How to Customise Windows 10’s News and Interests Taskbar Feed

How to Customise Windows 10’s News and Interests Taskbar Feed

Windows 10’s News and Features feed for your taskbar is rolling out now as part of the operating system’s KB5001391 system update. Like Microsoft’s News Bar app or Edge’s personalised highlights, the News and Interests feed shows the latest headlines from over 4,500 news sources and a wide range of topics. But unlike those other apps, the News and Interest widget is built into the task bar so you can check the news directly from your desktop without loading another app.

To access your News and Interests, click the weather information on the taskbar to expand the feed and see the latest headlines. The feed updates automatically, but you can also click the Refresh arrow icon to manually check for new headlines. Clicking a story opens the link in a new Edge tab.

The News and Interests feed shows more than just news, however. You can customise the widget feeds with sports highlights, local weather forecasts, live traffic reports, stock market updates, and more. Click “Manage Interest” to select the topics and sources you want to appear, or click the “…” in the upper-left to see the widget’s full settings menu.

There is also a “…” button next to each info card. Click this to share or save stories, or select “More stories like this” or “Fewer stories like this” to fine-tune the widget’s recommendations. You can also add public “Likes” and reactions to stories, similar to Facebook.

If you don’t want to use the new feed at all, right-click the News and Interests icon in the taskbar and hover over the new “News and interests” field to find an option to turn it off.

Windows 10’s News and interest feed automatically appears after installing update KB5001391. However, the feed may not show up immediately — the feature also requires a server-side update, which is getting a staggered rollout. Microsoft says the News and Interests feed will show up for most people starting May 11, and that all Windows 10 users who install the KB5001391 update should have the feature by the end of June. Alas, there’s no way to force-enable the feed, but you’re not missing a ton by having to wait.

Microsoft is using the delayed rollout to prevent widespread bugs — a wise move, considering Windows Updates are notorious for introducing unintended bugs and errors. In fact, some users claim there’s an issue with the News and Interests feed where the widget stops working and displays a blank window. Windows Latest reports you can restart Windows Explorer to fix this:

  1. Press Ctl+Shift+Esc to open the Task Manager.
  2. Right-click “Windows Explorer.”
  3. Select “Reset.”

Hopefully, this issue is limited and Microsoft can fix it before the News and Interests feed is widely available.

 


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