Widgets in Windows 11: How to enable, disable or remove

Among the new features in the operating system, users have access to widgets for Windows 11, which display various useful information. The Windows 11 widget bar shows weather, news, sports scores, a calendar, and tips and tricks tailored to your interests.

Widgets open on the left side of the screen in a separate panel, which in turn contains mini-applications with weather, photos, mail, Microsoft Start news and other materials. In Windows 11, the widgets button located on the taskbar is responsible for launching this system component.

The user can at any time add Windows 11 widgets to the desktop, or vice versa, hide this panel from the computer screen. First, let’s find out where the widgets actually are in Windows 11.

How to open widgets in Windows 11

To open the widget panel, you need to click on the Widgets icon (white and blue rectangle) on the taskbar. To launch the application, an alternative option is also available by pressing the keyboard keys “Win” + “W”.

After that, a personalized panel with various information will appear on the screen.

Windows 11 widgets are a redesigned version of the News & Interests widget from the Windows 10 operating system.

How to Add New Widgets to Windows 11 Widgets

In addition to the information panels that are displayed by default, you can add other items that are available to display in this application. To do this, click on the “Add Widgets” button.

In the Widget Settings window, you can add new Widgets to the Widget Bar. To display a new mini-application, click on the plus button next to the corresponding application.

You can change the widget view in the widget panel. Click on the “More Options” button (three dots).

Choose the appropriate element size, customize the app to your interests, or remove the widget from the widget panel.

If necessary, you can rearrange the elements on the widget panel as you wish by dragging them to the desired location.

How to disable widgets in Windows 11

Some users find this functionality useful, others do not use it, and still others wish to disable it. There are several ways in which you can disable widgets or remove them completely from your computer.

Some users may ignore this application by simply not running this tool on their PC. Others want to remove an unnecessary icon from the taskbar, and still others need to remove this application from their device altogether.

There are several ways to disable widgets in Windows 11:

  • In the Settings app.
  • In the Local Group Policy Editor.
  • In the registry editor.

In addition to the above options, you can completely remove widgets from your computer, read this article for instructions on how to do this.

Disable Widgets in Windows 11 Settings

Changing the settings manually is the easiest way to disable widgets in the Windows 11 operating system. You will need to go to system settings to disable this functionality.

Do the following:

  1. Right click on the start menu.
  2. In the context menu, click on “Settings”.
  3. Open the “Personalization” tab, and then select “Taskbar”.
  4. In the “Taskbar Items” option, in the “Widgets” setting, move the toggle to the “Disabled” position.
  5. The widget launcher icon will disappear from the taskbar.

To re-display the shortcut for launching gadgets on the Taskbar, perform the opposite operation: next to the Widgets option, move the switch to the Enabled position.

Disabling Widgets in Group Policy Windows 11

The following method will disable widgets on the computer completely. We will use the system tool – the Windows Local Group Policy Editor. This tool is available to users of older versions of the operating system: Professional (Professional) and Corporate (Enterprise).

Go through the following steps:

  1. Open the Group Policy Editor .
  2. In the “Local Group Policy Editor” window, follow the path:
Computer Configuration → Administrative Templates → Windows Components → Widgets
  1. Right-click on the “Allow widgets” option, in the menu that opens, click on “Edit”.
  2. In the “Allow widgets” window, activate the “Disabled” option, and then click on the “OK” button.
  3. The widget icon will immediately disappear from the taskbar. In addition, changing the Widgets settings in Windows Settings will become unavailable.

To return everything as it was before, re-enter the Local Group Policy Editor, and then in the “Allow widgets” window (Allow widgets), change the setting to “Not configured”.

How to Remove Widgets in the Windows 11 Registry

Users of home (of course, older) versions of Windows 11 can disable widgets in the system registry. By making changes to some registry settings, you will get the same result as if you applied group policy settings.

Do the following:

  1. Launch Registry Editor on your computer.
  2. Follow the path:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft
  1. Right-click on “Microsoft”, select “New” first, then “Partition”.
  2. Rename the created partition to “Dsh”.
  3. Open this section, and then right-click on an empty space.
  4. In the context menu, first click on “Create”, then on “DWORD (32-bit) Value”.
  5. Name this setting “AllowNewsAndInterests”.
  6. By default, when creating a parameter, the value “0” is specified, and this is what we need.
  7. Restart your computer or restart File Explorer.

The widget switcher in Windows 11 settings will become inactive, and the icon to launch widgets will not be on the taskbar.

To return the widget settings to their previous state, delete the “Dsh” parameter from the registry, and then restart the PC.

How to remove widgets in Windows 11

Some users like the radical solution: the complete removal of gadgets from the computer. You can do this on the command line or in Power Shell.

The Windows Package Manager (winget) program will help us perform this operation.

Do the following:

  1. Right click on the start menu.
  2. Click on Windows Terminal (Administrator).
  3. In a shell window, select either Windows PowerShell (opens by default) or Command Prompt.
  4. Type the command and then press “Enter”:
winget uninstall "windows web experience pack"
  1. Next, you will be prompted to accept the terms of the original agreements. Press the “Y” key and then “Enter” (widgets may be removed without this prompt).
  2. At the final stage of the operation, you will see that the “MicrosoftWindows.Client.WebExperience” package has been removed from the operating system.

The widget settings setting will be removed from Windows, and to make the icon disappear from the taskbar, restart File Explorer or reboot the system.

How to enable widgets in Windows 11 after removal

In some cases, the user may again need to install widgets on their computer. This is a solvable problem. You will need to download widgets for Windows 11 from the official Microsoft website.

Follow the steps:

  1. Sign in to the Microsoft website page using the link .
  2. On the Windows Web Experience Pack page, click the Get button.
  3. In the Microsoft Store window, install the application on your computer.
  4. In the Settings application’s taskbar settings, disable and then re-enable the toggle in the Widgets option so that the widget icon appears on the taskbar.

Article Conclusions

Mini-applications are built into the Windows 11 operating system – widgets with which the user can access useful information: weather forecast, news, interests, or other data. If the user does not need this functionality, he can disable widgets in the system settings or remove gadgets from the computer. If necessary, the user can enable widgets in Windows 11 or reinstall gadgets on their device.

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