Gadgets (Widgets) are one of the most controversial features in a windowing OS. Some users install them and do not even know how to fully use a PC without their help. Others do not even know what it is, and quite successfully cope. Are there gadgets for Windows 10, what they are and how to install them - we will analyze the answer to these questions in detail later in the article.

Why did widgets disappear from Windows 10?

With the arrival of first version 8 and then the tenth version, this issue was resolved, because Microsoft decided to completely remove the function from the system for some reason:

  • As unnecessary. A lot of the emphasis in the new systems has been on live tiles, which, in a way, work the same way as widgets. They display useful information, update in real time and look more relevant;
  • For security reasons. Here, the developers, rather, said without much reason. Since it is hard to assume that such a small part of the system as a widget can greatly affect security, and parts of its code can be used by intruders. Although it may have had an impact on performance. You can check this by returning functionality and.

Now gadgets for Windows 10 cannot be found on the official website.

However, there are no more widgets and the reasons are given. Most of the users simply agreed and started using tiles, but there are also those who do not want to deprive themselves of such a convenient opportunity and wondered how to install gadgets on Windows 10. For their sake, third-party developers tried to create software that copies the functionality of widgets as closely as possible and tells you how to install gadgets on your desktop in Windows 10.

How to install gadgets on the Windows 10 desktop using programs

8GadgetPack

  • Media center;
  • Movie Maker;
  • .NetFramework;
  • DirectX 9 version and more.

It is likely that, having rummaged on the Internet, you can find other lesser-known solutions, but is it necessary to do this, given that the ones described above allow you to return functionality that was in 7 and even more.

If you are looking for ways to remove gadgets on Windows 10 - then this is done by adding them to the OS.

Many of you remember well gadgets in Windows 7 and 8. We expected to see such gadgets in Windows 10, but, unfortunately, we did not receive them. If you want to correct this omission, then you can download Desktop Gadgets for Windows 10 yourself. These gadgets are a complete copy of gadgets from previous versions of the OS. But if you take a distribution kit of old gadgets, then they will not start on your Windows 10, you need to download a modified version that is compatible with the new version of the OS.

How to return gadgets to your desktop

The desktop in Windows 10 has become more like the one familiar from the days of Windows 7 than it was on Windows 8. Therefore, the issue of returning gadgets is quite appropriate. There is space on the desktop for them, and users have an interest in gadgets. And this interest is explained not only by the desire to decorate the desktop, but also to improve and also simplify the interaction between you and the system. This page presents a gadget package that includes the following gadgets:
  • Watch;
  • Calendar;
  • Weather;
  • Currencies;
  • Notes;
All of the gadgets are in Russian. If you are running Windows 10, which is in English, then the gadgets will automatically install in English. The installation is no different from the classic installation of any other program. You just need to download the gadgets to your desktop, then install following the instructions. Gadgets will not appear in the settings panel as they did in earlier versions of the OS. You will have to manage gadgets through a special program.

All old functions are available to you. For example, moving gadgets around the desktop or assigning them one specific location. The gadgets do not visually differ from those that you have already seen. They also support transparency. It is a pity that the developers did not modify their design to match the Windows 10 style. This makes the gadgets on the desktop stand out a bit. As we said, many people use gadgets not for beauty, but for convenience. In this regard, the gadgets have not lost at all.


The most useful gadget is notes. If you download tablet gadgets, you can record your thoughts right on your desktop. The gadgets support fine-tuning and can also be configured automatically. The calendar gadget is very handy to use for planning your schedule. It is a pity that it cannot automatically download data from your mail or diary, but manual configuration is also convenient. There are also unofficial gadgets that you can add as well. But original Windows 10 gadgets are the best choices you can make.

For those who want to significantly transform their desktop, we recommend downloading. Combined with gadgets, this program turns your device into a true personal assistant.

Desktop gadgets have been officially recognized as a security vulnerability in the operating system. They were abandoned after the seventh version. For Vista and the 7, there were even special applications released to rid the Windows desktop of this scourge. This information, including editing the registry, is published on the official Microsoft website. An update package for the seven was also released. Still thinking about how to install Windows 10 Gadgets?

