Enable Focus Mode in Microsoft Edge Chromium

Edge Stable Fluent Big 256 Icon

The Focus Mode feature of Microsoft Edge Chromium that opens a distraction-free browsing window. It allows you to convert any tab into a window with a simplified interface without settings, address bar, favorites bar, etc.

Microsoft Edge is now a Chromium-based browser with a number of exclusive features like Read Aloud and services tied to Microsoft instead of Google. The browser has already received a few updates, with support for ARM64 devices in Edge Stable 80. Also, Microsoft Edge is still supporting a number of aging Windows versions, including Windows 7, which has recently reached its end of support. Check out Windows Versions Supported by Microsoft Edge Chromium and Edge Chromium latest roadmap. Finally, interested users can download MSI installers for deployment and customization.

What is Focus Mode

Focus mode is an experimental feature of the Chromium-based Microsoft Edge. It is hidden behind a flag. When the Focus Mode feature is enabled, you can right click on a tab select Focus this tab from the context menu to switch that tab to Focus Mode. This will turn on the tab into a window without most of the user interface controls, leaving only a simplified menu accessible. Focus Mode is designed to work with a single web page, but you can use hotkeys to open a new private window, make toolbars visible, and also open links in other browsing windows.

Note: At the moment of this writing, the Focus Mode feature is not available in the Canary build of Microsoft Edge, but works in Dev, Beta, and Stable. For reference, see the actual Edge versions below.

To Enable Focus Mode in Microsoft Edge Chromium,

  1. Open Microsoft Edge.
  2. Type the following in the address bar: edge://flags/#focus-mode.
  3. Select Enabled from the drop-down menu next to the Focus Mode line.
  4. Restart the browser.
  5. Now, right-click on a tab and select Focus this tab.

You are done. The tab will appear in the following view.

To make a tab quit Focus Mode, click on the Settings button with three dots (or press Alt+F), and click on Open in Microsoft Edge to restore the tab back to the Edge browser window you switched to Focus Mode from.

Actual Edge Versions

Download Microsoft Edge

You can download pre-release Edge version for Insiders from here:

Download Microsoft Edge Insider Preview

The stable version of the browser is available on the following page:

Download Microsoft Edge Stable

Microsoft Edge is now a Chromium-based browser with a number of exclusive features like Read Aloud and services tied to Microsoft instead of Google. The browser has already received a few updates, with support for ARM64 devices in Edge Stable 80. Also, Microsoft Edge is still supporting a number of aging Windows versions, including Windows 7, which has recently reached its end of support. Check out Windows Versions Supported by Microsoft Edge Chromium and Edge Chromium latest roadmap. Finally, interested users can download MSI installers for deployment and customization.

For pre-release versions, Microsoft is currently using three channels to deliver updates to Edge Insiders. The Canary channel receives updates daily (except Saturday and Sunday), the Dev channel is getting updates weekly, and the Beta channel is updated every 6 weeks. Microsoft is going to support Edge Chromium on Windows 7, 8.1 and 10, alongside macOS, Linux (coming in the future) and mobile apps on iOS and Android. Windows 7 users will receive updates until July 15, 2021.

You will find many Edge tricks and features covered in the following post:

Hands-on with the new Chromium-based Microsoft Edge

Also, see the following updates.

Support us

Winaero greatly relies on your support. You can help the site keep bringing you interesting and useful content and software by using these options:

If you like this article, please share it using the buttons below. It won't take a lot from you, but it will help us grow. Thanks for your support!

Author: Sergey Tkachenko

Sergey Tkachenko is a software developer who started Winaero back in 2011. On this blog, Sergey is writing about everything connected to Microsoft, Windows and popular software. Follow him on Telegram, Twitter, and YouTube.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

Exit mobile version
Using Telegram? Subscribe to the blog channel!
Hello. Add your message here.