium-based web browser, already includes options to manage website permissions. These can be configured globally or individually.

Global permissions apply to all websites except for sites with custom permissions. You could disable JavaScript globally and allow it to run on some sites. Other popular permissions are autoplay of media, sound, location detection, access to the microphone or camera.

Changing custom site permissions is not a straightforward process. You have to open the site in the browser and activate the Shield icon in the address bar and select Site Settings to manage them for the site in question.

This is identical in all Chromium-based browsers. Vivaldi 6.6 introduces a centralized management interface for custom permissions.

Just load vivaldi://settings/privacy/ in the browser’s address bar and scroll down to the Website Permissions section. Note that you may also go there manually by following this path: Settings > Privacy and Security > Website Permissions.

Vivaldi lists all websites with custom permissions. Just select one and you get the option to change permissions for that site right there. Custom permissions are highlighted in color, making it easy to detect them.

Note that there is no option to set permissions for individual sites to their defaults. You may reset all of them to the defaults though using the interface.

Website Color Theme setting

Another new feature in Vivaldi 6.6 is the option to set the default color theme to dark for websites. This is independent of the theme used by the browser or the operating system’s color preference.

Vivaldi 6.6 includes the option “force a dark theme on all websites” to make sure it is used on sites, even on those that do not support dark mode.

You find the options under Settings > Website Appearance, or by loading vivaldi://settings/appearance/ directly in the address bar.

Other changes in Vivaldi 6.6

The new browser version introduces a number of other updates. Here are the most important ones:

Improved the translation quality and performance of Vivaldi’s built-in translation service.
Search in Vivaldi Mail, the browser’s built-in mail client, includes advanced search options now. New filters displayed underneath the search field allow users to narrow down results, e.g., by limiting search results to a specific account or the email subject.
Import and export data from Vivaldi Notes and Reading List now.

Closing Words

Vivaldi 6.6 is a major update for the browser. It introduces several improvements for users of the browser. Notable are the permissions management interface to control custom permissions from a central page, extensions support in web panels, and the new dark mode option for websites. Vivaldi Mail users get improved search options on top of all that.

Now You: have you tried Vivaldi recently?

WinRAR 7.0 Final released: drops RAR 4 archive creation

Posted on February 28, 2024February 28, 2024 by Martin Brinkmann

The final version of the archiving software WinRAR 7.0 is now available. The developer released four beta versions prior to the release.

WinRAR 7.0 is a major new release that introduces new functionality and changes. One of the main changes improves the use of dictionary sizes.

Support for creating RAR 4.x archives is no longer available. This does not affect the extraction of these formats, as this continues to be supported.

You can download the new version of WinRAR from the developer website. Note that many localized versions are not updated yet to version 7.0.

Follow this link to find out why you should use third-party archive software and not the Windows built-in archive extraction options.

WinRAR 7.0

The official changelog lists all improvements and changes in the new release. The main new feature improves the handling of compression dictionaries. These dictionaries may improve the compression ratio of archives.

Compression dictionary sizes larger than 1 gigabyte may now be set in the application up to a total of 64 gigabytes. The maximum size depends on the available memory of the computer WinRAR runs on.

Note: WinRAR 7.0 archives created with dictionaries larger than 4 gigabytes can only be extracted using the new version of the archiving software. It also needs to be the 64-bit version of WinRAR in this case.

The maximum dictionary size to extract is set to 4 gigabytes by default. The application shows a prompt to the user if an archive exceeds the size. It is then possible to continue with the extraction or cancel it.

This is done to prevent “unexpected excessive memory allocation” according to the changelog.

WinRAR users who want to make use of new custom dictionary sizes may create presets in the options. Here is how this is done:

Open the Settings and switch to the Compression tab.
Click on “Define dictionary sizes”.
Check or uncheck the available sizes.

The selected sizes are shown in the archive name and parameters dialog then for quick selections.

