Gadgets For Windows 10 - Choose Which Widgets To Install On The Desktop

2024 Author: Bailey Albertson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 12:53

How to get gadgets back and add new ones to Windows 10

The most convenient and fastest way to get the information you need on an ongoing basis is to use a widget. But in Windows 10, the placement of gadgets on the desktop is not the same as in previous versions of the operating system.

Content

• 1 What are widgets for
• 2 Widgets in Windows 10

• 3 Adding widgets

  • 3.1 Using sites

    • 3.1.1 Wingdt.com
    • 3.1.2 Soft.mydiv.net

  • 3.2 Using third-party programs

    • 3.2.1 Gadgets Revived
    • 3.2.2 8GadgetPack
    • 3.2.3 Video: The Return of Old Gadgets
• 4 Removing the gadgets panel
• 5 What to do if widgets don't work

What are widgets for?

Widgets (gadgets) are small applications that are located on the desktop. They can show the time, taking the form of a different kind of clock, the price of the dollar, the weather for today and the coming days, a news list, etc. There are also mini-game gadgets, for example, tag or a sapper, with their help you can pass the time while waiting …

Widgets suggest information you need

Roughly speaking, widgets are able to provide any information in a convenient format right on the desktop. The main thing is to find a suitable widget. Some of them only work with the Internet, others even offline.

Widgets in Windows 10

Starting with Windows 8, Microsoft has ditched built-in widgets as they could potentially threaten user security. Instead, they are replaced by tiles in the Start menu, activated by default. The tiles contain weather forecasts, recommended games and apps, the latest news from various social networks, and other information. They can be controlled: move, change the volume, delete.

The Start menu has an analogue of widgets - tiles

If your tiles are missing, you can enable them manually:

1. While in the computer settings, go to the "Personalization" section.

   

   We open the section "Personalization"

2. In the "Start" sub-item, click on the line "Select which folders will be displayed in the menu."

   

   Click on the line "Select which folders will be displayed in the menu"

3. In the expanded list, activate the items you need.

   

   We activate the necessary folders

4. To add a specific application to the tiles, use the "Pin to Start" function, which is available after right-clicking on it.

   

   Selecting the "Pin to Home Screen" function

Adding widgets

Windows 10 doesn't have built-in gadgets, so you won't be able to put any mini-program on the desktop using standard tools. But there are ways to add the necessary widgets yourself - through a third-party program or website.

Using sites

There are enough sites that specialize in hosting widgets for Windows 10. You can easily find them by typing in any search engine: "Download widget for Windows 10". Let's consider the most popular and convenient options.

Wingdt.com

This site provides widgets for all versions of the Windows operating system: from XP to 10. Going to the site and selecting the Windows 10 section, you will see a huge list of gadgets with a five-star rating system. On the left side of the site there is a block sorted by type. Having found the necessary gadget in it, click on the "Download" button.

Select the widget and click the "Download" button

A detailed description and a download link will appear. After you download the widget, all that remains is to go through the installation procedure, which looks like installing a regular program.

We look at the description of the widget and click the "Download" button

Soft.mydiv.net

Going to the site, select the section "All for Windows" - "Miscellaneous" - "Widgets for Windows". Here you will find a list of well-known and handy widgets that came from previous OS versions. Each gadget can be downloaded separately. The installation procedure is no different from installing any application.

Go to the section "Widgets for Windows" and download the necessary gadget

Using third-party programs

There are a lot of programs out there to get back widgets from Windows 7 and previous versions of the system. If one of them does not work in your case (in Windows 10, widgets do not always function correctly), use another, some should definitely work.

Gadgets revived

1. The program is free, the only thing you need to do is download and install it from the official website. After that, a new item "Gadgets" will appear in the context menu invoked by right-clicking on an empty space on the desktop.

   

   Opening the "Gadgets" section

2. Here you will see the standard gadgets control panel. With it, you can select the desired widget, place and edit it.

   

   Add and edit widgets

3. In the future, you can remove an unused widget by right-clicking on it and selecting the "Unpin" function.

The program contains the following gadgets: weather, clock, slide show, calendar, currency, tags, news headlines, temperature meter of computer components.

8GadgetPack

1. Also a free program, but with two differences: it is not fully translated into Russian, but it has a larger supply of widgets. The transition to the gadgets control panel is carried out in the same way, through the desktop context menu, but the list of offered mini-programs is longer.

   

   8GadgetPack offers an extended list of available gadgets

2. In the settings, you can disable autoloading of widgets at login, change their size, enable hotkeys to go to widget management.

   

   In the settings you can change the parameters of the widgets

The program contains all the same widgets that were in the previous application, as well as gadgets for more detailed system monitoring and sound control. In addition, some widgets have additional features.

Video: the return of old gadgets

youtube.com/watch?v=SNpMl-eLJYI

Removing the gadgets panel

You can delete one widget by right-clicking on it and selecting the "Delete" or "Unpin" button. To get rid of the widget panel, you need to uninstall the program with which it appeared.

1. Open the control panel. You can find it using the system search bar.

   

   Opening the control panel

2. Write in the search "uninstall" and go to the sub-item "Uninstall the program".

   

   Open the section "Removing the program"

3. A list of all third-party applications available on your computer will open. Select the program that contained the widget package and click on the "Remove" button. Confirm the action and wait until the program is erased from the device. You may need to restart your computer for the changes to take effect.

   

   Remove the program that caused the widgets to appear

What to do if widgets don't work

Since widgets are not initially provided in Windows 10, their performance depends only on the creators of the application that you use to add gadgets. Some users are faced with the fact that gadgets disappear from the desktop, do not fix, glitch or freeze.

The only way out of this situation is to use another program or install the desired widget separately. Most importantly, do not forget to first erase the non-working program (how to do this is described in the section "Removing the gadgets panel"), otherwise it will conflict with the new one.

Windows 10 has an analogue of widgets - icons built into the Start menu. But with the help of third-party programs, you can return gadgets from previous versions of the system or add new ones written specifically for the latest Windows.