Free Chrome Extension
Hide the WhatsApp Web sidebar and chat list instantly. Free Chrome extension with one-click and Alt+S toggle for focused chats, screen sharing, and privacy. Open source, no tracking.
What it does
A single-purpose tool built to do one thing cleanly and stay out of the way of everything else.
Collapses identically whether you're on Chats, Status, Communities, or Settings. Switching tabs doesn't pop it back open.
Press Alt+S before you share. Your inbox, contact names, and unread counts disappear instantly.
Only requests storage (to remember your preference) and access to web.whatsapp.com. Reads no messages. Talks to no servers. Nothing leaves your browser.
Alt+S toggles from anywhere on WhatsApp Web. Also listed in WhatsApp's own keyboard shortcuts modal (Ctrl+/).
400ms eased collapse and expand. Respects your OS reduced-motion preference automatically.
GPL v3 licensed. Every line of code is readable on GitHub. No obfuscation, no surprises.
Get started
Click Add to Chrome on the store listing. No account required, nothing to sign up for.
Click the puzzle icon 🧩 in Chrome's toolbar → find WA Web Sidebar Toggle → click the pin icon. This keeps it one click away.
Go to web.whatsapp.com , the toggle button appears in the navigation rail automatically within a second.
The sidebar collapses. Press again to bring it back. That's the whole thing.
Prefer to install manually from source?
git clone
https://github.com/Muhammad-Aqib-Bashir/wa-web-sidebar-toggle.git
chrome://extensions
Enable Developer mode (toggle, top-right),
click Load unpacked, select the folder
containing manifest.json.
Usage
The toggle button appears in WhatsApp's navigation rail, the narrow icon strip on the far left. It lives between the Communities button and the Settings button.
Click it once to collapse the sidebar. Click again to restore it. Your choice persists for the current browser session, reopening the tab starts fresh with the sidebar visible.
If you're on a non-English WhatsApp, the button still appears in the same position. The extension uses structural layout detection, not English-specific labels, to place itself.
Keyboard shortcut
The shortcut works anywhere on web.whatsapp.com, you don't need to click the button.
The shortcut is also listed in WhatsApp's own built-in keyboard reference, press Ctrl + / inside WhatsApp Web to see it alongside WhatsApp's native shortcuts.
Privacy
No analytics, no telemetry, no servers. This extension has no network requests of any kind. It cannot read your messages, contacts, or any WhatsApp content.
FAQ
Install WA Web Sidebar Toggle from the Chrome Web Store, open web.whatsapp.com, and click the toggle button in the navigation rail , or press Alt+S. The chat list, contact names, and unread counts collapse instantly.
Yes. Press Alt+S right before you start a screen share to collapse the sidebar, hiding contact names and message previews from viewers. Press it again afterward to restore your chats.
Alt+S toggles the sidebar from anywhere on WhatsApp Web, no click required. It's also listed in WhatsApp's own shortcuts reference — open it with Ctrl+/.
No. It requests only the storage permission and access to web.whatsapp.com, makes no network requests, and cannot read messages, contacts, or any WhatsApp content. The source code is open and GPL v3 licensed.
Yes, Chats, Status, Communities, and Settings all behave the same way. Switching between them won't pop the sidebar back open.
Changelog
docs/icons
manifest.json and enhanced the build script to
include background.js
icons directory added to .gitignore
#side targeting with structural nav-rail
detection, now works on Chats, Status, Communities, and Settings
Free, open source, takes 30 seconds to install. No account, no tracking, no nonsense.