Other changes

The new WinRAR releases includes two new search options. Alternate search algorithm can be enabled when creating archives. The feature may improve the compression ratio and “sometimes” speed for “redundant data”. Downside is that it does increase memory usage and may reduce the compression speed for some types of data. The algorithm is required for dictionaries larger than 4 gigabytes.

There is also a new Exhaustive search option. This option is “much slower” according to the changelog. It is turned off by default and may improve the compression ratio further at the expense of a “much lower compression speed”.

WinRAR 7.0 comes with additional improvements. The new version supports a maximum path length of 65535 characters now. Previous versions have a path limit of 2047 characters.

There is also a new propagate mark of the web option in Settings > Security. Propagating may be prevented or enabled for certain file types only. It is interesting to note that this option is only available in the graphical user interface version. The command line version of WinRAR never propagates mark of the web.

In case you are wondering, mark of the web may prevent the opening of certain files on the system by default.

Here is a quick list of other changes:

New option to show an Attributes column. Enable it under Settings > File List > Columns.
The benchmark command supports specifying the number of threads now.
New option “remove redundant folders from extraction path” under Settings > Paths. This may remove folders, e.g., a pictures folder when the extraction path is a Pictures folder already.
New Word Wrap option for comments.
Dictionary size now also available for .bz2, .lz, .tar.bz2, .tar.gz, .tar.lz, .tar.zst archives.
Search results support keyboard shortcuts such as Ctrl-A to select all files.

Closing Words

WinRAR 7.0 improves the popular archive software further. Power users benefit from new dictionary sizes, which may improve the compression ratio of archives.

Now You: do you use WinRAR or another archive software?

About Microsoft Edge’s Super Drag & Drop feature

Posted on February 27, 2024February 27, 2024 by Martin Brinkmann

Super Drag & Drop is a new experimental feature of the Microsoft Edge browser. The main idea behind the feature is to improve the opening of links and running web searches in Edge.

Once enabled in Edge, it allows you to drag and drop links just a short distance to open them in the browser. Similarly, dragging & dropping text runs a search for the text.

How to enable Super Drag & Drop in Microsoft Edge

Here is how you enable the feature in Microsoft Edge. Note that the feature is integrate in Microsoft Edge 122 or newer. You may check the version by selecting Menu > Help & Feedback > About Microsoft Edge.

Load edge://flags/#edge-super-drag-drop in the address bar of the web browser.
Set the status of the experimental feature to Enabled.
Restart Microsoft Edge.

There is one additional step required to enable the feature in Microsoft Edge:

Load edge://settings/appearance in the Edge browser’s address bar.
Scroll down on the page that opens until you come to the Super Drag and Drop section.
Toggle “Enable Super Drag and Drop” on the page to turn the feature on.

Super Drag & Drop is now enabled in the browser and you may start using it. Note that there is a “Configure Super Drag and Drop” option on the settings page to configure it.

The only two options provided at the moment let you select the open mode and the website block list. Links and searches open in a background tab by default. You can change that to foreground tab in the options.

The block list prevents Super Drag and Drop from functioning on websites that you add to the list.

Using the feature in Edge

Usage of the drag and drop feature is simple. Whenever you encounter a link in Microsoft Edge, you may drag and drop it just a short distance to load it in a new tab in the browser. It is handy especially for users who do not use middle-clicks or Shift-clicks to open links in new tabs.

Current versions of Edge support dropping links onto the browser’s tab bar to open them. This feature reduces the distance the mouse has to travel to open links.

There is no option to launch multiple links that way. This ability reminds me of Snap Links, a browser extension for Firefox and other browsers. It allowed you to draw rectangles around links to open them all at once in the browser.

Anyway, Edge’s feature is limited to dragging and dropping a single link to launch it. If you want to open multiple links, you need to repeat this for each of the links individually.

The second option that the feature introduces is to run searches for text that you drag and drop. Highlight text in the browser and then use drag & drop to run a search for that text.

This feature uses the default search engine of the browser. It is refreshing that Microsoft did not hardcode it to use Bing. Clearly, this should be the norm, but in this day and age, it is often not. A program like MSEdgeRedirect helps with that under Windows.

