How to disable Taskbar ‘News and Interests’ on Windows 10

Windows 10 Taskbar includes a "News and interests" widget, but if the feature isn't for you, use these steps to disable it.

Windows 10 disable Taskbar News and Interests
Windows 10 disable Taskbar News and Interests
  • To disable “News and interests” on Windows 10, right-click the “Taskbar,” select the “News and interests” submenu, and choose the “Turn off” option.
  • You can also use the Registry by creating the “ShellFeedsTaskbarViewMode” DWORD and setting the value to “2” in the “HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Feeds” key.

UPDATED 11/22/2023: On Windows 10, you can disable the “News and interests” experience from the Taskbar, and in this guide, I will show you two ways to complete this configuration. “News and interests” is a widget that appears in the Taskbar, next to the notification area, and it has been designed to give you quick access to trending news, sports, stocks, and weather information. The idea of the feature is to keep you on your device instead of opening your phone to peek into news and other information throughout the day.

Although it is a good idea, the caveat is that it comes enabled by default, and it’s not something everyone wants since it can add unnecessary distractions. If the widget is not for you, Windows 10 includes options to disable or enable the feature in at least two ways using the Taskbar settings or registry.

In this guide, I will teach you the steps to disable (and re-enable) the Taskbar News and interests widget on Windows 10.

Warning: Modifying system files can further damage your Windows installation if it’s not done correctly. It’s assumed that you know what you are doing and have previously created a full backup of your computer. Proceed with caution and use this as the last course of action.

Disable News and interests widget on Windows 10

To disable the News and interests Taskbar widget, use these steps:

  1. Right-click the Taskbar on Windows 10.

  2. Select the “News and interests” menu and choose the Turn off option.

    Disable news and interests option

  3. (Optional) Select the “Show icon only” option to keep the widget, using less space in the Taskbar.

Once you complete the steps, the “News and interests” widget will no longer be available in the Taskbar of Windows 10.

Enable widget from Taskbar menu

To enable the news widget in the Taskbar, use these steps:

  1. Right-click the Taskbar.

  2. Select the News and interests menu and choose the Show icon and text option.

    Enable news and interests option

  3. (Optional) Select the Show icon only option to keep the widget using less space in the Taskbar.

After you complete the steps, the widget will appear near the notification area.

Disable News and interests widget from Registry

To disable the “News and interests” Taskbar widget from the Registry, use these steps:

  1. Open Start.

  2. Search for regedit and click the top result to open the Registry.

  3. Browse the following path:

    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Feeds
  4. Right-click the Feeds key, select the New submenu, and choose the DWORD (32-bit) Value option.

    Create ShellFeedsTaskbarViewMode key

  5. Name the new key ShellFeedsTaskbarViewMode and press Enter (if applicable).

  6. Double-click the newly created key and make sure the value is set from 0 to 2 to disable the feature.

    Registry disable News and Interests

  7. Click the OK button.

  8. Restart your computer.

Once you complete the steps, the news widget will be disabled on your device.

Enable widget from Registry

To enable the News and interests widget in the Windows 10 Taskbar, use these steps:

  1. Open Start.

  2. Search for regedit and click the top result to open the Registry.

  3. Browse the following path:

    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Feeds
  4. Right-click the Feeds key, select the New submenu, and choose the DWORD (32-bit) Value option.

  5. Name the new key ShellFeedsTaskbarViewMode and press Enter (if applicable).

    Create ShellFeedsTaskbarViewMode key

  6. Double-click the newly created key and make sure the value is set from 2 to 0 to enable News and interests using the Show icon and text option.

    Registry enable News and Interests

  7. (Optional) Double-click the newly created key and make sure the value is set from 2 to 1 to enable News and interests using the Show icon only option.

  8. Click the OK button.

  9. Restart your computer.

After you complete the steps, the News and interests widget will be available from the Taskbar on Windows 10.

Update November 22, 2023: This guide has been updated to ensure accuracy and reflect changes to the process.

About the author

Mauro Huculak is a Windows expert and the Editor-in-Chief who started Pureinfotech in 2010 as an independent online publication. He is also been a Windows Central contributor for nearly a decade. Mauro has over 12 years of experience writing comprehensive guides and creating professional videos about Windows, software, and related technologies, including Android and Linux. Before becoming a technology writer, he was an IT administrator for seven years. In total, Mauro has over 20 years of combined experience in technology. Throughout his career, he achieved different professional certifications from Microsoft (MSCA), Cisco (CCNP), VMware (VCP), and CompTIA (A+ and Network+), and he has been recognized as a Microsoft MVP for many years. You can follow him on X (Twitter), YouTube, LinkedIn and About.me.