Hi all, Last Wednesday Microsoft released Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 25267 to the Dev Channel.
[Changes and Improvements]
[Search on the Taskbar]
We are continuing to try out different treatments for how search looks on the taskbar that began with Build 25252. Insiders in the Dev Channel will begin seeing an updated treatment with more rounded corners starting with this build. If you see the new treatment, you can right-click on the taskbar to open taskbar settings and adjust the experience.
Example of different treatments we are trying out for how search looks on the taskbar.
[Windows Security]
[ADDED 12/15] We have updated the Windows Security (firewall) notification dialogs to match the Windows 11 visuals.
We have updated the Windows Security notification dialogs to match the Windows 11 visuals.
Fixes
[General]
Fixed an issue which caused some Insiders to have issues casting (with WIN + K) in the previous flight.
[Taskbar & System Tray]
Fixed an issue causing the Bluetooth section of Quick Settings to crash for some people.
Updated the Quick Settings icons in the taskbar when using a screen reader so if you set focus to each of the icons it no longer includes the words system state and instead just says what the icon is (for example instead of “system volume state” it just says “volume”).
If focus is set to an app icon on the taskbar and you use ALT + Shift + Left/Right to move it, Narrator will now say that it has been moved.
Fixed a high hitting explorer.exe crash which was impacting some Insiders in the last two flights.
[Search on the Taskbar]
The fixes only apply for Windows Insiders who received one of the different treatments for how search looks on the taskbar that began rolling out to Insiders with Build 25252:
We fixed the issue causing a search box which appeared to be floating on the desktop when you changed your primary monitor or plugged in an external display.
Text in the search box should no longer be clipped on the bottom when using increased text scaling.
[Input]
Clicking the notification received the first time you press ALT + Shift should open the customize option now, rather than unexpectedly opening a Command Prompt window.
We fixed an issue which was causing the first candidate item to be invisible or clipped sometimes in the Simplified Chinese IME candidate window.
[File Explorer]
Fixed an issue where using “Browse for Folder” from an app was only showing Desktop (and no other folders) for some people.
[Settings]
If a Windows Update failed to install, the error code in Windows Update history can now be selected if you want to copy it out.
[Other]
Fixed an issue where restartable copies of a file (for example using robocopy) with alternate data streams were hanging frequently in the latest Dev Channel builds.
NOTE: Some fixes noted here in Insider Preview builds from the Dev Channel may make their way into the servicing updates for the released version of Windows 11.
Known issues
[General]
[NEW] Some Arm64 devices will experience a black screen while resuming from sleep or hibernate. A workaround is to press the power button a few times to wake the device up and get to the Lock screen to login.
[NEW] Using Windows Hello to sign in with facial recognition may not work on certain devices. A workaround for this is to use the Hello PIN path.
We’re working on the fix for an issue causing various UI elements in apps appear to disappear and reappear sometimes in recent builds.
[Taskbar & System Tray]
The taskbar is sometimes cropped in half when using the tablet-optimized taskbar. You may also see this issue on secondary monitors.
[Search on the Taskbar]
The following known issues only apply for Windows Insiders who received one of the different treatments for how search looks on the taskbar as mentioned above in this blog post:
You may see issues with the search box on taskbar not rendering correctly and displaying visual artifacts.
In right-to-left display languages like Arabic, there are layout issues with the text in the search box on taskbar.
Some Japanese IME candidate items are clipped inside the search box on taskbar.
[Task Manager]
Filtering by publisher name does not match correctly on the Processes page.
Some services may not show in the Services page after filtering is applied.
If a new process is starting while a filter is set, then that process may appear for a split second in the filtered list.
Some dialogs may not render in the correct theme when applied from Task Manager Settings page.
The data content area of the Processes page may flash once when theme changes are applied in the Task Manager Settings page.
There’s an issue we’re investigating where Task Manager isn’t displaying light and dark content correctly, leading to unreadable text. This happens when you have your mode in Settings > Personalization > Colors set to Custom – as a workaround for the time being, please switch it to Light or Dark.
The Startup apps page in Task manager does not list any apps for some Insiders. If you are impacted, please use Settings > Apps > Startup for the time being.
[Widgets]
We’re investigating an issue where the widgets board will get stuck open in an invisible state for Insiders in China (and potentially others), causing clicks on the left side of the screen to not work. If you encounter this, pressing WIN + D may resolve the issue.
In right-to-left display languages like Arabic, content animates out of view before the widgets board resizes when clicking to expanded view of the widgets board.
[Live Captions]
[NEW] Live Captions is not working in this build. Our goal is to quickly flight a new build after the holidays with a fix.
Inside Windows 11 – Season 2, Episode 4
Learn how and why we made features in the Windows 11 2022 Update. Check out our Inside Windows 11 website to hear and meet our makers from our Engineering, Design and Research teams as they share their insights and unique perspectives throughout this journey.
Episode 4 – Windows 11 Productivity
Windows 11 Focus and the tabs in File Explorer make it easier for everyone to stay focused and organized. Come behind the scenes to learn about why and how we made these features. Special callout to our Windows Insiders. We’ve heard your feedback and suggestions to add tabs to File Explorer, now it is available to everyone! Your feedback has made a significant impact on the product making of Windows that benefits everyone’s life. Thank you!
About the Dev Channel
The Dev Channel receives builds that represent long lead work from our engineers with features and experiences that may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. It is important to remember that the builds we release to the Dev Channel should not be seen as matched to any specific release of Windows and the features included may change over time, be removed, or replaced in Insider builds or may never be released beyond Windows Insiders to general customers. For more information, please read this blog post about how we plan to use the Dev Channel to incubate new ideas, work on long lead items, and control the states of individual features.
These aren’t always stable builds, and sometimes you will see issues that block key activities or require workarounds. It is important to make sure you read the known issues listed in our blog posts as we document many of these issues with each flight.
Build numbers are higher in the Dev Channel than the Windows 11 preview builds in the Beta and Release Preview Channels. You will not be able to switch from the Dev Channel to the Beta or Release Preview Channels without doing a clean install back to the released version of Windows 11 currently.
ALSO: Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
The desktop watermark you see at the lower right corner of your desktop is normal for these pre-release builds.
