Declutter Microsoft Windows -- remove Copilot, Widgets, and News and Interests from the taskbar
Microsoft has introduced features like “News and Interests” and the “Copilot” AI assistant to its operating systems. The aim is to provide quick access to information and productivity tools, but not everyone appreciates those tools and plenty of people would prefer a cleaner taskbar, like we had with the likes of Windows 7.
Disabling these features can streamline the desktop interface and potentially improve system performance. This guide will show you how to remove News and Interests on Windows 10 and disable Copilot and the Widgets feature on Windows 11.
Open source JunkCtrl removes unwanted stock apps from Windows 11
Windows 11 comes bundled with a lot of stock apps that you probably have no use for. You can manually remove most of these with no issue, but the new open source JunkCtrl tool simplifies the process.
Created by Belim, the developer behind Windows tools like ThisIsWin11 and BloatyNosy, JunkCtrl doesn't require installation, and can clean up your Windows in a couple of clicks.