Learn how to unpin News from the Windows 10 taskbar . A guide to remove the news and interests widget from Windows 10.
Windows 10 has updated several times over the years. You will have noticed how the main innovations concern the application bar and various additional functions that implement new screen activities. Although in many cases the updates bring some excellent news, in most cases we find ourselves eliminating unnecessary icons and functions.
If you too love customizing your PC, the pop-up of Windows 10 News Feed is more of a nuisance than an asset, but how to remove it? Fortunately, Microsoft thought that not all users would have appreciated the news, activating the functions to deactivate or activate the sections quickly.
In the next few lines we will see in more detail how to remove the news from the Windows 10 taskbar , in order to reduce the resources required for the PC, as well as a questionable aesthetic.
Index
- How the News and Interests feature works
- How to disable News and Interests widget on Windows 10
- How to activate News and Interests
- How to minimize taskbar updates
- How to save space on the taskbar
How the News and Interests feature works
Before understanding how to remove the news from the Windows 10 taskbar it is advisable to delve into this topic. Maybe you don’t know that the News and Interests function hasn’t always been present on Windows 10. It only appeared after a substantial update with version 21H1 and 20H2 . Specifically, build 21286 , released in December, made it possible to integrate the new Edge with this function, offering a useful information service for those who use the Microsoft web browser .
As you can imagine, the first version of this tool has several malfunctions, actually generating more of a nuisance than a real useful service. With the release of build 19043.962 , i.e. with Windows 10 12H1 and build 19042.962 , i.e. Windows 10 20H2 , the software has become stable.
Windows 10 and the News and Interests feature work together by leveraging online searches and topics displayed on Microsoft Edge . The new Windows web browser allows you to view the most important news coming from Edge , in fact, there is no compatibility with other search engines, at least for the moment.
Aesthetically, the section dedicated to News and Interests is positioned in the application bar, ie at the bottom, with a fairly large quadrant that joins the weather and many other functions that you have installed.
How to disable News and Interests widget on Windows 10
While the News & Interests feature may help you in some cases, Edge compatibility and syncing may be limiting. If you were a person who uses Google Chrome or Safari and Firefox on a daily basis , this function would be practically useless. In addition to affecting the management of the taskbar, the News and Interests function also has a certain impact on the performance of your computer , especially if it is older.
Luckily, you can disable the widget where your news and interests are placed, but doing so will also disable the Weather Widget from your Windows 10 taskbar.
The process to delete Microsoft News is extremely fast, it will take you longer to read these lines than to do it. First of all, go to the Desktop and right-click on the application bar, first select News and Interests and immediately after Deactivate .
In case you can’t find the entry to turn off News and Interests , then you don’t have the most up-to-date version of Windows 10.
To check the version of the operating system, all you have to do is click on the search bar at the bottom left and type Settings . From here go to Update & Security and check if there are any new updates available and what your build is.
This process can only happen if you have an original version of Windows 10 , if you were using the free trial, then you could not disable the widget, simply because it is not present.
How to activate News and Interests
In case you want to bring it back to the screen, you will have to right click on the taskbar again and select Show icon and text , or if you prefer you could also choose Show icons only . Disabling this feature will also make the weather widget disappear; therefore, carefully evaluate what to do and how much you use these features.
Usually this function is used only by those who exploit the potential of Microsoft Edge , which although in many cases is associated with the old and unreliable Internet Explorer , is one of the best web browsers at the moment.
If you are someone who loves Chrome or Firefox , then it makes sense to turn off the News and Interests feature, but we recommend you try Microsoft’s web browser as it has introduced several interesting new features, as well as excellent speed in daily use.
The taskbar can be changed whenever you want, there are no limits in turning News and Interests off or on.
How to minimize taskbar updates
As useful as system tray updates can be to inform you of current news, it is clear that these are a little too sudden in changing. We are sure that you too do not particularly like seeing new news every 5 minutes, causing you to get distracted and in many cases to want to switch to Windows 11.
Fortunately, Microsoft has thought of limiting updates to the taskbar, making using the PC less frustrating. In order for you to do this, all you have to do is click on the application bar with the right mouse button and select the News and Interests section . From here a small window will open in which you will have to select the item Minimize taskbar updates .
Although it may seem like a small feature, it’s actually very useful if you use the weather. In fact, that feature will turn off the news from Edge, but it won’t delete the weather widget.
Of course, you can also customize your taskbar, not necessarily with Windows 10 tools, but by implementing equally good third-party software. On the web you will find several solutions that allow you to change the taskbar , especially if you do not have an active version of Windows 10. Among the best we recommend TaskbarX downloadable from the Microsoft Store at a cost of 1.99 euros.
Lots of users prefer to move the taskbar to the side . In doing so, the News and Interests function also seems less intrusive, as it will appear at the top of the screen. To do this, right-click on the taskbar and in the menu that appears choose Taskbar Settings . In the page that appears, locate the item Position of the application bar on the screen at the bottom , in the drop-down menu replace Bottom with one of the other items among: Top , Left or Right .
How to save space on the taskbar
In case you have an active version of Windows, you might think about making some customizations to save space on the taskbar. First of all you can think of customizing the feeds , i.e. the news you want to appear on the screen and those to avoid.
To save space you can manage your interests individually . To do this, press the Weather icon to open News and Interests . Then press the gear icon , at the top right, and click on Manage interests . In the My interests section you can select the ones you most want.
You can also think about disabling the information tabs , in Experience settings , such as the weather , sports , traffic and many others. To do this, just click and uncheck the Show tab in my feed for that specific piece of information.