Hi all, Last Friday Microsoft Released Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 25262 to the Dev Channel.
At 1st only my devices not connected to a Domain or Azure AD got the update, by Saturday morning that issue was resolved
The December Bug Bash is on (through to 11:59pm PST December 12th), check your Feedback Hub / Quests a great way to discover extra features in Windows 11
Upgrades went smooth on all devices here.
Happy Upgrades!
Changes and Improvements
[Widgets]
In the most recent update for Widgets, we are removing the sign-in requirement for the widgets board and making it available for all users. Now, you can now get weather updates on the taskbar, pin widgets from your favorite apps or access personalized dynamic feed without an account.
The widgets board without being signed into an account.
[Settings]
Added a link to Quick Assist at the bottom of Settings > System > Troubleshooters, to help if you’re having issues with your PC.
Fixes
[General]
Fixed an issue where if the Widgets app package was missing on your PC, explorer.exe would crash in a loop after upgrading to Build 25252. This issue is also believed to be the cause of Windows Sandbox not working in this build.
Fixed an issue that caused secondary drives or other PCI devices to not be viewable for certain Insiders.
[Taskbar & System Tray]
Fixed an issue where, with the system tray design updates, auto-hiding the taskbar would stop working after you had interacted with the hidden icons flyout.
Fixed an issue that was causing a gap between full screen windows and the taskbar on secondary monitors.
The system tray area should no longer shift as the numbers change in the clock.
Fixed an issue causing the top half of the media controls in Quick Settings to be missing sometimes.
[Search on the Taskbar]
We fixed the issue where you needed to press backspace after typing before you will see results for certain files ending with .cmd, .exe or .bat.
Improved the performance of launching the search window in certain cases.
The fixes only apply for Windows Insiders who received one of the different treatments for how search looks on the taskbar that began rolling out to Insiders with Build 25252:
Fixed an issue where the search box would not show up on multiple monitors as expected when clicking on either one.
Fixed an issue when clicking the search box on taskbar, the search box would momentarily flash before the Search flyout displayed.
[Input]
Fixed an issue where when dragging a window to a monitor with lower DPI your mouse might appear to jump away from the window it was holding.
[File Explorer]
Fixed an issue causing explorer.exe to crash when opening certain items from the Recent section in File Explorer.
[Settings]
The Wi-Fi section of Quick Settings should no longer unexpectedly sometimes say network venue on certain entries.
[Task Manager]
Fixed an issue where the graphs on the performance page in Task Manager might not update (even though the real time update speed setting wasn’t paused).
[Other]
The Microsoft Account sign in window should no longer unexpectedly sometimes have a black title bar when using light mode.
Adjusted the text when using the Wireless Display feature if you haven’t enabled input yet, so it guides you to the correct place to do that.
NOTE: Some fixes noted here in Insider Preview builds from the Dev Channel may make their way into the servicing updates for the released version of Windows 11.
We’re investigating reports of crashes with a few different apps and games in recent builds.
We’re working on the fix for an issue causing various UI elements in apps appear to disappear and reappear sometimes in recent builds.
You may have issues casting (with WIN + K) in this build. We’re working on a fix.
[Taskbar & System Tray]
The taskbar is sometimes cropped in half when using the tablet-optimized taskbar. You may also see this issue on secondary monitors.
We’re working on the fix for an issue causing the Bluetooth section of Quick Settings to crash for some people. If you are impacted, please use Settings > Bluetooth & Devices for the time being instead.
[Search on the Taskbar]
The following known issues only apply for Windows Insiders who received one of the different treatments for how search looks on the taskbar as mentioned above in this blog post:
[NEW] You may see issues with the search box on taskbar not rendering correctly and displaying visual artifacts.
When you change your primary monitor, for example by plugging an external display in, you will see a search box that appears to be floating on the desktop. You can fix this issue by going into Personalization > Taskbar > Search and toggling the setting.
In right-to-left display languages like Arabic, there are layout issues with the text in the search box on taskbar.
Some Japanese IME candidate items are clipped inside the search box on taskbar.
[Task Manager]
Filtering by publisher name does not match correctly on the Processes page.
Some services may not show in the Services page after filtering is applied.
If a new process is starting while a filter is set, then that process may appear for a split second in the filtered list.
Some dialogs may not render in the correct theme when applied from Task Manager Settings page.
The data content area of the Processes page may flash once when theme changes are applied in the Task Manager Settings page.
There’s an issue we’re investigating where Task Manager isn’t displaying light and dark content correctly, leading to unreadable text. This happens when you have your mode in Settings > Personalization > Colors set to Custom – as a workaround for the time being, please switch it to Light or Dark.
The Startup apps page in Task manager does not list any apps for some Insiders. If you are impacted, please use Settings > Apps > Startup for the time being.
[Widgets]
[NEW] We’re investigating an issue where the widgets board will get stuck open in an invisible state for Insiders in China (and potentially others), causing clicks on the left side of the screen to not work. If you encounter this, pressing WIN + D may resolve the issue.
In right-to-left display languages like Arabic, content animates out of view before the widgets board resizes when clicking to expanded view of the widgets board.
Media Player Update
We are rolling out an update to Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel for Media Player (version 11.2211.34.0 ) that brings the ability to browse through your video library by folder.
You can now browse through your video library by folder.
FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Apps > Media Player.
Hi all, last Monday after a delay due to the holidays Microsoft released Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 25252 to the Dev Channel.
This build adds the option of choice to the taskbar search icon behavior, a welcomed update for most
Taskbar Settings New Options
After testing the options my personal favorite is the ‘Search box’ option like the experience in Windows 10, no worries it does take up a chunk of the taskbar but once the taskbar gets crowed it automatically switches to the magnifying glass only (and back)👍
Serach Box option
still Search Box option, opened 1 extra app
Changes and Improvements
[Taskbar & System Tray]
We have added a glanceable VPN status into the system tray when connected to a recognized VPN profile. The VPN icon, a small shield, will be overlayed in your system accent color over the active network connection.
Glanceable VPN status in the system tray.
