Jay Versluis

Remove individual widgets from the WordPress Dashboard, hide Menu Items and disable Update Notifications. Many of my clients find the sheer volume of information in the WordPress Admin Area a bit intimidating. I wanted to create an easy to use, codeless, great looking solution to toggle such items on and off, to make it easier for casual users and newcomers alike.
This Plugin was inspired by Joseph Lowery when he kindly explained how to remove dashboard widgets. After getting into coding, I added several other options.
Special thanks to Kushagara Agarwal for the wonderful CSS.

Zen Dash

Disable dashboard widgets, menu items and update notifications. Declutter your dashboard with Feng Shui magic. Less is more.

Jess Mann

This plugin adds an additional admin page which shows you every registered 
widget, and allows you to deactivate any you do not want to appear. For 
example, when you are adding widgets to a sidebar, the Post Loop widget is 
usually not wanted, and just adds additional clutter you must sort through. On 
this widget’s admin page, simply click on the widgets you would like to 
disable, and then hit the “Save” button at the very bottom of the page!

Customize Widgets

Too many widgets cluttering up your wordpress install? This plugin allows you to hide unwanted widgets from the Appearance > Widgets panel, and any …

Zen Dash vs Customize Widgets