Widgets

Windows 11 includes a focused Widgets experience on the Taskbar. This interface can display one or more widgets that are adaptive user interface cards that display dynamic, interactive, at-a-glance information from websites or apps installed on your PC.

Learn more: Windows 11 also displays widgets on the Lock screen.

Defaults
The Widgets button appears on the far left of the Taskbar and displays the local weather forecast by default.

Tip: If you configure the Taskbar to be left-aligned instead of its default central alignment, the Widgets button appears to the left of the system tray on the Taskbar.

When you click the Widgets button, a pop-up Widgets board appears in a floating window with a Widgets view displaying some selection of widgets. You can interact with most widgets in some way and access the underlying website or app to learn more.

Keyboard shortcut: You can also open Widgets by typing Windows key + W.

If you've used Windows 11 for some time, you may also see a second view, called Discover, which is accessible via the navigation pane on the left. When selected, this view displays the the Microsoft Start Feed, a dashboard of info cards for things like weather plus a bottomless pit of news and general information headlines in widget-like tiles that are usually of low quality. If you click a tile, the underlying web-based article will open in Microsoft Edge.
Widgets is a pop-up, glanceable interface. If you click outside of it, tap "Esc," or type the Windows key + W keyboard shortcut, the Widgets board disappears.

Customize Widgets
Widgets is highly customizable. You can determine whether to display its Taskbar button in the Settings app by navigating to Personalization > Taskbar > Taskbar items.

Tip: You can navigate to Taskbar settings more quickly by right-clicking an empty area on the Taskbar and choosing "Taskbar settings" from the context menu that appears.

Most other Widgets settings are customized directly in Widgets using a settings page. To access this interface, open Widgets and click the "Settings" (gear) icon.

Customize the Widgets button on the Taskbar
There are several options specifically tied to the Widgets button on the Taskbar.
Display Widgets more easily. The Widgets board appears when you click the Widgets button on the Taskbar by default. But you can also configure Widgets to display this interface more easily, simply by mousing over over the Widgets button. To do so, open Widgets, click the "Settings" (gear) icon, and enable the option "Open Widgets board on hover."
Display more notifications on the Widgets button. The Widgets button on the Taskbar typically displays a weather forecast, though it will occasionally display a notification badge for important weather-related or news events. I don't recommend this, but if you would like to see more notifications for some reason, Widgets can accommodate that need: Open Widgets, click the "Settings" (gear) icon and...