Microsoft finally allows customizing Windows 11 lock screen widgets, here is how to do that

This week, Microsoft released a new Windows 11 preview build in the Beta Channel under number 22635.4870 or KB5050087. One of the most notable changes it introduced is the ability to customize lock screen widgets and specify what widgets appear when you lock your PC.

Lock screen widgets in Windows 11 are not new (they are also available on Windows 10). Microsoft introduced them in 2024, and they are a pretty neat feature to get quick, useful information at a glance. However, when originally reporting about them, Neowin and many other users noticed the lack of personalization—you can either have all widgets on or off, with nothing in between. Now, however, Microsoft allows selecting the widgets you want on your lock screen. The first traces of this feature were spotted in November 2024.

The ability to pick what widgets appear when you lock your PC is gradually rolling out to Windows Insiders in build 22635.4870 (Beta Channel). If you do not want to wait for Microsoft to deliver the feature organically, here is how to force-enable it:

1. Download ViVeTool from GitHub and unpack the files in a convenient and easy-to-find folder.
2. Run Command Prompt as Administrator and navigate to the folder containing the ViVeTool files with the CD command. For example, if you have placed ViveTool in C:\Vive, type CD C:\Vive.
3. Type vivetool /enable /id:50179255,53672489 and press Enter.
4. Restart your computer.

Now, you can go to Settings > Personalization > Lock screen and click Your Widgets > Add Widget. If you do not want lock screen widgets at all, toggle off the Your Widgets option.

Note that changing these settings requires an activated Windows installation, so if you are testing Windows 11 preview builds on a virtual machine, you will have to activate it with a genuine Windows key beforehand. Some former Microsoft employees have very interesting thoughts about that.

Credit for the feature IDs goes to @phantomofearth.

Source

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