How can I get rid of this weather thing that is on my PC since the last Windows 10 update? I have tried to find it to delete or uninstall it with no success. I do not need to have their preferred news items pushed on me and I am sure it has slowed things down on my Windows computer!
It is surprising to apply a standard Windows system update just to have something new show up on your Taskbar. We’ve had that Taskbar since the very beginning of Windows – even Windows 3.1 had its version of the now-ubiquitous grey bar along the bottom of the window! What’s amazing is that if you go back to screenshots of the earliest versions of Windows, you’ll find that the Taskbar hasn’t really changed much at all in the intervening decades. No wonder we’re startled when things change!
Heck, that’s why a lot of people are going to be shocked when the active app buttons will be centered on the Taskbar in Windows 11! I predict that if there isn’t the option to have them be on the left side (“classic” mode) in Settings, then someone will promptly write a utility to move them to where a lot of users will prefer they remain after so many years!
Anyway, I have to say that I really like the tiny little weather display on my Taskbar, but I did have to change the default settings for it to be less annoying. Most especially, having the news window pop up any time your cursor passes over the weather forecast is super annoying. All fixable, as is the ability to turn it off entirely. Let’s have a look…
HOW TO DISABLE WEATHER ON THE WINDOWS TASKBAR
If you don’t have Weather showing up on your Taskbar, it’s past time to apply the latest system updates. Given that there are some critical security updates too, please immediately apply a System Update to your Windows, restarting as needed. The easiest way to do that is to search for “updates” in the Taskbar search box!
You’ll know you’re up-to-date when you see this on your Taskbar:
Note: “AQI” is Air Quality Index and it’s showing up because we have poor quality air forecast for today’s hot, hot day. Aiming for 99F by late afternoon, thank goodness for air conditioning. Otherwise, you can see that it’s sunny and the current temp outside is 74F.
If you haven’t changed anything, moving your cursor over the weather information will immediately pop up a news and information box like this:
I don’t mind the infobox, but having it pop up because the cursor passed over the weather info is jarring, to say the least. That’s one of the things we can fix, actually. To fine-tune the Weather info settings, right-click on the forecast or any empty spot on the Taskbar. A big menu pops up:
It’s confusing, but the weather is part of “News and interests”. Before we change it notice that you can enable or hide a lot of different buttons and elements of the Taskbar here. I have it all hidden except the Task View button, which I find helpful. Try turning off some buttons you don’t use and your Taskbar will suddenly feel a lot less cluttered.
For our task, however, click or tap on it on the menu and a submenu with lots of useful customization appears:
Let’s go through each option because these can really change the experience of the weather / news and interests feature! Try changing from “Show icon and text” to just “Show icon only” and see if that works better for you with the weather info on the Taskbar. No? Then “Turn off” will disable it and have it vanish from your Taskbar completely.
Mission accomplished, right?
Before you say that, however, notice that you can dial back the frequency of widget updates with “Reduce taskbar updates” (as I have done) and, most importantly, turn off that awful “Open on hover” setting that should never have been the default option. Try switching things to match what I have shown above, see if that works better for you!
ENABLE AND DISABLE APP ICONS ON THE TASKBAR
While we’re looking at the Taskbar, let me remind you that you can easily add your favorite app icons to the “quick launch” area on the left of the Taskbar and remove those you don’t find useful. Here’s what I mean, the left side of my Taskbar:
I’ve got a lot, right? I don’t really need a shortcut to Netflix, however, so that can be removed. How? Right-click on the quick launch icon and a tiny menu appears:
Easy enough, choose “Unpin from taskbar” and it’ll vanish.
Want to add a new one? Launch the program you want to have quick access to, then right-click on its icon along the bottom of the Taskbar, just like with the ones you want to remove. This time it will be slightly different and might even have some hidden features, like Calculator offers:
Did you know Calculator had all those features? Helpful! But most importantly, notice “Pin to taskbar“. Choose that, quit the program, and its icon will stay in the quick launch icon parade on your Taskbar. Super helpful!
Now that you have all this info and these shortcuts, you can quickly rearrange your Taskbar to have the icons you want, and none that you don’t. And the weather? That’s up to you, but at least now you know how to manage it all.
Pro Tip: I’ve been writing about the Mac since, well, the very beginning. Please check out my PC help library for hundreds of useful tutorials and how-to guides. Thanks!
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This is a really helpful article…thanks! Just wondering…the weather on my taskbar seems to only show the AQI when it’s above 50. When the AQI is below that it shows “Sunny” or some other weather descriptor. Is there a way to have it show the AQI regardless of its value?
If the air quality is reasonably healthy (AQI below 50) it doesn’t show. That’s true of the big weather forecast apps too. Don’t know of any way to change that in the task bar.
Thanks, I was able to turn off the ‘open on hover’ which was annoying. I used to like the addition of the weather although it’s a little ‘duh’ to have it show rain when I can hear it raining outside; I got used to it. Today though ‘AQI 122’ popped up and the weather info I was just starting to like was gone, left with just a tiny image of a cloud with a partial sun showing. I wish I could select what TYPE of weather I want to know about. We don’t all need to know the air quality numbers. These companies always seem to do something just about good enough, just missing the mark as always lol