The Widgets feature available in Windows 11 is being touted as a new feature. But it’s nothing but an improved version of the News & Interests from its predecessor, Windows 10.
The Widgets feature in Windows 11 does not display weather information on the taskbar, which is mostly a good thing. The taskbar, by default, shows the Widgets icon next to the Start button, but it can be hidden from the taskbar by right-clicking on the Widgets icon and clicking the Hide from taskbar option.
Completely uninstall Widgets from Windows 11?
As said before, the Widgets icon can be removed from the taskbar. However, doing so will not remove Widgets from your Windows 11 computer. It can still be accessed using the Windows logo + W keyboard shortcut.
Like the News & Interests feature in Windows 10, unfortunately, Widgets cannot be completely removed from Windows 11. It’s offered as a part of the operating system.
However, there is a workaround to get rid of the Widgets board. If you wish not to see the Widgets board even when you accidentally press Windows + W keyboard shortcut, you can remap the Windows logo + W hotkey to do nothing. This way, you can literally remove Widgets from Windows 11 as there will be no option to bring up the Widgets board unless you manually undo the hotkey remap or add the Widgets icon back to the taskbar.
Here is how to do that.
Completely disable widgets in Windows 11
Step 1: Right-click on the Widgets icon on the taskbar and then click Hide from taskbar to hide the icon. If you have already done, you can proceed to the next step.
Step 2: Next, we need Microsoft PowerToys (free) to remap the Windows + W hotkey. Visit this official PowerToys page on GitHub page and download the newest version. Install it as you would install any other software.
Step 3: Once installed, launch PowerToys using search.
Step 4: On the left side, click Keyboard Manager. On the right side, make sure that it’s turned on.
Step 5: Now, in the Remap shortcuts section, click Remap a shortcut button.
Step 6: In the resulting dialog, click on the plus (+) button.
Step 7: Under the Shortcut column, click on the Type button to see the “Press the keys in shortcut” dialog, press the Windows key, and then click the OK button.
Step 8: Next, in the drop-down menu next to the already selected Windows key drop-down menu, select “W” from the drop-down menu.
Step 11: You are now one step away from disabling the Windows + W hotkey. Now, click on the OK button (refer to the picture below) to remap Windows + W hotkey to Function. As you likely know, pressing the function key without pressing any other function keys will not evoke any action.
That’s it! You have now disabled Widgets from your Windows 11 PC.
IMPORTANT: Make sure that the PowerToys is configured to automatically load with Windows 11 by navigating to the General page of PowerToys.
We recommend turning off other features of the PowerToys tool if you do not use them. To do that, open PowerToys, click on each feature on the left side and then turn off it using the toggle button, which shows up on the right side.
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