[Search on the Taskbar]
In this build, we are continuing to try out different treatments for how search looks on the taskbar. We are excited to learn from your feedback on this, so please let us know what you think via Feedback Hub if you see the different treatments on your PC. Insiders who get this experience will have the ability to change the treatment of search on taskbar in settings under Settings > Personalization > Taskbar > Taskbar Items.
Example of different treatments we are trying out for how search looks on the taskbar.
Fixes
[Taskbar & System Tray]
Fixed an explorer.exe crash when using Alt+F4 with the show hidden icons flyout in the system tray open.
Fixed multiple explorer.exe crashes impacting system tray performance.
Updated the battery icon’s tooltip to let you know if your device is charging slowly.
Made a small refinement for tablet-optimized taskbar users to make it a bit easier to expand the taskbar without invoking the Start menu.
Fixed an issue which could lead to the taskbar jump lists and preview thumbnails not appearing in the correct position for Insiders with 2 in 1 PCs.
[Start menu]
We fixed an issue causing folders in Start menu to not open on the first try.
[Other]
Fixed an issue causing some Insiders to see a bugcheck with the error SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION after upgrading to the previous flight.
Fixed an issue which was causing certain apps (including Media Player) to crash when playing media in the background in recent flights.
Fixed an issue which could lead to your PC going to sleep although it was configured to not sleep.
Fixed an issue where network-to-local copying (for example, when copying a file from a network share) was slower than expected from some users.
NOTE: Some fixes noted here in Insider Preview builds from the Dev Channel may make their way into the servicing updates for the released version of Windows 11.
Known issues
[General]
[NEW] Under certain circumstances, Widgets may appear missing for a small subset of Windows Insiders causing explorer.exe to crash in a loop after upgrading to this build. If it is missing, you can install it here. We recommend doing this before you upgrade. If you upgrade and are impacted, please follow these steps for rolling back the build.
[NEW] There is an issue in Build 25247+ causing some Insiders to not able to view certain secondary drives – this may also affect other PCI devices. The device shows as having an error in Device Manager. We are working on a fix, once you upgrade to a build with the fix it should be functional again.
We’re looking into reports that audio stopped working for some Insiders after upgrading to the latest flights.
We’re investigating reports of crashes with a few different apps and games in recent builds.
We’re working on the fix for an issue causing various UI elements in apps appear to disappear and reappear sometimes in recent builds.
[Taskbar & System Tray]
The taskbar is sometimes cropped in half when using the tablet-optimized taskbar.
[NEW] We’re working on the fix for an issue causing the Bluetooth section of Quick Settings to crash starting with the previous flight. If you are impacted, please use the Settings > Bluetooth & Devices for the time being instead.
[Search on the Taskbar]
For certain files ending with .cmd, .exe or .bat you will need to press backspace after typing before you will see results.
The following known issues only apply for Windows Insiders who received one of the different treatments for how search looks on the taskbar as mentioned above in this blog post:
[NEW] When you change your primary monitor, for example by plugging an external display in, you will see a search box that appears to be floating on the desktop. You can fix this issue by going into Personalization > Taskbar > Search and toggling the setting.
[NEW] When using multiple monitors, the search box is not visible on the non-active monitor when the search flyout is open. This is only present when “Show my taskbar on all displays” is enabled.
[NEW] When you click on the search box on taskbar, the search box will momentarily flash before the Search flyout shows up
[NEW] In right-to-left display languages like Arabic, there are layout issues with the text in the search box on taskbar.
[NEW] Some Japanese IME candidate items are clipped inside the search box on taskbar.
[Task Manager]
Filtering by publisher name does not match correctly on the Processes page.
Some services may not show in the Services page after filtering is applied.
If a new process is starting while a filter is set, then that process may appear for a split second in the filtered list.
Some dialogs may not render in the correct theme when applied from Task Manager Settings page.
The data content area of the Processes page may flash once when theme changes are applied in the Task Manager Settings page.
There’s an issue we’re investigating where Task Manager isn’t displaying light and dark content correctly, leading to unreadable text. This happens when you have your mode in Settings > Personalization > Colors set to Custom – as a workaround for the time being, please switch it to Light or Dark.
The Startup apps page in Task manager does not list any apps for some Insiders. If you are impacted, please use Settings > Apps > Startup for the time being.
[Widgets]
In right-to-left display languages like Arabic, content animates out of view before the widgets board resizes when clicking to expanded view of the widgets board.
Hi all, last Friday Microsoft released Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 25247 to the Dev Channel.
We had to wait a while for a new build, lots of new stuff to make up for it 🙂
Search in Task Manager is here the function I didn’t know I was missing it will save so much time!
screenshot of Task Manager search lookup TechNine resulting in MS edge tab process with the TechNine Page open
The new option to check you r power settings for carbon footprint impact optimalisation is great! let’s minimize our footprint!
screenshot of Energy recommendations in settings
Happy Upgrading!
What’s new
Access Windows Studio Effects from Quick Settings
Windows Studio effects can now be accessed directly from Quick Settings on the taskbar, for devices that have a supported Neural Processing Unit (NPU). This makes it quick and easy to enable and configure camera effects (Background Blur, Eye Contact, and automatic framing) and audio effects (Voice Focus). You can still access these effects in the Settings pages if desired.
Access Studio effects from Quick Settings.
FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Desktop Environment > Quick Settings.
Energy Recommendations
We are beginning to roll out Energy Recommendations under Settings > System > Power & Battery > Energy Recommendations. Review and apply these recommendations to improve the energy efficiency of your PC and reduce your carbon footprint.
New Energy Recommendations in Settings.
FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Power and Battery > Energy Recommendations.
Task Manager Improvements
We have a set of Task Manager improvements rolling out with this build.
Filter processes: We are bringing process filtering to Task Manager. This is the top feature request from our users to filter/search for processes. You can filter either using the binary name, PID or publisher name. The filter algorithm matches the context keyword with all possible matches and displays them on the current page. The filter is also applied as you switch between pages. You can also use the keyboard shortcut ALT + F to focus on the filter box. This is a helpful feature if you want to single out a process or a group of processes and want to take action or just monitor the performance of the filtered processes.
The new search box at the top of Task Manager allows you to filter Binary name, PID or Publisher name.
