Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4145 (Beta Channel)

[Amanda Langowski]

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4145 (KB5041881) to the Beta Channel. REMINDER: Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel will receive updates based on Windows 11, version 23H2 via an enablement package (Build 22635.xxxx). For Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle (shown in the image below) to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready. [caption id="attachment_176587" align="alignnone" width="670"] Turn on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available to get new features rolled out to you.[/caption] Going forward, we will document changes in Beta Channel builds in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available and then new features, improvements, and fixes available to everyone in the Beta Channel.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*​

[General]​

• For new PCs or new user accounts on managed commercial devices (PCs running Windows 11 Enterprise, Education, or Pro logged in with an Entra ID (or domain), the Microsoft 365 app will be pinned to the taskbar for quick access to Copilot for Microsoft 365.

[Input]​

• We have updated Settings > Bluetooth & Devices > Mouse to now include the option to turn off enhanced mouse pointer precision for those that would prefer to not use it and have added a new option for changing mouse scrolling direction.

[caption id="attachment_177202" align="alignnone" width="641"] New toggles for enhanced mouse pointer precision changing mouse scrolling direction highlighted in red boxes.[/caption]

• We have updated Settings > Bluetooth & Devices > Touch to have a new section for touch screen edge gestures, where you can choose if you would like to disable the left or right screen edge touch gesture.

[Desktop Spotlight] ​

We are trying out some adjustments to the Windows Spotlight experience on the desktop to include hotspots when users right-click on the Windows Spotlight icon. In addition, these changes will include two different UX treatments that Insiders will notice. There is no change to the interaction model where right click opens the experience in full screen and double clicking launches the Bing landing page. When in full screen, you will now see two hotspots which will be animated to aid discovery, and which will reveal additional information on hover. Clicking on a hotspot will close the full screen experience and launch the Bing landing page. [caption id="attachment_177280" align="alignnone" width="601"] With Treatment 1 you will see a reduced flyout and hotspots which reveal additional information on hover. Clicking on a hotspot will launch the Bing landing page.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_177281" align="alignnone" width="602"] With Treatment 2 you will see a minimized Spotlight experience and hotspots which reveal additional information on hover. Clicking on a hotspot will launch the Bing landing page.[/caption]

[Windows Share]​

• We’re adding the ability to share content to Notepad and Clipchamp directly from the Windows share window.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*​

[File Explorer]​

• Fixed an issue causing File Explorer to crash when navigating to Home for some Insiders with the two flights. This also led File Explorer to crash on launch if it opened directly to Home.
• Fixed an issue causing explorer.exe to crash when interacting with archive files in the last few flights.

[Start menu]​

• Fixed an issue where the text might be unreadable in the section of the Start menu with Phone Link features shown on the side.

Fixes for everyone in the Beta Channel​

[Other]​

This update includes fixes for the following issues:

• [File Explorer] The navigation pane does not update when you browse folders that are in a shell namespace extension.
• [Hibernate stop error] Your laptop stops responding after you resume it from hibernate. This occurs if you have closed and opened the lid many times.
• [Windows Hello for Business] PIN reset does not work when you select the “I forgot my PIN’ link on the credentials screen.
• [Bind Filter Driver] Your system might stop responding when it accesses symbolic links.
• [Bluetooth] External devices lose their connection when you deploy certain Bluetooth policies.
• [Microsoft Entra single sign-on (SSO)] The SSO notice that the European Digital Markets Act (DMA) requires prompts too often. This occurs when you authenticate using a certificate. To learn more, see Upcoming changes to Windows single sign-on.
• [Unified Write Filter (UWF) and Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM)] An SCCM task to re-enable UWF fails because of a deadlock in UWF. This stops the device from restarting when you expect it.
• [Country and Operator Settings Asset] This update brings COSA profiles up to date for certain mobile operators.
• [Input Method Editor (IME)] When a combo box has input focus, a memory leak might occur when you close that window.
• [BitLocker] You might not be able to decrypt a BitLocker data drive. This occurs when you move that drive from a newer version of Windows to an older version.

Known issues​

[Start menu]​

• [NEW] If you click or tap on a letter on Start menu's All apps list, the All apps list may break. If you encounter this issue, please try rebooting or restarting explorer.exe to fix it.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel​

• Updates released to the Beta Channel are based off Windows 11, version 23H2.
• Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
• Many features in the Beta Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
• Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
• Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you*, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready.
• 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.
• Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

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