How to disable the Weather widget from the Windows 10 Taskbar

[harlan4096]

Microsoft released the KB5003637 Windows Update on Tuesday. It brings various security fixes, which you can read about in Martin's article.

I let my computer update to the latest patch yesterday before shutting down. When I turned it on this morning, I was greeted by something new. There was this weather widget on the taskbar. For a moment I was confused about where it came from, before I remembered that Windows had been updated. Surely, this can't be a coincidence.This wasn't a sudden change, if you're wondering. Microsoft announced the feature in April 2021, and released it in the May Update.  But for some reason, many users are only getting the widget after the June update.

This isn't the first annoyance we have seen, you may have come across the infamous "Use Microsoft Edge" screen pop-up after a reboot. I saw it a few weeks ago.

You're probably thinking I don't want that weather info on the taskbar. And I agree, it is quite long and takes up a lot of space. Well, the good news is that you can get rid of the weather panel in just 2 clicks.

How to disable the Weather widget from the Windows 10 Taskbar

Right-click anywhere on the taskbar. Mouse over the News and Interests menu, and then on its sub-menu. Select the Turn off option. That's it.
If you changed your mind and want it back, repeat the steps.

Tip: check out Martin's detailed guide on hiding the News and Interests widget for additional information, including how to disable the feature in the Registry.

A brief overview of the News and Interests panel

While we are here, let's take a look at the other options that are available in News and Interests. If you don't like the long version of the widget, but find the information useful, you can switch to the Icon-only version. This removes the temperature reading and the text, so you're literally left with the icon. Oddly, the icon does not have a tool-tip to indicate the temperature level. The open on hover setting, which is enabled by default, doesn't do anything.

Left-click on the weather widget and a big panel pops-up. This is the News and Weather app window. In addition to displaying the weather information, it also shows you top stories from news websites, stock prices, and traffic updates. To customizing your news feed, click the Manage Interests button at the top of the pop-up. It takes you to your MSN settings page where you can pick the news categories that you like.

Each card in the News and Weather panel has a three-dot button, which you can click to customize its settings. The weather card, for example, will always detect your location. I have disabled location usage from Windows' settings, but the weather app seems to have picked it up. It's not accurate because it doesn't use GPS,  and instead relies on your internet connection. You can manually enter the zip code or City name in the weather card's settings to specify the location. The Traffic card's settings are similar. You may hide each card if you don't find it useful.

I'm not sure if you can tell from the screenshot, but the text in the weather widget is blurry. I don't have this problem with other programs.

So, what do you think about the weather widget? Do you like it, or do you consider it bloatware?
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