How to Remove Weather and News from Taskbar on Windows?

The weather forecast, or weather widget (officially named News and Interests), in Windows is one of the newer additions from Microsoft to keep users informed about the latest news, events, weather updates, and more. The News and Interests widget is displayed on the taskbar (near the system tray).

While some users appreciate this feature, a significant number prefer to disable the Bing-powered News and Interests widget for various reasons.

Disabling the News and Interests widget on Windows is relatively straightforward for the average user, but it can be challenging for an organization’s IT staff to disable the widget on hundreds of PCs. They can use the Registry Editor or Group Policy Editor methods to disable it across the organization.

Note: These steps are applicable on both Windows 10 & Windows 11.

Disable the Weather Forecast Widget Through the Taskbar

1. Right-click on the taskbar and select News and Interests.
2. In the sub-menu, choose Turn off, and the widget will be removed from your taskbar.
   

If you like the widget but find its pop-up behavior annoying when your mouse hovers over it, you can disable this and keep the widget still displayed.

1. Right-click on the Taskbar and click on News and Interests. If the News and Interests widget is not shown, ensure your system is not in tablet mode.
2. In the sub-menu, uncheck Open on Hover to prevent pop-ups from the weather widget when hovering over it with the mouse.
   

If you wish to retain the widget but are concerned about the taskbar space it occupies, you can resize it to an icon.

1. Right-click on the Taskbar and hover over News and Interests.
2. Select Show Icon Only, and the weather widget will be downsized to an icon.
   

If you prefer using the widget but are concerned about the internet data consumption (particularly if you are on a metered connection or using a mobile phone hotspot), you can configure the widget to use less data.

1. Right-click on the Taskbar and select News and Interests.
2. In the sub-menu, choose Reduce Taskbar Updates.
   

Keep in mind that if you dislike a particular card within the News and Interests widget, you can disable it by clicking the three horizontal ellipses on the card and selecting Hide Card.

Disable the News and Interests Widget Through the Group Policy Editor

If you are an IT professional in your organization responsible for managing weather settings on Windows 10 for numerous PCs, you can use the Group Policy Editor to disable the weather widget and propagate the policy throughout all PCs. This method is also suitable for individual users, but the taskbar method is simpler for them.

1. Press the Windows key, type in Group Policy Editor, and open Edit Group Policy.
   
2. Navigate to the following path in Computer Configuration:

   Administrative Templates>>Windows Components>>News and interests

   

3. Double-click on Enable News and Interests on the Taskbar and set it to Disabled.
4. Apply your changes and reboot your PC to enforce the new group policy settings.

Disable the News and Interests Widget Through the Registry Editor

Alternatively, you can use the Registry Editor to disable the weather display organization-wide, but this method may be excessive for a regular user.

Warning: Editing the PC’s registry requires skill, and mistakes may lead to irreversible damage to your data/system. Proceed at your own risk and do not forget to back up your system’s registry as a safety precaution.

1. Press the Windows key, type in Registry Editor, right-click on it, and select Run as Administrator.
   
2. Navigate to the following registry path:

   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Feeds

3. In the right pane, double-click on ShellFeedsTaskbarViewMode and set its value to 2.
   
4. Reboot your PC after closing the editor to apply the changes. After rebooting, the issue with the weather widget should be resolved.

You can also disable it using command-line:

reg add HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Feeds /v ShellFeedsTaskbarViewMode /t REG_DWORD /d 2 /f

Simply copy and paste the command in Command Prompt and it restart your computer.