For managed Windows 10 devices, use the Enable news and interests on the taskbar policy. Set it to Disabled in Group Policy or Not allowed in Microsoft Intune Settings Catalog. For one unmanaged PC, turn it off from the taskbar menu.
This procedure applies to Windows 10’s News and interests feature—not automatically to Windows 11 Widgets. The rollout described by the source covered Windows 10 version 1909 and later with the May 2021 monthly update or later; confirm your organization’s build and servicing status before deployment. See the original technical reference published August 23, 2024 at HTMD Blog.
What Windows 10 News and interests does
News and interests is the taskbar weather control. Selecting or hovering over it opens a feed with weather, news, traffic, market information and related cards.
Windows 10 supports three display modes:
- Show icon and text: weather icon and temperature appear on the taskbar.
- Show icon only: only the weather icon appears.
- Turn off: the weather control and feed are removed.
A policy that disables the feature is stronger than hiding text. When the policy is disabled, users also lose the News and interests controls in the taskbar context menu.
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Choose the right management method
| Situation | Recommended method | Scope |
|---|---|---|
| One personal Windows 10 PC | Taskbar context menu | Current user experience |
| Active Directory domain estate | Group Policy | Local device or domain-targeted devices |
| Entra-joined, MDM-enrolled devices | Intune Settings Catalog | Assigned users or devices |
| Temporary diagnostic or scripted change | Registry or PowerShell | Machine policy or individual user profile |
| Hybrid or co-managed estate | One authoritative policy source | Avoid conflicting GPO, MDM and scripts |
The taskbar menu is convenient but cannot enforce a company-wide setting. Use a device-targeted policy when every user of a managed computer should receive the same result.
Turn it off on one Windows 10 PC
- Right-click an empty area of the taskbar.
- Select News and interests.
- Select Turn off.
The weather display disappears for that user. The same menu can restore Show icon and text or Show icon only. A machine policy or user policy can overwrite this local choice.
Disable News and interests with Group Policy
Local or domain procedure
- Sign in with administrative rights. On editions that include the normal editor—Windows 10 Pro, Enterprise and Education—run
gpedit.mscfor a local test. For domain deployment, edit the applicable GPO through your organization’s Group Policy management tools. - Go to
Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > News and Interests. - Open Enable news and interests on the taskbar.
- Select Disabled, then select Apply and OK.
- For testing, run
gpupdate /force. Normal refresh may take longer. - If the taskbar does not change immediately, restart Windows Explorer, sign out and back in, or restart the device.
Policy meanings
- Enabled: News and interests is allowed and users retain its taskbar controls.
- Disabled: News and interests is turned off and its taskbar settings UI is removed.
- Not configured: Windows’ default behavior remains in control; do not assume identical behavior on every build.
A local GPO affects one computer. A domain GPO can target an organizational unit, security group or broader domain scope. Windows 10 Home generally does not include the standard Group Policy Editor; do not use unsupported “gpedit” installers.
Disable it with Microsoft Intune Settings Catalog
Use the setting name as the stable anchor because Intune navigation and labels change. The current portal is the Microsoft Intune admin center.
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- Open Devices, create a new Windows configuration profile, choose the Windows platform (commonly shown as Windows 10 and later), and select Settings catalog.
- Name the profile clearly, for example
Windows - Disable News and Interests. - Select Add settings.
- Search for News and interests or Enable News and interests. If no result appears, search for Feeds; deployments have reported the setting under that term.
- Select Enable News and interests and set it to Not allowed.
- Assign the profile to a small pilot device group first, then select Review + create.
- Wait for device check-in. Review the profile’s per-setting status and the device’s applied settings before expanding the assignment.
Older instructions may say “Microsoft Endpoint Manager,” “Configuration Profiles” or “Settings catalog (preview).” Those are historical labels, not guaranteed August 2026 navigation. Settings Catalog context is also described by HTMD Blog.
Assignment and scope
- Prefer a device group when the requirement is device-wide and independent of the signed-in user.
