Windows 11 may soon support third-party widgets

What you need to know

• Windows 11 may soon support third-party widgets within the Widgets panel.
• Developers will reportedly be able to submit widgets through the Microsoft Store.
• Presently, only a small collection of widgets is available on Windows 11.

Windows 11 has a Widgets panel, but it's relatively limited since it only supports widgets from Microsoft. At the moment, it can show weather, news, traffic, and a selection of other information. You can also show your Outlook Calendar, photos, and items from Microsoft To Do within the Widgets panel. Soon, a vast library of widgets could become available. Developer FireCube claims that Microsoft will soon announce support for third-party widgets.

Based on screenshots shared by FireCube, Microsoft will soon let developers publish widgets through the Microsoft Store. The process of getting widgets into the store would be the same as submitting an application. It appears that a few types of widgets will be supported, including web widgets. This would provide developers with a few options for getting widgets onto Windows 11.

If Windows 11 does support third-party widgets, the Widgets panel would become significantly more useful. The expansion of functionality would depend on third-party developers, but there's a passionate community of Windows developers that would likely create a range of widgets.

We'll have to wait to hear from Microsoft to confirm the expansion of the Widgets panel.

While the Widgets panel is limited at the moment, it can still show certain content. We have a guide on how to personalize the Widgets panel on Windows 11 to help you get started.