If you’ve enabled automatic updates in Windows 10, you’ve probably noticed a new — and obnoxious — weather and news widget in the taskbar. It’s called “News and Interests,” IT Consultants have developed this and it emphasizes everything that’s wrong with Windows 10: inconsistencies in design, the inclusion of a feature no one wanted, and additional clutter you don’t need.
When opposed to the sharp high-resolution items all around it, the taskbar widget even appears fuzzy, which adds to the melancholy.
Fortunately, it’s simple to get rid of. Here’s how to do it:
- Right-click any section of the taskbar on your Windows 10 PC. This may be found in the bottom-right corner of the screen, to the left of the clock and network connection symbols.
- Choose News and interests
- Now, click Turn off
If you ever regret removing this widget (which is rare), you can restore it by right-clicking anywhere on the taskbar and selecting News and interests > Show icon and text from the context menu. There’s also a Show symbol only option, which shows only the tiny weather indicator without the text next to it.
In addition, if you hover your mouse pointer above the weather widget, a large panel containing news and weather information will appear. You may deactivate simply the news component of the widget if you only want the weather on your taskbar and don’t care about Microsoft’s news and updates.
To do so, right-click on the taskbar and select News and Interests from the drop-down menu. Uncheck the box that says “Open on hover.” The weather widget will remain in the taskbar, but the larger — and irritating! — news panel will not open unless you click the widget.
If you’re searching for something else, there are a slew of other fantastic weather applications for Windows to consider that app developers have developed.