- Use a user group only when a user-scoped experience is intentional.
- Document exclusions for kiosks, shared computers, service accounts and test devices.
- In co-management, check whether Configuration Manager, Group Policy or a custom MDM policy also configures the setting.
Registry and PowerShell fallback
Registry configuration is useful for troubleshooting or a controlled script, but it lacks Intune’s assignment and reporting. Back up the registry and test on the organization’s Windows build first.
Machine policy value
Run as administrator and create:
Path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREPoliciesMicrosoftWindowsWindows Feeds
Value: EnableFeeds
Type: REG_DWORD
0 = Disabled
1 = Enabled$path = 'HKLM:SOFTWAREPoliciesMicrosoftWindowsWindows Feeds'
New-Item -Path $path -Force | Out-Null
New-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name 'EnableFeeds' -PropertyType DWord -Value 0 -ForceCurrent-user display mode
This value affects only the profile in which it is written:
Path: HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionFeeds
Value: ShellFeedsTaskbarViewMode
Type: REG_DWORD
0 = Show icon and text
1 = Show icon only
2 = Turn offA user-mode script must run in every affected user context. A machine policy is more appropriate for shared computers.
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Verify the result
Visual check
After policy refresh, confirm that the weather control is absent and that right-clicking the taskbar no longer exposes News and interests controls.
Group Policy check
gpupdate /force
gpresult /h "%TEMP%gpresult.html"Open the generated report and confirm that the expected computer GPO is applied.
Registry check
Get-ItemProperty `
-Path 'HKLM:SOFTWAREPoliciesMicrosoftWindowsWindows Feeds' `
-Name EnableFeeds `
-ErrorAction SilentlyContinueIntune check
Confirm that the device is enrolled, has checked in recently, and reports the individual setting as applied—not merely that the overall profile exists.
Troubleshoot missing or ineffective settings
The Intune setting does not appear
Search both News and interests and Feeds. Portal labels can change. Confirm that the profile is a Windows Settings Catalog profile rather than an unrelated template.
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Intune reports error 65000
Error 65000 has been reported during deployments, including on Windows 10 Pro build 19041.1052. It is a deployment symptom, not proof that Windows 10 Pro is universally unsupported. Capture the edition and build, join and enrollment state, profile type, exact setting, MDM diagnostic logs, and any competing GPO or script. Then test the same profile on a pilot device.
The device is not changing
- Force a management sync from Windows Settings or Company Portal.
- Check assignment filters, exclusions and the device’s last check-in.
- Run
gpupdate /forcefor Group Policy testing. - Inspect for conflicting Intune profiles, legacy custom OMA-URI policies, GPOs or registry preferences.
- Restart Explorer or sign out if policy is present but the taskbar is visually stale.
The computer runs Windows 11
Do not assume this Windows 10 policy disables Windows 11 Widgets. Windows 11 uses a different taskbar and Widgets experience and requires separate policy guidance.
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- Identify Windows 10 editions, builds, enrollment states and management ownership.
- Apply the policy to a pilot group containing representative devices and shared-user scenarios.
- Verify the policy status, registry result and taskbar appearance.
- Resolve conflicts and document exclusions.
- Expand assignment gradually, retaining a rollback group with the policy removed or set back to the organization’s default.
For the authoritative background on Group Policy configuration, see Microsoft’s Group configuration: news and interests on the Windows taskbar.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does this remove Microsoft Edge?
No. The policy controls Windows 10 News and interests on the taskbar; it does not uninstall or disable Microsoft Edge.
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Can users turn it back on after policy deployment?
When the machine policy is set to Disabled or the Intune value is Not allowed, the user-facing taskbar controls are removed. A local menu change cannot override that enforced policy.
Do I always need to restart Windows?
No. A policy refresh or Explorer restart may be enough, although signing out or restarting can be necessary when the taskbar has not refreshed.
What happens if Group Policy and Intune both configure it?
The result can be inconsistent or difficult to diagnose. Select one authoritative source, remove competing settings, and validate the effective policy on a pilot device.
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