The Side Panel Intrusion
Google Chrome features a built-in “Reading List” designed to act as a temporary holding area for articles you want to read later, separate from your permanent Bookmarks. Historically, Chrome has been aggressive about promoting this feature. In various browser versions, the Reading List button automatically appears on the bookmarks bar, or it is forcibly integrated into the unified Side Panel icon next to your profile picture. If you already use a dedicated service like Pocket or Instapaper, or if you simply rely on standard bookmarks, the automatic presence of the Reading List interface is unnecessary clutter that takes up valuable screen real estate.
Disabling the Reading List via Flags
To clean up your browser interface and stop Google Chrome from automatically enabling and displaying the Reading List feature, you must delve into the browser’s advanced experimental flags.
Because Google frequently changes the user interface, the standard Settings menu rarely offers a permanent toggle for the Reading List. Open a new tab in Chrome and type chrome://flags into the address bar, then press Enter. This opens the experimental features page. In the search box at the very top of this page, type Reading List. You will likely see several results depending on your specific version of Chrome (e.g., “Reading List,” “Side panel reading list”). Click the dropdown menu next to the primary Reading List flag and change it from “Default” to Disabled. Chrome will prompt you that a restart is required. Click the blue Relaunch button at the bottom of the screen. When Chrome reopens, the Reading List feature and its associated buttons will be completely removed from your browser interface.