win11debloat.dev
2026.08.24

Guide · Widgets

How to remove Widgets from Windows 11

Widgets is the weather-and-news panel on the left of the taskbar. You can hide its button in Settings, but it stays installed and keeps its news feed. Win11Debloat's -DisableWidgets, part of Default mode, removes it properly: it uninstalls the Widgets packages. We watched it do exactly that on Windows 11 25H2.

Checked against Win11Debloat 2026.08.24Updated 2 min read
On this page 5 sections
  1. The command
  2. What -DisableWidgets does
  3. What we saw on Windows 11 25H2
  4. Getting Widgets back
  5. Questions

Short answer

How do I remove Widgets from Windows 11 completely?

  • With Win11Debloat: -DisableWidgets, or Default mode. It stops the Widgets processes and uninstalls three packages.
  • Just hide the button: Settings → Personalization → Taskbar, turn off Widgets.
  • To get it back: reinstall Windows Web Experience Pack from the Microsoft Store. Win11Debloat has no undo for this tweak.

The command

PowerShell
& ([scriptblock]::Create((irm "https://debloat.raphi.re/"))) -DisableWidgets -Silent

What -DisableWidgets does

Unlike most tweaks, it has no registry file. It is two lines of PowerShell in the release:

  1. It stops every running process with Widget in its name, so the packages are not in use.
  2. It uninstalls three packages:
    • Widgets Experience (Microsoft.StartExperiencesApp): “This app powers Windows Widgets My Feed”
    • Windows Web Experience Pack (MicrosoftWindows.Client.WebExperience): delivers and updates Widgets through the Store
    • Widgets Platform Runtime (Microsoft.WidgetsPlatformRuntime): “Runtime required for Windows Widgets to function”

All three are also in the app list, rated optional, so you can remove them there too. With the packages gone, the taskbar button and the lock screen widgets go with them.

What we saw on Windows 11 25H2

On our fresh Windows 11 Enterprise 25H2 test PC, Default mode removed all three packages, for all users. The Web Experience Pack was also removed from the Windows image, so new accounts do not get it either. The other two were not part of the image to begin with. Every package Default mode removed.

Getting Widgets back

The wizard cannot undo this tweak, and the registry backup does not cover it, because nothing in the registry changed. Reinstall the packages from the Microsoft Store:

PowerShell
winget install --id 9MSSGKG348SP --source msstore   # Windows Web Experience Pack
winget install --id 9PC1H9VN18CM --source msstore   # Widgets Experience

Then turn Widgets on in Settings → Personalization → Taskbar if the button does not come back by itself. Sign out and in again if Widgets does not open at first.

Questions

Is it safe to remove Widgets?

Yes. Nothing else in Windows needs Widgets. The packages are rated optional only because some people use the weather and news panel.

Will Widgets come back after an update?

A major Windows update can reinstall them. Run Win11Debloat again with -RunSavedSettings afterwards.

Does this remove the weather from the taskbar?

Yes. The weather and news on the taskbar are the Widgets button, so they disappear with it.

Keep going

TaskbarAlignment, search box, widgets, End Task and button grouping.Default modeExactly what the recommended defaults remove and change.Undo & restoreRevert any tweak, restore the registry backup, reinstall removed apps.

Something wrong or out of date? Email hello@win11debloat.dev and we will fix it.