RESTORE DESKTOP WIDGETS TO WINDOWS
When Microsoft announced the new Widgets feature in Windows 11 ( www. snipca.com/40182), we imagined it was bringing back Windows 7’s ‘gadgets’, which for security reasons were dropped from the operating system from Windows 8 onwards. These were little floating apps that you could move around your desktop to see the time, the weather, your CPU usage and other useful information.
Instead, Windows 11’s widgets are all contained in a pop-up panel that you open from the taskbar or by pressing Windows+w, which is similar to opening a web page. Although the Widgets panel can be customised to show the content of your choice, and appears above other windows so you don’t need to minimise them to view it, the feature lacks the personality and flexibility of classic gadgets.
The good news is that you can revive Windows 7-style widgets using unofficial (but completely safe) free tools, which have been updated to work with Windows 11, as well as Windows 10.
The best is 8Gadgetpack ( www.snipca. com/40183), which offers more than 60 widgets including a clock, calendar, currency converter, sticky notes and hard drive, network and power monitors (see screenshot left). Click the plus sign in the top-right corner of its side panel to browse and select the gadgets you want, then drag them to suitable positions on your desktop. You can then resize them, configure their content and design settings, and move (and remove) them as required.
The program also adds a Gadgets entry to your right-click menu, though in Windows 11 you need to click ‘Show more options’ to see this. To hide your widgets and get a clearer view of your desktop, right-click the sidebar (select the 7
Sidebar gadget if you can’t see this) and choose ‘Hide all gadgets’.
You can also bring back gadgets using the excellent free desktop-customisation tool Rainmeter ( www.rainmeter.net). When you install the program, it provides you with a small selection of widgets, which it calls Illustro skins, including a clock, calendar, Google search box and system and network monitors. Rightclick a Rainmeter widget and choose ‘Manage skin’ (see screenshot above) to see all available options. You can find more free skins, created by other Rainmeter users, in its community forums at www.snipca.com/40184.