With the February update to Windows 11 - you have the option to disable MS start to feed from the Widget Settings. Requires Windows 11 23H2 at least.
How to disable news and interest in Windows 11 widget
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Anonymous
I want to keep the widget on my task bar, however I don't want the new stories to show. I've hide a bunch of them and they still end up showing, but I'm constantly having to hide them all since there are sooooo many. How do I disable the top stories, and the news and interest without turning off my widgets. I ONLY want the weather to show.
I've uninstalled microsoft news but I'm still seeing the news stories.
Windows for home | Windows 11 | Settings
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Anonymous
I would suggest that you completely remove the the Widgets app from your taskbar - see here -and pin the Weather App to Start / Taskbar.
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Anonymous
2024-02-27T15:59:17+00:00 Looks like the best option is to just hide everything instead of just being able to customize it and those customizations actually last more than a day or two. I thought it started working this week - but hidden widgets are back and my weather location is never what I set it to, so, bye bye to everything now that this is an option.
Will this still download stories and be using data in the background though?
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Anonymous
2024-02-27T16:20:55+00:00 Will this still download stories and be using data in the background though?
I have not checked it in about 6 months.
However, it is my understanding that hiding, is just that, hiding. The feed keeps updating in the background just like it would if you had the Feed open and visible. The only difference is that it is hidden, and you do not see it.
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Anonymous
2024-03-01T22:35:15+00:00 You can hide specific widgets, but you can't stop the news feeds. You have to disable all widgets to stop news feeds. Or you can customize your news feed to narrow it down to just the ones you want.
There are a couple ways to get to the setting to disable widgets:
- Right-click in an empty part of the Taskbar and select "Taskbar settings". Toggle the switch next to "Widgets" to Off.
- Click in the Search box (or press the Windows key) and enter "Settings". Go to Personalization > Taskbar and toggle the switch next to "Widgets" to Off.
Rather than turn off all widgets, if you want to customize your news feed, click on the widget (usually on the left side of the Taskbar) to open. Select the three dots that appear in the upper right corner of each news feed when you hover over it and select "Block ..." or "Manage interests" to select additional ones.