Closing Words

Super Drag & Drop is an experimental feature that is entirely optional at this point. It may speed up the opening of links and searching for selected text in the browser. Users who use keyboard shortcuts or middle-clicks won’t benefit from it as much as users who do not.

Now You: how do you open links in your browser of choice?

How to add scroll buttons to Chrome’s tab bar

Posted on February 26, 2024February 26, 2024 by Martin Brinkmann

Google Chrome has a hidden setting to enable scrolling on the tab bar. This guide explains how to enable the feature in the browser.

When you open a lot of tabs in Chrome, you will come to a point where no tab gets added to the tab bar anymore. This is only a visual limitation of the browser. Tabs continue to get launched, but you cannot reach them from the tab bar.

The reason for that is that Chrome lacks tab scrolling options by default. While there are other ways to access invisible tabs, for instance by using Chrome’s Search tabs feature, it is far from ideal.

You may launch Search tabs with a click or tap on its icon in the tab bar. The keyboard shortcut Ctrl-Shift-A launches it as well.

Another option that you have is to use tab groups, as you may collapse them on the tab bar. Google added the option to save tab groups recently to Chrome.

Tab Scrolling in Google Chrome

Tab Scrolling in Chrome — Tab Scroll buttons in Google Chrome

The screenshot of Google Chrome’s interface shows tab scroll buttons. The left and right buttons scroll the tab bar in the selected direction. This is useful when the open tabs do not fit on Chrome’s tab bar.

How to show tab scroll buttons in Chrome

Here is how you enable Tab Scrolling in Chrome:

Load chrome://flags/#scrollable-tabstrip in the Google Chrome address bar.
Set the status of the feature to Enabled.
Restart Google Chrome.

Note that Chrome displays scroll buttons only if too many tabs are open. The feature comes with configuration options. Tab scrolling does not change the minimum size of tabs in Chrome by default.

You may alter that as well by changing the status of Tab Scrolling.

The available customization options change the minimum size of tabs in Google Chrome. The following states are supported:

Tabs shrink to pinned tab width.
Tabs shrink to a medium width.
Tabs shrink to a large width.
Tabs don’t shrink.

The default state reduces the size of tabs to the pinned tab width. This is the smallest option. You may change that to medium, large, or no shrinking. Fewer tabs are shown then in the tab bar as a consequence.

Here is a screenshot of the medium width setting:

Other customization options

Chrome includes several customization options to further personalize the experience. The first option adds permanent scrolling buttons to Chrome’s interface, even if all tabs are shown on the tab bar.

The second enables drag scrolling. This does not require tab buttons to show on the tab bar, and may be an option for some users.

Chrome Tab Scrolling customization options

Here is how you enable and configure the options. First, the permanent scroll buttons.

Load chrome://flags/#scrollable-tabstrip in the address bar of the browser.
Set the feature to one of the following states:
- Enabled — the default state.
- Enabled to the right of the tab strip — places the scroll buttons on the right side.
- Enabled to the left of the tab strip — places the scroll buttons on the left side.
- Enabled on both sides of the tab strip — places them on the left and on the right side.

This setting places a set of buttons or two sets of buttons to scroll tabs on Chrome’s tab bar.

Now tab scrolling.

Load chrome://flags/#tab-scrolling-button-position in the Chrome address bar.
Set the feature to one of the following states:
- Enabled — the default state.
- Enabled tabs scrolling with constant speed.
- Enabled tabs scrolling with variable speed region.
Restart Google Chrome.

This feature enables tab scrolling using drag operations. The default option scrolls tabs at a constant speed, the other accelerates based on how far to the right you drag the selected tab.

Closing Words

Tab scrolling is an experimental feature of the Chrome browser. This means, that it could be removed at one point by Google. The feature has been available for years, however, and it seems unlikely that it is going to be removed any time soon.

Now You: how many tabs have you open in your browser?

