[Updated] Do you want to disable Google Chrome reading list? Here’s how

Here is the gist of the article in video form:

New updates are added at the bottom of this story …

The original story (published March 16, 2021) follows:

The latest version of the Google Chrome browser contains a version of 89 and was merged into the stable branch earlier this month. The update brings several new features.

For the uninitiated, the profiles module has received a major overhaul with the update, where each user can now customize their profile with a personal background and play with different themes and color schemes.

The update also implements support for WebHID, which is, in short, an API that allows web applications to interact with human interface devices (HIDs) such as VR controls, game pads, and joysticks.

And last but not least, the new feature in the Google Chrome reading list, which enables users to save things they’ll find worth reading later, or perhaps just for archiving.

Before that, people relied on third-party plugins like Pocket for the same purpose, but it’s great to see Chrome now having its own built-in feature.

However, to add things to Chrome’s reading list, just tap the star icon in the address bar and then select “Add to reading list”.

Such saved sites can then be easily accessed to the far left of Chrome’s bookmarks bar, as shown in the image above.

However, this implementation did not go down well with everyone. Many now complain that the reading list option eats up too much of the space of the bookmarks bar – space that could otherwise be used to keep track of additional bookmarks.

Therefore, some users have been looking for a way to hide it completely.

So this ‘Reading List’ only appears near my bookmarks and it takes up too much space I need for my bookmarks. I wonder how I can get rid of it.
Source

How to hide – bookmark reading list. It got me out of here, just appeared out of nowhere today.
Source

Luckily for you, we managed to come up with a simple solution.

You may be aware that Google Chrome offers users a great deal of control over its features through the Flags. And while most things under it are experimental, it ultimately works very well for those looking for a way to customize Chrome than it allows on the front.

This feature will now help us to remove the reading list from the bookmarks bar on Google Chrome by disabling it completely. Follow the steps below for immediate results:

PLEASE NOTE: If you want to learn more about Google Chrome reading list on Android, go here.

1. Enter chrome: // flags / # read-later in the address bar and press the Enter key.
2. Select “Disabled” in the menu next to the reading list option.
3. Restart Chrome.

Of course, the above set of steps is completely valid on any desktop operating system – whether it is macOS, Windows or Linux.

Quite simple, is not it? Hopefully the solution did the job for you. If so, please let us know in the comments below.

Update 1 (March 17)

It is noteworthy that the reading list feature is not available to everyone (since it has just started). The only way to get rid of it right now is the way we described above.

However, if you do not want to go that route, but would rather Google return the feature, it’s worth knowing that a return will only happen when many users send negative feedback about the feature to the company. The best thing you can do is send your views as feedback to the company.

See what a community product expert recently said about this:

It’s not in my area
I think it is probably applied sequentially or in the form of ‘distributed as a test to a small number of people’

As usual with Google, if you want to apply it to everyone at once
We can apply in advance to 5% or 10% users to see the response in advance.
Eventually it will be applied to everyone
I think it will be withdrawn a small number of times if it is a fatal defect or a great unpopularity.
(Aren’t there many visible withdrawals?)

I think it’s good to send ‘Jamada’ as an opinion
I think it’s good to send feedback and say, ‘I’m getting more and more obstructive to the reading list. I want to get rid of it. ”

Update 2 (March 18)

For those who are naive, the flags appear below the experiments until a feature becomes part of the stable update and is forced to all devices. This is why it’s more important to share your feedback while the feature is still being tested.

So if you do not like the reading list feature and do not want to stick with it forever, make sure you share your opinion with the developers. See how a product expert in the community explained it:

I also recommend that if you do not like the feature, please send your opinion to the Chrome team on what aspect you do not like, or why you do not like it:

Report a bug or feedback about Chrome – Google Chrome Help

It’s very important that you do this, as the comments will be received directly by the Chrome team (it usually does not go through the forums in Spanish). This is also important because if this feature is set to the stable version for everyone, the flag will eventually be removed, and there will be no way to disable the option.

Here is a feedback example given by the expert:

What I do not like, for example, is the fact that when I click on the bookmark, it asks me if I want to save it as a bookmark, or if I want to save it in the reading list: I would prefer the dialog to always appear , with the option to save it in the reading list.

Update 3 (March 19)

We are conducting a poll to understand whether users like the Reading List feature. So share your opinion by casting a vote below:

Time for poll!

Google Chrome Reading List Feature: Yes or No?

Vote below and read our coverage here: https://t.co/fw0Q4ueiCr#Google #Google Chrome # Reading list #Android #function #poll

– PiunikaWeb (@PiunikaWeb) 17 March 2021

Update 4 (March 20)

One of the readers in the comments section said that the “#read-later” flag is not working for them for some reason. Changing it to “#readlist” did the thing for them. So, in case you are facing the problem, try it this way.

please noteHere are some of our other articles in this series:

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