Published Dec 27, 2025, 8:00 AM EST
Pankil is a Civil Engineer turned freelance writer from Ahmedabad, India. As a long-time Windows and Android user, he has extensive knowledge of both operating systems and specializes in creating how-tos and troubleshooting guides.
Pankil has been writing about Windows, Android, and iOS since 2021. He has written over 1200 articles across reputable publications like MakeUseOf, GuidingTech, and TechWiser.
Outside of his writing endeavors, Pankil is an avid football fan and loves to plan his international travels with his wife in his free time.
Unlike most other browsers, Google Chrome keeps its new tab page minimal. But that minimalism also means you don’t get much beyond the ability to change the wallpaper and add a few site shortcuts. And as someone who spends most of their day inside a browser, Chrome’s new tab page has always felt like a missed opportunity to me.
That same frustration led me to Dashy. It’s a customizable dashboard that replaces Chrome’s new tab page. Instead of a blank screen, it gives me useful widgets, everyday tools, and a clear view of my favorite sites all in one place.
Dashy New Tab Dashboard and Side Panel
OS Web
Price model Free, subscription available
Dashy is a customizable dashboard that replaces Chrome's new tab page with beautiful widgets and shortcuts.
Dashy's widgets make the new tab page useful
And beautiful too
The moment you replace Chrome’s new tab page with Dashy, you get a beautiful wallpaper, sleek glass-themed widgets, and a handy search bar at the bottom. The whole page looks like something you’d enjoy seeing again and again. But beauty is just one aspect of Dashy. What I really like about it is the widgets it offers.
I’ve set up my new tab to show the weather at a glance, a calendar for upcoming meetings, notes for things I don’t want to forget, and a simple time tracker. This is everything I need to check throughout the day and having it all on a single page means I don’t need to open different tabs or switch apps to check these things.
I can move these widgets around and even minimize the ones I don’t need all the time. Minimized widgets appear at the bottom dock alongside the search bar.
There’s even an option to create a custom widget if you upgrade to Dashy Pro, which costs $1 a month. The Pro version also unlocks a few premium widgets like Google Calendar, Outlook Calendar, Todoist, and more.
My favorite websites at a glance
Fewer tabs and quick access to everything
Dashy isn’t all about widgets. It also lets you add your favorite sites to the dashboard, which is where Dashy becomes even more handy. You can add sites like ESPN, ChatGPT, Spotify, Flipboard, or literally anything else you visit daily. Once you add it to the dashboard, it appears alongside your widgets.
I find this incredibly handy. I can check the latest match score, manage my Spotify playlist, skim through top headlines, see how my favorite stocks are doing, and do much more. The use cases are endless here. This alone saves me so much time and even keeps me from cluttering my browser with endless tabs.
Dashy already offers shortcuts for pretty much all the popular sites, so it doesn’t take long to get started. But if you want to add one that’s not there, you’ll need the Pro version.
The side panel lets me take my dashboard everywhere
A dashboard that’s always within reach
No matter how beautiful or practical my dashboard is, I can only spend so much time staring at a new tab page. When I’m working or reading, opening a new tab to check my widgets isn’t practical. Dashy solves this with a handy side panel.
Clicking the Dashy icon on the extension menu opens a panel that shows me my dashboard. All the same widgets I've set up on my new tab page appear here. And when I’m working on a large monitor, I can also resize the side panel to see more widgets at once.
The side panel is also one of those things I miss every time I switch from Edge to Chrome and I love how Dashy fills that gap. And honestly, having the side panel means I find myself opening a new tab only when necessary.
Endless customization, profiles, and useful keyboard shortcuts
Flexibility meets productivity
Customization is a huge aspect of any dashboard, and Dashy doesn’t disappoint. I can switch between backgrounds with a click and even change the look and feel of widgets. The Settings menu gives me the option to change widget styles, theme, font, and adjust the blur effect. Similarly, I can configure the dock and side panel to hide automatically when I’m not using them.
Dashy also lets me set up multiple profiles, much like Chrome. I have one for work and another for personal use. This makes it easy to switch between different setups, depending on what I’m trying to do.
Finally, Dashy supports a few keyboard shortcuts that make life easier. Pressing Ctrl + A auto arranges all widgets, Ctrl + B changes the wallpaper, and Ctrl + D toggles dark mode. My favorite, though, is pressing Ctrl + Left Arrow or Ctrl + Right Arrow to switch profiles.
Dashy’s free version is already more than capable, but if you want more options, the Pro version at $1 a month isn’t a bad deal either. For me, Dashy works brilliantly as a second screen, and I don’t feel like going back to Chrome’s default new page anytime soon.