Everything is now on the Start menu. The weather gadgets have been replaced with beautiful colored tiles. Other joys of life are also available: exchange rates, calendar. Why do we need these widgets? We all went through the era of pirated copies of Windows with Trojans, backdoors and vulnerabilities that do weird things. In order to bring out the clouds and snow, put your safety at risk. Of course, no one forbids the use of the Desktop gadgets installer.

Gadgets

In Windows, gadgets are the same as widgets on a website. Small elements separated from the general design that perform a specific function. It can be:

  1. Alarm.
  2. Watch.
  3. Calendar.
  4. Weather forecast.
  5. Rate.
  6. Games.
  7. News.

In the seven, installing gadgets was extremely simple. It was necessary to right-click on the desktop and select the appropriate menu item.

The system offered a pre-installed collection.

Clicking on any of them could make the installation. This is no longer in the top ten, since active elements violate the security of the system. You can read more about this here support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/13787/gadgets-have-been-discontinued. Over the past month, there is not a single entry on the official Microsoft website about how to put gadgets anywhere.

Applications for Windows

Microsoft could not leave users without an alternative and offer them gadgets on Windows 10, but these are not exactly gadgets) More precisely, these are not them at all, but information tiles that are embedded in the Start menu. This is how it looks on the counter.

In fact, nothing has changed, but now beautiful labels cannot be dropped onto the desktop. To become aware of this or that event, you have to strain and press the Win button, or left-click on the Start menu. It was decided to try this marvel on the example of EuroNews.

The application was downloaded through the store, installed and now you can drag it to the desired location.

I must admit that the icon is rather plain, not like gadgets. When clicked, the application with news is launched, and it is dragged to the desktop as a shortcut. In fact, it is just an application. Nothing more. We must admit that after this experience, we understood those who want to bring gadgets back to the Windows 10 desktop. The appearance and functionality are completely different. Although we still managed to find out that 2,000 ducks died in France, and now the pate will probably rise in price.

Third Party Applications

Users report that third-party applications and their work have to be reinstalled to enable gadgets. Updates are downloading correctly and everything is going according to plan. It's just that Microsoft is against gadgets. Desktop gadgets installer is available at gadgetsrevived.com. At least we didn't find other sources. The program requires installation, and it is not very good for a long time.

The application was installed quickly, and where is it? It turned out that an item was simply added to the context menu that appears when you right-click on the desktop. You could have warned me at least. When you uninstall the package again, it is not installed (without rebooting), the Gadgets line from the menu does not disappear. It feels like it's some kind of tricky product.

There are fewer gadgets inside than there were in the seven, but there is something.

In stock:

  • watch;
  • slides;
  • calendar and so on.

    • Feather test

    To be honest, the first impression is so-so. However, judge for yourself ... Here is a screen.

    Well ... at least it is now clear that today is December 2nd. Not bad. After a few seconds, the program finished its work and removed all gadgets. It is a pity that the weather gadget does not work, and the RSS does not want to display a list of news, the incorrect widget can be removed. Another thing is that it is not as beautiful as we would like.

    8GadgetPack

    It should be noted that the appearance of the installer is no different from the previous program. It can be assumed that these are different products of the same authorship. This impression is complemented by the fact that with the right click and the choice of the cherished word, old acquaintances appear (!), And the window with the list is already new. And then it closes. How sweet it is.

    8GadgetPack is an application that allows you to install gadgets on the latest versions of the operating system. As you know, the ability to add gadgets for the desktop appeared in Windows Vista, they also worked in the "seven", but with the release of the Windows 8 operating system, the developers decided to abandon the possibility of using them. This decision was made due to the emergence of many "holes" and "vulnerabilities" in system security that were caused by the addition of these "add-ons" to the desktop.

    For those who are accustomed to using gadgets for the desktop, but at the same time want to switch to more recent versions of the operating system from Microsoft, this program was created. It returns users the ability to work with gadgets on Windows 8, 8.1 and 10, allowing them to be positioned on the sidebar or anywhere on the desktop. Installation of the program is as simple as possible. In addition to 8GadgetPack itself, a set of the most popular desktop add-ons will also be added to your PC. You can also download them (gadgets) from specialized web resources and add them to the program library (or directly to the side panel) using the appropriate key.

