Windows 11 Insider DEV Channel

[Corrine]

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 25290

• This build is available for Arm64 devices as the known issue that resulted in not releasing Build 25284 to Arm64 last week has been fixed.
• We have more new widgets for Insiders in the Dev Channel to try!
• This build includes a set of general improvements and fixes.

What's new

New Widgets: Spotify and Phone Link
Last week, we promoted a preview of the widget for the Messenger app. Spotify and Phone Link are now rolling out preview versions of their widgets as well. To give them a try, go to the widgets collection in the Microsoft Store and update to the latest version of the apps. Then open the widgets board and navigate to the widgets picker by clicking the "+" button at the top-right of the board to pin your widgets.

As you give these and other new widgets a try, please let us know what you think through the Widgets feedback link in the widgets picker. You should expect to see additional new widgets as more developers create and release widgets for their apps.

With the release of Windows App SDK 1.2 developers are now able to create widgets for their apps. Users can access these experiences on their Windows 11 widgets board in current Dev Channel Insider Preview builds. If you're interested in developing a widget, watch our latest tutorial video:  https://youtu.be/PUhYfRepxvc

Changes and Improvements

[Start menu]

• Back in October with Build 25227, we started trying out a small change to the Start menu where some Insiders saw badging on their user profile notifying them that certain actions need to be taken. We concluded that initial exploration in November. Starting today, we are starting a new exploration of badging on the Start menu with two new treatments that some Insiders in the Dev Channel will see. If you see one of these treatments, give us feedback on what you think. As a reminder, it is normal for us to try out different concepts in the Dev Channel to get feedback.
  

Fixes

[General]

• We fixed the issue causing Arm64 devices to fail to resume from sleep/hibernate when running Build 25281 and getting stuck at the OS boot logo.
• Fixed an issue where some Insiders may have issues accessing websites and other resources via VPN connections. If you used the workaround documented in this forum post, please reverse those changes once you have this new build installed.
  
• Fixed an issue causing some Insiders to experience freezes when using the browser and certain other apps in recent Dev Channel builds.

[Taskbar & System Tray]

• Fixed an explorer.exe crash which could cause the taskbar not to load for some Insiders.

[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:

• Fixed an issue where the search box would randomly disappear sometimes when you clicked it (leaving a blank space on the taskbar).
• Fixed an issue where the search box was shifting to the side slightly when you clicked it.

[Task Manager]

• Fixed an issue where the data content area of the Processes page might flash once when theme changes were applied in the Task Manager Settings page.
• Fixed an issue where some dialogs did not render in the correct theme when applied from Task Manager Settings page.
• Fixed an issue where properties in the Memory section of the Performance page were getting truncated even though there was space to display them.
• Reduced the transparency of graph colors in the Performance page, and adjusted the borders, to help make them stand out more.
• Fixed a few issues causing Task Manager crashes.
• Typing F in the search box should work again now.
• You now shouldn't have to make Task Manager be as wide before the navigation pane appears.
• If text scaling has been increased, the search box shouldn't overlap with the title bar text anymore.
• Made some tweaks to address cases where text in dialogs was getting cut off when text scaling was increased.
• Fixes an issue where certain parts of the title bar couldn't be used to drag the window.

[Windows Spotlight]
The following fixes only apply for Windows Insiders who received one of the different treatments of Windows Spotlight that began rolling out to Insiders with Build 25281:

• We fixed the issue causing some people to not get a consistent refresh of images on a daily basis.

[Settings]

• Fixed an issue where the preview for Sans Serif Collection in Personalization > Fonts was displaying broken glyphs.

[Other]

• Fixed an issue that was preventing Narrator from announcing dropdown lists in Excel.
• Fixed an underlying issue which could cause Snipping Tool screenshots to become stretched out and distorted in the last few builds if you had multiple monitors.
• Fixed an issue which could cause a bugcheck with SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION.
• Fixed an issue which could make the Open With dialog crash on launch.
• Fixed an issue where the Open File dialog would hang if you clicked it while using an IME after having selected "Choose an app on your PC" from the Open With dialog.
• Fixed an issue which could cause Group Policy Editor to unexpectedly show "An error has occurred in the script on this page" with an invalid character error when editing a group policy.
• If you have OpenSSH Server set to start at boot (instead of manual), that preference should be remembered across OS upgrades now. Please note, you need to be on a build with this fix before it will take effect with your next upgrade.

