How to Permanently Disable News and Interests From the Taskbar?

If the News and Interests feature on the Windows taskbar is distracting you, worry not. You can disable it permanently through reliable methods such as adjusting settings in the Group Policy Editor or modifying registry values.

1. Disable via Taskbar Settings

Disabling News and Interests through taskbar settings is a straightforward approach. However, note that this method may be temporary, as system updates or restarts could re-enable the feature by resetting these settings to their defaults.

1. Hover over the widget menu on your taskbar and click on Settings (gear icon) positioned at the top right corner.
   
2. Select Show or hide feeds from the drop-down menu.
   
3. Toggle off Feed.
   
4. Lastly, click on Turn off to disable News and Interests.
   

For complete removal of the widget area, use these steps:

1. Right-click on the widget menu and select Taskbar settings.
   
2. Toggle off Widgets. This action will fully remove the widget menu from the taskbar.
   

2. Modify the Registry Using a Command

By modifying the ShellFeedsTaskbarViewMode registry value, you can directly instruct Windows to hide News and Interests at the system level, ensuring the feature remains disabled even after updates or system restarts.

1. Launch Command Prompt as an administrator by searching for it in the search bar.
   
2. Enter the following command and press Enter:

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

   

3. After completion, restart your computer, and News and Interests will no longer appear.

If you decide to re-enable this feature later, use the following command:

reg delete "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Feeds" /v ShellFeedsTaskbarViewMode /f

3. Use the Group Policy Editor

Utilizing the Group Policy Editor to disable News and Interests creates a system-wide policy to keep this feature permanently disabled. This configuration overrides the default settings, ensuring the widget remains off even after system updates or restarts.

1. Press the Windows + R keys to open the Run command box.
2. Type gpedit.msc and press Enter to access the Group Policy Editor.
   
3. Navigate to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > News and interests.
   
4. Double-click on Enable news and interests on the taskbar.
   
5. Set it to Disabled, then click Apply and OK.
   
6. Restart your computer to ensure the changes take effect.

By following these instructions, you can effectively control the News and Interests feature, ensuring it aligns with your workspace preferences.