Microsoft tests new way to tweak combined taskbar in Windows 11

Summary

Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel are getting Windows 11 build 23521 which has new features related to the Taskbar and Dynamic lighting.
Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel are getting build 22631.2191 which brings features like HDR background support and some tweaks to the narrator experience.

Windows Insiders, it's time to download new Windows 11 builds! Rolling out now is Windows 11 build 23521 in the Dev channel, and Windows 11 build 22631.2191 for those with features rolling out on the beta channel, and also Windows 11 build 22621.2191 for those with new features off by default in the beta channel. These are all small builds, but the Dev channel is picking up some new features related to the Taskbar and Dynamic lighting. Meanwhile, in the Beta channel, there's HDR Background support, natural voices for the narrator, and a few other tweaks.

Windows 11 Dev Channel build 23521

We'll be starting first with what’s new in build 23521 on the Dev channel. The most significant change is that Microsoft has updated the settings for using the never combined mode on the taskbar. Now, you can turn never combined mode on by simply adjusting “Combine taskbar buttons and hide labels” to always. Other than this change, you can now sync your Windows accent color with the RGB accessories you might own that are compatible with Dynamic Lighting. Finally, in Task Manager, Microsoft updated the Task Manager settings page and dialogues to match the design principles of Windows 11. The design has a similar look and feel to the Settings in Windows 11. See below for all the other fixes and new features.

We are beginning to roll out an update to Widgets for Windows Insiders in the Canary and Dev Channels that lets you pin the widgets board open, so your widgets board is always just a glance away
Windows Insiders in the Dev and Beta Channels can participate in the public preview of Windows 365 Switch. Windows 365 Switch provides the ability to easily move between a Windows 365 Cloud PC and the local desktop using the same familiar keyboard commands.
Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel who login and are managed by AAD (soon to be Microsoft Entra ID) will see Windows Copilot enabled for them again without the need to enable it via Group Policy Editor.
After doing an OS update, in certain cases such as using the default Windows 11 background or a solid color – Windows Spotlight may be enabled for you. If you decide you don’t want Windows Spotlight enabled, you can turn it off and in future OS updates it should not be enabled for you again unless you choose to re-enable the experience.
Windows Search now uses the Microsoft Bing Search app to return web content and search results. In the European Economic Area (EEA), you can enable installed Microsoft Store apps that implement a web search provider to return web content and search results in Windows Search through Settings.
The end task feature under System > For Developers no longer requires Developer Mode to be enabled first before it can be used.
In the European Economic Area (EEA), Windows will now require consent to share data between Windows and other signed-in Microsoft services. You will see some Windows features start to check for consent now, with more being added in future builds. Without consent to share data between Windows and other signed-in Microsoft services, some functionality in Windows features may be unavailable, for example certain types of file recommendations under “Recommended” on the Start menu.
Fixed an issue where you couldn’t drag a file out of an archived folder to extract it with one of the newly supported archive formats.
Fix an issue where when extracting one of the newly supported archive formats using the Extract All option in the context menu, it wasn’t working unless Windows Explorer was set as the default for that file type.
When trying to extract one of the new archive formats and the file is password encrypted, it will now show a message saying this isn’t currently supported.
Fixed a bug where Insiders may have experienced a File Explorer crash when dragging the scroll bar or attempting to close the window during an extended file-loading process.
Fixed an issue which was causing the search box in File Explorer to not work well with IMEs.
Fixed an issue where pasting using the context menu in the address bar wasn’t working (or other context menu actions in the address bar).
Fixed an issue where when trying to scroll with touch on Home might result in everything getting selected.
Fixed a white flash in dark theme when switching between Home and Gallery.
Fixed an issue that removed the USB icon and its options from the system tray.
Fixed an issue where the titles were missing from taskbar previews when turning on tablet-optimized taskbar while using uncombined taskbar.
Fixed an issue where uncombined taskbar’s app indicators weren’t shown correctly after it showed something was being downloaded.
Fixed an explorer.exe crash impacting system tray reliability.
Fixed an issue where the End Task feature wasn’t working if you tried it when there were multiple windows open of that app.
Fixed an issue where using End Task on certain apps would cause other unrelated apps to close.
Fixed an issue where your HDR wallpaper might appear washed out although HDR was enabled.
Fixed an issue where it wasn’t possible to select .JXL files for your wallpaper slideshow.
If Get Help isn’t installed, when opening one of the troubleshooters in Settings, it will now prompt you to install it, rather than showing an error about not haven’t an app associated for the action.

