How I made my Windows 11 widgets truly useful: 8 simple tweaks to try before you hide them

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The Widgets pane in Windows 11 has been a contentious feature from the get-go. That's partly due to the content it offers but also because of how easy it is to accidentally trigger it. By default, just hovering over the Taskbar icon causes the Widgets pane to fly out, interrupting whatever you're doing.

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Yes, you can restrict and even hide the taskbar icon -- and I'll show you how to do that. But not so fast. You can also tweak the Widgets feed to show stories that are more useful and interesting to you. That's what I've done, and that's why I find the Widgets of value whenever I want to get the latest news, weather, notifications, stock quotes, and more. Here's how you can do the same.

Maybe you just don't want to see or access the Widgets at...

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