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How do I gracefully prevent Widgets.exe from starting automatically on my Windows 11?

By "gracefully", I mean I don't like deleting it or messing with the filesystem security.

It's already turned off in my Task bar settings:

enter image description here

I've tried Autoruns but Widgets isn't listed in any of the typical autoruns locations.

It isn't a big deal, but I don't like the fact that a heavy WebView2-based app is setting there in the memory and doing nothing useful to me as a user:

enter image description here

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    Did you check services.msc and see if it can be disabled there?
    – Nelson
    Commented Oct 27, 2021 at 2:12
  • @Nelson, I checked and there's nothing there matching widgets. I would have spotted it with Autoruns, it also has Services tab.
    – noseratio
    Commented Oct 27, 2021 at 3:14
  • Open Task Manager and go to the Startup Tab, right click on Widgets.exe and select disable. Then reboot. If it does not show in task manager use Autoruns software to disable it from starting>>>>docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/autoruns
    – Moab
    Commented Oct 27, 2021 at 8:42
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    See if anything here helps>>>gadgetstouse.com/blog/2021/07/15/disable-widgets-on-windows-11
    – Moab
    Commented Oct 27, 2021 at 16:46
  • 3
    Try in gpedit.msc > Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Widgets, to set "Allow widgets" to Disabled, then reboot. If you don't see the "Widgets" section, this link tells how to install it.
    – harrymc
    Commented Oct 29, 2021 at 10:11

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
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+100

I have the answer! Very simple in fact when you know. run PowerShell as administrator and winget uninstall "windows web experience pack". And voilà!

If you want to reinstall it for some x or y reason. You can install it again from the Microsoft Store https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/windows-web-experience-pack/9mssgkg348sp

Now enjoy your extra RAM and off fans!

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5
  • it did remove Widget.exe for me
    – Next Developer
    Commented Feb 3, 2023 at 20:21
  • Re @KasparL.Palgi: gist.github.com/noseratio/40965eb5c3645fe8bf2b9bb6298d1c83
    – noseratio
    Commented Apr 23, 2023 at 11:46
  • 1
    Thanks for the uninstall answer. My 2021 Intel NUC started using more CPU and spinning up the fan after my upgrade to Windows 11, and caught widgets.exe in the act today.
    – Alz
    Commented May 16, 2023 at 20:42
  • winget is not detected as a name of commandlet
    – Anixx
    Commented Sep 8, 2023 at 2:23
  • @Anixx winget.exe is part of the package Desktop App Installer. If you removed that, then that's why you don't have it. That's the reason people shouldn't be removing things without understanding what they are doing.
    – Igor Levicki
    Commented Sep 14, 2023 at 13:21
1

Removing with PowerShell

This worked for me:

Remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -online -PackageName MicrosoftWindows.Client.WebExperience_424.1301.450.0_neutral_~_cw5n1h2txyewy

The suffix in the full name of the package may differ. The following commands show installed apps:

Get-AppxProvisionedPackage -Online | Format-Table

or

Get-AppxProvisionedPackage -Online | Where-Object { $_.DisplayName -eq 'MicrosoftWindows.Client.WebExperience' }

winget commands fails for me

winget source reset does not help.

Failed when opening source(s); try the 'source reset' command if the problem persists.
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    I assume you are not asking for assistance with getting winget to work, since questions contained in an answer, will never be answered. I also assume it's incomplete. My research indicates 0x8a15000f should have been displayed. The error in question which prevented you from using the command is caused by a CDN issue. The solution to that problem of course is Add-AppxPackage -Path https://cdn.winget.microsoft.com/cache/source.msix
    – Ramhound
    Commented Jun 4 at 16:15
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    @Ramhound Indeed, it's very likely that Winget fails because it cannot connect to the Internet. I configured the firewall to block outgoing connections by default. Since I don't need to download anything, I chose to do the same via PowerShell. I also assume that the effect is the same.
    – George Sovetov
    Commented Jun 6 at 23:03

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