[Corrine]

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 25295

What's new

New commercial policy: Enable features introduced via servicing that are off by default
This new policy enables commercial customers to enable features introduced via servicing (outside of the annual feature update) that are off by default for devices that have their Windows updates managed. Windows update managed devices are those that have their Windows updates managed via policy; whether via the cloud using Windows Update for Business or on-premises with Windows Server Update Services (WSUS). While this policy is available for Insider Preview builds in the Dev Channel, there aren't any features currently in Dev Channel behind the policy. However, we expect to make this policy available in the Beta Channel shortly where there are features behind the policy. Learn more about this new policy here.

Changes and Improvements

[General]

• Users will now see a copy button for quickly copying two-factor authentication (2FA) codes in notification toasts from apps installed on the PC or from phones linked to the PC. We make a best effort to determine if a notification toast has an authentication code but please send us feedback if we got it wrong or if we failed to detect the code in a notification toast.

[Search on the Taskbar]

• The new search on the taskbar experience that began rolling out with Build 25252 is now available for all Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel. Insiders can change the treatment of search on taskbar in settings under Settings > Personalization > Taskbar > Taskbar Items.
  

Fixes

[General]

• The issue causing repeated bugchecks for some Insiders after upgrading to Build 25284+ should be fixed now.
• Made another fix for an issue causing Insiders to experience freezes in recent flights (specifically in this case where apps might freeze if you tried to use them while also trying to play games).
• Fixed an issue where the Update history page under Settings > Windows Update > Update history was blank for some users after installing Build 25290.
• Fixed an issue where some users experienced longer than expected update times installing recent builds. If you experience this issue again, please submit a new feedback item with logs in Feedback Hub.

[File Explorer]

• Fixed an issue where the add and close tab buttons weren't working in File Explorer if File Explorer was maximized, and you were using an Arabic or Hebrew display language.

[Input]

• Fixed an issue which could lead to app windows becoming unresponsive after using multi-finger on screen touch gestures.
• Fixed an underlying issue which was causing your mouse to appear like pointer trails was enabled when sharing your screen.

[Settings]

• The Add a Device dialog should no longer have an unexpectedly big border.

[Windowing]

• Fixed an issue which could cause certain apps to move very slowly when you dragged it across the screen.
• Fixed a DWM crash in recent flights which could cause your screen to flash black.
• Fixed an issue where snapped windows might not remember their positions if you disconnected and reconnected your monitor.

[Other]

• Fixed an underlying crash impacting the ability the ability for apps using Graphics.Capture to take screen captures in recent flights.
  
• Fixed an underlying issue causing crashes in certain apps when trying to print to PDFs in recent flights.

[Corrine]

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 25300

• We are releasing ISOs for this build – they can be downloaded here.
  
• We're introducing live captions in more languages with this build.
• This build includes a set of general changes and improvements as well as some good fixes for some known issues.

What's new

Introducing live captions in more languages
Live captions helps everyone and people who are deaf or hard of hearing read live captions in their native language. The first release of live captions in the Windows 11 2022 Update provided captions in English, with a focus on English (United States). In this build, live captions gains the ability to also provide captions in Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish and other English dialects. We will add more languages as they become available.

To get started, live captions can be turned on with the WIN + Ctrl + L keyboard shortcut, or from the quick settings accessibility flyout via Quick Settings. When turned on for the first time, live captions will prompt for download of the required speech recognition support to enable on-device captioning. If speech recognition support is not available in your preferred Windows language or you want support in other languages, you will be able to download speech recognition support for live captions under Settings > Time & Language > Language & region.

We look forward to you trying out live captions in more languages and would love to hear your feedback.

FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Accessibility > Live captions.

Changes and Improvements

[Snap layouts]

• We are trying out different treatments for snap layouts with Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel. We are investigating ways to improve the discoverability and usage of the snap layouts such as decreasing the hover time required to invoke the flyout when you mouse over the maximum/restore button in an app's title bar. In addition to a few other tweaks, you'll notice some treatments will also pull in the icon of the app window you are working in and adding a descriptive title. If you see one of these treatments, give us feedback on what you think. As a reminder, it is normal for us to try out different concepts in the Dev Channel to get feedback.
  

