If you find the News and Interests widget on your Windows 11 taskbar to be distracting, you may want to disable it. This widget displays the weather and other stories, sports scores, and more. It opens via the Widgets button on the taskbar, but you can disable this button to clean up your taskbar and prevent accidental openings.
Here are three methods to disable the News and Interests widget:
1. Use the Taskbar: The Widgets button is on the taskbar, so the quickest and easiest way to turn off News and Interests is to remove it directly from there.
2. Use Windows 11 Settings: Open Settings by searching for it or using the WIN+I shortcut, then navigate to Personalization > Taskbar.
3. Use the Registry: If your Windows 11 isn’t activated, you can still disable the News and Interests taskbar button from the Windows Registry by navigating to HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerAdvanced and assigning a value of 0 to hide the Widgets button or 1 to make it visible.
Disabling the Widgets button will make it inaccessible from the taskbar, but you can still access the widgets panel by swiping inward from the left edge of the screen or pressing the keyboard shortcut WIN+W.
In conclusion, disabling the News and Interests widget is easy to do, and you have multiple methods to achieve it. Keep your taskbar clean and free of distractions by following these simple steps.