How to change the Widgets Dashboard in Windows 11

The Widgets board is a handy tool in Windows 11. It gives you fast updates on news, weather, and sports. You can open it by clicking the icon on your taskbar or pressing the Windows key + W on your keyboard. It slides out from the left side of your screen.

Why do this? Sometimes you want more room for your favorite apps or a cleaner look. Changing your dashboard layout helps you organize your information better.

What happens when done? You will see a new navigation bar. This lets you switch between a screen just for your widgets and a screen for news and updates.

You can use the board to add or remove Phone Link, enable or disable the open Widgets board on hover, sign in or out of the Widgets board, reinstall Widgets features, completely uninstall Widgets, and show or hide feed on the Widgets board.

Newer versions of Windows 11 offer a fresh layout. If you do not see these options, you might need to use a tool called ViVeTool to turn them on. Windows 11 build 26058

Note: To use this tool, you must have Admin privileges.

Follow these steps to enable the feature:

1. Download the tool using ViVeTool.
2. Open your command prompt as an administrator.
3. Type the following command and press Enter:

vivetool /enable /id:48064775

Once you finish those steps, How to enable hidden features with the ViVeTool, follow these instructions:

First, open the Widgets.

Look for the menu on the left side of the screen. You can click these tabs to change your view:

• Widgets: Choose this for a screen that only shows your favorite apps and services.
• Microsoft Start: Choose this to see news and other integrated updates.

Each button changes how your dashboard looks. Pick the one that works best for your daily routine.

Summary

You have now learned how to switch between different dashboard views in Windows 11. By using the new navigation bar, you can keep your widgets separate from your news feed. If the feature was hidden, you used ViVeTool to unlock it. This makes your computer experience more personal and organized.

For more details, check out Windows blog.