My widgets have disappeared

Mike Phillips 35 Reputation points
2026-02-23T10:20:05.0433333+00:00

Last week I had a problem with my PC which wouldn’t boot, and one of the MS agents kindly talked me through doing a reinstall of Windows 11 while keeping all my apps and settings. It worked well and my PC is functioning normally again, except that I’ve lost my widgets.

The little button in the bottom left corner of the screen appears to show normally but when pressed only the ouline of the widgets panel appears but it is not populated.

I tried to reinstall Microsoft Web Experience Pack but it said it was already installed and I couldn’t see how to uninstall it. And when I tried executing the widgets.exe file it said there were three missing files. Can anyone help please?

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Install and upgrade
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nobuko c 125.1K Reputation points Independent Advisor
2026-02-23T11:18:50.47+00:00

Hello,

Please download the repair version from Windows Update and try repairing Windows.

After the repair is complete, check Windows Update again and install all available updates.

Next, click the Microsoft Store icon on the taskbar.

When the Microsoft Store opens, click “Library” (or “Downloads”), then click “Get updates” to install all available updates, and restart your PC.

After that, please visit your PC manufacturer’s website and download and install the latest chipset driver and the latest graphics driver.

For instructions on how to download the repair version from Windows Update and repair Windows, please refer to the support article below.

Fix issues by reinstalling the current version of Windows

Please also try performing a clean boot to check whether any third‑party software or services are causing the issue.

How to perform a clean boot in Windows

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  1. Mike Phillips 35 Reputation points
    2026-02-23T10:36:24.15+00:00

    Reregistering the web experience pack didn't seem to help

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  2. Mike Phillips 35 Reputation points
    2026-02-23T11:41:34.8233333+00:00

    Thank you. I'll give it a try.

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