A Chrome extension that squeezes a page's content left/right/inward using two resizable sidebars.
| To do this | Try |
|---|---|
| Turn the sidebars on or off | Click the toolbar icon, or press Alt+Shift+S (rebind it at chrome://extensions/shortcuts) |
| Resize one side | Drag the sidebar edge |
| Center the page and resize both sides | Hold any modifier key (Shift, Ctrl, Alt or ⌘) and drag |
| Collapse one side | Double-click it |
| Bring a collapsed side back | Drag from the page edge or double-click the edge |
| Bring both collapsed sides back | Click the toolbar icon |
| Return to your default widths | Hold any modifier key and double-click a sidebar |
Note
Pillarbox is published on the Chrome Web Store and supported on Chrome. Other Chromium browsers (Brave, Vivaldi, Arc, Thorium, etc.) install it from the same listing and should work, but are not tested.
Warning
Tabs already open when you install or update the extension still toggle, but reshape correctly only after you reload them.
Tip
Go to the extension Options page to set default widths, the theme, the sidebar colors, a pixel readout while dragging, and the shortcut.
Tip
Set per-URL rules in the Options page: Match URLs by substring or regex, and set default widths or let the extension automatically open sidebars
Note
Each page remembers itself: Whether the sidebars are on and how wide they are comes back on every visit until you toggle it off.
Warning
Some things escape: unbreakable content (code blocks, wide tables), small fixed elements like chat buttons, bars centered by hand rather than by layout, breakpoints inside web components, and cross-origin stylesheets served over plain HTTP.
Warning
chrome:// pages, the Web Store and the PDF viewer are Chrome's own and
sidebars cannot be inserted. The extension icon flashes a red ✕ there.
- Open
chrome://extensionsand turn on Developer mode (top right). - Click Load unpacked and pick this folder.
- Pin the icon, then click it on any page.
See DEVELOPERS.md for the architecture, how the squeeze is actually implemented, the storage schema, and how to run the tests.