Windows Gadget
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* [https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/windows/desktop/sidebar/-sidebar-entry Windows Sidebar documentation] | * [https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/windows/desktop/sidebar/-sidebar-entry Windows Sidebar documentation] | ||
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Latest revision as of 20:02, 2 May 2026
A Windows Gadget file, also known as a Windows Sidebar Gadget, is the format used to distribute gadgets used by the Windows Sidebar, available in Windows Vista, then renamed Windows Gadget Platform in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008.
It is either a ZIP or CAB archive which always contains a manifest describing the gadget, named gadget.xml. The archive also contains HTML, CSS, JavaScript files that power the gadget, as it is not much more than a web page with some extra ActiveX APIs.
Gadgets are installed (extracted) under two directories:
-
%SYSTEMROOT%\Program Files\Windows Sidebar\Gadgets(all users) -
%LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows Sidebar\Gadgets(only this user)
Because the APIs allow, among many other things, arbitrary command execution through System.Shell.execute, Microsoft published a security advisory in 2012 that recommends disabling gadgets entirely.
