The recently released Windows 11 Build 22635.4870 introduced a new Lock Screen that allows adding any resizable widget, and not only Weather. By default, the feature is available to a small number of users. But with ViVeTool, you can activate it without waiting for it to become available to a wider audience.
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Build 22635.4870 is the first release of Windows 11 that comes with enhanced widget support on the lock screen. Microsoft is initially rolling out the feature to Insiders in the European Economic Area (EEA). This update allows users to add, remove, and rearrange widgets such as Weather, Sports, Traffic, and others directly on the lock screen. Other useful data can be news headlines, calendar events, or reminders.
The primary purpose of lock screen widgets is to deliver quick, at-a-glance information to users without requiring them to fully log in to their system. E.g. to see weather updates or real-time traffic data for commuting.
The initial implementation was not that impressive. You could only pick a single app to display its data on the lock screen, while the widget panel itself is capable to host several mini apps at once. With the latest update, Microsoft has addressed this limitation by introducing selective widget control . Now, users can choose specific widgets to display on their lock screen. This way, one can customize the lock screen to show only the information they find most relevant or useful.
So, to give the feature a try, you have to follow the steps below. The instructions assume that you have Windows 11 Build 22635.4870 installed.
How to Enable Lock Screen with Widgets in Windows 11
- Download the ViVeTool utility from this link.
- Unzip the downloaded archive to the c:\ViVeTool folder in the root of drive C:. Create that folder to conveniently run the vivetool app.
- Press Win + X and select Terminal(Admin) from the menu.
- In the Command prompt or PowerShell tab of Terminal, enter the command
c:\vivetool\vivetool /enable /id:50179255,53672489and press Enter. - Make sure the command prompt displays the message "Successfully set feature configuration"
- Restart your computer to apply the changes.
- To customize the lock screen widgets,navigate to Settings (Win + I) > Personalization > Lock Screen.
That's it!
Note: The feature requires you to have Web Experience Pack, Start Experiences App and Widgets Platform Runtime of the most recent version. The good news that Windows 11 ships some of them with Build 22635.4870. The Start Experiences App and Widgets Platform Runtime msixbundles can be found in the C:\Windows\InboxApps folder. The Web Experience Pack can be updated from the Store.
Many thanks to @phantomofearth for the findings.
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