Better theme support: We have added the ability to use your preferred theme in Task Manager regardless of the active theme in Windows. You can set it in the setting page in Task Manager.
You can set your preferred theme specifically for Task Manager regardless of your chosen Windows theme.
Task Manager now also supports themes for in-app dialogs. All dialog except for “Run new task” and Properties dialog now support themes and will adhere to either app specific theme or Windows theme.
In-app dialogs such as selecting columns on the Details page will show in the selected theme for Task Manager.
Improved Efficiency mode dialog: We are making it easy for you to apply Efficiency mode and offering the ability to opt-out of the confirmation dialog. You can make changes on the Efficiency mode dialog box by unchecking “Don’t ask me again” or you can enable/disable it the settings for Task Manager.
You can now opt out of seeing future confirmation dialogs when turning on Efficiency mode.
FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Desktop Environment > Task Manager.
New Suggested Action
On copying text with search potential, Windows will pop up an inline light dismissible UI that suggests searching this text in Microsoft Edge. Upon user selection of the search action, a new Edge tab is launched to search the copied text. This will initially be available for Insiders in the U.S. only.
When copying text, a light dismissible UI will appear that suggests searching the text in Microsoft Edge.
[We are beginning to roll this feature out, so it isn’t available to all Insiders just yet as we plan to monitor feedback and see how it lands before pushing it out to everyone.]
FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Desktop Environment > Suggested actions on copy.
Updates to your cloud storage in settings for Windows 11
With today’s build, the Settings app supports new visuals on your Accounts page to provide a visual overview of your cloud storage usage across Microsoft products. The new visuals include a consolidated cloud storage bar that shows your storage usage for each product and notifies you if you’re running low on storage. We removed the quota bar from our subscriptions card to eliminate duplication on these visuals.
In the months to come, you will also see updates to what Microsoft 365 apps and services data is included in your cloud storage. These updates may impact your storage amount starting February 1st, 2023. Learn more about cloud storage here.
A consolidated storage quota bar shown on Accounts page in Settings app with a banner that will alert you if you’re running low on storage.
[We are beginning to roll this feature out, so it isn’t available to all Insiders just yet as we plan to monitor feedback and see how it lands before pushing it out to everyone.]
FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Settings > User Profile Account Settings.
Changes and Improvements
[General]
Earlier this week, we released an optional .NET update (2022-11 Cumulative Update Preview for .NET Framework 3.5 and 4.8.1 for Windows Version Next for x64 (KB5020992)) to Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel designed to test delivery of .NET improvements in the future. This .NET update does not include anything new and will be available under Settings > Windows Update > Advanced Options > Optional Updates If you run into any issues finding or installing this update, please submit feedback via Feedback Hub.
[Start menu]
We’ve been working on adding more valuable content to the Recommended section in Start and are excited to introduce a new content type: websites. For the first phase, we will recommend common websites based on your region or browsing history to help you easily get back to the websites you care about. This can be controlled by right-clicking on a website and choosing to remove that website individually or to stop showing all recommended websites entirely. Only some Insiders will see this experience and, if you do, please share your feedback.
The Start menu showing websites under the Recommended section.
[Taskbar & System Tray]
In response to user feedback, we are introducing the capability to show seconds in the clock on the system tray. This feature can be enabled by toggling the option listed under Settings > Personalization > Taskbar in the Taskbar behavior section. You can also right-click on taskbar to quickly get to taskbar settings. We are beginning to roll this change out so not all Windows Insiders will see this change right away, but we hope to make it available to everyone soon.
We’re adding the ability to show seconds in the system tray clock
[Search on the Taskbar]
We made performance improvements that will allow more files and content on your PC to show up as results in the Windows search box. We look forward to hearing your feedback on whether you notice an improvement with your file results within Windows.
[Input]
Switched the touch keyboard icon option under Settings > Personalization > Taskbarfrom being a toggle to now being a dropdown where you can select Never, Always, or When no keyboard attached.
We are including two new keyboard layouts in this flight. These keyboards implement the two new French keyboard layout standards (AZERTY and BÉPO). The new layouts are designed to allow the user to type all the required characters of the French language. They also include support for all the Latin-based languages of the European Union as well as Greek letters and a large variety of scientific, mathematical, and financial symbols. To enable one of these layouts, go to Settings > Time & language > Language & region and select Language options under the ellipsis for the language you would like to use this keyboard with. On the Options page, select “Add a keyboard” and look for the new keyboard layouts “French (Standard, AZERTY)” or “French (Standard, BÉPO)”. The previous AZERTY layout now displays as (Legacy, AZERTY).
We have made improvements to Emoji search for Japanese and Simplified Chinese by handling Kana/Kanji and Pinyin properly in the emoji panel.
Fixes
[General]
Fixed a bug causing some users to receive a SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION bugcheck citing an error with win32kfull.sys when installing via the Build 25227 Dev Channel ISO. Today’s release of the Build 25247 ISO should not exhibit this bug.
We fixed the issue causing pseudolocalized text to unexpectedly appear across the system for Insiders, leading to (amongst other things) what appeared to be garbled text in the navigation headings of Start’s all apps list for Chinese users.
[Taskbar & System Tray]
When using the bottom right edge gesture to see Quick Settings, the tablet-optimized taskbar will no longer be stuck in the expanded state, instead of dismissing to collapsed state.
Fixed the issue where certain chat apps (that supported it) weren’t flashing with new messages or opening a preview on hover in the system tray.
The new show hidden icons flyout’s animation should now be consistent with other taskbar flyouts and the arrow will now rotate when open versus closed.
Fixed an issue causing the do not disturb icon to disappear while in do not disturb mode.
Fixed an issue where invoking the context menu for items in the system tray might not put the context menu in the foreground and it would get stuck behind the taskbar.
The pin/unpin visual will now display when dragging system tray icons to any position along the system tray, and not only when hovering over the show hidden icons button.
The show hidden icons flyout background color should now align with your accent color if “Show accent color on Start and taskbar” is enabled in Settings > Personalization > Colors.
Fixed an issue where the taskbar was sometimes flashing when transitioning between desktop posture and tablet posture.
