Chrome to remember your Side Panel Width: Resize once, Persists forever

Google is working on a feature to ensure the width of the side panel set by users persists across browser sessions. This way, you won’t need to adjust the panel width every time you open Chrome. The change is currently being tested in Chrome Canary.

The Chrome side panel offers quick access to various features from the toolbar, such as Reading mode, reading list, bookmarks, history, and Lens Search. It’s a vertical pane accessible by clicking the icon in the top right corner of your Chrome window. Recently, Google removed the dedicated Side Panel button in favor of toolbar pinning. However, the side panel is still present in Chrome and appears when users access these features.

Persisting Chrome Side Panel width

Chrome currently allows you to resize the side panel and move its position from left to right. Unfortunately, the resizing changes aren’t saved when you restart Chrome. Google is addressing this and is about to make the side panel more useful with a new update that lets you resize the side panel and persist the width across sessions. This can be frustrating for users who rely on a specific side panel width for optimal workflow.

Enable improved Side Panel Resizing feature in Chrome

1. Launch Chrome.
2. Visit chrome://flags.
3. Find and search for “Side Panel Resizing.“
4. Select “Enabled” and restart Chrome.

After enabling the feature, while Chrome is open if you open the side panel for reading mode or other features, any resizing will be fixed at that width. This width will remain the same when you restart or launch Chrome again.