However, some users may have trouble using these widgets. In most cases, it’s easy to fix the issue and get widgets up and running on Windows 11. We discuss a few fixes you can try in this guide if your Windows 11 widgets aren’t working.
1. Check if Your Widgets Are Enabled
The first thing you want to check is if widgets are enabled on Windows. By default, widgets are enabled so this is mostly the case when you’ve manually—accidentally or otherwise—disabled widgets.
You can tell if widgets are currently disabled by looking at your taskbar. If you don’t see the widgets panel in the taskbar, it’s likely disabled.
You can re-enable widgets from Taskbar settings. Right-click on the taskbar and select Taskbar settings. Search for Widgets under the Taskbar items section. Toggle on the button next to Widgets. Doing this should enable Widgets on your computer.
2. Restart the Widgets Process
You’ve probably restarted a process on Windows before to fix a faulty app. It’s essentially the “turn it off and on again” method, but for software. If the widgets process has crashed or isn’t responding for some reason, restarting it should fix it.
Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to launch the Task Manager. Make sure the Processes tab is selected from the top. Find the process named Windows Widgets. Select it and click the End task button at the bottom right.
Launch the widgets panel again and, hopefully, the widgets should now work. You can also just restart your PC and it will have the same effect. But this method helps you fix the problem without disrupting what you’re doing on your computer right now.
3. Disable and Re-enable the Graphics Driver
A malfunctioning driver can cause the widgets panel to malfunction. Your PC needs the graphic driver to function properly, but disabling it temporarily might solve the issue. If it does, you’ll know the driver was the culprit.
Press Win + R, type devmgmt.msc, and press Enter. You’ll see the Device Manager open up. Search for a category called Display adapters and expand it. You’ll find the graphic drivers listed here. If you see multiple drivers, perform the subsequent actions for all of them.
Double-click on the driver and select the Driver tab from the top. Click on the Disable Device button and click OK. Do this for all drivers.
Try launching the widgets panel and see if it works.
If it does, you can re-enable the drivers by clicking Enable device in the Driver tab.
If re-enabling the drivers causes the problem to reappear, try updating the graphics drivers, or rolling back the drivers if you recently updated them.
4. Sign In With a Microsoft Account
You must necessarily be logged in with a Microsoft account on Windows 11 for widgets to work. It’s because widgets like Calendar and Weather pull information from your Microsoft account to function properly.
If you’re using a local account, that’s probably why you’re unable to get widgets to work. You can easily fix the issue by logging in using your Microsoft account, though.
Press Win + I to launch the Settings app. Select Account from the left sidebar. Select Your info from the right pane and click on Sign in with a Microsoft account instead from under the Account settings. Enter your login details by following the prompts.
Once you’re logged in, you’ll see the Your Microsoft account option in the Accounts section in the Settings app.
5. Change Your Default Browser to Edge
Now there’s one more reason to use Microsoft Edge. Even if you’ve become too comfortable with Chrome, you might want to give Edge a try because they’re quite similar.
More importantly, setting Edge as your default browser might just get your widgets to work. Some of the widgets in your panel might rely on Edge and unless it’s accessible, those widgets might not work.
Changing the default browser on Windows 11 is fairly simple but requires a little more effort than it did on previous versions of Windows. The reason? Windows 11 requires you to select a default browser by file type.
Press Win + I, select Apps from the left sidebar in the Settings app, and click on Default apps. Scroll through the list of apps and click on your current default browser.
Here, you’ll see all file types that open in a browser. Click on each file type one by one and select Microsoft Edge to set it as default.
Once you’ve set the default browser, pull out the widgets panel and see if the widgets work now.
6. Install Microsoft Edge WebView2
Some widgets rely on Microsoft Edge WebView2, and if you don’t have it installed on your PC, those widgets might not work. WebView2 is a Microsoft-developed technology that allows embedding web content (HTML, CSS, and JavaScript) in native apps.
If none of the fixes have worked for you so far, installing WebView2 might help. Installing it isn’t difficult. Just visit the Microsoft Edge WebView2 download page and select Download Now. Run the downloaded file and follow the installation wizard.
Once it’s installed, restart the PC and see if the widgets work.
Widgets Working Well?
Widgets can quickly give you an overview of various things without having to switch through a bunch of apps. If you’re used to peeking at widgets every few minutes, a problem with widgets might get on your nerves.
In some cases, it can also be a much larger problem. Imagine your widgets suddenly stop working when you’re tracking a volatile stock on a widget.
Hopefully, you were able to get your widgets to work using one of these methods. Be careful, though. Using too many widgets can require a lot of resources. If your PC’s performance is suffering, you might want to remove a few widgets.