How to save Tab Groups in Google Chrome

Posted on February 25, 2024February 25, 2024 by Martin Brinkmann

The ability to create tab groups is a powerful feature that most browsers support. It allows you to group tabs together, which improves management of tabs significantly.

Tab groups can be collapsed to reduce them to a single icon on the tab bar. Excellent if you need space on the tab bar for other tabs.

Google Chrome and other Chromium-based browsers support tab groups, but most did not support the saving of groups. Note that saving is different from syncing.

Saving in this context means adding all sites of a tab group to the browser’s bookmarks. Bookmarks are stored locally by default, but if sync is enabled, are synced with other data to other devices.

Note: you may see the save group option in many Chromium-based browsers, not just Google Chrome. The functionality is identical.

Saving tab groups in Google Chrome

You need at least one tab group in Chrome to use the save feature. All that is required is to right-click on the tab group label and select “Save group” from the options.

Chrome adds a new icon to the label to indicate that the group has been saved. The group is saved to the bookmarks bar. One easy way to verify this is by selecting Menu > Bookmarks and lists > Show Bookmarks Bar. You may also use Ctrl-Shift-B to show or hide it.

There is one caveat. The saving option synchronizes data between the tab group and the bookmarks bar. Any change you make to the group in Chrome is automatically synced to the bookmarks folder. If you close the entire tab group, it is deleted from the bookmarks bar.

To go around this, Google has added the option to hide and show tab groups. Hiding removes the tab group from Chrome’s tab bar without deleting the saved bookmark information.

You may then launch the saved tab group again with a click on its listing in the bookmarks bar. It remains saved there when you do so.

Closing Words

The Save Group option syncs all open tabs of a group to the bookmarks bar. This is useful in conjunction with the hide group option, as it allows you to launch tab groups only when they are needed and hide them the rest of the time.

The save option is not a backup feature, on the other hand. Since it syncs all changes, tabs are removed permanently if you close them.

Windows 11 may soon use your voice for speech output

Posted on February 24, 2024February 24, 2024 by Martin Brinkmann

Microsoft is working on a new accessibility feature in Windows 11 that it calls Speak for Me. Here is what it does: the main idea behind the accessibility tool is to have text that you type spoken aloud using either integrated voices or your own.

Twitter user Phantom spotted the integrated feature in Windows 11 build 26063. It is not enabled by default in the build, but interested users may enable it using ViVeTool.

Here are the required steps to unlock it:

Download the latest ViVeTool release from GitHub.
Extract the archive to the local system.
Open an elevated command prompt, e.g., by opening Start, typing CMD and selecting “run as administrator”.
Navigate to the ViVeTool directory.
Run the command vivetool /enable /id:44950080,47123936,47405131,47976395,48002155,48339425,48624087,48812316,48900033
Restart the system.

Speak for Me should now be accessible via Settings > Speak for Me.

Speak for Me

Toggle the Speak for Me preference to On to enable the feature. The keyboard shortcut Windows-Ctrl-T turns the assistive speech feature on and off then.

Windows 11 gives you two voice options: pick a natural voice that is provided by the operating system or use your own voice. Using your own voice requires giving Microsoft permission to record the voice.

Note all Windows 11 users may like the idea. Those who do not, may want to pick natural voice instead. Once you have given Microsoft permission, you need to read phases and sentences aloud. This takes some time, but progress is saved.

Microsoft uses your voice data then to create a personal voice. This takes about 2 hours according to Microsoft. The company promises that it will inform users once the voice is ready for use.

Use the keyboard shortcut to display the interface. It opens a text field. Anything you enter there may be read aloud using the selected voice.

Closing Words

The option to create a personal voice is interesting. Microsoft has not revealed plans to extend the feature, but it is just a small step to integrating a user’s recorded voice as one of the available voices on Windows.

This would allow Windows 11 users to use the voice in Narrator and other areas of the operating system.

