How to Delete Dashboard Widgets in Mac OS X Leopard

Mac OS X dashboard widgets are a great way to perform quick tasks that pertain to everything from calculators to calendars to finding new movies. Still, the convenience of using dashboard widgets has its price: Dashboard widgets are RAM- and power-hungry, and the more widgets you have loaded, the more RAM and power the dashboard consumes. In this lesson, we will learn how to remove under- and unused dashboard widgets in Mac OS X 10.5.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. Press f12 on your Mac’s keyboard to engage the Dashboard and bring all of the currently loaded widgets to the foreground on your computer screen.

2. 
   Opening the Dashboard Editor

   In the bottom left-hand corner of your computer screen, find a “+” surrounded by a circle. Clicking this icon will open the “Dashboard Editor.” Click the “Dashboard Editor” icon once.

3. 
   The Open Dashbaord Editor

   After clicking the “Dashboard Editor,” look for a row of all of the currently loaded “Dashboard Widgets” that will pop up at the bottom of the screen.

4. 
   Click the "Close Widget" icon to remove the dashboard widget.

   Once the “Dashboard Widgets” are visible on the bottom of your screen, notice that the loaded widgets in your main screen all have an “X” surrounded by a circle icon in the upper left-had corner of the widget. To disable the widget, simply click on the icon, and the widget will unload from the dashboard. Click closed as many widgets as you wish to unload from the dashboard. Depress your “F12” key or click on the desktop to close the dashboard.