Windows 11 Has Two Widgets Boards. Here's How to Get the Lighter One.

#Requires -Version 5.1
<#
.SYNOPSIS
    Switches the Windows 11 Widgets board from the WebView version (Widgets.exe)
    to the native WinUI version (WidgetBoard.exe), or back.

.DESCRIPTION
    The Windows Web Experience Pack ships two Widgets boards. Which one the shell
    starts is decided by the Windows feature flag 50179255 (internal name
    "LockWidgetCanvas"). Microsoft enables it through a staged rollout, so two PCs
    on the same build and package versions can get different boards.

    This script:
      1. Checks the Web Experience Pack and Start Experiences app are installed
         (and installs the pack from the Microsoft Store if it is missing).
      2. Finds ViVeTool, or downloads the pinned official release and verifies
         its SHA-256 hash.
      3. Enables (or with -Undo, resets) feature 50179255. Only this step needs
         administrator rights; a UAC prompt appears.
      4. Asks you to restart. A full restart is required; restarting Explorer
         is not enough.

    After the restart the native board migrates your old board settings
    (including a disabled news feed) by itself.

.PARAMETER Status
    Only report the current state. Changes nothing and needs no admin rights.

.PARAMETER Undo
    Reset the feature flag to the Windows default (back to the web board after
    a restart).

.PARAMETER ViVeToolPath
    Path to an existing ViVeTool.exe. If omitted, the script looks in PATH, next
    to this script, and in %LOCALAPPDATA%\ViVeTool, then downloads it.

.PARAMETER Restart
    Restart the computer at the end without asking.

.EXAMPLE
    .\Enable-NativeWidgetBoard.ps1 -Status

.EXAMPLE
    .\Enable-NativeWidgetBoard.ps1

.EXAMPLE
    .\Enable-NativeWidgetBoard.ps1 -Undo
#>
[CmdletBinding(DefaultParameterSetName = 'Enable')]
param(
    [Parameter(ParameterSetName = 'Status')]
    [switch]$Status,

    [Parameter(ParameterSetName = 'Undo')]
    [switch]$Undo,

    [Parameter(ParameterSetName = 'Enable')]
    [Parameter(ParameterSetName = 'Undo')]
    [string]$ViVeToolPath,

    [Parameter(ParameterSetName = 'Enable')]
    [Parameter(ParameterSetName = 'Undo')]
    [switch]$Restart
)

$ErrorActionPreference = 'Stop'

$FeatureId       = 50179255
$WebExperience   = 'MicrosoftWindows.Client.WebExperience'
$StartExperience = 'Microsoft.StartExperiencesApp'
$StoreId         = '9MSSGKG348SP'   # Windows Web Experience Pack

$ViVeVersion = 'v0.3.4'
$ViVeBuilds  = @{
    AMD64 = @{ Asset = 'ViVeTool-v0.3.4-IntelAmd.zip';        Sha256 = 'CC27F073F3FE5DD2C3D947FAF558FD4B2F8E34454F812689B0D65EE8A52E4147' }
    ARM64 = @{ Asset = 'ViVeTool-v0.3.4-SnapdragonArm64.zip'; Sha256 = '30AD9A4912686355BFCE60E1D7BEF608735475B7E2160D67418EED8F5E3BA8C7' }
}

function Write-Step([string]$Text) { Write-Host "==> $Text" -ForegroundColor Cyan }

function Get-RunningBoard {
    $names = @(Get-Process -Name WidgetBoard, Widgets -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | ForEach-Object Name)
    if ($names -contains 'WidgetBoard') { 'Native (WidgetBoard.exe)' }
    elseif ($names -contains 'Widgets') { 'Web (Widgets.exe)' }
    else { 'Not running (press Win+W, then check again)' }
}

function Get-FeatureState([string]$ViVe) {
    if (-not $ViVe) { return 'Unknown (ViVeTool not found)' }
    $out = & $ViVe /query "/id:$FeatureId" 2>&1 | Out-String
    if ($out -match 'State\s*:\s*(\w+)') {
        $state = $Matches[1]
        if ($out -match 'Priority\s*:\s*(\w+)') { "$state (priority: $($Matches[1]))" } else { $state }
    }
    else { 'Not configured (Windows default)' }
}

function Find-ViVeTool([string]$Hint) {
    if ($Hint) {
        if (Test-Path $Hint) { return (Resolve-Path $Hint).Path }
        throw "ViVeTool not found at '$Hint'."
    }
    $cmd = Get-Command ViVeTool.exe -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
    if ($cmd) { return $cmd.Source }
    foreach ($p in (Join-Path $PSScriptRoot 'ViVeTool\ViVeTool.exe'),
                   (Join-Path $env:LOCALAPPDATA 'ViVeTool\ViVeTool.exe')) {
        if (Test-Path $p) { return $p }
    }
    return $null
}

function Install-ViVeTool {
    $arch = if ($env:PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE -eq 'ARM64') { 'ARM64' } else { 'AMD64' }
    $build = $ViVeBuilds[$arch]
    $url = "https://github.com/thebookisclosed/ViVe/releases/download/$ViVeVersion/$($build.Asset)"
    $dest = Join-Path $env:LOCALAPPDATA 'ViVeTool'
    $zip = Join-Path $env:TEMP $build.Asset

