Windows 10: Disabling the Chat and Widgets icons in Windows 11 actually saves system resources

There has been a lot of debate about the usefulness of the stock apps in Windows 11, specifically the Widgets and Chat apps. The latter has been criticized as an unwanted variant of the Teams app, since it is a watered-down version of the original program.



Both apps are enabled by default in the new operating system, as part of the core experience. We have shown you how to remove the Chat and Widgets buttons.

Disabling the Chat and Widgets icons in Windows 11 saves system resources


Do these applications have a negative impact on the computer's performance? It appears so. The findings of Developer/IT Admin, Michael Niehaus, reveal that the Chat and Widgets app rely on processes running in the background. The report, spotted by ArsTechnica, mentions that the two apps create multiple instances called msedgewebview2.exe. As the name indicates, these are related to Microsoft Edge. WebView2 is essentially the company's alternative of Electron, both of which are built from the Chromium source. Speaking of which, the Edge Bar panel also relies on the same technology.

The Widgets and Chats apps open these instances as soon as you sign in to the OS, without any input from the user. Naturally, with such overhead, there is some usage which affects the system's performance. But how bad could it be? Screenshots that have been posted at the Out of Office Hours blog, show that the processes related to these features take up a couple of hundred megabytes of memory.

Niehaus writes that he observed that the number of msedgewebview2.exe doubled when the Widgets app was accessed from the Taskbar. Does that mean this can be prevented if you don't click the icon? Yes, but it will still have the original set running. Plus, if you open and close the Widgets panel, the newly created set stays in the background. Hiding the Widgets button stops it from creating its own set of WebView2 instances. The blog post also states that the Teams client can be prevented from starting if you disable the icon, sign out and sign in to Windows 11 again.

There you go, it has been proved that disabling the Chat and Widgets icons in Windows 11 not only removes them from the taskbar, but will also save some system resources. Right-click on the Taskbar, select the only option that appears, Taskbar Settings. Disable the toggles for Chat, Settings, and it will remove the icons.



You could argue that unused RAM is wasted memory. But, if it is taken up by programs or features that you don't use, does that actually benefit the user? You may want to free those system resources for other applications instead. And if you want to use Teams, you can install the real program.

Microsoft Edge on Windows 11 is also using resources in the background


Niehaus also discovered that Microsoft Edge on Windows 10 uses up system resources when the OS boots. This feature, called Startup boost, helps the browser launch quickly. You may disable it from the browser's settings page. edge://settings/system



This also applies to Windows 11. Turning the option off might help you shave some seconds off the logon process, and of course prevents it from consuming some resources.

If you're looking for tweaks to improve the Windows 11 performance, these toggles could help you, particularly if you have a low/mid-range computer.

Share your tips to improve the Windows 11 experience.

Thank you for being a Ghacks reader. The post Disabling the Chat and Widgets icons in Windows 11 actually saves system resources appeared first on gHacks Technology News.

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How to disable the windows resize widget.

Hi Carl,

The resizing widget on your screen isn't part of Windows 10, so it's possible that it's showing up due to a third-party program. We'd like to learn more about your concern so that we could provide the proper resolution. We just have a few questions for you:

• What is the make and model of your device?
  
• Did you make any changes to your computer before this started happening?

As an initial recommendation, we suggest performing a clean boot to find out if this behavior is caused
by a third-party program. This will load Windows with minimal drivers and programs, preventing software conflicts from occurring. If the widget doesn't appear in a clean boot environment, check the section How to determine what is causing
the problem by performing a clean boot for what to do next.

Note: To return your computer back to normal, check the section How to reset the computer to start normally after clean boot troubleshooting.

Additionally, we've found similar threads where this happens with Dell devices. If your computer was manufactured by Dell, check if you have an app called
Dell Premier Color. If you have this app, follow these steps:

• If you can see this app icon in the taskbar or the system tray, right-click it and choose
  Disable Display Splitter.
• If it's not in your taskbar or system tray, launch the app from the Start menu.
  
• Click Advanced in the upper right corner.
• On the left panel, click Display Splitter.
• Uncheck Display Splitter on.

If your computer was manufactured by MSI, this happens when Desktop Partition is enabled in the
True Color app. To disable it, follow these steps:

• Launch the True Color app from the Start menu.
• Go to the Tools tab.
• Disable the Desktop Partition On option.

We look forward to your response and the results of the initial troubleshooting.

 

System Icons on taskbar

Hi,

Thank you for posting on Microsoft Communities.

Are you referring to the clock system icon on the taskbar?

If so, I suggest you to follow the steps mentioned below:

• 
  Click on the search bar on the taskbar.
  
• 
  Type system icons.
  
• 
  Under Turn System Icons ON or OFF, turn On the Clock and check with the issue.
  

Hope it helps.

 

Adobe Flash message in IE 11

Hi Sandra,

To help you out with your concern, we suggest that you disable the add-ons in Internet Explorer 11. For step by step instructions, go to this

link, then look for the title Turning off and removing add-ons.

We also suggest that you reset Internet Explorer 11 through these steps:

• Go to Internet Explorer then click the Gear icon.
• Choose Internet options > Advanced.
• Click Reset.

(Note: If you have added Favorites, back up them first before resetting the browser. )

Should you need further assistance, let us know.

Regards.