How to Enable or Disable Feeds on the Widgets Board in Windows 11 The Widgets board in Windows 11 provides a customizable dashboard with weather, calendar, stock, and news updates. While informative, the Microsoft Start news feed can become a distraction, especially in work-focused environments. Before we begin, be sure to subscribe to NinjaOne’s IT video hub and our YouTube channel for more tech content like this. Why You Might Want To Disable Feeds By default, the Widgets board includes Microsoft Start’s news feed, which refreshes live content in the background. While helpful for casual use, this feature can consume resources and reduce focus. Disabling it can streamline the interface, reduce background activity, and support productivity goals especially in managed IT or educational environments. How To Remove the News Feed Using Widget Settings The simplest way to disable the feed is through the Widgets panel itself. Press Win + W, then select the Settings icon in the top-right corner. Under Show or hide feeds, toggle Feed off. This hides the news section while keeping essential widgets such as weather, calendar, and tasks visible. The change applies instantly and does not require a restart, and can be reversed anytime by toggling the setting back on. How To Disable Widgets System-Wide Using Group Policy For administrators, the Local Group Policy Editor provides a centralized way to disable the Widgets panel across multiple users. Open gpedit.msc, then navigate to: Double-click Allow widgets and set it to Disabled. This removes Widgets access via Win + W, preventing users from reopening the panel. After applying the policy, restart the device to finalize the change. This method is ideal for Windows 11 Pro, Enterprise, and Education editions. How To Manage Widgets via the Registry or PowerShell If Group Policy is unavailable, the Registry Editor can achieve the same result. Navigate to: Create or edit the AllowNewsAndInterests value and set it to 0 to disable Widgets, or 1 to re-enable them. For large-scale deployments, IT administrators can automate this change with a PowerShell script, ensuring consistent configurations across all devices. For more information, check out our official blog post on Managing Windows 11 Widgets Linked in the description below.