GoKawiilLance Whitney/ZDNET
The Widgets pane in Windows 11 has been a contentious feature from the get-go. That's partly due to the content it offers but also because of how easy it is to accidentally trigger it. By default, just hovering over the Taskbar icon causes the Widgets pane to fly out, interrupting whatever you're doing.
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Yes, you can restrict and even hide the taskbar icon -- and I'll show you how to do that. But not so fast. You can also tweak the Widgets feed to show stories that are more useful and interesting to you. That's what I've done, and that's why I find the Widgets of value whenever I want to get the latest news, weather, notifications, stock quotes, and more. Here's how you can do the same.
Hide the Widgets taskbar icon Maybe you just don't want to see or access the Widgets at all. You want it out of your Windows life completely. OK. Go to Settings, select Personalization, and click Taskbar. Under Taskbar items, turn off the switch for Widgets, and poof, the Taskbar icon vanishes. Show more
Screenshot by Lance Whitney/ZDNET
1. Stop accidentally triggering the Widgets pane Ah, but there's another way. This is the method I use since I want to keep the Widgets pane accessible. Instead of triggering it by hovering over the icon, click it to open the pane. To do this, launch the Widgets pane and click the Settings icon in the upper-right corner of the window. Turn off the switch for "Open Widgets board on hover." Close the Settings window and then click anywhere to close the Widgets pane. Now try hovering over the Taskbar icon and you'll see that nothing happens. Click the icon, and that's when the pane flies out. Show more
Screenshot by Lance Whitney/ZDNET
2. Browse the Widgets pane With the Widgets pane visible, you may want to review the available info before customizing and personalizing it. The feature offers two main feeds -- a Discover feed for MSN content and another feed for your actual widgets. In the MSN feed, the pane displays three menus at the top -- Discover, Watch, and Play. You have to switch among the three to segue from news to videos to games. Also: Windows changes are coming: Here's how to get a sneak peek at what's next In an effort to make Windows 11 more user-friendly, Microsoft has been tweaking several features in the OS, including Widgets. The newest look dispenses with the three separate menus in the Discover feed and instead includes all the content in one place. Depending on your Windows 11 version, you should be able to switch between the old and new looks. Open the Widgets pane. Turn on the switch for "Switch to new look" to get rid of the three separate screens. You can then jump between the Discover feed and the Widgets feed. Show more
Screenshot by Lance Whitney/ZDNET
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