Overlay scrollbar flags return to Microsoft Edge due to Insider demand [Updated]

News
By Robert Carnevale
published

Microsoft is showing off a new scrollbar animation and design with its latest flag (experiment) in Edge Canary.

Microsoft Edge Update Dev New
Microsoft Edge Update Dev New (Image credit: Daniel Rubino / Windows Central)

What you need to know

  • Overlay scrollbar flags have returned.
  • Only Edge Canary and Dev will have it, for now.
  • It's been brought back due to popular demand.
  • Edge Canary v 95.0.1000.0 now has this as a "Flag" to enable

Update August 30, 2021 at 3:55 p.m. ET: Microsoft has updated Edge Canary to build 95.0.1000.0 and with it an actual "flag" that can be enabled instead of using the command-line method. Under "edge://flags/" users can search for and enable "Windows style overlay scrollbars." Upon restarting the browser, the new hover/animation feature and more modern scrollbars will be implemented. You can see the flag below:

Source: Windows Central (Image credit: Source: Windows Central)

Miss the overlay scrollbar flags in Edge and want your ideal scrolling experience back? Well, Microsoft has heard you. Scrollbar flags are officially back, as long as you're on Edge Canary or Dev, versions 94.0.987.0 and up.

Here are the steps Microsoft has provided for bringing overlay scrollbar flags to your Edge experience:

You can see these changes by launching the browser via command line or the Run program in Windows. Before you do, be sure you close out all instances and channels of Edge. Once you've done that, to test this in Canary, open Command Prompt or Run, and type in (quotes included, and no spaces after the commas in --enable-features) "%LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\Edge SxS\Application\msedge.exe" --enable-features=OverlayScrollbar, OverlayScrollbarWinStyle, OverlayScrollbarWinStyleAnimation and hit Enter or Run to open Edge with these flags enabled.

In the same announcement blurb where the steps were posted, Microsoft gave a bit of context, mentioning that overlay scrollbar flags have been brought back due to Insider demand.

Here's the feature in action, for those of you thinking of enabling it:

See more

There's no word yet on whether this feature will be coming to standard Edge anytime soon, so either wait and see what happens or dive into the experimental realms of Canary and Dev to enjoy the feature alongside whatever other new things Microsoft cooks up.

Thanks, Leonardo V., for the tip!

Microsoft Edge Logo
Microsoft Edge


Edge Canary has loads of features that make it worth checking out if you want a little extra something-something that the vanilla version is lacking. For example: Overlay scrollbar flags. You want those, right?

Robert Carnevale
Robert Carnevale

Robert Carnevale is the News Editor for Windows Central. He's a big fan of Kinect (it lives on in his heart), Sonic the Hedgehog, and the legendary intersection of those two titans, Sonic Free Riders. He is the author of Cold War 2395. Have a useful tip? Send it to robert.carnevale@futurenet.com.