Widgets in the Windows Widget Board do not work properly after Windows Web Experience Pack update

[iqnite]

Dev Home version

0.1901.687.0

Windows build number

10.0.26120.2415

Other software

OS Build Version: 10.0.26120.2415.amd64fre.ge_release.240331-1435
.NET Version: .NET 8.0.10

Steps to reproduce the bug

Performed an automatic update for the Windows Web Experience Pack through the Microsoft Store. Manually restarting the Windows Widgets, Widget Service, and Dev Home processes did not resolve the issue.

Expected result

No response

Actual result

Error message shown on all Dev Home widgets in the Windows Widget Board. The widgets in the Dev Home app are not affected.

Included System Information

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5500U with Radeon Graphics
Physical Memory: 13.83GB (4.33GB free)
Processor Architecture: x64

Included Extensions Information

Extensions:
Microsoft.Windows.DevHomeGitHubExtension_0.1800.625.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe (Dev Home GitHub Extension (Preview))
9932MartCliment.WingetUIWidgets_0.7.0.0_x64__g91dtg5srk15g (Widgets for UniGetUI)
MicrosoftWindows.WindowsSandbox_0.3.1.0_x64__cw5n1h2txyewy (Windows Sandbox Extension for Dev Home)
Microsoft.Windows.DevHome_0.1901.687.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe (Core Widget Extension)
Microsoft.Windows.DevHome_0.1901.687.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe (Hyper-V Extension)
Microsoft.Windows.DevHome_0.1901.687.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe (Windows Subsystem for Linux Extension)
Microsoft.Windows.DevHome_0.1901.687.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe (Git)

Widget Service:
MicrosoftWindows.Client.WebExperience_524.33800.0.0_x64__cw5n1h2txyewy
Microsoft.WidgetsPlatformRuntime_1.6.1.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe

[similar-issues-ai]

We've found some similar issues:

• Dev Home has trouble displaying widgets even after restart #3801 , similarity score: 83%
• Widgets issue #3842 , similarity score: 81%

If any of the above are duplicates, please consider closing this issue out and adding additional context in the original issue.

Note: You can give me feedback by 👍 or 👎 this comment.

[ciioprof0]

@ignite. I had this exact issue after a clean Windows 11 reinstall using an unattended.xml generated from schneegans.de/windows/unattend-generator/. Selecting the “Disable widgets” option under “Start menu and taskbar” didn’t just hide the news and weather widget—it completely disabled the Widget Board, which broke Dev Home’s dashboard widgets. Another symptom was the “Widgets” toggle being grayed out in Settings → Personalization → Taskbar → Taskbar items.

Solution:
Removing the following registry value and rebooting fixed the problem for me:

HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Dsh\AllowNewsandInterests

Once removed, I could turn “Widgets” back on in Taskbar settings, and Dev Home widgets worked. Disabling feeds in the Widget Board settings afterward let me keep Dev Home widgets but remove unwanted news/interest content. Hopefully this helps anyone else running into the same issue even if the cause was not an unattended.xml file!