Speak for Me is an interesting feature, but it is limited at this point. Microsoft has not said anything about the target release for the feature. Windows 11 version 24H2, or Windows 11 2024 Update, is the most likely target at this point

NVIDIA App: new unified app for NVIDIA graphics cards

Posted on February 23, 2024February 23, 2024 by Martin Brinkmann

NVIDIA unveiled the NVIDIA App yesterday. The new application is available as a beta release at the time of writing. It promises to unify functionality that NVIDIA’s current generation of programs offer.

The company plans to replace these programs, notably GeForce Experience, NVIDIA Control Panel, and RTX Experience, with this one in the future.

The public beta of the NVIDA app is available already. It does not include all features yet. NVIDIA notes in the announcement that it does include “many of the top features” from the existing apps already.

NVIDIA App system requirements

The beta application is compatible with Windows 10 and 11 operating systems only at the time. It requires 600 MB of disk space, 2 GB of RAM, and the GeForce 551.52 or later driver.

The app has the following CPU and GPU requirements:

GPU:

GeForce RTX 20, 30, and 40 Series GPUs
GeForce GTX 800, 900, 1000, 1600 Series GPUs
GeForce MX100, MX200, MX300, 800M, and 900M GPUs

CPU:

Intel Pentium G Series, Core i3, i5, i7, or higher
AMD FX, Ryzen 3, 5, 7, 9, Threadripper or higher

The NVIDIA App: functionality

One of the core features of the app is the discovery and installation of drivers and related NVIDIA software. It allows users to install the latest graphics card driver on their devices and also other NVIDIA software, including GeForce NOW or NVIDIA Broadcast.

Driver releases provide summaries of new features and fixed issues. These help users find out more about a release without having to read the full documentation.

All driver related articles are accessible from a single entry point in the NVIDIA app.

The NVIDIA App introduces a new game overlay, which provides access to “gameplay recording tools, performance monitoring overlays, and game enhancing filters”. Filters include new filters powered by AI, but these are limited to GeForce RTX users and about 1200 games at the time.

Filters like RTX Dynamic Vibrance or RTX HDR promise to improve the visual quality of games using AI.

Microsoft is also working on integrating AI into Windows to improve graphics. Called Super Resolution, it promises to improve performance and visuals of games on Windows devices.

Gamers get a new performance overlay, which they may customize. They may add or hide certain performance metrics in the new software.

There is also the new GPU Control Center. This allows users to tune games and driver settings from a single location. Customizations support making global changes and also specific changes to specific applications or games.

Other options include signing-in to redeem bundles and rewards. NVIDIA says that this is optional.

The future

NVIDIA is working on integrating features of the NVIDIA Control Panel that are not yet available in the NVIDIA App. The new app will also get features from GeForce Experience and RTX Experience. These include GPU overclocking and driver rollback options.

The classic NVIDIA programs remain available throughout the beta period. NVDIA appears to have plans to drop support for these apps eventually, but has not yet announced an end of support date.

Some features won’t make the cut. NVIDIA lists Broadcast to Twitch and YouTube, Share Images and Video to Facebook and YouTube, and Photo Mode 360 & Stereo captures specifically.

Closing Words

The new application promises to unify NVIDIA’s offerings for Windows. It is too early to say how good it really is at this point. It should be clear that it will include Telemetry as well. NVIDIA will likely continue to release standalone drivers for its graphics cards.

How to download age-restricted YouTube videos without account

Posted on February 21, 2024February 21, 2024 by Martin Brinkmann

YouTube publishers and YouTube may use age restrictions to limit a video’s accessibility on the website. Users get a “sign in to confirm your age” message when they try to open such a video on YouTube.

The most recent Xbox Developer Direct video is age restricted.

Age-restricted content does not violate YouTube’s community guidelines, but it may be “incompatible with YouTube’s terms of service or not appropriate for viewers under 18” according to Google.

Google gives a few examples of types of videos that may be age-restricted. This includes videos with violent or graphic content, nudity or sexually suggesting content, vulgar language, or videos with harmful or dangerous activities.

