In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to remove the weather icon from the Windows 11 taskbar using Intune. On multiple Windows 11 devices, you can use Intune policy to effectively disable the widgets (weather icon) on the taskbar.

The weather widget in Windows 11 is a built-in tool that displays the local temperature, UV index, and weather conditions. Situated in the lower left corner of the taskbar, it also provides a forecast for the day based on your current location.

Install and Update Third Party Applications with Patch My PC
Install and Update Third Party Applications with Patch My PC
Weather icon on Windows 11 Taskbar
Weather icon on Windows 11 Taskbar

When you buy a new laptop with Windows 11 preinstalled on it, the weather widget is enabled by default. Not all users prefer to have the weather displayed on their taskbar. Thanks to Microsoft, home users can turn off the weather icon from the Windows 11 taskbar settings.

Enterprise users, in particular, may not want to view weather data because it is irrelevant to their work. If the Windows 11 devices are enrolled in Intune, you can assign a configuration profile to disable the widgets on the taskbar. For Windows 10 devices, you can disable news and interests from the taskbar with an Intune policy.

News and Interests vs. Weather Widget

In Windows 10, we have the News and Interests feature that shows weather information on the taskbar. Similarly, in Windows 11, Microsoft has added a weather widget icon to the taskbar as an entry point for widgets. These widgets can be managed (enabled or disabled) in the taskbar settings.

While both “News and Interests” and a “Weather Widget” offer quick access to information, the main difference is that “News and Interests” shows a wider variety of content such as news headlines, stock updates, and other personalized interests, in addition to weather information. Whereas a “Weather Widget” focuses solely on displaying detailed weather conditions like temperature, humidity, and forecasts.

Remove Weather Icon from Windows 11 taskbar using Intune

Let’s create a new policy in Intune that will remove the weather icon from the taskbar on Windows 11 devices. First, sign in to the Intune admin center. Go to Devices > Manage devices > Configuration > Create > New policy. Choose Windows 10 and later for the platform and Settings catalog for profile type.

Remove Weather Icon from Windows 11 taskbar using Intune
Create a new Intune policy to remove the weather icon from Windows 11 taskbar

Enter the policy name and add a brief description about the policy.

  • Name: Remove Weather icon from Taskbar using Intune
  • Description: Removes the Widgets (weather icon) from the taskbar on Windows 11 devices.

Click Next.

Remove Weather Icon from Windows 11 taskbar using Intune
Create a new Intune policy to remove the weather icon from Windows 11 taskbar

In the Settings picker window, type ‘Widgets‘ in the search box and press Search. From the search results, select the Widgets category. In the bottom section, select the following setting: Allow Widgets. Close the Settings Picker.

Remove Weather Icon from Windows 11 taskbar using Intune
Remove Weather Icon from Windows 11 taskbar using Intune

Click the drop-down next to the Allow Widgets setting and select Not Allowed. By performing this action, the widgets on the devices will be disabled and the weather icon will be permanently removed from the taskbar. Click Next.

Remove Weather Icon from Windows 11 taskbar using Intune
Remove Weather Icon from Windows 11 taskbar using Intune

In the scope tags section, you specify scope tags. Specifying scope tags is optional, and you may skip this step. Click Next.

In the Assignments window, select the Entra device groups to which you want to assign the policy. We recommend deploying the profile to a few test device groups first and then expanding it to more devices if the testing is successful. Select Next.

Assign Remove Weather Icon Intune Policy
Assign Remove Weather Icon Intune Policy

On the Review + Create page, review all the settings that you have configured for disabling the weather icon and select Create.

Remove Weather Icon from Windows 11 taskbar using Intune
Remove Weather Icon from Windows 11 taskbar using Intune

After you create a configuration policy in Intune, a notification appears: “Policy created successfully.” This confirms that the policy has been created and is being applied to the groups we chose. The profile we created can be found in the configuration profiles section of the admin center.

Update MS Intune Policies

You must wait for the policy to apply to the targeted groups, and once the devices check in with the Intune service, they will receive the policy settings. To speed up the policy testing, you can also force sync Intune policies on your Windows computers to immediately sync with the latest policies.

Monitor Remove Weather Icon policy in Intune

To monitor the Remove Weather icon policy in Intune, select the policy and review the Device and user check-in status. The screenshot below demonstrates that most of the devices have successfully received the policy. Under Device and user check-in status, you should find the count of devices that have successfully received the policy settings.

Monitor Remove Weather Icon policy in Intune
Monitor Remove Weather Icon policy in Intune

Furthermore, you can click View Report to see the devices that have successfully received the configuration profile. In some cases, the policy may fail to apply to certain devices. To resolve the issues, you will need to troubleshoot the issue by reviewing Intune logs on Windows computers.

End-User Experience: Remove Weather Icon using Intune

Once the devices are synced with Intune and have received the above policy, let’s sign in to a Windows 11 device and see if the weather icon is removed from the taskbar as per the Intune policy.

Sign in to one of the Windows 11 devices, and now you’ll notice that the weather widget is removed from the taskbar. With no widgets, the taskbar looks less cluttered now.

Remove Weather Icon using Intune
Remove Weather Icon using Intune

Under Windows Settings > Personalization > Taskbar, the user cannot enable the widgets because the option is greyed out. This confirms that an Intune policy can be effectively used to get rid of the weather icon (disable widgets) on Windows 11 devices.

Remove Weather Icon using Intune
Remove Weather Icon using Intune

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Prajwal Desai

Prajwal Desai is a technology expert and 10 time Dual Microsoft MVP (Most Valuable Professional) with a strong focus on Microsoft Intune, SCCM, Windows 365, Enterprise Mobility, and Windows. He is a renowned author, speaker, & community leader, known for sharing his expertise & knowledge through his blog, YouTube, conferences, webinars etc.