[Voice typing]

• The change to sync voice typing settings, Automatic punctuation and Voice typing launcher, across all devices signed in using the same Microsoft account that began rolling out with Build 25227 is now available to all Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel. 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]

• Updated Settings > Apps > Startup to make it easier to access more information about the apps listed.
• Right-clicking on a Win32 app in Start, or searching for the app, and choosing "Uninstall" will now take you to the Settings to uninstall the app.

[WSL]

• Improved the upgrade experience to the new Windows Subsystem for Linux Store app (mentioned in Build 25272), so it now prompts for installation if wsl.exe is invoked.
  

Fixes

[General]

• We fixed the underlying issue related to combase.dll, causing crashes with multiple apps using GetKnownFolder APIs after upgrading to Build 25290, including Notepad and Windows Terminal for IME users. This issue is also believed to be the root cause of some Insiders finding that certain actions in File Explorer were taking minutes to complete in these builds.
• We fixed the issue causing rendering issues and difficulty using Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE).
• Fixed an issue where some users experienced issues authenticating into enterprise websites that require windows integrated authentication.

[Taskbar & System Tray]

• The ability to show seconds in the clock on the system tray, first introduced with Build 25247, should return after updating to Build 25300 if it had disappeared for you after updating to Build 25295 last week.
  
• Fixed an issue that was causing taskbar to be cut off after resolution changes.
• We fixed an issue where when hovering over app icons on the taskbar could switch window focus unexpectedly.

[Widgets]

• As a result of fixing the issue causing third-party widgets to get unpinned when signed in with a Microsoft account across multiple Windows 11 devices, the most recent Widgets update in the Dev Channel will unpin third-party widgets. Insiders will need to go back to their widgets board and re-pin these widgets again. If you still see issues where widgets are being unpinned unexpectedly – please file feedback.
• The link for "Find more widgets" in the widgets picker currently is no longer broke and will point to the Store collection here.
  

[Input]

• We are beginning to roll out a fix for an issue where the IME candidate window and IME toolbar weren't shown or cropped sometimes.

[File Explorer]

• Drag and dropping files and folders across tabs should work again.

[Task Manager]

• Process names typed into the search box should no longer unexpectedly get spellchecked.
• Fixed a couple of issues with how Narrator was reading out content in Task Manager.
• Fixed an issue where the dropdowns in settings might not match your currently selected theme.
• When using search on the App History page, results should no longer suddenly disappear.
• If you open the Default Start Page dropdown in settings, clicking the Task Manager window should make the dropdown disappear now.
• Dragging the window using the search box area should work now (like other areas of the title bar).
• Fixed an issue where ending processes in the Details tab wasn't showing a confirmation dialog.
• Increasing the text scaling should no longer result in a "see more" button appearing with no contents.
• If you do a search and then press the down arrow, keyboard focus should now move from the search box into the results.
• If you have a contrast theme enabled and select one of the rows in the Processes page, that row should now show that it's selected.
• Fixed an issue where focus might not get set properly to search, leading to Narrator not saying that focus was on the search box.

[Other]

• Fixed an issue where Narrator's focus wasn't going back to the Quick Settings' window correctly when using the back button in the Cast page.

[Corrine]

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 25309

• With this build, we're beginning to roll out a new enhanced volume mixer in Quick Settings. We're also re-introducing an update for the touch keyboard settings, some changes to File Explorer, graphics, and input. And we have some voice access improvements.
• As always, this build also includes a good set of fixes too.

What's new

New volume mixer experience in Quick Settings
We're introducing a new enhanced volume mixer into Quick Settings! The updated audio quick settings experience brings a modern volume mixer that allows for quick customization of audio on a per-app basis, with additional control to swap devices on the fly. We've also added a new keyboard shortcut (WIN + CTRL + V) to bring you directly to the volume mixer for faster control of the experience. With this change, you can now tailor your audio experience better with more control and fewer clicks to better manage your favorite apps.

In addition, we've made it easier for users to enable their Windows Sonic experience with a quick access list of installed spatial sound technology. You can visit the Microsoft Store to find additional spatial sound technology to choose from such as Dolby and DTS.

[We are beginning to roll this feature out, so it isn't available to all Insiders in the Dev Channel 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 > Quick Settings.