If you are an adult and have a Google account, you may sign-in to watch the video on YouTube. Not everyone has a Google account on the other hand or wants to sign-in to watch certain videos.

You find a tutorial on bypassing YouTube’s sign in to confirm your age prompt to watch the video in a browser. Another option that is available is to download the age restricted video to the local system to watch it in a local player instead.

Problem is, most download options do not work without a YouTube account. If you search for options to download YouTube videos that are age restricted, you find most tutorials still require that you sign-in to an account.

In this guide, I show you one option to download these YouTube videos. Note that this method is also limited, but it does not require an account.

Disclaimer: there are numerous ways to bypass YouTube’s age restricted prompt. Children should not use any of the methods to bypass them. With that said, the prompt won’t keep anyone from watching videos as it is not checking the “real age” of users accessing the content.

Download age-restricted YouTube videos without account

I tried several YouTube video downloaders and most do not support the downloading of age restricted content without YouTube or Google account.

Any Video Converter Free is the exception. It can download these videos, and any other video, from YouTube.

Note: the free version has one limitation. It limits downloads to a maximum quality of 720p. A paid version is available that lifts the restriction.

Here are the steps required to download these videos from YouTube:

Install Any Video Converter Free on your Windows PC.
Run the program after installation.
Select Video Download on the startpage.
Paste the video URL into the field that opens. You may add multiple videos.
Click on the analyse button.
Click on Start to being the download of the video. You may modify output settings here, but the best video quality that is available in the free version is already selected.

You may now play the downloaded video in any compatible video player.

One effect of the downloading is that you do not have to worry about ads on YouTube.

How to hide the new permanent sidebar button in Microsoft Edge

Posted on February 20, 2024February 27, 2024 by Martin Brinkmann

A recent Microsoft Edge update changes the browser’s sidebar functionality to the worse. Up until now, Edge users could disable the Copilot button that triggers the sidebar entirely. Now, when Edge users disable Copilot’s icon and thus the sidebar icon in the Edge toolbar, they get another button.

This one, a generic sidebar button, cannot be removed anymore. There is no option in the preferences to hide the button. Whether that is a case of “introduce a feature and add an option to customize it later on” remains to be seen.

Edge users may also notice that the Copilot button activates the AI chat interface now on hover. This behavior cannot be turned off either.

The official release notes do not reveal these changes.

Note that there is a workaround which requires making a change to the Windows Registry.

Update: Microsoft added a new preference in Edge 122 that allows you to disable the sidebar button. Load edge://settings/sidebar to get there and toggle “show sidebar button” to off to remove it from the toolbar of the browser.

The new Edge sidebar button

If you disable Copilot in Microsoft Edge, you get the new Edge sidebar button instead. The fastest way to disable Copilot in Edge is to load edge://settings/sidebar in the browser’s address bar to load the Customize Sidebar preferences.

Select Copilot on the page to display the preferences for the AI. There you find the “Show Copilot” option to turn it on or off.

Good news is that the generic sidebar button does not open on hover. Bad news is, that there is no switch in the preferences to disable it.

How to hide the new Edge sidebar button

If you do not use Copilot nor the sidebar in Microsoft Edge, then you may follow the steps below to turn off the generic sidebar button in Edge after you have disabled Copilot.

First, to disable Startup Boost:

Open Microsoft Edge.
Select Menu > Settings > System and Performance.
Turn off Startup Boost.
Close Microsoft Edge.

Then, add a new value to the Registry to turn off the sidebar icon:

Open the Start Menu on the Windows system.
Type regedit.exe and select the Registry Editor result.
Confirm the UAC prompt by selecting “yes”.
Use the hierarchical structure on the left side to go to Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge
- If a key does not exist along the way, create it with a right-click on the previous key and the selection of New > Key from the context menu.
Right-click on Edge and select New > Dword (32-bit) Value.
Name it HubsSidebarEnabled.
Close the Registry Editor.
Restart the system.

Note: you can also kill the explorer.exe process and restart it in the Task Manager.

