Microsoft is removing the MSN news feed from Windows 11 widgets, making them less distracting by default. The company is also planning to disable the widgets panel when users hover over its taskbar item and turn off distracting taskbar badges.

The new changes aim to create a more pleasant user experience, as the widgets section would often have notifications for stocks, weather or MSN news, overwhelming many users. Microsoft hopes that these adjustments will make the widgets feature in Windows 11 more useful, instead of something that many people avoid.

These updates are part of an ongoing effort by Microsoft to improve Windows 11, which includes removing unnecessary Copilot buttons from apps, modernizing the Run prompt, fixing File Explorer performance and improving the memory footprint of Windows. The changes will roll out each month throughout 2026.