Updated Touch Keyboard Settings
After making some fixes, we are re-introducing the new touch keyboard setting we originally introduced with Build 25188 (and disabled with Build 25217) that replaces the "Show the touch keyboard when there's no keyboard attached" checkbox under Settings > Time & language > Typing > Touch keyboard with a new dropdown menu with 3 options to control whether tapping an edit control should launch the touch keyboard:

• "Never" suppresses the touch keyboard even when no hardware keyboard is attached.
• "When no keyboard attached" will show the touch keyboard only when the device is used as a tablet without the hardware keyboard.
• "Always" will show the touch keyboard even when the hardware keyboard is attached.

[We are beginning to roll this out, so the experience isn't available to all Insiders in the Dev Channel 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 Input and Language > Touch keyboard.

Auto Color Management (ACM) Expansion
Back in October, we launched Auto Color Management (hardware accelerated system level color management) on select qualifying and specially provisioned SDR displays. Now, Insiders in the Dev Channel will be able to turn ACM on for their SDR displays and have all colors across all Windows apps, whether or not they are color-managed, appear accurately and consistently on every supported display.

To turn ACM on, go to Settings > Display > Advanced display, select correct display and turn on Automatically manage color for apps.

Note: ACM enablement has the following requirements:

• WDDM driver version 3.0 or greater
• Supported GPU:
• AMD:
• AMD RX 400 Series or later
• AMD Ryzen processors with Radeon Graphics
• Intel
• Integrated: Intel 12th Gen (Alder Lake) or later
• Discrete: Intel DG1 or later
• NVIDIA:
• NVIDIA GTX 10xx or later (Pascal+)
• There are no hard requirements on the display or connection – ACM can provide benefits even on 8-bit sRGB panels. However, we strongly recommend ACM devices to have panels with a wider-than-sRGB gamut, and optionally 10-bits per color channel or greater.

[We are beginning to roll this out, so the experience isn't available to all Insiders in the Dev Channel 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 Display and Graphics > Windows HD Color.

Voice access improvements
Redesigned in-app command help page: We have completely renovated the in-app command help page in voice access to make it simpler to use and comprehend. The search bar allows users to quickly find commands and the different categories provide further guidance. Every command now has a description and examples of its variations, making it easier to understand and use.

You can access the command help page from Help > View all commands on the voice access bar or use the voice command "what can I say".

Please note that the redesigned in-app help page in voice access may not include all commands and the supplementary information may be inaccurate. We plan to update this in future builds. If you want an exhaustive list of Voice Access commands and extra information about them, we recommend you refer Use voice access to control your PC & author text with your voice – Microsoft Support.

Voice access is available in English dialects: We have extended voice access to support other English dialects such as English -UK, English – India, English – New Zealand, English – Canada, English – Australia.

When voice access is turned on for the first time, you will be prompted to download a speech model to enable on-device recognition of voice data. In case voice access does not find a speech model matching your display language, you can still choose to proceed ahead to use voice access in English – US.

You can always switch to a different language by navigating to Settings > Language on the voice access bar.

New text selection & editing commands: See the Release Notes for added useful commands to make text selection and editing easier with voice access.

FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Accessibility > Voice Access.[/B]

Changes and Improvements

[General]

• Starting with Build 25290, we started a new exploration of badging on the Start menu with two new treatments that some Insiders in the Dev Channel will see. Starting today, we're trying out different text variants within these treatments. If you see one of these treatments, give us feedback on what you think. As a reminder, it is normal for us to try out different concepts in the Dev Channel to get feedback.
  

• We're trying out a more personalized second-chance out of box experience (SCOOBE) with a small subset of Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel.

[Search on the Taskbar]

• The search box on taskbar will be lighter when Windows is set to a custom color mode. Specifically, when the Windows 11 mode is set to dark, and the app mode is set to light under Settings > Personalization > Colors you will see a lighter search box on taskbar.

[File Explorer]

• Windows Insiders will begin noticing a "pizza" icon on the command bar in File Explorer. This icon denotes that an Insider is previewing the Windows App SDK version of File Explorer. Functionality in File Explorer remains unchanged, it just switches from using WinUI 2 to using WinUI 3.

[Snap layouts]

• After pausing this with Build 25300, we are un-pausing this with this build – we are trying out different treatments for snap layouts with Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel. We are investigating ways to improve the discoverability and usage of the snap layouts such as decreasing the hover time required to invoke the flyout when you mouse over the maximum/restore button in an app's title bar. In addition to a few other tweaks, you'll notice some treatments will also pull in the icon of the app window you are working in and adding a descriptive title. If you see one of these treatments, give us feedback on what you think. As a reminder, it is normal for us to try out different concepts in the Dev Channel to get feedback.
  

