How to Use Windows 11 Widgets
Windows 11 widgets put the information you care about one click away: the weather, your calendar, the news, your to-do list, and your photos, all on a single board that slides in from the side of the screen. Many people never open them, or find them cluttered with news they do not want. In this guide, you will learn how to use Windows 11 widgets to check what matters at a glance, customise the board to your taste, and turn off the parts you do not need.
What Are Windows 11 Widgets?
Widgets are small cards that show live information from apps and services. The weather widget shows the forecast, the calendar widget shows your next appointment, the to-do widget shows your tasks, and the photos widget shows memories from your collection. They all live on the Widgets board, a panel that slides in from the left side of the screen. Windows 11 widgets are built into the operating system, so there is nothing to install, and they update themselves in the background. Think of the board as a personal dashboard: a quick glance in the morning tells you the weather, your schedule, and the headlines, without opening a single app. Third-party widgets from apps such as Spotify and Messenger can also appear on the board, so it grows more useful as you add the apps you use.
How to Open the Widgets Board
Opening the Widgets board takes one click or one keystroke. Click the Widgets icon on the left side of the taskbar, which shows the current weather by default, or press Windows key + W. The board slides in from the left, covering part of your screen, with your widgets at the top and a news feed below. Click anywhere outside the board, or press Windows key + W again, or press Escape, to close it. On a laptop with a touchscreen, swipe in from the left edge to open the board. If you do not see the Widgets icon on the taskbar, right-click the taskbar, choose Taskbar settings, and turn on Widgets. The board remembers its state, so the widgets you add stay there until you remove them.
How to Add and Remove Widgets
Adding a widget is simple. Open the Widgets board and click the plus button, or the Add widgets option, at the top of the board. You will see a list of available widgets, including Weather, Calendar, To Do, Photos, Sports, Traffic, and any third-party widgets from apps you have installed. Click the plus next to a widget to pin it to your board, and it appears immediately. To remove a widget, hover over it, click the three dots in its top-right corner, and choose Remove widget, or Unpin widget. The widget disappears from your board but stays available in the list, so you can add it again any time. Start with three or four widgets you will actually check every day, and add more only if you use them.
How to Customise Your Widgets Board
The Widgets board is yours to arrange. To resize a widget, click the three dots on its card and choose Small, Medium, or Large: a large weather widget shows the full forecast, while a small one shows just the temperature. To rearrange widgets, drag a card by its top edge and drop it where you want it. To change what a widget shows, click its three dots and choose Customise widget: the weather widget lets you change the location, the calendar widget lets you choose which calendar to show, and the news feed can be tuned to your interests. You can also change the board’s layout in the Widgets settings, including whether the news feed appears at all. A tidy board with a few large widgets is far more useful than a board crammed with cards you never read.
How to Resize and Rearrange Widgets
Resizing and rearranging is how you make the board fit the way you work. Put the widget you check most often at the top: for most people, that is the weather or the calendar. Make it Large so you can read it at a glance. Keep secondary widgets, such as To Do or Photos, at Medium or Small below it. Drag cards to reorder them whenever your priorities change. If a widget is too big or too small, its three-dot menu lets you change its size in seconds. There is no need to keep a widget you never look at: remove it and the board becomes calmer. The goal is a board you can read in five seconds, not a second desktop full of information you ignore.
The Most Useful Widgets in Windows 11
These are the widgets most people find genuinely useful. The Weather widget is the one most people check first, and it shows the current conditions, the hourly forecast, and severe weather alerts for your location. The Calendar widget shows your next appointments from Outlook or your connected calendar, so you can see your day without opening the app. The To Do widget shows your tasks from Microsoft To Do, and you can tick them off right from the board. The Photos widget cycles through memories from your collection, which is a pleasant surprise on a dull day. The News widget shows headlines from sources you choose, and the Sports widget follows your teams. The Traffic widget shows congestion on your usual routes. Start with Weather, Calendar, and To Do, and add the rest only if you will actually check them.
How to Personalise Your News Feed
The news feed at the bottom of the Widgets board is the part most people want to change. To personalise it, click the settings gear on the board, or open the feed and click Manage interests. You can follow topics you care about, such as technology, sport, or local news, and hide publishers or topics you do not want to see. If a story does not interest you, click its three dots and choose Hide this story or Show fewer stories like this, and the feed learns from your choices. If you do not want news on the board at all, go to the Widgets settings and turn off the news feed, leaving only your widgets. You can also choose the news language and region. A feed tuned to your interests is useful; a feed you never tuned is noise. For another way to keep your day organised, see our guide to how to use Windows Clipboard History, and pair widgets with Windows 11 Focus Sessions for deep work.
Widgets on the Taskbar and Lock Screen
Widgets are not only on the board. The Widgets icon on the taskbar shows the current weather, so you can see the temperature without opening anything. You can change what the taskbar shows in the Widgets settings, for example showing a different location or turning the weather display off. On the lock screen, Windows 11 can also show widgets, including weather and other glanceable information, which you can turn on or off under Settings, then Personalisation, then Lock screen. These small touches make widgets useful even if you rarely open the full board. If you prefer a clean taskbar, you can hide the Widgets icon entirely and still open the board with Windows key + W.
How to Turn Off Widgets
If widgets are not for you, turning them off is easy. Right-click the taskbar, choose Taskbar settings, and turn off Widgets: the icon disappears and the board no longer opens. This does not uninstall anything, and you can turn widgets back on the same way at any time. If you only dislike the news feed, keep widgets on but turn the feed off in the Widgets settings, so you keep the useful cards without the headlines. If widgets are using too much data or battery, you can also limit their background activity, though their impact is small. There is no wrong choice here: widgets are a convenience, not a requirement, so use them only if they help you.
Widgets vs Live Tiles and Gadgets
Widgets will feel familiar if you used older Windows features. Live Tiles on the Windows 10 Start menu showed similar information, but they lived in the Start menu and were easy to ignore. Desktop Gadgets in Windows 7 sat on the desktop itself, but they were removed for security reasons. Windows 11 widgets combine the best of both: they live on a dedicated board that is one click away, they update live, and they are built on a secure framework. Unlike gadgets, they cannot run arbitrary code on your desktop, and unlike Live Tiles, they are not buried in a menu. If you liked either of those features, widgets are the modern version, and they are worth a proper try before you turn them off.
Common Problems and Fixes
Most widget problems have simple fixes. If the Widgets board is empty or will not load, check that you are signed in to your Microsoft account, since widgets need it to personalise the board. If a widget shows the wrong location, open its settings and change the location manually. If widgets are not updating, check your internet connection and restart your PC, which refreshes the widget service. If the Widgets icon is missing from the taskbar, right-click the taskbar, open Taskbar settings, and turn Widgets on. If the board opens but the news feed is blank, check that your region and language are set correctly in the feed settings. If widgets are slow, remove the ones you do not use, since each one adds a small load. For more help, see Microsoft’s Windows support pages.
Conclusion
Learning how to use Windows 11 widgets takes five minutes and can save you many more. Open the board, add the three or four widgets you will actually check, customise the news feed to your interests, and put the most important widget at the top. A glance in the morning will tell you the weather, your schedule, and your tasks, without opening a single app. Give it a week, and you will know whether widgets earn their place on your PC.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I open widgets in Windows 11?
Click the Widgets icon on the left side of the taskbar, or press Windows key + W. The Widgets board slides in from the left. Click outside the board, or press Windows key + W again, to close it.
Can I add third-party widgets to Windows 11?
Yes. Apps such as Spotify, Messenger, and others can add their own widgets to the board. Install the app from the Microsoft Store, then open the Widgets board and add the widget from the list.
How do I turn off widgets in Windows 11?
Right-click the taskbar, choose Taskbar settings, and turn off Widgets. The icon disappears and the board no longer opens. You can turn widgets back on the same way at any time.
Why are my Windows 11 widgets not updating?
Widgets need an internet connection and a signed-in Microsoft account to update. Check your connection, make sure you are signed in, and restart your PC. If a single widget is stuck, remove it and add it again.