Fixed an issue which was causing certain third-party app icons in the system tray to be unresponsive after the latest system tray changes.
The Windows Update icon in the system tray should no longer look pixelated after changing between light and dark mode.
Fixed an issue that was causing the NVIDIA icon in the system tray to show empty notifications.
Fixed an issue where the weak charger warning (a warning icon on the battery icon) in some cases was not displaying when it should have been.
[Input]
Fixed a bug that caused the text cursor to become white on white when hovering over text fields, making it difficult to see.
Fixed an issue which could result in the touch keyboard / PIN entry keyboard being unable to input text on the login screen.
Fixed a recent issue where the Japanese IME candidate window might fail to display proper candidates when using reconversion in certain edit controls.
We’re rolling out changes to improve the reliability of the touch keyboard, IME candidate window, and IME toolbar. It includes fixes for an issue where the IME candidate window and IME toolbar weren’t shown or cropped sometimes and an issue where a blank window titled “Windows Input Experience” appeared sometimes after resuming from the sleep.
We addressed a rare issue which could lead to certain apps crashing after interacting with incorrectly spelled words that were flagged by the spellchecker.
[File Explorer]
Fixed a GDI handle leak when opening Show More Options in the context menu, which could lead to graphical issues and an explorer.exe crash over time if you used this a lot.
Fixed an issue for Insiders using the Arabic or Hebrew display language which was leading to text not displaying in the context menu when selecting Show More Options.
Fixes a bug that was preventing certain phones from showing up in File Explorer when connected via USB in the last 2 Dev Channel flights.
When connecting an iPhone via USB, iPhone photos will now be transferred in HEIF format instead of JPEG if the HEVC extension is installed.
Fixed an issue which was causing .dotx Word templates to open as new documents instead of a template when you right clicked them and selected Open in File Explorer.
[Settings]
Fixed an issue which was causing Settings to crash sometimes when connecting and disconnecting Bluetooth devices.
[Windowing]
Fixed an issue where if you maximized a window and then dragged it along the top of the screen into the corner could result in the app getting stuck not being able to resize.
Apps like Microsoft Edge should no longer unexpectedly show thick lines on the side of the windows.
Fixed a DWM crash which was introduced in the latest Dev Channel flights.
If you have two monitors on top of each other, the Desktops list in Task View should no longer appear to be floating in the middle of Task View.
[Other]
Switching projection modes using WIN + P / the Project section of Quick Settings should work again now.
Fixed a high hitting displayswitch.exe crash in recent Dev Channel builds.
If memory integrity in the Windows Security app cannot be enabled due to incompatible drivers, the information about which drivers are incompatible is now selectable so you can copy it if needed.
Fixed an issue where the dismiss button for alerts in the Windows Security app might not work.
Fixed a rare issue which could lead to a DWM.exe crash when taking screenshots using the Xbox Game Bar.
Fixed an issue where if you booted from an ISO to install Windows, the Windows Setup dialog would just show the text “Status” rather than actually displaying helpful text about the current status.
Addressed a few issues when booting from an ISO to install Windows, where various items in the Windows Setup dialog weren’t being read out correctly by Narrator.
Fixed issue where users sometimes could not use FIDO keys to log onto your PC when a full-screen logon message was displayed.
Fixed a background crash for Windows Hello which was impacting setup and usage.
Improved the experience on logon after booting up by reducing the performance impact of startup apps.
Made a change to address a date formatting interoperability issue which was leading to domain login issues on some network shares.
Did some work to fix an issue causing VmmemWSL to sometimes use an unexpectedly large amount of CPU and lead to freezing on ARM64 PCs over time.
We fixed a bug which could cause your wallpaper to render only a partial section at the top sometimes.
Fixed an issue what could lead MSTSC to stop responding when connecting to a RemoteApp or remote desktop.
Fixed an issue which was causing the runas command to unexpectedly fail in certain cases with error 87 saying the parameter was incorrect (when it wasn’t).
Fixed the Windows version name written in Microsoft Management Console’s help section.
NOTE: Some fixes noted here in Insider Preview builds from the Dev Channel may make their way into the servicing updates for the released version of Windows 11.
Known issues
[General]
We’re looking into reports that audio stopped working for some Insiders after upgrading to the latest flights.
We’re investigating reports of crashes with a few different apps and games in recent builds.
We’re working on the fix for an issue causing various UI elements in apps appear to disappear and reappear sometimes in recent builds.
[Taskbar & System Tray]
[NEW] The taskbar is sometimes cropped in half when using the tablet-optimized taskbar.
[Start menu]
We’re working on the fix for an issue causing folders in Start menu to not open on the first try.
[Search on the Taskbar]
[NEW] For certain files ending with .cmd, .exe or .bat you will need to press backspace after typing before you will see results.
[Settings]
[NEW] We are aware that the messaging for OneDrive storage is not the same between the System settings page and the Accounts settings page and will be resolved in a future update.
[Task Manager]
[NEW] Filtering by publisher name does not match correctly on the Processes page.
[NEW] Some services may not show in the Services page after filtering is applied.
[NEW] If a new process is starting while a filter is set, then that process may appear for a split second in the filtered list.
[NEW] Some dialogs may not render in the correct theme when applied from Task Manager Settings page.
[NEW] The data content area of the Processes page may flash once when theme changes are applied in the Task Manager Settings page.
[NEW] There’s an issue we’re investigating where Task Manager isn’t displaying light and dark content correctly, leading to unreadable text. This happens when you have your mode in Settings > Personalization > Colors set to Custom – as a workaround for the time being, please switch it to Light or Dark.
[NEW] The Startup apps page in Task manager does not list any apps for some Insiders. If you are impacted, please use Settings > Apps > Startup for the time being.
[Widgets]
In right-to-left display languages like Arabic, content animates out of view before the widgets board resizes when clicking to expanded view of the widgets board.
Microsoft Store Update
Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel running version 22210.1401.x of the Microsoft Store and higher will see the following improvement rolling out:
Jump back to key pages you visited or find a fun new app or game via taskbar just list: You can now get handy shortcuts to department pages in Store, as well as products you’ve recently visited – all by right-clicking on the Store taskbar icon.
