Top 10 features and changes users want in Windows 11 Widgets

In this article, we gathered the most popular feedback and ideas/complaints Windows 11 users have regarding Windows Widgets—a new taskbar feature Microsoft uses to provide customers with useful information and all sorts of recommended content. As it turned out, Windows 11 users have some strong opinions about Widgets.

You can get more feedback regarding Windows Widgets in the Feedback Hub app under the Feedback > Desktop Environment > Widgets category. We recommend you to upvote posts you agree with using direct links. Also, check out our other Top 10 articles covering the Microsoft Store, OneNote, Teams, OneDrive, GitHub, and Outlook.

1. Remove News from the Widgets area - 9800+ upvotes.
   The amount of upvotes this suggestion received proves that users want Windows Widgets to be a helpful toolbox first, not a tabloid feed. Mixing articles with widgets defeats the sole purpose of glanceable tiles of information that do not require opening a corresponding app. Instead of quickly getting the information they need, users need to waste time looking for the needed widgets buried somewhere in the news feed.
2. Add more stock widgets, such as clock, Sticky Notes, or calculator - 1700+ upvotes.
   Microsoft is pushing Windows 11 as a user-first, productivity-first operating system, but, for now, Windows Widgets feel like a gateway for Microsoft to push more of its own content instead of productivity utilities. Do you want more widgets? Here is a “widget” showing ads games from Game Pass.
3. Add support for third-party widgets - 1700+ upvotes.
   Fortunately, Windows 11 users will soon get their wish. Earlier this year, Microsoft revealed it would soon let developers create custom widgets for Windows 11. Unfortunately, there has been no information about third-party widgets published ever since.
4. Disable Windows Widgets background activity - 1600+ upvotes.
   The ability to get the weather forecast on the taskbar—now much more accurate—is not free. You pay with CPU and RAM usage, which may become notable on lower-end hardware. Interestingly, the News and Interests feature in Windows 10 has the option to limit background activity.
5. Open widgets in corresponding apps, not Edge - 980+ upvotes.
   This is self-explanatory. Users want the weather widget to open the default Weather app, not Microsoft Edge (bypassing the default browser), and the MSN website with an extra news feed below the forecast. Tip: You can make Windows 11 respect your default browser choice when clicking a widget with a third-party app called MSEdgeRedirect.
6. Let users pin separate widgets directly to the desktop (aka Windows Gadgets) - 940+ upvotes.
   Placing favorite widgets directly on the desktop will make it easier to use the feature without extra steps, just like in Windows Vista and 7 with its Gadgets. Unfortunately, Microsoft's official response is “this isn't something we currently support.”
7. Add multi-account support - 530+ upvotes.
   The calendar widget in Windows 11 does not support events from non-Microsoft accounts, not to mention multi-account support, like personal and work or personal and school. Again, a significant productivity downgrade (compared to Windows 10) in a productivity-focused operating system.
8. Prevent Windows Widgets from opening on hover - 450+ upvotes.
   The option to turn off open on hover is another feature Windows lost during the transition from 10 to 11. It might not be a problem if you use a centered taskbar, but with icons aligned to the left (the OG variant, which many users still prefer), the amount of accidental opening becomes hard to ignore.
9. Add custom RSS feeds support - 200+ upvotes.
   Although you can personalize news interests, Windows Widgets do not support custom RSS feeds. Implementing RSS support could make Windows Widgets a place users want to open and use because it contains their content, not something Microsoft thinks you might like.
10. Fix poor reliability and bugs - many upvotes.
    There are numerous reports of users having to deal with broken widgets and high resource consumption.

What do you think about these feedback pieces? What do you want to see Microsoft add/change/improve in Windows Widgets? Share your thoughts in the comments.