How To Remove Or Disable Widgets On Windows 11

If the Widgets board keeps sliding open every time your cursor drifts to the corner, your goal here is simple: get rid of it for good.

The good news is you can flip it off in seconds with one taskbar toggle, or go all the way and fully uninstall the app behind it if you never want to see weather and news cards again.

This guide moves from easiest to most thorough: the taskbar toggle, then the hover and feed settings, then Group Policy and the registry, and finally a complete uninstall. Pick the level that matches how permanently you want Widgets gone.

At a Glance: Your Options

Every method below targets the same Widgets board but acts at a different depth. The taskbar toggle just hides the button; the uninstall removes the engine entirely.

Method	What it does	Reversible?
Taskbar toggle	Hides the Widgets button and hover trigger	Yes, instantly
Feed / hover settings	Stops auto-open and trims content	Yes
Group Policy (Pro)	Blocks Widgets system-wide	Yes
Registry (Home)	Disables Widgets via policy key	Yes
Uninstall app	Removes Widgets completely	Partly (update can re-add)

Which Method Should You Use?

Most people only need the taskbar toggle. Reach for policy, registry, or uninstall when you want Widgets blocked permanently or across multiple accounts.

Your situation	Best method	Windows edition
Just want it off the taskbar	Taskbar toggle	Home & Pro
Block it for all users, keep it reversible	Group Policy	Pro only
Block it permanently on Home	Registry edit	Home & Pro
Never want Widgets to exist	Full uninstall	Home & Pro

Method 1: Remove the Taskbar Button

This is the fastest fix and it is fully reversible. Turning the button off also stops the panel from opening on hover.

Open Settings with Windows + I.
Go to Personalization > Taskbar.
Under Taskbar items, switch the Widgets toggle to Off.

The button disappears immediately and the corner hover trigger goes with it. Note that the underlying Widgets services keep running in the background; this only hides the entry point. To re-enable, flip the same toggle back on.

Method 2: Stop the Hover-Open and Tame the Feed

If you want to keep Widgets but stop it ambushing you, you can adjust its own settings instead of removing it.

Open the Widgets board (click the taskbar button or press Windows + W).
Select your profile picture in the top-right corner to open Widgets settings.
Disable any “show on hover” or “open on mouseover” option if present.
Use each card’s menu (three dots) to Remove widget or hide a feed.

This trims clickbait news and stops surprise pop-ups while keeping the weather card you actually want. If a “Show desktop content” or notification badge option is present, turning it off also stops the small live counters that appear on the taskbar button between visits.

Why Does the Widgets Panel Keep Popping Up?

The board is wired to open when your pointer rests on the taskbar button or, on some builds, the far-left corner. The taskbar toggle in Method 1 is the cleanest cure because removing the button removes the hover zone.

Hover-open is on by default after many feature updates.
Touchpad edge gestures can also trigger it.
The feed refreshes in the background, which is why it feels “alive.”

If hover-open returns later, an update likely reset the toggle.

Method 3: Disable Widgets With Group Policy (Pro)

Windows 11 Pro, Enterprise, and Education can block Widgets cleanly through the Local Group Policy Editor. This applies to every user on the PC.

Press Windows + R, type gpedit.msc, and press Enter.
Navigate to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Widgets.
Double-click Allow widgets.
Set it to Disabled, then click OK.

Sign out and back in (or run gpupdate /force) to apply it. To undo, set the same policy back to Not Configured.

Method 4: Disable Widgets With the Registry (Home)

Windows 11 Home has no Group Policy Editor, so you use the registry policy key instead. The effect matches the Pro policy above.

Before you touch the registry, create a System Restore point. A wrong edit here can destabilize Windows, and a restore point lets you roll back instantly.

Press Windows + R, type regedit, and press Enter.
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Dsh (create the Dsh key if it is missing).
Create a DWORD (32-bit) named AllowNewsAndInterests.
Set its value to 0 and restart.

The One-Line Registry Command

Prefer to skip the manual clicks? Open Terminal as Administrator and run a single command that creates the same key and value.

Run: reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Dsh" /v "AllowNewsAndInterests" /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f
Restart your PC for the change to take effect.
To re-enable Widgets, delete the value with the same command using reg delete, or set the data back to 1.

This is the quickest reliable way to block Widgets on Home editions without opening the registry editor by hand.

Can I Fully Uninstall Widgets?

Yes. The Widgets board is powered by an app called the Windows Web Experience Pack, and removing it deletes Widgets entirely rather than just hiding it.

Open Terminal (Admin) or PowerShell (Admin).
Run: winget uninstall "Windows Web Experience Pack".
Confirm the prompt and let it finish.

The package identifier is MicrosoftWindows.Client.WebExperience_cw5n1h2txyewy, and the Store product ID is 9MSSGKG348SP. You cannot remove it from Settings > Apps; it must be done from an elevated terminal. Once it is gone, the Widgets toggle in Taskbar settings vanishes too, since there is no app left for it to control. To restore Widgets later, reinstall the same package from the Microsoft Store.

Uninstall for All Users With PowerShell

If the PC has several accounts, remove the package for everyone in one pass using the Appx cmdlet.

Run: Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers *WebExperience* | Remove-AppxPackage -AllUsers
This strips the Widgets engine from every profile on the device.
After this, the taskbar Widgets toggle disappears entirely because there is nothing left to show.

This is the most complete removal short of reimaging, and it is the right call for shared or managed machines.

Will Widgets Come Back After an Update?

Be honest with yourself about permanence. A full uninstall is clean, but a future Windows feature update or a refresh of the Web Experience Pack can quietly reinstall it.

Taskbar toggle: may flip back on after a major update.
Group Policy / registry: survive updates and keep Widgets blocked even if the app returns.
Uninstall only: can be reversed by an update reinstalling the pack.

For lasting peace, pair an uninstall with the policy or registry block so Widgets stays disabled even if the app reappears.

Home vs Pro: What Actually Differs

The taskbar toggle and the full uninstall work identically on both editions. The only real split is how you apply the system-wide block.

Windows 11 Pro: use Group Policy (gpedit.msc) for a clean, managed switch.
Windows 11 Home: use the registry Dsh key, since Group Policy Editor is absent.

Both routes write to the same underlying policy, so the end result, a fully disabled Widgets board, is the same in 2026.

Quick Reference

Goal	Action / Path
Hide button	`Settings > Personalization > Taskbar` → Widgets Off
Open board	Windows + W
Block (Pro)	`gpedit.msc` → Windows Components > Widgets > Allow widgets = Disabled
Block (Home)	`HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Dsh` → `AllowNewsAndInterests` = 0
Registry command	`reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Dsh" /v "AllowNewsAndInterests" /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f`
Uninstall	`winget uninstall "Windows Web Experience Pack"`
Uninstall (all users)	`Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers WebExperience \| Remove-AppxPackage -AllUsers`

How To Remove Or Disable Widgets On Windows 11 In 2026