    8GadgetPack can be launched along with Windows startup, allows you to scale the sidebar and the gadgets themselves, "pin" them in a certain place on the desktop, and also disable the display of all desktop add-ons in one click. You can download and use this program completely free of charge.

    Key features and functions

    • allows you to use desktop gadgets on Windows 8, 8.1 and 10;
    • contains its own library with add-ons;
    • makes it possible to fix gadgets in a certain place, as well as freely scale them;
    • can place gadgets on a separate panel or in an arbitrary place on the desktop;
    • distributed free of charge.

    The Clock widget is a simple technical gadget for the Windows operating system that allows you to keep track of the local time. However, ordinary users do not always have an unambiguous opinion about such tools. For some, this is a necessary addition to the desktop, for others, a useless trinket that takes up free space. This article is dedicated to those who are used to always keeping track of the time.

    Desktop clock widget for Windows 10

    One of the popular functionalities of Windows 7 was the presence of desktop gadgets (or widgets). In addition to several already built-in extensions, the system supported the function of installing additional widgets from the Internet, which made it possible to rationally set up the workspace.

    Windows 10 from Microsoft, just like the previous Windows 8, again upset users by the lack of such a widget panel. According to the OS developers themselves, the decision to completely abandon the usual gadget system was influenced by several global reasons, namely:

    • unnecessary function. One of the main ways of development of the new OS was design rebranding, which simply did not include such extensions conceptually;
    • security of personal data of users. However, this point is controversial. It is even difficult to imagine that such a minor extension of the operating system as a widget could harm the user's security.

    In the new Windows OS (8/10 version), desktop widgets were replaced by dynamic tiles, which in some way were supposed to replace them. For example, the tile for the "Alarms and Clock" application carries even more functionality than the "Clock" gadget in Windows 7. The situation is similar with the rest of the dynamic tiles. However, the problem with all the available tiles is that none of them can be placed on the desktop, unlike the same widgets. To find out the necessary information, you constantly need to go to the "Start" menu.

    If you did not have a dynamic tile "Alarms and clocks" in place, then the gadget can be found in "Start" in the general list of all installed applications

    Not all users are happy with this situation. For their sake, third-party software developers tried to return the desktop widgets function to modern OS. Let's consider the most popular programs that can complement Windows 10 with the necessary Clock widget.

    Popular Clock Widget Programs for Windows 10

    There are a sufficient number of programs on the Internet for installing clock widgets for the Windows 10 operating system. The most popular of them are the following three.

    Gadgets revived

    The second name of the program is Windows Desktop Gadgets. Its main task is to return popular widgets to the new system from Microsoft. The only minor difference will be a slightly modified tool interface (to match the Windows 10 style). The program installation algorithm is as follows:


    In addition to the "Clock" widget, there are also available here:


    Gadgets Revived will not only add the Gadgets menu, but also place the widget management access to Personalization (right mouse button on the desktop), and also add a corresponding sub-item to the View menu.

    Video: How to Add a Widget to Your Desktop Using Gadgets Revived

    MFI10

    Missed Features Installer 10 (MFI10) is a popular plug-in to bring the familiar gadget system back to Windows 10.

    MFI10 is an ISO disk image (to open it you need a CD / DVD emulator program, for example, Daemon Tools), about one and a half gigabytes in size. Since the program cannot currently be downloaded from the developer's official website, you will have to use any available search engine.

    After downloading the ISO image, you need to open it and mount it on your computer. To do this, you need a CD / DVD drive emulator program, for example, Daemon Tools.

    In the window that opens, a list of all files of the virtual disk will be presented:

    1. Run MFI10.exe.

      If the autorun of the image did not work, then it can be found in the "This computer" tab

    2. After accepting the license agreement (the program is distributed free of charge), a menu of application components available for installation will appear. The Gadgets item is responsible for installing all desktop widgets for Windows 10.

      Despite the English language of the program installation interface, the desktop widgets themselves will be in Russian

    3. After selecting the Gadgets installation in the "Control Panel", the required "Desktop Gadgets" section will be added.

