You can now have your desktop widgets appear on the lock screen, including apps like Spotify. Microsoft has recently announced the release of Windows 11 Build 22635.4870 in the Beta Channel. Apart from the usual fixes and improvements, this build introduces the ability to customize lock screen widgets.

Last year, Windows Latest exclusively reported that this feature would be coming soon. At the moment, you cannot choose what appears on the lock screen, and you need to compromise with MSN widgets. At that time, Microsoft told us this would change, and the company has delivered what it promise.

This lock screen update will initially be available to Windows Insiders in the European Economic Area (EEA) and will later expand.

Hands-on with Windows 11’s New Lock Screen Widget Customization

Windows Latest has tested these new lock screen customization changes. We can add, remove, and rearrange lock screen widgets with this build. To begin customizing your lock screen, simply go to Settings > Personalization > Lock screen. Once you are on the Lock screen page, as shown in the above screenshot, you can manage widgets in the “Your widgets” section.

Widgets for Weather, Watchlist, Sports, Traffic, and more are available for enabling on the lock screen.

These are the same as those available in the MSN feed on the taskbar. A “Find more widgets” option takes you to the dedicated widgets page in the Microsoft Store.

It’s worth noting that only widgets that currently support the small-size option can be added to the lock screen. Those MSN feed widgets that are not supporting the required size are shown with an error message, as can be seen in the screenshot below.

We tried adding a Spotify widget from the store, which we were able to put on the lock screen as well. You can arrange the order of the widgets by dragging them vertically.

You can interact with these lock screen widgets once you are on the lock screen. You can start a timer, start a focus session, check live sports scores, check the stock market, or simply check the weather for your location or play your Spotify playlist.

Also, you get a three-dot menu in the right corner of each widget which provides option to manage widgets. Clicking this takes you to the lock screen widgets page for managing them.

This change for widgets on the lock screen definitely enhances the usability of lock screen widgets. The problem earlier was that the same widgets were visible on the MSN widgets page and the lock screen widgets page. Those who wanted to keep MSN content off the lock screen can now change them.

This build also includes support for a new group policy, “Disable Widgets On Lock Screen”. This will allow the IT administrators to disable lock screen widgets, and they will still be able to use widgets elsewhere on managed PCs.

What do you think of this new feature that allows Lock Screen customization? Let us know in the comments below.

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