Right-clicking on the Store taskbar icon will provide you with a jump list showing your most recently visited areas of the Store.
FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Microsoft Store.
Inside Windows 11 – Season 2, Episode 3
Learn how and why we made features in the Windows 11 2022 Update. Check out our Inside Windows 11 website to hear and meet our makers from our Engineering, Design and Research teams as they share their insights and unique perspectives throughout this journey.
Episode 3 – Windows 11 touch experience
Come behind the scenes to learn about how we made improvements to Snap and added new touch gestures based on people’s feedback.
Hi all, Last Wednesday Microsoft released Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 25236 to the Dev Channel + a Servicing Pipeline test on Friday (25236.1010)
All smooth updates here on the build & the pipeline test.
I love the snap assist functionality of Windows 11, a small issue showed up last build when dragging some apps from a monitor with different DPI to the snap assist bar, it doesn’t keep track of the DPI change resulting in wrong sized 1/4 or 2/3 layout (Feedback Hub: https://aka.ms/AAifiyg)
Happy Upgrading!
Changes and Improvements
[General]
To improve the value of Search shortcuts and reduce friction in the broader Windows Search experience, we are trying out different ways to provide tips on how to use Windows Search via the taskbar. Only some English-speaking Windows Insiders in the U.S. will see this. If you do, be sure to give us feedback on what you think in Feedback Hub.
Example tip on how to better use Windows Search via the taskbar.
Fixes
[Narrator]
We fixed the issue causing natural voices such as Guy or Jenny to not speak in Narrator.
[Taskbar & System Tray]
Fixed an issue where if you opened the hidden icons flyout, it caused a File Explorer entry for it to appear in the taskbar.
Fixed an issue that was causing the taskbar previews to freeze or show as blank and not open when using Windows key + (#) key commands to try and switch between windows.
The show hidden icons flyout in the system tray should now responsively resize with changes again to prevent empty spaces and columns.
Fixed multiple issues related to the taskbar which were impacting explorer.exe reliability.
Fixed an issue that was causing the volume icon in the system tray to incorrectly show as muted.
Fixed a GDI handle leak related to updating the notification center icon in the taskbar, which would eventually lead to an explorer.exe crash for people who received a large number of notifications.
Narrator will now announce the pinned and unpinned status of apps in the taskbar.
[File Explorer]
Fixed an issue which was making File Explorer crash when closing tabs for some people.
Made another fix for an issue which could cause errant divider lines in File Explorer’s navigation pane.
[Settings]
Made a change to hide the battery graph on the Power & Battery page if a UPS is connected, as the capacity information it displayed in that case wasn’t correct.
If you don’t have a kiosk set up, we’ve now updated the text on Accounts > Other Users > Kiosk to make it clearer you need to do that, so it doesn’t appear to be a dead end.
Fixed an issue where if you went into the properties for an audio device, this could make it unexpectedly show in the output devices list on System > Sound although it was actually an input device.
In the accessibility settings for color filters, the inverted option should work correctly again now and not just set your PC to grayscale colors.
[Other]
Fixed an issue causing some Insiders to see a bugcheck with error SYSTEM_THREAD_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED in recent builds.
NOTE: Some fixes noted here in Insider Preview builds from the Dev Channel may make their way into the servicing updates for the released version of Windows 11.
Known issues
[General]
We’re looking into reports that audio stopped working for some Insiders after upgrading to the latest flights.
We’re investigating reports of crashes with a few different apps and games in recent builds.
We’re investigating reports that various UI elements in apps appear to be disappearing and reappearing sometimes in recent builds.
We’re investigating reports that some apps like Microsoft Edge are unexpectedly showing thick lines on the side of the window after the last flight.
When using the latest ISO to install the Dev Channel build, you might get a SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION bugcheck citing an error with win32kfull.sys. We’re working on a fix.
[NEW] We’re investigating an issue in this build where switching projection modes using WIN + P / the Project section of Quick Settings doesn’t work. As a workaround you can switch projection modes using the cast icon in the system tray (Win+K) for either Miracast or wired displays.
[Taskbar]
The taskbar sometimes flashes when transitioning between desktop posture and tablet posture.
When using the bottom right edge gesture to see Quick Settings, the taskbar sometimes stays stuck in the expanded state, instead of dismissing to collapsed state.
[System Tray]
Chat apps aren’t flashing with new messages or opening a preview on hover in the system tray. We’re working on a fix.
[Start menu]
We’re investigating reports that folders in Start menu don’t open on the first try.
[NEW] We’re investigating an issue that causes garbled text in the navigation headings of Start’s all apps list for Chinese users.
[Input]
We’re investigating reports that the text cursor becomes white on white when hovering over text fields, making it difficult to see.
[Widgets]
In right-to-left display languages like Arabic, content animates out of view before the widgets board resizes when clicking to expanded view of the widgets board.
Inside Windows 11 – Season 2, Episode 2
Learn how and why we made features in the Windows 11 2022 Update. Check out our Inside Windows 11 website to hear and meet our makers from our Engineering, Design and Research teams as they share their insights and unique perspectives throughout this journey.
Episode 2 – Windows 11 Security
Come behind the scenes to learn about the Security features like Smart App Control, Enhanced Phishing Protection and Memory Integrity that help people to use a PC without fear.
Microsoft Store Update
Windows Insiders running version 22210.1401.x of the Microsoft Store will see the following improvements:
Discover and redeem offers available with your new PC: We’ve made it much easier for you to discover that your device came with digital attach offers (Office, Game Pass, or standalone games) and redeem it.
We’ve made it much easier for you to discover that your device came with digital attach offers (Office, Game Pass, or standalone games) and redeem it in the Store.
Improve the search card results while scrolling UX: We’ve optimized our layout and rendering architecture for search card results to provide a much smoother scrolling and resizing experience – especially on low powered devices
FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Microsoft Store.
Hi all, last Thursday Microsoft released Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 25231 to the Dev Channel.