[Windows Spotlight]

• Starting today, we are disabling the different treatments we've been trying out for Windows Spotlight that began with Build 25281 due to an issue impacting the experience Insiders will have on these treatments. We plan to re-introduce an updated Windows Spotlight experience for Insiders in a future flight based on the feedback from Insiders from using these different treatments. As part of disabling these treatments, Insiders may need to go to Settings > Personalization and re-enable Windows Spotlight.
  

[Input]

• We have updated the Simplified Chinese handwriting recognition engine to be faster and more accurate as well as supported characters defined in GB18030-2022. Currently you can write characters in GB18030-2022 Level 2 and some of characters in GB18030-2022 Level 1 in the handwriting panel or directly into the text field when it's supported. Please try it and let us know what you think.

The Simplified Chinese handwriting recognition engine is faster and more accurate and now supports characters defined in GB18030-202.
[Widgets]

• We are beginning to roll out theme-aware icons for Widgets on the taskbar so that based on the user's Windows theme (dark or light), the Widgets icons will display a theme-aware icon that will have a higher contrast ratio which will make information on the taskbar clearer for users, particularly for those with low-sight.

[Settings]

• Settings > Power & Battery has been updated to include settings for choosing what happens when interacting with your PC's physical power controls.

Fixes

[General]

• Fixed an issue causing USB devices (including keyboard and mouse) to not work for some Insiders after upgrading to Build 25295+.
• Fixed an issue for some Insiders where if you'd uninstalled the previous flight, it would cause your Start menu and taskbar to cyclically crash.
• Fixed an issue where when using Windows Hello to sign in with facial recognition, it may not have worked on Arm64 PCs.
• Fixed an issue with the Windows Insider Program settings page showing a newer build was available in Windows Update even though you were on the latest available build in the Dev Channel.

[Taskbar & System Tray]

• Fixed multiple Explorer.exe crashes impacting taskbar and system tray.
• Fixed a display issue that could result in the taskbar appearing duplicated when making resolution changes.
• Fixed an issue which was causing app icons on the taskbar to appear on the wrong monitor for some Insiders with multiple monitors.

[Widgets]

• We fixed an issue where under certain circumstances third-party widgets were not loading as expected.

[Search on the Taskbar]

• Fixed rendering issues when using the touch keyboard with the search box on taskbar.
• Fixed an issue when double clicking the search highlight glyph in the search box makes it disappear.
• Fixed an issue where the search box would randomly disappear.
• Fixed an issue where the search icon flips incorrectly for right-to-left (RTL) languages.
• Fixed on issue where you might have seen some text flicker in the search box when you click into it.
• Fixed an issue where the search box might disappear on one monitor if you are using multiple monitors.
• Made some accessibility fixes to the settings for search under Settings > Personalization > Taskbar.

[File Explorer]

• Fixed an issue which caused Insiders with custom desktop icon arrangements / sizes to get set back to default in the previous build.
• Fixed an underlying issue believed to be the cause of File Explorer unexpectedly jumping into the foreground sometimes.
• The "Open in new tab" context menu option and middle clicking folders will now open the tab in the background rather than switching focus.
• Fixed an issue where the close button could get stuck in a highlighted state when you moved your mouse across it.

[Input]

• Fix an issue where when using the French-Canadian layout for the touch keyboard, the letters output when typing didn't always match what was displayed on the keys.
• When using the Korean IME, CTRL + F10 should no longer open the IME context menu.

[Settings]

• Fixed an underlying issue believed to be the root cause of why some Insiders saw their startup app settings get reset with the previous build.
• Going to Privacy & Security > Phone Calls should no longer crash Settings.

[Windowing]

• Fixed a high hitting DWM.exe crash in the last couple flights.

[Other]

• Fixed multiple issues that were preventing some of the new live captions language models from downloading correctly.
• Fixed an underlying issue causing Insiders on Arm64 PCs to not be able to activate M365, with it citing a network issue.
• Fixed a search indexer crash.
• Fixed an underlying issue that could cause UWP apps to appear in English after upgrading although that wasn't your display language.
• Fixed an issue which was causing .appinstaller packages to fail to install with an error message that says "The parameter is incorrect" (even though it wasn't).
• Fixed an underlying issue causing certain cameras to not work in apps with the last flight.
• Fixed an underlying issue which was leading to Microsoft Edge crashes for some Insiders in the last few flights.

