Tip: How to Add, Remove and Rearrange Toolbar Icons in Chrome

This article will help you in revealing a hidden secret feature in Google Chrome web browser which will allow you to customize toolbar icons. You’ll be able to add/remove desired buttons and rearrange toolbar icons in Chrome using a simple drag-n-drop function.

Following image shows a preview of new icons added, existing icons removed and icons reordered on Chrome toolbar:

Google team is working on a new toolbar customization feature which will allow users to customize toolbar appearance and look-n-feel in Chrome web browser. Users will be able to pin/unpin icons on the toolbar by modifying a simple toggle option and will also be able to reorder existing icons by dragging and dropping them anywhere on the toolbar.

The new customization feature will be enabled in future versions of Chrome such as version 129.0 and later but you can manually activate and enable the new feature right now by modifying a hidden secret preference/flag mentioned below in this article.

Once this new feature is enabled, you can access it by navigating to the New Tab page and select “Customize Chrome” button. You can also access the same option using Chrome 3-dots main menu -> More Tools -> Customize Chrome option.

Once you open customize Chrome side panel, scroll down to bottom and you’ll see a new option “Toolbar” present in the side panel.

Click on Toolbar option on the customize Chrome side panel and it’ll open the new toolbar customization panel in Chrome.

Now you’ll be able to add new icons or remove existing icons by turning on/off available toggle options. At the moment, stock or default toolbar icons (except forward icon) can’t be removed. You can add several useful new icons such as direct button to launch Incognito window, bookmarks, delete browsing data, print, translate, task manager, etc.

You can also rearrange or reorder toolbar icons by dragging and dropping icons to desired location. Again default or stock icons can’t be moved. Only custom icons can be moved to other places on the toolbar.

A “Reset to default” button is also given to restore the toolbar appearance to default settings. It’ll restore default icons and will delete all newly added icons from the toolbar.

PS: Once you add custom icons to the toolbar, you can directly access toolbar customization option by right-clicking on the custom icon on the toolbar and selecting “Customize Toolbar” option from the context menu.

If you want to activate and enable the new toolbar customization feature in Chrome web browser right now, following steps will help you:

STEP 1: Open Google Chrome web browser and type chrome://flags/ in address bar and press Enter. It’ll open the advanced configuration page.

STEP 2: Now type toolbar in the “Search flags” box.

Look for following option in the results:

STEP 3: To activate and enable the new toolbar customization panel in Chrome browser, select Enabled from the drop-down box given next to the above mentioned option.

STEP 4: Google Chrome will ask you to restart the browser. Click on “Relaunch now” button to restart Google Chrome.

That’s it. You have successfully enabled toolbar customization functionality in your web browser. Now you can start customizing toolbar icons in Chrome.

PS: In future, if you decide to disable toolbar customization feature in Chrome, select Default or Disabled option from the drop-down box for the above mentioned option and restart the browser.

Also Check:

How to Enable / Disable All New AI Features in Google Chrome

How to Show / Hide Side Panel Button on Google Chrome Toolbar