Overlay scrollbars in Chrome finally return

Overlay scrollbars in Chrome is a unique function that lets you scroll more easily in the browser. And, after missing for quite some time, the flag to activate this feature is back in Canary, the browser’s experimental channel.

As spotted by Edge insider @Leopeva64, the flag is back in version 117 of the browser, which was released not too long ago in late July. 

The flag to enable "Overlay scrollbars" in Chrome is back in version 117: pic.twitter.com/MotryI2yGY

— Leopeva64 (@Leopeva64) August 1, 2023

As mentioned by the insider in a Reddit post, this wasn’t the first time that this flag was spotted missing. In the past, overlay scrollbars have been criticized for being less accessible than traditional scrollbars, hence they were removed from Chrome. 

However, they were also removed because there was no way to disable them in ChromeOS with a command line flag. This meant that ChromeOS users were unable to disable this feature if they found it to be problematic.

Build 117 of Chrome Canary consists of a few fixes here and there, including the new icon for the app and the removal of the lock icon on the top left of the browser’s address bar. Google says it’ll roll out for stable in September 2023, so it’s best to wait and see how it’ll turn out.

Speaking of Chrome, Google just brought a profanity filter to Chrome Canary, following the same suite as Microsoft with Windows 11’s live captions. A toggle to “hide profanity” is currently living in the Accessibility option of Chrome’s settings.

What are your thoughts on Google returning with overlay scrollbars in Chrome? Let us know in the comments!