How to pin media controls to Chromebook Shelf

If you own or have owned a Chromebook, you probably know that Chrome OS doesn’t run traditional PC music apps. Instead, you can pin a “mini media player” to your Chromebook’s taskbar (also known as the “Shelf”) to instantly control any audio or video playback happening in the Chrome browser. Here’s how to do it.

( Note: To use this feature, your Chromebook must be running Chrome OS 89 or later. You can check for new updates by

Navigate to Settings > About Chrome ).

To pin the media controls to the bottom row of apps on the Chromebook Shelf, you first need to play any media file in the Chrome browser. This can be anything from a YouTube video to a song on Spotify.

While music or video is playing in Chrome, click the status area in the bottom right corner of your Chromebook's screen, as shown below.

In the Quick Settings pop-up menu, you'll find a widget that lets you control media playback for the audio or video you have playing on Chrome.

Click this widget to access the “Media Controls” settings panel. Next, click the pin icon in the top-right corner of this panel to add the Media Controls widget to your Chromebook Shelf.

Once pinned, you'll see a new media player icon (music note) appear on your Chromebook's taskbar.

Click this button to access media playback controls for any or all music and videos currently playing in Chrome. This option will disappear when you close the tab that's playing audio in Chrome, and will automatically reappear when you play new content.

Of course, you can unpin the Media Controls widget from the Chromebook Shelf by clicking on it and tapping the pin button in the upper right corner.