If you just can’t see the point of the desktop Gadgets included in Windows 7, or even the Sidebar gadgets in Windows Vista, you’ll be happy to know that you can easily disable them with a simple configuration change.

If you are really, really new to Windows 7, the gadgets are accessible via the desktop context menu, and can be dropped anywhere on the desktop you’d like.

 

Note: If you are running Windows Vista, you can disable the sidebar there as well.

Disabling Sidebar/Desktop Gadgets in Windows 7

To disable them, simply open up Control Panel and type “features” into the search box. Find the link for “Turn Windows features on or off” and open it.

Remove the checkbox from Windows Gadget Platform, click the OK button and restart your computer when it’s all done.

Now the item should be gone from the menu…

And there won’t be any more gadgets laying around on your desktop.

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Lowell is the founder and CEO of How-To Geek. He’s been running the show since creating the site back in 2006. Over the last decade, Lowell has personally written more than 1000 articles which have been viewed by over 250 million people. Prior to starting How-To Geek, Lowell spent 15 years working in IT doing consulting, cybersecurity, database management, and programming work.
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