What you need to know
- Microsoft is working on letting users pin Windows 11 Widgets to the desktop.
- The feature will be reminiscent to Windows 7's old Gadgets feature.
- Microsoft is also working on adding app folders to the desktop too.
With the launch of Windows 11 in 2021, Microsoft introduced a new feature called the Widgets Panel that hides off screen until the user clicks the Widgets button on the Taskbar or swipes in from the left side of the display. The panel presents users with the latest news from MSN as well as a handful of customizable widgets.
In 2022, Microsoft opened the Widgets Panel up to third-party developers, and since then we've seen both Facebook and Spotify adopt the platform with their own widget experiences. Microsoft has also added several more widgets since launch, including Phone Link, Xbox, Photos, and more.
Now, according to my sources, Microsoft plans to take the widgets experience one step further by allowing users to pin them directly to the desktop, a move that Microsoft hopes will increase engagement with widgets. The experience will work similarly to how Windows Desktop Gadgets used to work on Windows 7, with them being placeable anywhere on the desktop.
The widget library has been slowly growing, with over 13 widgets already available for users to try out. Microsoft has also been expanding the capabilities of the Widgets Panel, just recently launching a new full-screen mode and widget picker experience that makes adding widgets to the panel easier.
Letting users pin widgets to the desktop is part of a larger effort that's focused on enhancing the Windows desktop with modern features such as app folders, which Microsoft teased last year. I'm unsure when these features are expected to begin showing up, but Microsoft is holding a dedicated session about Windows Widgets at Build 2023, so maybe we'll hear more about these plans then.
