What you need to know
- Microsoft has announced that users will be able to turn off the MSN feed in the widgets board on Windows 11 later this year.
- Users will be able to choose between different widget board layouts, some with and without the MSN feed.
- There will be a "widgets only" layout for users who don't want to see news from MSN.
Microsoft announced during its Build 2023 developer keynote on May 24 that it will finally allow users to disable the Microsoft News feed that's found in Windows 11's widgets board via an update coming later this year, finally offering a layout that only shows your widgets.
Currently, the widgets board on Windows 11 doesn't have an option to turn off the MSN feed, meaning your widgets are mixed with news and video stories pulled in from the Microsoft News website. While you can hide stories you don't like, you've never been able to outright remove the news feed.
But that will change later this year when Microsoft rolls out an update to Windows 11 that enables a new "widgets only" layout, removing the MSN feed entirely. Users will be able to choose between different layouts, some with and without the MSN feed present.
Microsoft has been working on big updates for the widgets panel on Windows 11 in recent months. In the latest Windows 11 feature drop, the company has introduced a new UI for the widgets board that separates the widgets from the MSN feed, and it looks like we'll be getting more layout options later this year.
Windows Central also understands that Microsoft is working on a feature that will allow users to pin widgets directly onto the desktop, bypassing the need to open the widgets board first. This is likely a feature planned for the next major version of the Windows platform, currently targeting a fall 2024 release window.
The company just announced a bunch of new features in the works for Windows 11, many of which are expected to ship as part of Windows' annual feature update in the fall. There's a new AI assistant, support for RGB peripherals, in-box support for archive formats such as 7zip and RAR, and much more.
