How to disable taskbar news and interests widget on Windows 10

On Windows 10, “news and interests” is a new widget that appears in the taskbar, next to the notification area, starting with build 21286 for version 21H2 or build 19043.962 for version 21H1, designed to give you quick access to trending news, sports, stocks, and weather information.

The idea of the feature is to keep you on your device instead of opening your phone to peek into news and other information throughout the day.

Although it is a good idea, the caveat is that it comes enabled by default, and it’s not something that everyone wants since it can add unnecessary distractions. If the widget is not for you, Windows 10 includes options to disable or enable the feature in at least two ways using the taskbar settings or registry.

In this guide, you will learn these steps to disable or enable the taskbar news and interests widget available on Windows 10 build 21286 and higher releases.

How to disable taskbar news and interests on Windows 10

To disable the news and interests widget, use these steps:

1. Right-click the taskbar on Windows 10.

2. Select the news and interests menu and choose the Turn off option.

   

   Disable news and interests option

3. (Optional) Select the Show icon only option if you want to keep the widget using less space in the taskbar.

Once you complete the steps, the widget will no longer be available in the taskbar.

How to enable taskbar news and interests on Windows 10

To enable the news widget in the taskbar, use these steps:

1. Right-click the taskbar.

2. Select the news and interests menu and choose the Show icon and text option.

   

   Enable news and interests option

3. (Optional) Select the Show icon only option if you want to keep the widget using less space in the taskbar.

After you complete the steps, the widget will appear near the notification area.

.Windows_Software_Technology-Big-343{display:inline-block;width:300px;height:600px}@media(min-width: 500px){.Windows_Software_Technology-Big-343{width:300px;height:600px}}

How to disable taskbar news and interests using Registry

To disable the “news and interests” taskbar widget with the Registry, use these steps:

Warning: Modifying system files can further damage your Windows installation if it’s not done correctly. It’s assumed that you know what you are doing and have previously created a full backup of your computer. Proceed with caution and use this as the last course of action.

1. Open Start.

2. Search for regedit and click the top result to open the Registry.

3. Browse the following path:

   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Feeds

4. Right-click the Feeds key, select the New submenu, and choose the DWORD (32-bit) Value option.

   

   Create ShellFeedsTaskbarViewMode key

5. Name the new key ShellFeedsTaskbarViewMode and press Enter (if applicable).

6. Double-click the newly created key and make sure the value is set from 0 to 2 to disable the feature.

   

   Registry disable news and interests

7. Click the OK button.

8. Restart your computer.

Once you complete the steps, the news widget will be disabled on your device.

How to enable taskbar news and interests using Registry

To enable the news and interests widget in the Windows 10 taskbar, use these steps:

1. Open Start.

2. Search for regedit and click the top result to open the Registry.

3. Browse the following path:

   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Feeds

4. Right-click the Feeds key, select the New submenu, and choose the DWORD (32-bit) Value option.

5. Name the new key ShellFeedsTaskbarViewMode and press Enter (if applicable).

   

   Create ShellFeedsTaskbarViewMode key

6. Double-click the newly created key and make sure the value is set from 2 to 0 to enable news and interests using the Show icon and text option.

   

   Registry enable news and interests

7. (Optional) Double-click the newly created key and make sure the value is set from 2 to 1 to enable news and interests using the Show icon only option.

8. Click the OK button.

9. Restart your computer.

After you complete the steps, the news and interests widget will be available from the taskbar.