Windows 11 Insider Preview includes full-screen widget panel

Microsoft has released Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 25201 in the Dev Channel. The build includes an option to display the widget panel in a full screen view. The search bar, which was still visible in the taskbar in an earlier build, has been removed for the time being.

Microsoft named the new widget panel view Expanded View. This view displays the widget panel full screen; at the bottom you can still see the Windows 11 taskbar. It’s not clear if the full-screen view will still be present in later Preview Builds. The company also added an option to the Game Pass widget that allows users to sign in directly to Xbox via the widget. That was not possible before.

The company writes in a blog post that it has removed the experimental search bar in the Windows 11 taskbar. That search bar was previously Windows 11 on some users Insider Preview Build 25158 to see. Microsoft says it has collected the feedback and is completing the test period for this feature. It’s not clear if the search bar in the Windows 11 taskbar will ever return.

Expanded View widget panel Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 25201