How to activate the new Lock Screen widget on Windows 11

Recently, some users discovered that Microsoft is preparing to deploy new widgets for the Windows 11 Lock Screen. In addition to weather forecasts, there are also widgets for sports, traffic, and finance. main, etc. These new widgets were originally implemented on Windows 10, but have now begun to be tested on Windows 11.

Today, Microsoft released a new Windows 11 update in the Release Preview Channel. In addition to a fairly long list of bug fixes, this build also contains new Lock Screen widgets. Although the release notes don't mention it, you can enable these widgets using the ViVeTool app (be sure to back up important data before testing).

How to activate the new Lock Screen widget on Windows 11 Picture 1

As you can see in the screenshot above, the new widgets on the Windows 11 lock screen look almost identical to those of Windows 10. The only exception is that they are centered to match the design philosophy. overall interface of the operating system. The way of interaction is no different: clicking the "Show more" link will take you to the Microsoft Edge browser and the MSN website containing the corresponding information. Note that you will not be able to customize which widgets appear on the lock screen. All are arranged randomly.

Below is how to activate the new Lock Screen widget on Windows 11

Step 1: Update your system to build 22631.3371 (KB5035942).

Step 2: Download ViveTool from GitHub and extract the files into a convenient, easy-to-find folder.

Step 3: Run Command Prompt as Administrator and navigate to the folder containing the ViveTool files using the CD command. For example, if you placed ViveTool in C:Vive, enter CD C:Vive.

Step 4: Enter vivetool enable id:47921515,47921574 and press Enter.

Step 5: Restart your computer.

Step 6: Go to Settings > Personalization > Lock Screen > Lock Screen Status and select "Weather and more".

Step 7: Press Win + L and experience the new widgets.

Isabella Humphrey

Update 24 March 2024