Side Link Preview

Click a link → opens in Chrome's Side Panel side-by-side. Split-view reading on stock Chrome. No tracking, open source.

Side Link Preview turns Chrome's Side Panel into a split-view reading surface. Click any link that would normally open in a new tab and it loads on the right, side-by-side with the page you came from. No new tab, no context switch, no extra browser. Independent open-source project; not affiliated with any browser vendor. WHAT IT DOES • Click any target="_blank" link → it opens in Chrome's Side Panel. • Click another link inside the panel — it refreshes the panel in place. Keep following links without piling up tabs. • Hold ⌘ / Ctrl / Shift / Alt while clicking to fall back to a real new tab. Each modifier maps to a distinct, predictable behavior — the panel is never used when you hold one. KEY FEATURES • Side Panel address bar with Back / Forward / Refresh — works exactly like a tiny browser inside the panel • Per-site zoom: in-panel +/− buttons remember your preferred zoom for each domain • Auto-retry once on transient embed failures, then a clear "open in a new tab" fallback card • Per-domain blacklist or whitelist with subdomain-aware matching and wildcard support • Smart link filtering: same-page anchors, downloads, login/OAuth pages, mixed content, localhost, and more open natively instead of in the panel • Right-click "Open link in Side Panel" — a one-shot bypass of every rule • Keyboard shortcut Alt+Shift+P to preview the current tab in the Side Panel • Automatic light / dark theme — follows your system • Works on sites that normally block iframes — via a tightly-scoped Side-Panel-only response-header rule (see Privacy below) • Sign-in, SSO, payment and end-to-end-encrypted messaging hosts are excluded from interception by default for security (the full host list lives in the open-source manifest) • Six built-in UI languages: English, 中文, Français, Español, Deutsch, Português PRIVACY • No analytics. No tracking. No telemetry. No remote config. • No data ever leaves your browser. The extension itself has no server. • All settings live in your Chrome sync storage and travel with your Chrome profile only. • Header rewriting is restricted to iframe requests initiated by the extension itself (initiatorDomains: extension ID + resourceTypes: sub_frame). Regular browsing on every other tab is untouched. • Full policy: https://github.com/ds009/side-link-preview/blob/main/PRIVACY.md WHO IT'S FOR • Anyone who wants split-view, side-by-side reading on stock Chrome • Researchers, students and lawyers who read a long article while opening many sub-links • Engineers who follow link chains across docs, pull requests and Q&A sites without piling up tabs • Readers who prefer their original page to stay visible while skimming a referenced source REQUIREMENTS Chrome 119 or later (Side Panel API). Also works on Microsoft Edge 119+. OPEN SOURCE MIT-licensed. Issues and PRs welcome: https://github.com/ds009/side-link-preview SUPPORT THE PROJECT If it saves you time, you can sponsor the developer on GitHub: https://github.com/sponsors/ds009