How to Turn Off the Widget Menu on Windows 11

This practical guide walks through how to turn off the widget menu on Windows 11, explains the main requirements, and highlights common issues that may appear along the way.

Here's how.

Hide Windows 11 widget menu button

Basically to disable the widget menu in Windows 11, you just need to hide the button to enable it and never use it.

The Widgets button is located right on the taskbar and has an icon that looks like a window, stylized from two blue and white rectangles. To hide this button, simply right click on it on the taskbar and select the option ' Hide from Taskbar '.

Immediately, the Widgets button will disappear from your taskbar. Simply that.

Alternatively, you can also hide this Widgets button in the Windows Settings menu by going to Settings > Personalization > Taskbar > Taskbar Items and toggling the switch next to the ' Widgets ' option to the ' Off ' state. This will hide the Widgets menu button from your taskbar.

Microsoft does not provide a direct method to 'disable' the Widgets menu completely unless you are deeply involved in the system and that of course carries many risks. In fact, the Widgets menu uses a negligible amount of system resources, so you can just hide and forget about it.

In case you want to quickly see the Widget menu without resetting the Widgets button on the taskbar, just press the Windows + w key combination , it will pop up immediately.

Show Windows 11 widget menu button again

If you change your mind and want the Widgets menu button to reappear on the taskbar, just follow these steps.

First, right click on the taskbar and select ' Taskbar Settings '.

The Windows Settings window will open to the Personalization > Taskbar page page . In the ' Taskbar Items ' section, click the switch next to the ' Widgets ' option to toggle it to the ' On ' state.

That's all you need to do.