Using Windows Reset still causes strange issues with Windows Security app & Windows Terminal, if you run in to this a clean install or waiting for the next build fixes it. (Feedbackhub: https://aka.ms/AAii4mv)
Changes and Improvements
[General]
The change that began rolling out with Build 25179 to the spelling dictionary so that it now uses a language-neutral word list and syncs across all devices that use the same Windows account is now available to all Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel. Users can toggle this feature via Settings > Accounts > Windows backup > Remember my preferences > Language preferences. This currently only works with Microsoft accounts today with AAD support coming later.
[Tablet-optimized taskbar]
Tablet-optimized taskbar which began rolling out with Build 25197 is now available to all Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel, as is the System Tray improvements that began rolling out with Build 25211 that include drag and drop.
[Input]
The cloud suggestion feature Simplified Chinese IME that began rolling out with Build 25217 is now available for all Insiders in the Dev Channel.
Fixes
[System Tray]
When moving your mouse over the sound icon on Quick Settings, the tooltip will now display when spatial audio is in use – not just that it is enabled.
[Settings]
Removed the backplate from UWP app icons in Apps > Default apps and Apps > Apps for websites.
Fixed the font used on the Wi-Fi section of Quick Settings when Wi-Fi was off, so that it’s consistent with the other text in Quick Settings
Fixed an issue believed to be the root cause of certain network cameras unexpectedly not being added when you selected them under Bluetooth & Devices > Cameras.
Improved DPI-awareness when launching setup.exe from a mounted ISO, so the initial logo while it’s preparing should no longer be blurry in certain cases.
Fixed an issue where sometimes you wouldn’t be able to use FIDO to unlock your PC if it was connected to an external display with the laptop lid closed.
Fixed an issue which sometimes led to crashes in certain apps (like Paint, and Windows Terminal) when attempting to display a tooltip.
NOTE: Some fixes noted here in Insider Preview builds from the Dev Channel may make their way into the servicing updates for the released version of Windows 11.
Known issues
[General]
We’re looking into reports that audio stopped working for some Insiders after upgrading to the latest flights.
We’re investigating reports of crashes with a few different apps and games in recent builds.
We’re investigating reports that various UI elements in apps appear to be disappearing and reappearing sometimes in recent builds.
[NEW] We’re investigating reports that some apps like Microsoft Edge are unexpectedly showing thick lines on the side of the window after the last flight.
[NEW] When using the latest ISO to install the Dev Channel build, you might get a SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION bugcheck citing an error with win32kfull.sys. We’re working on a fix.
[Tablet-optimized taskbar]
The taskbar sometimes flashes when transitioning between desktop posture and tablet posture.
When using the bottom right edge gesture to see Quick Settings, the taskbar sometimes stays stuck in the expanded state, instead of dismissing to collapsed state.
[System Tray Updates]
[NEW] Opening the hidden icons flyout can result in a File Explorer entry for it appearing in the taskbar. We’re working on a fix.
[NEW] Chat apps aren’t flashing with new messages or opening a preview on hover in the system tray. We’re working on a fix.
[Start menu]
[NEW] We’re investigating reports that folders in Start menu don’t open on the first try.
[Input]
We’re investigating reports that the text cursor becomes white on white when hovering over text fields, making it difficult to see.
[Widgets]
In right-to-left display languages like Arabic, content animates out of view before the widgets board resizes when clicking to expanded view of the widgets board.
Phone Link app – Access your phone’s hotspot instantly
We’re excited to announce that you can now instantly access your mobile phone’s hotspot on your PC via the Phone Link app. The instant hotspot feature lets you securely start and connect to your phone’s Wi-Fi network without touching your phone. When your phone is within range it will appear in the Wi-Fi network list on your PC where a single click turns on the phone’s hotspot and connects to it. No more remembering and typing passwords or searching for hotspot settings on the phone. This provides an easier and faster way to repeatedly connect to your hotspot when you are on the go.
This feature is rolling out to the Windows Insider community on select Samsung devices (details below). Please try out the feature and let us know what you think!
Quickly connect to your mobile hotspot on your Samsung device via Phone Link.
To use this feature, you will need:
Samsung device with One UI 4.1.1+
PC must have both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth adapters
Sim card with hotspot capable plan
Windows 11, version 22H2 Build 22621 and higher
Phone Link desktop app in version v1.22082.111.0 or greater
Link To Windows phone app (pre-installed on Samsung devices) in version v1.22082.142.0 or greater. Please ensure that your app is up to date on your Samsung device.
The set-up flow can be triggered from the following places:
The What’s New dialog, which should pop up on your screen. You can click on “Get Started” to launch the flow.
From the Phone Link settings page -> Features -> Instant Hotspot. If you haven’t completed set up yet you should see a button to begin the process.
Overflow menu (…) button on top right of Phone Link
FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Apps > Phone Link.
Picture of a Green Screen of Death ‘DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE’
Happy Upgrading!
What’s new
Update Management Improvements
Ensuring consistent and predictable timing of restarts for Windows updates is a key part of a successful update strategy. To improve the predictability of restarts, we have made the following changes for the Update Stack Orchestrator:
The Deadline calculation for both quality and feature updates is now based off the time the client’s update scan initially discovered the update. Previously, the Deadline was based off the release date of the update for quality updates and the reboot pending date for feature updates.
The Specify deadlines for automatic updates and restarts Group Policy setting was split into two separate settings to align with the existing configuration service provider (CSP) policies. The options in the Group Policy settings are the same for both feature and quality updates. Each of the new settings also has a Don’t auto-restart until end of grace period option. The new Group Policy settings are:
Specify deadlines for automatic updates and restarts for quality updates
Specify deadlines for automatic updates and restarts for feature updates
Screenshot of the Group Policy setting “Specify deadline for automatic updates and restarts for feature updates”.
To reduce the impact of the Deadline calculation change, the defaults values for feature updates were changed to the following:
FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Install and Update > All other issues.
Changes and Improvements
[Start menu]
We are trying out a small change to the Start menu where some Insiders will see badging on their user profile notifying them that certain actions need to be taken.
[Widgets]
We’re trying out some different positions of the header with new icons for the Widgets board to learn how to best optimize the Widgets board for our users. By using monoline icons, our goal is to bring consistent, clean, and accessible icons to communicate action and features with simple visuals for users.
We’re trying out some different positions of the header with new icons for the Widgets board.
