If you want to speed up your Windows 11 system, you can disable certain features and settings that are enabled by default. If your Windows 11 is installed on an out-of-support device or an older device with low memory capacity, you should immediately limit or disable the Microsoft Teams icon pinned to the taskbar of the new operating system.
In Windows 11, Microsoft has further highlighted the Microsoft Teams app. The Teams app has been integrated into the taskbar, allowing users with personal accounts to start chats or video conference calls and invite their friends to join the platform.
In addition to Teams, Windows 11’s taskbar has added another new feature called “Widgets board.” The two new buttons are pinned to the taskbar, along with all general options such as the start menu and task view. As you can see in the screenshot below, the “Widgets board” lets you view and manage news stories, widgets, and more.
Former Microsoft employee Michael Niehaus said that if you’re more concerned with performance than the functional experience, it might be a good idea to turn off these icons. This is because Widgets and Microsoft Teams chat to start and run the Microsoft Edge WebView2 process in the background.
WebView2 is part of Microsoft Edge and it is necessary for web-based applications like Teams or Widgets in Windows 11. Unfortunately, these processes are very resource-intensive in some cases.
The “Widgets board” in Windows 11 only calls the WebView2 process when you click its button and browse the feed. On the other hand, the Teams chat icon on the Windows 11 taskbar is the entrance to Microsoft Teams 2.0, which can use the system’s resources without doing anything.
When the icon is pinned to the taskbar, it triggers network-related activities in the background during the check-in process. In applications like Process Explorer, you’ll immediately notice that there are up to nine processes bound to the Teams client. IT administrator Niehaus pointed out that removing the Teams icon will disable these WebView2 processes at startup.
Disabling this may not have an immediate impact on your day-to-day experience, but limiting how many concurrent WebView 2 processes running in the background may prove useful as you launch more apps or web apps. To improve the performance of your operating system, just right-click on the Widgets pad and the Teams icon and uncheck them.
