Google regularly releases quality and feature updates for its in-house browser. The former ones are rolled out at regular intervals and are aimed at performance enhancement.
On the other hand, as is evident from its name, the feature updates aim to add new goodies to its Chrome browser.
While the idea behind this is commendable, the same cannot be said regarding its implementation. In recent months, the Silicon Valley giants have adopted this methodology of directly enabling a feature in its browser rather than letting users decide.
First off was the introduction of the large profile selector screen that pops up every time you launch Google Chrome. While the element of doubt regarding that was about to settle, it seems there’s now a new unwanted entry in this list.
This time around, Google has added a Reading List feature that allows you to save your preferred articles and news so that you can go through them at a later date. It even segregates the contents under two distinguished sections, namely Unread and Pages you’ve read.
However, one of the most significant issues with the Reading List feature is its location- it tends to consume a considerable chunk of the space in the bookmarks bar. A slew of complaints is already lined up across Google Support Forums, where users are looking for the method to remove or hide Reading List from Google Chrome.
If you are also planning to do the same, then this guide will help you hide or remove the Reading list button from the bookmark bar.
Remove Reading List from Chrome
When the feature was first rolled out back in March, there was no straightforward removal method. Instead, you would have to tinker with one of Chrome’s experimental feature sets and disable a flag titled Read Later.
However, it wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea, and a general user shouldn’t have to deal with these chrome flags in the first place. Fortunately, Google paid head to all these queries, and from version 90.0 onwards, you could now easily hide this feature within a few clicks.
Here are the steps to hide or disable the Reading list from the chrome bookmark bar:
- Launch the Google Chrome browser.
- Right-click on the Reading List or Bookmarks Bar for the context menu.
- Click to disable the checkbox against the Show reading list menu.
That’s it; the Reading list button will be removed from the bookmark bar and stay hidden within the browser.
Note: if the bookmarks bar isn’t visible, use the / + + shortcut keys to Show bookmarks bar.
Bottom Line: Chrome Hide Reading List
We round off the guide on how you could remove or hide the Reading List from Google Chrome.
They forcibly implemented this feature into the browser infuriated quite a few users, and rightly so. And its positioning wasn’t very commendable either.
But unlike other features (more noticeably the Tab Grid UI), this time, they gave us an option to disable this functionality.
Do let us know if you have any queries concerning the instructions mentioned above for hiding the reading list button.
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