[Input]
The change to support the use of clipboard history (WIN + V) on password fields that began rolling out with Build 25206 is now available to all Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel.
We made a change to allow you to contribute your voice clips to Microsoft again even if on-device speech recognition is used.
[Voice typing]
We are rolling out a change to sync voice typing settings, Automatic punctuation and Voice typing launcher, across all devices signed in using the same Microsoft account. You can toggle this feature via Settings > Accounts > Windows backup > Remember my preferences > Accessibility. This currently only works with Microsoft accounts today with AAD support coming later.
[Settings]
A new dialog will warn users of potential data loss if they elect to change the partition style of their storage drive under System > Storage > Disks & Volumes > Disk Properties.
We’ve updated the ethernet and Wi-Fi property pages in Settings to now show gateway information in the network details summary.
Fixes
[General]
Fixed an issue which was causing some Insiders to not be able to upgrade to recent Dev Channel builds, with error 0xC1900101. As a reminder, this is a generic rollback error code, so if you are continuing to see this error after today’s update you may be encountering a different issue. If you do, please file feedback about it under Install and Update > Downloading, installing, and configuring Windows Update in the Feedback Hub.
[Tablet-optimized taskbar]
NOTE: These fixes will only show if tablet-optimized taskbar (documented here) is enabled on your device. Tablet-optimized taskbar is still rolling out to Windows Insiders and not yet available for everyone.
Fixed an issue that was causing explorer.exe to crash while switching between apps on the tablet-optimized taskbar.
Start’s touch gesture should now follow your finger correctly with the tablet-optimized taskbar.
Improved how touch gestures and their animations with the tablet-optimized taskbar work with the touch keyboard.
You can now swipe up from within the taskbar with a pen to expand the tablet-optimized taskbar.
[System Tray Updates]
NOTE: These fixes will only show if System Tray Updates (documented here) is enabled on your device. Tablet-optimized taskbar is still rolling out to Windows Insiders and not yet available for everyone.
Fixed an issue causing explorer.exe to crash when dragging icons in the system tray.
Right-clicking system tray icons should no longer cause the auto-hidden taskbar to hide incorrectly.
The show hidden icons panel in the system tray should no longer block context menus opened after it.
Fixed an issue where the first time you tried to open Quick Settings from the system tray it wouldn’t work.
Fixed an issue that was preventing system tray icons from updating in real time.
[File Explorer]
When you scroll to the bottom of the navigation pane using a mouse wheel and try to scroll back up it should no longer get stuck at the bottom.
Fixed an issue which could cause certain apps to hang when opening the Open File Dialog or Save File Dialog.
Made another fix for a case which could lead to people seeing divider lines overlapping entries in the navigation pane.
[Start menu]
Fixed an issue where dragging content across an open Start menu folder could cause a crash.
[Search]
Made a fix to help address an issue where Search might not respond when clicking on the search icon in the taskbar.
Opening images from search should no longer unexpectedly open them in Print.
[Input]
Fixed an issue where over time you might lose the ability to interact with certain games using the mouse.
Fixed an issue where the multiplication sign (×, U+00D7) wasn’t displaying correctly in the Yu Gothic font family for people with high resolution screens.
[Settings]
The size of UWP app icons under Apps > Startup shouldn’t be so small now.
[Task Manager]
Dragging Task Manager from the bottom area of the title bar to move the window should work now.
[Other]
Fixed a couple issues causing certain apps to crash in recent builds, including OneNote. We are continuing to investigate feedback in this space.
Made a change to address an issue which could lead to performance degradation when using performance monitoring tools which leveraged the Microsoft-Windows-DxgKrnl ETW provider. This also impacted performance for Windows Mixed Reality. As a reminder, if you’re experiencing performance issues, please see here for steps on filing actionable performance feedback.
Fixed an issue where recording devices with “Listen to this device” enabled might not show in the volume mixer when they were playing sound.
If you reset your PC, the screen displayed while it’s resetting will now be black so it’s consistent with the upgrade screens.
If you were experiencing Gaming Services crashes while trying to play certain games in the previous Dev Channel flight, please check the Microsoft Store for Gaming Servicing updates, it should be resolved now.
Fixed an issue which was causing certain PCs to unexpectedly bugcheck on upgrade to the latest builds, with the error message saying “MULTIPROCESSOR_CONFIGURATION_NOT_SUPPORTED”.
Fixed an issue from the previous flight which could cause Miracast to unexpectedly not be able to connect.
NOTE: Some fixes noted here in Insider Preview builds from the Dev Channel may make their way into the servicing updates for the released version of Windows 11.
Known issues
[General]
We’re looking into reports that audio stopped working for some Insiders after upgrading to the latest flights.
We’re investigating reports of crashes with a few different apps and games in recent builds.
We’re investigating reports that various UI elements in apps appear to be disappearing and reappearing sometimes in recent builds.
[Tablet-optimized taskbar]
The taskbar sometimes flashes when transitioning between desktop posture and tablet posture.
When using the bottom right edge gesture to see Quick Settings, the taskbar sometimes stays stuck in the expanded state, instead of dismissing to collapsed state.
[Input]
We’re investigating reports that the text cursor becomes white on white when hovering over text fields, making it difficult to see.
[Widgets]
In right-to-left display languages like Arabic, content animates out of view before the widgets board resizes when clicking to expanded view of the widgets board.
On Windows 10/11 when memory integrity cannot be switched on due to incompatible drivers, you can use pnputil.exe to remove the affected OEM drivers
Open Windows Security
Select Device Security
Select the Core isolation details
Set the slider to ON to enable core isolation
If any incompatible (old) drivers are on the system, you will get this:
Select ‘Review incompatible drivers’
Driver example: apg8201zx64.sys (ACS smart card reader driver) – expand the driver to display the oem##.inf
Open an elevated command prompt & run
pnputil.exe /delete-driver oem##.inf
Once successfully removed press the ‘Scan Again’ button in the Windows Security app
If no more incompatible drivers are found you will be able to use core isolation (after a restart)
Reboot the device & verify the setting is now on
Troubleshooting tips:
In case you run in to an exception causing your device to bluescreen after turning on this option, you can reboot into safe mode & run this command to turn it off again:
