One of the most popular requests from Windows 11 users is the ability to remove news from Windows Widgets, mainly because of what MSN tries to get you to read. Microsoft’s official screenshots and promotional materials portray Widget as a fun space with posts from trusted sources. But as Thanos once said, “reality often disappoints”.How to make a man miss you?”, “The wedding was canceled when the bride found out the groom was married to 7 people” Children”. “Why Does the American woman with two husbands want more men?” (what the hell), “Man engaged to doll announces birth of third child (twice the weight), and more.
And it’s not just stupid tabloids. According to findings by Tom’s Hardware, the content that Microsoft’s algorithm promotes is often misleading or even harmful. No wonder users want to get rid of it. Although Windows 11 doesn’t have a one-click solution to this problem, a trick can help you remove the widget area.
How to turn off news in Windows Widget?
The process is a bit tedious and you will have to do it much about clicks, so try it when you have some free time and can listen to a favorite podcast to make the process less painful (also be ready for accidental clicks).
This method relies on the option to remove selected news sources from your feed. In theory, hidden all sources will result in Windows Widgets only displaying widgets, as it should have been in the first place.
- Open Windows Widgets and click your profile icon in the upper right corner.
- Click Manage preferences. The link will take you to the Microsoft Start portal and ask you to state your preferences. Choose one or two topics that best suit your interests—this will make the feed more tolerable.
- Open Windows Widgets again and click refresh.
- Click the button with the eye icon and select Hide news stories from this source.
- Repeat step 4 until Windows stops serving you new stories.
- Restart your computer and open Windows Widgets.
Of course, this is far from perfect. However, for now, it seems like this is the only way to make Windows Widgets usable before Microsoft lets us put widgets on the desktop or turn off news. Note that it may take a long time to remove all sources (depending on where you live), and some sites may reappear. In such case, just repeat the above steps.
