Lockscreen Forecasts Arrive for Windows 10 and Windows 11 Users

UPDATE: 2024/01/11 15:20 EST BY CORBIN DAVENPORT

Coming to Windows 10

Microsoft initially said detailed weather reports were coming to the lock screen on Windows 11, but now the company will bring them to Windows 10 PCs as well. It sounds like it will work exactly the same: “as you hover over the weather on your lock screen, you will see more information. When you tap or click on the weather card and sign in, Microsoft Edge opens with the full forecast in MSN weather.”

Ever since the release of Windows 11 back in 2021, Microsoft has sought to make the lock screen a more useful experience that’s not just a clock with an occasional ad. After all, it’s the very first thing that you see after opening up your laptop’s lid, or after pressing the power button on your desktop PC, so Microsoft wants to make that space as useful and informative as possible. Now, the lock screen is getting new weather information.

With the latest Insider preview , Microsoft is adding the ability to see more detailed and richer weather information right on the lock screen. By hovering over the weather bit with your mouse, you can see more information, such as whether it’s cloudy or not, the highest and lowest temperatures, and whether there are any major weather warnings that are applicable to your area.

Microsoft

By clicking on the weather information and unlocking your PC, you can get access to the full forecast on MSN Weather. Microsoft says that this new experience will be on by default, and if you want to turn it off, it’s as simple as just going into Settings > Personalization > Lock screen > Lock screen status and changing it to “None.”

Microsoft currently offers a few ways to check the weather from Windows. The taskbar shortcut for accessing the widgets panel, for one, shows a short brief on the weather in your area. It might show the current temperature or information about the air quality. It’s very brief and by no means a replacement for a full forecast, but it does give you a glimpse of the weather at a glance.

If you want to check it out, and you’re an Insider, make sure to download the latest Dev build. If you’re not currently an Insider, you probably shouldn’t try to check this out until it rolls out to stable Windows—it’s beta-quality software that can be buggy. Also, there’s a chance you might not see it yet, as Microsoft is only rolling this out to some EN-US users as it tests this before a wider rollout.

Source: Microsoft