The Widgets feature is a new addition to Windows, introduced in the Lastest Windows 11. The Widgets in Windows 11 came as a part of the redesigned Task Bar and the Start Menu interface. In previous versions of Windows, like Windows 10 and 8, the Live Tiles in the started menu served a similar function.

In Windows 11, Widgets are a standalone feature, that when accessed, shows a bunch of information in a ‘Feed’ like arrangement. The Widgets are easily accessible with the dedicated button in the TaskBar. It is also highly customizable. You can set it to show various kinds of information like sports, weather, finance and more.

Recently, after upgrading to Windows 11, some users have reported that the Widgets are crashing as soon as they click on the Widgets button. If you are also facing a similar issue then do not worry. This guide will show you multiple ways to fix the Widgets feature in Windows 11 if it is not working.

1. Kill the ‘Widgets’ Process Using Task Manager

According to many users, one of the quickest and easiest ways to fix the Widgets not working issue is to simply end the ‘Widgets’ background process from the Task Manager. To do this, first, open the Task Manager application by pressing CTRL+Shift+ESC on your keyboard or by searching for it in the Start Menu search.

On the Task Manager window, switch to the ‘Details’ tab and then highlight the ‘Widgets.exe’ process by selecting it from the list. Then click on the ‘End task’ button located on the bottom-right corner of the window.

After you kill the process it will automatically restart and the Widgets feature should be working now. If it does not, then you have to restart your computer.

2. Restart your Computer

The Widgets feature is a part of the Task Bar and one of the common solutions is to simply restart your computer. Restarting your computer will also restart all the processes and services that are running in the background.

To restart your computer, open up the Start Menu by pressing the Windows key on your keyboard, clicking on the Power button, and then selecting ‘Restart’ from the power menu.

After your computer boots up, the Widgets should work normally.

3. Restart the Windows Explorer Process

The ‘Windows Explorer’ is essentially the entire graphical interface of the Windows operating system. It is always running in the background. As the Widgets feature is also a part of the ‘Windows Explorer’ process, restarting it can solve any issues related to this feature. The ‘Windows Explorer’ can be restarted in many ways but the quickest method is using the Task Manager to do it.

First, open up the Task Manager application by pressing CTRL+Shift+ESC on your keyboard. After the Task Manager window appears, stay on the ‘Processes’ tab and scroll down until you find the ‘Windows Explorer’ process. Highlight the process by clicking on it once and then clicking on the ‘Restart’ button at the bottom right side of the Window.

4. Switch to a Microsoft Account

If you experience this issue and you are using a Local Account, then switching to a Microsoft Account can eliminate this issue. To switch to a Microsoft account first open up the Settings menu by pressing Windows+i on your keyboard or by searching for it in Windows search.

After the Settings window opens, click on ‘Accounts’ from the left panel and then click on ‘Your info’ from the right panel.

Now, under the ‘Account settings’ section, you will see an option called ‘Sign in with a local account instead’. If you are using a local account, this option will be changed to sign in with a Microsoft account. You can then use your login credentials and log in with your Microsoft account.

After you log in to your Microsoft account, restart your computer and the Widget feature will start working.

5. Disable Built-in Graphics Driver

Depending on what processor you have installed on your computer, you might have a built-in graphics card or APU along with your dedicated graphics card. If you do have a built-in graphics card, it will have its own graphics driver such as Intel HD Graphics for Intel processors.

Having two graphics drivers can sometimes mess up the Widgets feature in Windows 11. Thus, you can try disabling the graphics driver and see it fixes the issue. To disable the graphics driver you can use the Device Manager Application. Start by opening up the Device manager app by searching for it in the Start Menu search and then selecting it from the search results.

After the ‘Device Manager’ window opens, to find the graphics drivers installed on your computer, click on the ‘Display adapters’.

Now, from the expanded menu, right-click on the display adapter that you want to disable and select ‘Disable device’.

A dialog box will appear. From there, click on ‘Yes’ and the graphics driver will be disabled. Now all that is left is to restart your computer.

6. Enable Widgets using Group Policy Editor

If the Widgets are not working for you then you can try to enable the feature using the Group Policy Editor app in Windows 11. To launch the app first open the Run window by pressing Windows+r on your keyboard. After the Run window appears type ‘gpedit.msc’ inside the command line and press Enter.

On the ‘Local Group Policy Editor’ window, double-click on ‘Computer Configuration’ from the left panel.

After that, from the expanded menu, double-click on ‘Administrative Templates’ to further expand the menu.

Now, double-click on ‘Windows Components’.

After that, if you scroll down and highlight the ‘Widgets’ policy you will see the ‘Allow widgets’ setting on the right panel.

Double-click on the ‘Allow widgets’ settings and a new window will appear. From there, set the toggle to ‘Enabled’ and click on ‘OK’.

7. Use Microsoft Edge as Default Broswer

If no other method is able to fix the widgets issue on your Windows 11 device then you can try making Microsoft Edge, the default browser on your computer. As parts of the Widgets feature like the news and weather tabs are integrated with the Edge, it can fix the problem.

First, open up the Microsoft Edge by searching for it in Windows Search and then Selecting it from the search results.

Now, On the Microsoft Edge window, click on the 3 horizontal dots or press ALT+f to open up the Edge settings menu.

Once the Settings page opens, click on the ‘Default browser’ option from the left panel.

After that, you just have to click on the ‘Make default’ button under the ‘Default browser’ section, and you are done.