How to Add Widgets in Notification Center on Mac

Apple’s annual release cycle for major updates is pretty well known and people are looking forward to it. This year, Apple’s macOS Big Sur is already causing cracks and ripples among Mac users. Big Sur’s new update is packed with features ranging from cosmetic facelifts to several hidden tweaks. Among them, the ability to customize and add widgets to Mac’s notification panel is probably everyone’s favorite addition.

For many years, you may have found that the default macOS notification panel remained almost the same. This will change with the new Big Sur update as it will bring some neat visual improvements and styling changes to the default icons.

Apple is finally starting the transition to close the gap between iOS and macOS. IOS 14 and macOS Big Sur are both stepping stones in the right direction that combines the two operating systems on several levels.

Along with the improvements to widgets on the iPhone, you get similar changes with widgets on the Mac.

This article will explain how to add and customize Action Center widgets on a Mac running macOS Big Sur.

Where are the widgets on Mac

Widget support in Big Sur on Mac is limited to proprietary apps only. Third-party developers will need to update their offering with support for widgets on Mac.

Open your Mac and tap on the day / time information in the upper right corner. The system will open the notification panel. Before macOS Big Sur, Apple divided the panel into widgets and notification options. Now everything is unified in one menu.

How to Add Widgets to Action Center on Mac

By default, you will see some of the default calendar and weather widgets in the notification panel. Follow the steps below to add more widgets to the Mac notification panel.

Step 1: Open your Mac and tap the day / time in the top right corner.

2nd step: Scroll down and click Edit Widgets.

Step 3: On the left, a new menu bar will open, including all supported widgets for Mac. Widgets are divided into three sizes: small, medium, and large. Select the appropriate size and you will see the live preview of the widget on the screen.

Step 4: Hover over the widget and you will see a live “+” icon to add the widget to the notification panel.

Step 5: Otherwise, you can just drag and drop the widget into the notification panel.

You can also use drag and drop to move around widgets in the Mac notification panel.

How to remove Widgets from Action Center on Mac

Apple offers three sizes of widgets to add to the notification panel. And it can be easy to fill the space with unwanted widgets. You can easily remove irrelevant widgets from Mac by following the steps below.

Step 1: Open your Mac and tap the day / time in the top right corner.

2nd step: Scroll down and click Edit Widgets.

Step 3: On the right side you will find all the widgets added on Mac.

Step 4: Select the “-” icon in the upper left corner, and it will remove the widget from the notification panel.

First experience with widgets on macOS Big Sur

MacOS Big Sur widgets are strictly read-only. You don’t have action buttons on the widget to add a note / reminder / event from the widget. If you try to interact with the widget, it directly launches the respective application.

You will not find a native weather widget for Mac. When you tap the weather widget for more details, a new weather tab will open in the browser.

The Apple Notes widget is my favorite of the bunch. You can just tap on the note and open the exact note in the Notes app on Mac.

Customize the control center

While Apple offers iOS and iPadOS apps to run on Mac, few features are coming with the new macOS Big Sur as well.

You’ll find the iOS Control Center making its debut in macOS Big Sur. Tap on the control center icon in the menu bar and it will open a menu similar to the iPhone.

You will find all the relevant options, such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, AirDrop, Do not disturb, screen brightness, screen mirroring, sound, etc.

Similar to iOS, you can customize this menu as well. Follow the steps below to customize Control Center on Mac.

Step 1: Tap Control Center on the Mac menu bar.

2nd step: You will see your standard layout of options in the control center.

Step 3: Now go to System Preferences> Dock & Menu Bar.

Step 4: Go to Control Center and you can turn off toggles in the menu bar and even add new options like Battery in Control Center.

You can use the menu to fully customize the Control Center experience.

Personalize your Mac

Now that you know how to easily add widgets to the notification panel, you can further customize your Mac. I mainly use the Apple Notes & Reminders widget to quickly take a look at recent notes and how many tasks are left for the day. What are your favorite widgets on macOS Big Sur? Sound off in the comments section below.