    Write-Step "Downloading ViVeTool $ViVeVersion ($arch) from GitHub"
    [Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = [Net.SecurityProtocolType]::Tls12
    Invoke-WebRequest $url -OutFile $zip -UseBasicParsing

    $hash = (Get-FileHash $zip -Algorithm SHA256).Hash
    if ($hash -ne $build.Sha256) {
        Remove-Item $zip -Force
        throw "ViVeTool download hash mismatch (got $hash). Not using it."
    }
    New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force $dest | Out-Null
    Expand-Archive $zip $dest -Force
    Remove-Item $zip -Force
    Join-Path $dest 'ViVeTool.exe'
}

function Show-Status([string]$ViVe) {
    $web = Get-AppxPackage -Name $WebExperience
    $start = Get-AppxPackage -Name $StartExperience
    $os = Get-ItemProperty 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion'
    [pscustomobject]@{
        'Windows'                  = "$($os.DisplayVersion) build $($os.CurrentBuild).$($os.UBR)"
        'Web Experience Pack'      = if ($web) { $web.Version } else { 'MISSING' }
        'Start Experiences app'    = if ($start) { $start.Version } else { 'MISSING' }
        "Feature $FeatureId"       = Get-FeatureState $ViVe
        'Board running'            = Get-RunningBoard
    } | Format-List
}

# --- Status only -----------------------------------------------------------
if ($Status) {
    Show-Status (Find-ViVeTool $null)
    return
}

# --- Prerequisites ---------------------------------------------------------
if (-not $Undo) {
    if (-not (Get-AppxPackage -Name $WebExperience)) {
        Write-Step 'Windows Web Experience Pack is missing; installing it from the Microsoft Store'
        if (-not (Get-Command winget -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue)) {
            throw "winget not found. Install 'Windows Web Experience Pack' ($StoreId) from the Microsoft Store, then run this script again."
        }
        winget install --id $StoreId --source msstore --accept-package-agreements --accept-source-agreements
        if (-not (Get-AppxPackage -Name $WebExperience)) { throw 'Web Experience Pack installation failed.' }
    }
    if (-not (Get-AppxPackage -Name $StartExperience)) {
        Write-Warning ("The Start Experiences app ($StartExperience) is missing. The native board gets its " +
            'widgets and feed from it. Windows normally restores it from C:\Windows\InboxApps; if widgets ' +
            'stay empty, reinstall it from the Microsoft Store.')
    }
}

$vive = Find-ViVeTool $ViVeToolPath
if (-not $vive) { $vive = Install-ViVeTool }
Write-Step "Using ViVeTool: $vive"

# --- Change the flag (elevated) --------------------------------------------
$action = if ($Undo) { 'reset' } else { 'enable' }
Write-Step "Running 'ViVeTool /$action /id:$FeatureId' as administrator (accept the UAC prompt)"
$proc = Start-Process -FilePath $vive -ArgumentList "/$action", "/id:$FeatureId" -Verb RunAs -Wait -PassThru -WindowStyle Hidden
if ($proc.ExitCode -ne 0) { throw "ViVeTool exited with code $($proc.ExitCode)." }

$state = Get-FeatureState $vive
Write-Step "Feature $FeatureId is now: $state"
if (-not $Undo -and $state -notmatch '^Enabled') { throw 'The feature was not enabled. Check that the UAC prompt was accepted.' }

# --- Restart ---------------------------------------------------------------
$target = if ($Undo) { 'web board (Widgets.exe)' } else { 'native board (WidgetBoard.exe)' }
Write-Host ''
Write-Host "Done. A full restart is required for the $target to take over." -ForegroundColor Green
Write-Host "Afterwards, press Win+W and run: .\Enable-NativeWidgetBoard.ps1 -Status"

if ($Restart) {
    Restart-Computer
}
else {
    $answer = Read-Host 'Restart now? [y/N]'
    if ($answer -match '^(y|yes)$') { Restart-Computer }
}