How to Add a Sidebar to the Desktop in Windows 10 & 11

Windows Vista and 7 have integrated sidebars for their gadgets on the right side of the desktop area. However, Microsoft has since done away with the sidebars in Windows. Sure, the big M might have reinstated some limited shenanigans with a widget panel, but that’s no sidebar.

A sidebar can be a useful addition to the Windows desktop for many things, such as: B. to add shortcuts. Want to restore a sidebar in Microsoft’s newer desktop platforms? If this is the case, try adding one of these third-party software sidebars to Windows 11 or 10.

MetroSidebar is a freeware sidebar software that includes Metro style live tiles for widgets. The publisher originally released MetroSidebar to add a matching Metro-style sidebar to Windows 8. It comes with 11 default widgets that users can select to add and remove from the bar. How to add MetroSidebar to desktop in Windows 11 and 10:

1. Open the MetroSidebar page on Softpedia.
2. Choose Download now for Metro Sidebar.
3. click Softpedia Secure Download (US) to start the MetroSidebar download.
4. open that Downloads tab in your web browser and double-click MetroSide_setup.msi to open it from there.
5. Install the application and restart your PC.
6. If MetroSidebar doesn’t start automatically after restarting, select it from your Start menu to run it. Then you will see a new sidebar on the right side of your desktop.

7. To add tiles to the sidebar, click … button at the bottom right of the sidebar. Select a tile to add and click plus button for it.

You’ll notice that the Tiles window has a tile shop Tab. However, it seems that this store is no longer available because it says “connection problem” on its tab. So you’ll have to settle for the default 11 tile widgets that come with the sidebar.

However, MetroSidebar’s default tile widgets should be enough to satisfy most users. The software includes weather, battery indicator, Bing search, clock, media player, pictures (for slideshows) and alarm tiles, among others. Each widget has customization options that you can configure by right-clicking on it and selecting tile settings.

If you want to add software shortcuts to this sidebar, select them to include the launcher tile. This tile contains shortcuts to open Control Panel, Paint, Notepad, Calculator, Paint, Trash, and Computer. You can add more programs by clicking the + New shortcuts (left-click on the tile and drag left to scroll to that option). Then select the software to add to the widget and click on it Open.

To access the sidebar options in MetroSidebar, click … button at the bottom of the bar and select settings. You can choose whether the sidebar opens automatically when clicked Start with Windows in the MetroSidebar settings. Choose Always on top if you prefer to keep the sidebar always visible over open windows.

SideBar is software for creating software, website and file shortcuts. You cannot add gadgets to this sidebar, but it is the best choice for setting up shortcuts. It allows you to create groups of shortcuts that can be accessed from a desktop sidebar. With this software, you can add shortcuts sidebar to Windows as follows:

1. Open the website for SideBar.
2. press the Sidebar version 2.0.7.4 Link to download the software.
3. Double-click Sidebar.exe in your browser Downloads Tab to enter the installer for this software.
4. click Next twice and To install in the setup wizard of the sidebar for Windows.
5. Choose Finished to exit the setup wizard and start the software.

Once the sidebar is running:

1. Click the SideBar tray icon to bring up the sidebar directly below.
2. Choose Add group Possibility.

3. Enter a title for a group in the text box and select it Click to save Possibility.
4. Then you can add some shortcuts by clicking + in the newly added group.

5. Enter a title for the shortcut in the Surname Crate.
6. Choose Click to browse Option to choose software or user file for shortcut to open. If you want to set up a website link, enter a URL in the path Crate.

7. Press the Click to save Button.
8. Repeat the above steps to add as many shortcuts as you like to the sidebar.

You can change the position of the sidebar on the desktop using the taskbar context menu. Right-click the sidebar tray icon to select it dock location and Left or Right. Add transparency to the sidebar by dragging the slider Set the opacity bar Setting in the menu on the left. You can also keep the sidebar above software windows by selecting Always on top.

To customize the sidebar, press its Click here to change settings (gear) button above. Then you can change the color of the bar with To mark, text, backgroundand group background colour drop down menus. You can also rearrange the groups by moving them within the group order Crate.

Desktop Sidebar is old software, but you can still use it to add a sidebar to Windows 11 or 10. This sidebar contains panels that are very similar to widgets with different functions. Unlike MetroSidebar and SideBar, it comes with different skin themes that you can choose for the sidebar. Here’s how to add a customizable sidebar to Windows with this software:

1. Open the Softpedia page for downloading the desktop sidebar.
2. click Download now and choose the US mirror option.
3. Call up your web browser Downloads Tab (press ctrl + J in chrome). Click sidebarb116.exe to open the desktop sidebar setup wizard.
4. Then go through the setup wizard by clicking Next three times to install the desktop sidebar in the default path.
5. Open the desktop sidebar to bring up the sidebar shown directly below.

6. The sidebar contains numerous standard windows. However, you can add more by right-clicking on the sidebar and selecting Add panel.

7. In the window, select News, Media, System, Communication or Panel type; and click the Add to Button.

You can customize sidebar panels by right-clicking their titles to bring up context menu options. Choose move up and move down to reposition them. click Rename to change the title of a panel. To change specific widget options, select them Panel Properties Possibility.

Quick Launch is the panel where you can add software, file, and folder shortcuts. To do this, double-click Quick Launch in the sidebar to expand it. Then you can drag and drop shortcuts from the desktop and files and folders in Explorer onto this panel for quick access.

To change the sidebar skin, select options in the context menu of the software and click on Looks. Then you can select another topic on the skin drop down menu. That Looks The tab also includes settings for repositioning the sidebar, auto-hiding it when not in use, and applying transparency. Press Apply to save changed options.

If you need help using the desktop sidebar, see the software’s manual. Right-click the sidebar and select Help on the menu. That overview and plates The sections there provide more details about the Desktop Sidebar options and panels.

All of these freely available third-party sidebars provide invaluable new places to put shortcuts to open software in Windows 11 and 10. Instead of cluttering the desktop and taskbar with shortcuts, add them to your installed sidebar. Then you will have an overall tidier Windows desktop area.

Users who miss Vista’s gadget sidebar will also appreciate the additional widget tiles and panels included in MetroSidebar and Desktop Sidebar. They restore the gadgets in Windows 10 and provide more widgets in Windows 11.