How to add widgets to your Mac desktop
macOS lets you pin a clock, weather or battery widget straight onto your desktop in a few clicks — no extra app required, and macOS 26 Tahoe changes how those widgets look while you work. Here's the built-in way step by step, what it can and can't do, and how Mac+ extends the idea with more widgets, shapes and sizes that stay visible under your open windows.
The native way: drag a widget from the widget gallery to your desktop
Desktop widgets arrived in macOS 14 Sonoma and work the same way in macOS 26 Tahoe, the current release: small at-a-glance panels — clock, weather, calendar, battery and more — that you can pin directly onto your wallpaper instead of digging through an app. They come from Apple's own widget gallery, plus any third-party app on your Mac (or even your iPhone) that supports widgets.
To get there, Control-click an empty part of your desktop and choose Edit Widgets. macOS opens the widget gallery in a panel: your installed apps on the left, their available widgets and sizes on the right. From there you either click a widget to drop it in the next free spot (starting top-left), or drag it by hand to exactly where you want it on the desktop.
If your iPhone runs iOS 17 or later and is signed into the same Apple Account, its widgets show up in the same gallery under "iPhone Widgets" — handy for things like Battery, Screen Time or Shortcuts that don't have a native Mac app.
Resizing, moving, and removing desktop widgets
Most Apple widgets ship in three sizes — small, medium and large — and you switch between them with a right-click on the widget once it's on the desktop, then Edit Widget, or by dragging a corner handle. Rearranging is just drag-and-drop; nothing snaps to a grid, so you can stack several widgets in a column or spread them across a second display.
To remove one, Control-click it and choose Remove Widget, or drag it straight into the Trash. None of this touches your files — it only affects what's shown on the desktop layer.
Two things are different on macOS 26 Tahoe. Desktop widgets now go monochrome while app windows are open and return to full colour when you show the desktop; you can force either behaviour in System Settings → Desktop & Dock → Widgets with Dim widgets on desktop, set to Automatically, Always or Never. And a fresh Tahoe desktop already comes with a few Apple widgets placed in the top-left corner — open Edit Widgets and click the small – badge on a widget to take it off for good, rather than just hiding widgets from view.
What the built-in widget gallery can't do
The built-in system is genuinely useful, but it has real limits worth knowing before you build a whole desktop around it:
- Only rectangles, three sizes. Every widget — Apple's or a third party's — is a small, medium or large rectangle. There's no round clock, no pill-shaped timer, no shape that matches your wallpaper's mood.
- Coverage depends on the app. Want a season tracker, a weekend countdown or a clean storage gauge? You'll only get it if some app happens to ship that exact widget — and then you're managing yet another app just for one panel.
- Little control over how they look. Beyond size, the only appearance control macOS gives you is the Tahoe dimming setting — full colour, monochrome, or automatic. There is no way to restyle a widget to match your wallpaper.
- They share the same layer as the rest of your desktop. Widgets, folders and files all sit on the desktop surface, so a busy desktop with lots of icons can start to feel cluttered even with widgets neatly placed.
Mac+: 12 desktop widgets that live under your windows, not on top of them
Mac+ takes the same idea — glanceable information, no app to open — and extends it. It ships 12 desktop widgets (clock, date, Focus status, timer, season, weekend countdown, battery, storage and more), each available in 3 sizes and 4 shapes, so you can actually match a widget's silhouette to the rest of your setup instead of settling for a rectangle.
The bigger difference is where they live. Mac+ widgets render on the desktop layer itself, underneath your open windows — so a busy desktop with a browser, Finder and Slack all open still feels calm, because the widgets never compete for space with your work. That's a different job from the native widget gallery, whose widgets, once pinned to the desktop, remain part of that same on-top layer as your icons. Both approaches are valid; Mac+ is simply built for people who want widgets visible without ever tidying windows out of the way first.
Setup takes the same three clicks as the native method: pick a widget, choose a size and shape, drop it. The free tier includes a handful of widgets to try alongside 6 folder icons and a set of palettes, with no account required.
Add a widget to your Mac desktop in 5 steps
- Control-click an empty area of your desktop.
- Choose Edit Widgets to open the widget gallery.
- Browse by app on the left, or search for a specific widget.
- Click a widget to add it to the desktop, or drag it to the exact spot you want.
- Right-click the widget on the desktop to resize it or switch its style.
macOS 13 or later. Apple Silicon and Intel. Free tier, no account required.
Frequently asked questions
How do I add widgets to my Mac desktop?
Control-click an empty part of the desktop, choose Edit Widgets, then click or drag any widget from the gallery onto the desktop. It works in macOS 14 Sonoma and later, including macOS 26 Tahoe.
Why don't I see the Edit Widgets option?
You need macOS 14 Sonoma or later — macOS 26 Tahoe included. On macOS 13 Ventura and earlier, widgets only live in Notification Center, not on the desktop itself — check your macOS version in About This Mac and update if needed.
Can I use my iPhone's widgets on my Mac desktop?
Yes, if your iPhone runs iOS 17 or later and is signed into the same Apple Account as your Mac and nearby (or on the same Wi-Fi network). Its widgets appear in the same Edit Widgets gallery under iPhone Widgets.
Can I resize or move a desktop widget after adding it?
Yes. Right-click the widget for size options, and drag it anywhere on the desktop or onto a second display — nothing is locked in place.
What's the difference between the native widget gallery and Mac+ widgets?
Apple's widgets come from the Edit Widgets gallery, in three rectangular sizes, and once pinned to the desktop sit in the same layer as your icons. Mac+ adds 12 dedicated desktop widgets in 3 sizes and 4 shapes that render underneath your open windows, so they stay visible however many apps you have open.
Do desktop widgets slow down my Mac or use extra battery?
Apple's widgets refresh on a schedule set by each app, so the impact is minimal. Mac+ renders its widgets locally with no telemetry and no ads, and is built to be lightweight — it lives quietly in the menu bar.