Language / 语言: English · 简体中文
Changelog / 更新日志: CHANGELOG.md
A browser extension that lists customizable web shortcuts in the native Chromium Side Panel—click to open in a popout window beside the main window, with normal cookies and login. Useful when Microsoft Edge retires the built-in App Tower sidebar.
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Shortcuts | Custom name & URL; favicon from site |
| Popout | Opens in an independent window; multiple popouts supported |
| Resume | Focus without reload if still open; restore last URL, position, and size in same browser session after close |
| Open from start | Shift+click or context Open start URL |
| Open in tab | Context Open in tab → new tab with start URL (normal tab cookies/login) |
| Mobile / desktop | Per-entry; mobile uses Android UA + 375px + viewport |
| Launcher mode | Side panel list or toolbar popup menu |
| Open mode | Default Popout (recommended); not recommended for daily use: experimental open page in side panel |
| Theme | Light / dark / follow system |
| Backup | Export / import JSON |
| Sync | Optional chrome.storage.sync when signed in |
| Locale | English / 简体中文 / follow browser |
- Microsoft Edge 114+ or Google Chrome 114+
- Open Side Shortcuts Popout on Edge Add-ons
- Click Get / Add extension
- Pin the extension to the toolbar and open the side panel
- Open GitHub Releases
- Download the latest
Side-Shortcuts-Popout-v*.zip - Unzip to any folder (the folder root must contain
manifest.json) - Edge:
edge://extensions/→ Developer mode → Load unpacked → select the unzipped folder
Chrome:chrome://extensions/→ Developer mode → Load unpacked → select the unzipped folder
An “unverified extension” notice is normal when loading from a Release zip or source.
- Nine preset shortcuts on first install; edit in Options
- Click a shortcut to open a popout; use the gear icon for settings
- Export your config before uninstall or device change
Use tools/edge-sidebar-migrate to
export links from an Edge profile, or convert an already exported Edge sidebar
link list into a backup JSON, then import it from Options → Import → Merge.
| Action | Effect |
|---|---|
| Normal click | Open popout on top of existing ones; after close, restore last URL, position, and size in this session when possible |
| Click while popout open | Focus and raise that popout, no reload |
| Middle-click | Same open/stack-on-top as left-click (side panel stays open; popup menu closes) |
| Shift+click / right-click Open start URL | Load configured start URL |
| Right-click Open in tab | Open start URL in a new browser tab |
The side panel list includes usage tips below the shortcuts (mobile/desktop, resume, open from start, open in tab, middle-click). With open page in side panel enabled, popup menu clicks open sites in a side-panel iframe; the toolbar icon stays on the popup menu.
Warning
Not recommended. This is experimental: browser APIs and site policies make failures common and behavior unreliable. Keep the default Popout. Only try briefly if you must; switch back to Popout when anything goes wrong. Default iframe was dropped in v2.0.0 for the same class of issues; the main path remains shortcut list + popout.
- Options → Open mode → Side panel opens sites in a full-screen iframe via the toolbar popup menu (toolbar stays on popup menu in this mode)
- The
!hint in Settings says the same; use Open in popout on failure; this mode has no popout-style URL resume
| Limitation | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Extension API | The Side Panel API only loads extension pages (e.g. sidepanel.html), not arbitrary https:// URLs—external sites must go in an iframe. |
| Cookie / login isolation | Panel iframes use different cookie partitions than normal tabs, so you often get “logged in on tab, not in panel” or failed QR login; cookie injection workarounds are fragile and need extra permissions. |
| Sites block embedding | Many sites set X-Frame-Options or CSP frame-ancestors to refuse iframe embedding; even if declarativeNetRequest strips headers, front-end code may detect window.top !== window.self and break login or QR codes. |
| Unlike Edge’s built-in sidebar | Legacy Edge opened sites in a separate top-level browsing context with normal cookies and login; extension iframes cannot match that. |
| Maintenance & permissions | Per-site allowlists, mobile UA, header rewriting, and cookie sync need broad permissions (<all_urls>, cookies, DNR) and still fail on strict login sites (e.g. Xiaohongshu). |
- Stored URL is never rewritten by the extension
- Mobile: ~375px wide, Android UA + viewport
- Desktop: ~420px wide, native UA
- Use mobile URLs yourself when needed (e.g.
https://m.weibo.cn/)
- Popups may be blocked by browser policy; if blocked, allow popups in the site’s permissions
- Resume restores URL, window position, and size—not scroll or form state; session clears when the browser closes
- Popouts cannot be forced “always on top”
Only your shortcut list is stored locally and optionally synced with your browser account. No browsing history or page content is collected.
MIT License © 2026
Not affiliated with Microsoft or Google.