      If the required item still does not appear, you should reinstall the MFI10 program

    8GadgetPack

    A relative drawback of 8GadgetPack is the incomplete translation of the program into Russian. You can download the utility from the official website of the developer.

    The developer site is in English, but using the corresponding images, the installation process of the program is shown in detail

    The undoubted advantage of the program, in comparison with the previous ones, is its more advanced functionality. As a result of installing 8GadgetsPack, not only several types of clocks, weather, calendars will be available, but also widgets for tracking the necessary information about the state of the PC (resource consumption, active processes, temperature, etc.). You can also open the full list of widgets using the context menu by right-clicking on the desktop and selecting "Gadgets".

    A distinctive feature of the program is the variety of widgets

    Another distinctive feature of the program is a significant variety of possible settings for customizing widgets. A special panel is opened either through the interface of the application itself, or through the "Start" menu.

    The menu is completely in English, which can bring some difficulties in use

    Since the configuration menu does not support Russian, we will briefly consider its items:

    • Add gadget - install new widgets on the desktop and remove them;
    • Disable Autorun - disable autorun of widgets at Windows startup;
    • Make gadgets larger - scaling desktop widgets. This is most relevant for monitors with high screen resolutions;
    • Disable Win + G for gadgets - deactivation of calling the widget panel by pressing the Win + G key combination. Sometimes this combination is simultaneously responsible for the process of recording video from the monitor screen;
    • Visit Website - visiting the developer's website to check for program updates;
    • Reset all gadgets - reset the settings of all available widgets (returns everything to default);
    • Uninstall - uninstalls the 8GadgetPack program and all related widgets.

    Video: How to Add a Widget to the Homescreen Using 8GadgetPack

    Other programs

    The list of programs for adding a clock widget and others is not limited to those listed above. Therefore, we will give a couple of examples of less popular programs.

    Digital clock

    It is a widget for an electronic clock. A feature of the program is that it has a wide range of settings, so that Digital Clock can be easily customized for yourself. To do this, after installation, you must go to the program section "Digital Clock Settings".

    A wide range of program settings will allow you not only to change its appearance, but also to choose the optimal functionality

    In addition to general settings, the program also has a "Plugins" tab, where you can select the following components:

    • scheduler;
    • alarm clock and reminder;
    • transparent variable;
    • setting the date;
    • system shutdown;
    • setting an alarm every hour;
    • quick note;
    • moving clock on the monitor screen.

    Desktop Clock Plus-7

    If you are a supporter of the classics, then this program is what you need. She adds an analog clock widget to the desktop. The program is available in two versions. Its free version contains all the basic clock settings (widget size, moving around the desktop, enabling / disabling the second hand, pinning the clock on top of all windows, autorun with the operating system).

    All basic widget settings are available in the free version of the program

    The paid version of the program has a number of additional options: you can enable the display of the current date, change the design of the clock, etc. In general, the free version will be sufficient.

    Where can I find clock widgets with different designs?

    There are a large number of thematic sites on the Internet for adding various kinds of widgets, including "Clock", on Window 10. Some users like to change their appearance every day or from time to time. Therefore, we present a small list of sites from which you can download dozens of different designs.

    Wingad.ru

    In the corresponding section of the site, you can find more than a hundred varieties of the "Clock" widget design. Having chosen the one you like, you just need to click on the "Download gadget" button and save the .gadget file to any folder on your computer.

    Each widget design option has detailed information about it

    After downloading, you need to run the instant installation file, and then find and pin the new "Clock" widget on Windows 10 of any of the popular programs (Gadgets Revived, MFI10, 8GadgetPack) by simply selecting it from the list of available ones.

    Winzoro.net

    Similar to the previous site, in a special section you can choose from more than two hundred design options for the "Clock" widget.


    Wingdt.com

    Despite the small number of different designs for the "Clock" widget, the site has a convenient navigation system. All files are downloaded in .gadget format and added to the desktop thanks to third-party programs like Gadgets Revived.

    Thanks to special third-party programs, ordinary users are able to return to the tenth version of Windows the missing system of gadgets, including a simple clock widget. Moreover, the most picky users of the Gadgets Revived or MFI10 programs provide not only the ability to install standard widgets, but also add those downloaded from the Internet.