Microsoft turns off Edge Bar for new and inactive users

Microsoft Edge logo monochrome on dark background

Last week, Microsoft released Edge 129 in the Stable Channel. It deprecated the CryptoWallet feature, changed the operating system requirement, and brought many small changes and improvements to the browser. Now, the company has another update for Edge 129. It "various bugs and performance issues," patches security vulnerabilities, and changes how the Edge Sidebar feature works for some users.

Starting with Edge 129.0.2792.65, the Edge Sidebar is turned off by default for new and "inactive sidebar users" for a cleaner and less cluttered user interface. However, everyone is still welcome to turn on the sidebar in the browser's settings. To do so, go to Menu > Settings > Sidebar.

Microsoft also said that the change does not affect people who actively use the browser's sidebar. IT Admins can control the sidebar's availability with the HubsSidebarEnabled policy.

For those unfamiliar, the Edge Sidebar provides quick access to built-in tools like a speed test, calculator, unit converter, and more. You can also open tabs in the sidebar and pin your favorite websites.

The update also includes four Chromium security patches:

CVE-2024-9120 (high severity): Use after free in Dawn in Google Chrome on Windows prior to 129.0.6668.70 allowed a remote attacker to potentially exploit heap corruption via a crafted HTML page.

CVE-2024-9121 (high severity): Inappropriate implementation in V8 in Google Chrome prior to 129.0.6668.70 allowed a remote attacker to potentially perform out-of-bounds memory access via a crafted HTML page.

CVE-2024-9122 (high severity): Type Confusion in V8 in Google Chrome prior to 129.0.6668.70 allowed a remote attacker to perform out-of-bounds memory access via a crafted HTML page.

CVE-2024-9123 (high severity): Integer overflow in Skia in Google Chrome prior to 129.0.6668.70 allowed a remote attacker to perform an out-of-bounds memory write via a crafted HTML page.

In addition to Edge 129.0.2792.52 in the Stable Channel, Microsoft released version 128.0.2739.97 in the Extended Stable Channel. It contains security patches and "fixed bugs and performance issues."

You can update Microsoft Edge by opening the edge://settings/help page. The browser will check for updates, download them, and prompt you to restart once the update is ready to install.