The Accidental Pop-Up
By default, Windows 11 places a small weather icon in the bottom-left corner of your taskbar. While seeing the current temperature is genuinely useful, the behavior of this icon is highly aggressive. If you accidentally bump your mouse cursor over the weather icon while reaching for the Start Menu, an enormous panel called “Widgets” instantly slides out from the left side of the screen. This panel is usually filled with tabloid news articles, celebrity gossip, and stock prices, completely covering your desktop. If you frequently trigger this massive news board by accident and find it distracting, you can force the weather icon to only open when you explicitly click it.
How to Stop Widgets from Opening on Hover
You can alter the trigger behavior of the Widgets board via the main Windows settings.
- Click the Start Menu and type Settings, or press the Windows Key + I.
- In the left-hand sidebar, click on Personalization.
- In the main window, scroll down and click on Taskbar.
- Look for the section labeled Widgets (it will have a toggle switch next to it to completely remove the icon, but do not click that if you still want to see the weather).
- Click the small downward-facing arrow next to the word “Widgets” to expand the menu options.
- Look for the checkbox labeled Open Widgets board on hover.
- Click the checkbox to remove the checkmark.
A Calmer Taskbar
The change is instantaneous. You can immediately drag your mouse cursor directly across the weather icon in the bottom left corner, and absolutely nothing will happen. The massive wall of news articles is no longer allowed to interrupt your workflow based on an accidental mouse movement. If you actually want to read the news or check the extended forecast, you must intentionally left-click the weather icon to summon the board.