[Corrine]

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 23403

As a reminder, we have rebooted the Dev Channel to begin flighting 23000 series builds as announced earlier this week

Note: Windows Insiders who were previously in the Dev Channel on 25000 series builds are being moved to the new Canary Channel. If you are on Build 25309 and haven't been moved to the Canary Channel yet, you will not receive this build as it has a lower build number than the build you are already on. However, the migration continues to happen in the background and once complete you will receive the latest build available. Can't wait? If you want the latest builds immediately, you can move yourself to the Canary Channel on your own via Settings > Windows Update > Windows Insider Program. Or follow these instructions to do a clean installation of Windows 11 and then re-join the Dev Channel to receive 23000 series builds going forward.

Insiders in the Beta Channel can move to Dev Channel via the settings as well and receive this build without additional steps.

Since we have rebooted the Dev Channel for flighting 23000 series builds, we're also rebooting the content in the blog posts for Dev Channel flights – including known issues below.

What's new in Build 23403

Introducing live captions in more languages
Live captions help everyone and people who are deaf or hard of hearing read live captions in their native language. The first release of live captions in the Windows 11 2022 Update provided captions in English, with a focus on English (United States). In this build, live captions gains the ability to also provide captions in Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish and other English dialects. We will add more languages as they become available.

To get started, live captions can be turned on with the WIN + Ctrl + L keyboard shortcut, or from the quick settings accessibility flyout via Quick Settings. When turned on for the first time, live captions will prompt for download of the required speech recognition support to enable on-device captioning. If speech recognition support is not available in your preferred Windows language or you want support in other languages, you will be able to download speech recognition support for live captions under Settings > Time & Language > Language & region.

FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Accessibility > Live captions.

Access Keys in File Explorer
We are adding access key shortcuts into the XAML context menu in File Explorer. An access key is a one keystroke shortcut that allows a keyboard user to quickly execute a command in context menu. Each access key will correspond with a letter in the display name. It's part of our effort to make File Explorer more accessible. To try this out, you can click on a file in File Explorer and press the menu key on your keyboard.

[We are beginning to roll this out, so the experience isn't available to all Insiders in the Dev Channel 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 Files, Folders, and Online Storage > File Explorer.

File Recommendations in File Explorer
File Recommendations are coming to File Explorer Home to bring users the most relevant file content right to their fingertips. This feature (as pictured below) will be available to users signed into Windows with an Azure Active Directory (AAD) account. Files that are recommended will be cloud files associated with that account, either owned by the user, or shared with the user.

[We are beginning to roll this out, so the experience isn't available to all Insiders in the Dev Channel 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 Files, Folders, and Online Storage > File Explorer.

Voice access improvements
Redesigned in-app command help page: We have completely renovated the in-app command help page in voice access to make it simpler to use and comprehend. The search bar allows users to quickly find commands and the various categories provide further guidance. Every command now has a description and examples of its variations, making it easier to understand and use.

You can access the command help page from Help > View all commands on the voice access bar or use the voice command "what can I say".

Please note that the redesigned in-app help page in voice access may not include all commands and the supplementary information may be inaccurate. We plan to update this in future builds. If you want an exhaustive list of Voice Access commands and extra information about them, we recommend you refer Use voice access to control your PC & author text with your voice – Microsoft Support.

Voice access is available in English dialects: We have extended voice access to support other English dialects such as English -UK, English – India, English – New Zealand, English – Canada, English – Australia.

When voice access is turned on for the first time, you will be prompted to download a speech model to enable on-device recognition of voice data. In case voice access does not find a speech model matching your display language, you can still choose to proceed ahead to use voice access in English – US.

You can always switch to a different language by navigating to Settings > Language on the voice access bar.

New text selection & editing commands: See the Release Notes for the table of added useful commands to make text selection and editing easier with voice access.

Narrator Outlook Support
Narrator will now retrieve updates to its Outlook support when Narrator is started. You can learn more about the work we did for Outlook in Chapter 5 of the Narrator User Guide. We have not added any additional functionality to our Outlook support, but this work will allow updates to the Outlook experience to be made through the Microsoft Store. You will receive a notification after the download is completed to inform you that the update has been retrieved. With this change, Narrator's Outlook support is limited to U.S. English only. Other languages will be supported in a future flight.

FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Accessibility > Narrator.

Multi-App Kiosk Mode
Multi-app kiosk mode is a lockdown feature for Windows 11 that allows an IT administrator to select a set of allowable apps to run on the device, while all other functionalities are blocked. This enables you to create multiple different apps and access configurations for different user types, all on a single device.

Some lockdown customizations include:

• Limiting access to Settings, except selected pages (e.g., Wi-Fi and screen brightness)
• Lock down the Start menu to show only allowed apps.
• Block toasts and pop-ups that lead to unwanted UI.

Multi-app kiosk mode is ideal for scenarios in which multiple people need to use the same device. This can include frontline workers and retail scenarios, education and test taking.

Currently, multi-app kiosk mode can be enabled using PowerShell and WMI Bridge, with support for Intune/MDM and provisioning package configuration coming soon.

To configure using WMI, follow these instructions. Using the Windows 10 sample XML will enable the feature, but will result in an empty Start menu. To populate the Start menu with your apps, follow these instructions to generate the list of pinned apps, then add it to your XML file after closing the StartLayout section, like the below:

<win11:StartPins><![CDATA[ Your JSON here ]]></win11:StartPins>

Don't forget to update the namespace by replacing the AssignedAccessConfiguration tag with the below:

<AssignedAccessConfiguration xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/AssignedAccess/2017/config" xmlns:win11="http://schemas.microsoft.com/AssignedAccess/2022/config">

FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Security and Privacy > Device Lockdown

Changes and Improvements

[General]

• Users will now see a copy button for quickly copying two-factor authentication (2FA) codes in notification toasts from apps installed on the PC or from phones linked to the PC. We make a best effort to determine if a notification toast has an authentication code but please send us feedback if we got it wrong or if we failed to detect the code in a notification toast. This change is beginning to roll out, so not all Insiders in the Dev Channel will see it right away.

[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 over the active network connection. Currently, the overlayed VPN icon does not use your system accent color but will do so in a future build.
  

[Search on the Taskbar]

• The search box on taskbar will be lighter when Windows is set to a custom color mode. Specifically, when the Windows 11 mode is set to dark, and the app mode is set to light under Settings > Personalization > Colors you will see a lighter search box on taskbar.

[Input]

• We have updated the Simplified Chinese handwriting recognition engine to be faster and more accurate as well as supported characters defined in GB18030-2022. Currently you can write characters in GB18030-2022 Level 2 and some of characters in GB18030-2022 Level 1 in the handwriting panel or directly into the text field when it's supported. Please try it and

[Settings]

• Right-clicking on a Win32 app in Start, or searching for the app, and choosing "Uninstall" will now take you to the Settings to uninstall the app.

Fixes

[Search on the Taskbar]

• Fixed rendering issues when using the touch keyboard with the search box on taskbar.
• Fixed an issue when double clicking the search highlight glyph in the search box makes it disappear.
• Fixed an issue where the search box would randomly disappear.
• Fixed an issue where the search icon flips incorrectly for right-to-left (RTL) languages.
• Fixed on issue where you might have seen some text flicker in the search box when you click into it.
• Fixed an issue where the search box might disappear on one monitor if you are using multiple monitors.
• Made some accessibility fixes to the settings for search under Settings > Personalization > Taskbar.

[File Explorer]

• Fixed an underlying issue believed to be the cause of File Explorer unexpectedly jumping into the foreground sometimes.

[Corrine]

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 23419

ISOs for this build are available here.

What's new in Build 23419

Create live kernel memory dumps in Task Manager
We are introducing a set of new developer-focused features in Task Manager to aid the collection of live kernel memory dumps (LKDs). This is in addition to the existing "Memory dump" for user mode processes. The goal of kernel live dump is to gather data to troubleshoot an abnormal situation but allow the OS to continue operation. This reduces downtime when compared to a bug check for "non-fatal" but high-impact failures and hangs. Click here for more info on live kernel dumps.

To capture a live kernel memory dump (LKD), go to the Details page in Task Manager, right-click on the System process and the context menu should light up to show "Create live kernel memory dump file" to capture a Full live kernel or Kernel stack memory dumps.

The dumps will be written to a fixed location:

%LocalAppData%\Microsoft\Windows\TaskManager\LiveKernelDumps

You can also go to the Task Manager Settings page to view/edit the settings for live kernel memory dumps.

FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Desktop Environment > Task Manager.

USB4 Settings Page
We are adding a USB4 hubs and devices Settings page for users under Settings > Bluetooth & devices > USB > USB4 Hubs and Devices. USB4 enables new productivity scenarios for docking, high performance peripherals, displays and charging. The USB4 settings page provides information about the system's USB4 capabilities and attached peripherals on a USB4 capable system. These insights are meant to assist with troubleshooting in case users need support from their device manufacturer (OEM) or system administrator. The features provided by this page are:

• View the tree of connected USB4 hubs and devices.
• View attributes and capabilities associated with the USB4 domain.
• Copy the details into the clipboard so it can be shared with customer support or system administrators for troubleshooting.

If the system does not support USB4 with the Microsoft USB4 Connection Manager, this page will not be displayed.

To confirm whether your system is USB4 capable or not, check for "USB4 Host Router" populating in the Device Manager.

FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Devices and Drivers > Buses.

Cloud Suggestion in Simplified Chinese IME
We are trying out some changes that will allow you to easily type popular words in Simplified Chinese. The changes include an improved cloud suggestion and integrated search suggestion. The cloud suggestion adds the most relevant word from Bing to the IME candidate window. We've updated the back-end logic so that we can provide better, fresh suggestions.

The integrated search suggestion gives you additional suggestions that are similar to what you see in Bing search page. You can either insert a suggestion as text or search it directly in Bing.  To turn on these features, select a chevron button at the right end of the IME candidate window. You'll find Turn on button.

FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Input and Language > Text Input.

Changes and Improvements

[General]

• The new features for app defaults in Windows 11 as mentioned here in this blog post are included in this build. The features for app pinning are coming in a future flight.
  

[Start menu]

• We are trying out a small change with some Windows Insiders where the "Recommended" section of the Start menu is changed to "For you". Let us know what you think in Feedback Hub if you see this change.

[Taskbar & System Tray]

• The glanceable VPN status show overlayed over an active network connection into the system tray when connected to a recognized VPN profile now displays in your system accent color.
  
• 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.
  

[Search on the Taskbar]

• Once you have access to the new Bing, the search box on the taskbar will include a button that opens the Bing chat experience in Edge. If you don't have access to the new Bing, the search box on the taskbar will feature a dynamic search highlight button. We're beginning to roll this out to Insiders, not everyone will see it right away.
  

[Voice access]

• The redesigned in-app help page in voice access introduced with Build 23403 now includes all commands and the supplementary information accurately.
  

[Settings]

• As part of the deprecation of Microsoft Support Diagnostic Tool (MSDT) and MSDT Troubleshooters, we have begun redirecting some of the troubleshooters found under Settings > System > Troubleshoot and in other areas of the OS to the new Get Help troubleshooting platform.
  
• Pressing the print screen key will now open Snipping Tool by default. This setting can be turned off via Settings > Accessibility > Keyboard. If you have previously modified this setting yourself, your preference will be preserved.

[Developer]

• Virtual Memory ranges which are marked by a KbCallbackTriageDumpData BugCheck Callback Routine will now be added to kernel-generated minidumps after a bugcheck.
  

Fixes

[General]

• Improved the experience on logon after booting up by reducing the performance impact of startup apps.

[Taskbar & System Tray]

• Fixed an issue that was causing Narrator to read the position before the name on system tray icons.
• Fixed an issue causing the show hidden icons flyout to open behind things like OneNote flyout and live captions.
• Fixed an issue which could cause explorer.exe crashes related to drag and drop.

[Search on the Taskbar]

• Fixed a search crash from the last flight.

[File Explorer]

• Fixed an issue which could cause explorer.exe to crash when opening Home if certain content was visible in the Recent section.
• Made some improvements to the performance of loading File Explorer in the case where there's a disconnected network drive visible in the navigation pane.

[Start menu]

• Fixed an issue where dragging content across an open Start menu folder could cause a crash.

[Input]

• Fixed an issue where after using voice typing your PC might not enter modern standby.

[Live captions]

• We fixed the issue causing live captions to not work for Chinese Traditional on Arm64 devices.

[Task Manager]

• Fixed an issue where some of the details in the Performance page wouldn't display properly until you resized the window or changed pages back and forth.

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.