There are two native options to hide or show the Phone Link sidebar on the Start menu in Windows 11. There is a Start menu personalization setting for the Phone Link sidebar to show/hide badges ...

Although you can keep the sidebar and toggle off the Copilot icon, doing so will remove the "Auto-hide Sidebar" option, and the browser will prevent you from turning off the sidebar in settings.

That means a sidebar cluttered with advertisements, related videos, YouTube Shorts, and other junk that simply distracts from the video. "Theater mode" is far superior. It extends the video to ...