How to add or remove Sidebar Search Panel in Microsoft Edge

The sidebar search panel of Search Bing in sidebar for option in the Edge browser helps you search for a keyword quickly while browsing a website. By default, Microsoft Edge has this functionality enabled, but you can hide or disable it using the Registry if you want. As you don’t need to leave the current page, you can simultaneously browse two pages in one tab on the Edge browser using this feature.

Let’s assume that you are reading an article on a website, but you are not getting a word, or you want to know more about a specific word found on a website. At such a moment, you have two options – one, you can copy the word and search for it in a new tab, and two, you can use the Search Bing in sidebar for “word” option. The former option lets you search for the word in your preferred search engine, i.e., Google, DuckDuckGo, etc. However, the latter option lets you search for the keyword only in the Bing search engine. As the sidebar search box is a fully-featured panel powered by Bing, you will get the same result as it displays while searching in a dedicated tab.

If you do not use this feature, or somehow it is disabled, you can turn it on or off using this tutorial. You are about to use the Registry Editor to get it done. Therefore, it is recommended to create a System Restore point before heading to the steps.

How to add or remove Sidebar Search Panel in Edge

To add or remove sidebar search panel in Microsoft Edge, follow these steps:

1. Press Win+R to open the Run dialog.
2. Type regedit and press the Enter button.
3. Click on the Yes option.
4. Navigate to Microsoft in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE.
5. Right-click on Microsoft > New > Key.
6. Name it as Edge.
7. Right-click on Edge > New > DWORD (32-bit) Value.
8. Name it as DefaultSearchProviderContextMenuAccessAllowed.
9. Double-click on it to set the Value data.
10. Enter 1 to enable and 0 to disable.
11. Click the OK button.

At first, you have to open Registry Editor on your computer. For that, press Win+R, type regedit, press the Enter button and click on the Yes option.

Then, navigate to the following path-

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft

Right-click on Microsoft > New > Key, and name it as Edge.

Then, right-click on the Edge key, select New > DWOD (32-bit) Value.

Name it as DefaultSearchProviderContextMenuAccessAllowed.

Double-click on this REG_DWORD value, and set the value data as 1 to enable and 0 to disable.

At last, click on the OK button to save the change.

Once you have enabled this feature, you can visit any webpage, highlight a word, and right-click on it to find the Search Bing in sidebar for “word” option.

That’s all!

Read next:

• Difference between Microsoft Edge Bar, Edge Sidebar and Edge Office Bar explained
• How to Enable and Use Office Sidebar in Microsoft Edge.