Known issues in Windows 11 Dev Channel build 23521

If you're wondering about known issues this week, there are a few new ones. Microsoft says the taskbar isn’t loading for some Insiders when logging into their PC after installing this build. Microsoft is also working on a fix for an issue causing explorer.exe to crash on the login screen when attempting to enter safe mode. Additionally, some apps under All apps on the Start menu, such as PWA apps installed via Microsoft Edge, may incorrectly be labeled as a system component.

Windows 11 Beta Channel build 22631.2191

Next up, there's the beta channel. Build 22631.2191 brings features like HDR background support and some tweaks to the narrator experience. This was previously in the Canary channel, but You can now set JXR files to be your desktop background and if you have an HDR display, they will render in full HDR. Microsoft is also introducing new natural voices in French, Portuguese, English (India), German and Korean that allow Narrator users to comfortably browse the web, read, and write mail, and do more. Other changes are below.

We’ve added “Share” to the context menu in File Explorer in addition to having the share icon at the top of the context menu.
Added more fields to show in the Details pane, including image dimensions for pictures, number of pages for .docx, space used and free information for drives, and many others.
Windows Insiders in the Dev and Beta Channels can participate in the public preview of Windows 365 Switch. Windows 365 Switch provides the ability to easily move between a Windows 365 Cloud PC and the local desktop using the same familiar keyboard commands.
After doing an OS update, in certain cases such as using the default Windows 11 background or a solid color – Windows Spotlight may be enabled for you. If you decide you don’t want Windows Spotlight enabled, you can turn it off and in future OS updates it should not be enabled for you again unless you choose to re-enable the experience.
Fixed an issue which was causing File Explorer to crash when navigating to Home, as well as some other issues causing crashes.
Fixed a memory leak in File Explorer with the latest updates which could cause explorer.exe crashes and other issues over prolonged usage.
Fixed an issue where after refreshing Home, actions to pin and unpin favorite files might not work.
Fixed an issue where the tooltip would get stuck on the screen when you scrolled Home with touch.
Fixed an issue where collapsing and expanding the sections of Home didn’t always work.
Fixed an issue where Home and Gallery could get stuck in the wrong colors if they were open when changing between light and dark mode.
Fixed an issue where thumbnails in Gallery might not load after changing the view to a smaller icon size (for example, medium to small).
Made some small adjustments to the size of elements, including reducing the size of the text.
The ALT + D, CTRL + L, and F4 keyboard shortcuts should work now to set focus to the address bar.
Fixed an issue where typing drive letters, %localappdata%, and certain other things in the address bar wasn’t causing suggested paths to appear in a dropdown.
Fixed an issue where the icons displayed in the tabs in File Explorer could become out of sync with the current folder after navigating.
Fixed an issue which was causing File Explorer to show “Working on it” in an empty folder.
Fixed an issue where the image in the Details pane might get blurry after resizing the File Explorer window.
Fixed an issue where the design of the details pane was displaying from left to right instead of right to left when using Hebrew or Arabic display languages.
Fixed an issue where the text box for naming newly created files or folders on the desktop was showing in the wrong position (far away or way too close) relative to the thumbnail.
Fixed an issue where ALT + P and Shift + Alt + P keyboard shortcuts weren’t working when focus was set to one of the images in Gallery.
Fixed an issue where right clicking items in the navigation pane wouldn’t open a context menu after you changed folders.
Fixed an issue which was causing explorer.exe to crash when trying to access an FTP address.
Fixed an issue where selecting the dropdown arrows in the address bar was opening a blank menu.
Fixed an issue where devices might show as empty squares in Settings > Personalization > Dynamic Lighting.

Known issues in Windows 11 Beta Channel build 22631.2191

There are just a few known issues in this build this week. Microsoft is working on a fix for an issue causing explorer.exe to crash on the login screen when attempting to enter safe mode. There's also an issue where the context menu background in File Explorer may appear transparent, and where the icons on your desktop may all go blank. You might not also see the safely remove hardware icon in the system tray, and Microsoft is working on a fix for an issue causing typing with the Japanese and Chinese IMEs to not work correctly after the latest flights for some Insiders.

That's all the action this week. Microsoft also released Windows 11 Build 22621.2213 to the Release Preview Channel for those running Windows 11 22H2. It's a small one, with plenty of fixes. As usual, these builds will be waiting for you in Windows Update.