Fix: Windows Widgets High RAM/High CPU Usage on Windows 11

The Windows Widgets process in the task manager is responsible for the Widgets app that displays dynamic content from apps and services on the Windows 11 desktop.

If you don’t use Windows Widgets and want to disable it due to high RAM or CPU usage on Windows 11, I’ll tell you how to do it so that it won’t run in the background anymore.

In theory, you can turn off Windows Widgets on Settings -> Personalization -> Taskbar, but this only hides it; it doesn’t prevent it from running. Since Windows Widgets function is to track location, weather, news, etc., it needs always to be running in the background.

You can stop Windows Widgets from using RAM and CPU resources by disabling it via Registry Editor or uninstalling it in the command prompt.

How to Disable Windows Widgets via Registry Editor

The only way to disable Windows Widgets and free up RAM usage is by stopping it in Registry Editor, as explained below. Before doing any registry changes, you should back up your registry.

Here is how to do it:

1. Enter Registry Editor in Windows Search, then click on run as administrator:
   
2. Click yes to allow this app to make changes to your device.
3. In the Registry Editor, go to the following path:
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Dsh
   
4. Right-click on IsPrelaunchEnabled value and click on Modify:
   
5. Change its value to 0:
   
6. Reboot your PC.

If you want to enable Windows Widgets later, redo this process and modify the IsPrelaunchEnabled value to 1 again.

(To free up more resources, check my article on how to disable Windows Input Experience on Windows 11.)

How to Remove Windows Widgets via Command Prompt

It is perfectly safe to uninstall Windows Widgets (and the Windows Web Experience Pack) through the Command Prompt. You can reinstall it later if needed by downloading it from the Microsoft Store.

Windows Widgets is a part of the Windows Web Experience Pack, so to remove Windows Widgets is necessary to uninstall the Windows Web Experience Pack.

Here is how to do it:

1. On Windows Search, enter Command Prompt and click on Run as administrator
   
2. On the Command Prompt, run the following command:
   winget uninstall “windows web experience pack”
   
3. Press Y to agree with the Microsoft Store’s terms and conditions. This will remove Windows Widgets
4. Now check on the task manager if the process is still running it.

This will stop the high RAM or CPU usage by Windows Widgets. You can download it directly from the Microsoft Store if you want to reinstall it later.

(To free more RAM, check our article on how to fix Desktop Window Manager High RAM usage on Windows 11. This bug was affecting all Windows users until recently.)

Conclusion

The only way to prevent Windows Widgets from using too much RAM or CPU is to uninstall the Windows Web Experience Pack (of which Windows Widgets is a part) or disable it in the Registry Editor.

Turning it off on Windows Settings will work only to hide it. Windows Widgets will keep running and using resources in the background.

To disable Windows Widgets, open the Registry Editor and navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Dsh change IsPrelaunchEnabled value to 0.

To uninstall Windows Widgets, open the command prompt as administrator and run the command winget uninstall “windows web experience pack.”

To free up more disk space and resources, also read our article on how to uninstall multiple programs at once in Windows.