There is no sidebar icon anymore in Microsoft Edge on the next start of the web browser.

How to remove an entire site from your browser’s history

Posted on February 19, 2024February 19, 2024 by Martin Brinkmann

This guide explains how to remove all history entries of a specific websites from the browser’s Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Brave, Vivaldi, Opera, and Mozilla Firefox. It should work in most other browsers as well.

All web browsers record the websites that you visit while using them. The browsing history serves two main purposes: to highlight previously visited sites when you type in the address bar, and as a record for the user to look up previously visited sites.

Sometimes, you may want to remove sites from the browsing history. Maybe because you do not need a record of the site anymore or want it to disappear completely from the browsing history.

All desktop browsers include functionality to do that. Problem is, it is not clear exactly how it is done. Opening the browsing history displays all visited sites, but there is no option to remove a specific site from the browsing history.

Clearing the entire history works, but it results in a loss of all records.

Delete a site from Google Chrome’s history (and other Chromium-based browsers)

Remove site from browsing history in Chrome

The general method of removing a site’s records from the Chrome browsing history works also in all other Chromium-based browsers. It works in Microsoft Edge, Brave, Vivaldi, Opera, and all other desktop versions of these browsers.

Here are the required steps:

Select Menu and then History > History in the browser. You may also use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl-H to open the history, or load chrome://history/ directly.
Use the search history field at the top to find all entries of the website that you want to delete. The best option is to type its domain name, e.g., chipp.in.
Scroll all the way down to the end. Chrome lists only some of the entries by default. You may also repeat the operation multiple times if there are too many records.
Now check the box of the last entry on the page.
Scroll all the way to the top.
Hold down the Shift-key and click the box of the first history entry. All entries are now checked.
Select the Delete option.
Confirm the deletion.

Here is how this looks in other Chromium-based browsers:

The process should work in all Chromium-based browsers. Most redirect chrome://history to “their” internal page protocol, e.g., vivaldi://history or edge://history/all.

How to clear a site from Firefox’s browsing history

Mozilla’s Firefox web browser supports a similar feature. It works differently, as it is not based on Chromium.

Here are the steps in Firefox:

Select Menu > History > Manage History.
Use the search field to find all records of the website.
Switch from the “Today” filter to “History” to see all records of that site.
Use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl-A to select all entries.
Right-click on the selection and select “Delete pages”. Note that there is no confirmation.

What about other records?

Deleting a site from the browsing history removes records of visits only from this database. Other databases may still store information about the site. There is the downloads history, which may have records if you downloaded files from the site.

Sites may also place content on the computer, e.g., as cookies or site data. These do not get cleared when you delete the browsing history.

How to delete other site records in Chrome and other Chromium-based browsers

It is relatively easy to delete site data and cookies in Google Chrome and other Chromium-based browsers.

Select Menu > Settings in the web browser.
Open Privacy and Security.
Select Site settings on the page that opens.
Click on “View permissions and data stored across sites”.
Use the search at the top to find a site.
Click on the trashcan icon next to it to remove it.
Confirm the operation with a click on the delete button.

Note: this removes offline data and logs you out of the site.

Do the following to remove the downloads history in the browser:

Load chrome://downloads/ in the browser’s address bar.
Use the search at the top to find all records of a site.
Activate the x-icon next to each to remove the records.

Deleting site records in Mozilla Firefox

You may also remove cookies and site data records in Mozilla Firefox.

Load about:preferences#privacy in the Firefox address bar. This opens the Privacy preferences.
Scroll down to the Cookies and Site Data section.
Activate the “Manage Data…” button there,
Use the search field at the top to find a specific website.
Click “remove all shown”. Firefox deletes the entry immediately without confirmation.

Here are the steps to clear all downloads from a specific site:

Select Menu > Downloads or use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl-J to open the Downloads interface.
Use the search at the top to find downloads from a specific site.
Use Ctlr-A to select all downloads.
Press the Delete key to remove all entries from Firefox’s history.