By Delia / Last update December 10, 2024

Today, Microsoft released Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22563 for Dev channel users. It includes changes that may be available with Sun Valley 2, including improvements to the taskbar and widgets functionality. In addition, it includes fixes for File Explorer, Microsoft Edge, and more.

The update is called "Windows 11 Insider Preview 22563 (NI_RELEASE)" and it is supposed to be a flawed version of the previous update. According to Microsoft, this is because NI_RELEASE is an active development branch, and anything new or fixed in this update may or may not be released in the Fall 2022 update for Windows 11.

Windows 11 Build 22563 highlights features at a glance:

  • This release is available for ARM64 computers.
  • The release includes a number of new features for insiders to try, including a tablet-optimized taskbar experience, some improvements to content in widgets, and new Group Policies for IT administrators in education.
  • There are also some notable changes and improvements in this release, including improvements to File Explorer, support for Microsoft Edge tabs in Sanp snapshot assist and ALT + TAB, and support for Emoji 14.0.

How to Install Windows 11 Build 22563

To install Windows 11 Build 22563, you need to join Windows Insider Program and choose Dev channel:

Navigate to Settings > Windows Update > Windows Insider Program.

Click Get started and choose Dev Channel. You will be asked to link an account to join the Insider program. Select your Microsoft account and then you can continue to choose your Insider Channel.

If you are using the device in any other channel, switch to the development channel. Then you can click on "Check for updates" and select "Download and install".

What's new in Windows 11 Build 22563

Tablet-optimized taskbar

One of the biggest changes in today's update is support for the new optional tablet-optimized taskbar, which complements the taskbar drag-and-drop support added in the last Windows 11 update.

Microsoft has introduced a new taskbar state designed specifically to give you more confidence and comfort when using your device. When you disconnect or fold back the keyboard on a 2-in-1 device, the taskbar will automatically transition to this optimized version. This feature is only available for devices that can be used as tablets. It does not work on laptops or desktop computers.

This taskbar has two states: collapsed and expanded. In the collapsed state, the taskbar is out of your line of sight, bringing more screen real estate and preventing users from accidentally calling up the taskbar while holding a tablet. In the expanded state, the taskbar is optimized to be easier to use with touch. Users can easily toggle between the two states by swiping up and down at the bottom of the device.

To see if this feature is available on your device, navigate to Settings > Personalization > Taskbar > Taskbar behavior, where a new setting called "Automatically hide the taskbar when using your device as a tablet" will be displayed and turned on by default.

Make Widgets content more dynamic

Microsoft is trying to make some changes in Windows 11 widgets to bring more dynamic content to your widget panel by experimenting with bringing together widget and news feed experiences into a dynamic feed containing widget and news content. this should make it easier for users to discover and engage with new widget and news content. With a dynamic feed, the burden on your users to curate the canvas is reduced, but you will still be able to pin favorite widgets to it if you wish.

The screenshot below compares the existing widget board with the widget dynamic feed, which should make it easier for users to discover and engage with new widgets and news content.

If you use the default layout of the board, widgets will be automatically reorganized. If you have customized the widget board, your existing customizations will not be lost.

New Group Policy for managing notifications

For IT administrators in education, Microsoft has new policies that are for teachers and students in mind. Starting with this release, users will finally be able to turn off all Windows update notifications that may distract students during the school day. Administrators will be able to provide this better experience while maintaining compliance because notifications will start showing again if user action is required and the device reaches a deadline, although most devices are able to automatically reboot overnight in the absence of the student.

To access this new Group Policy, simply open Group Policy Editor and navigate to Computer configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Update > Manage end user experience > Display options for update notifications.

Improvements and changes in Windows 11 Build 22563

This release does not have as many new features as Build 22557, but still brings some notable changes and improvements. Here's an overview of the short version. You can also continue to read the detailed change log.

Overview of improvements

>> Quick access search in File Explorer now includes content from OneDrive, downloads, and any indexed location.

>> Windows 11's Snapshot Assist and other multitasking features will now include 3 of your recent Edge tabs that show up as suggestions.

>> Emoji has been updated to version 14 and Microsoft is enabling skin tone changes for gestures.

>> Updated accessibility float controls are now available on the login screen.

>> Detailed log of changes and improvements in Windows 11 Build 22563

Detailed change log

[File Explorer]

  • Searching from Quick Access has been expanded to include content from OneDrive, downloads, and any indexed location. Use Quick Access to quickly find results.
  • Files in Quick Access that do not exist in any local area (for example, files shared to you from another OneDrive) now show thumbnails and are shared with OneDrive.

[Windows]

  • Microsoft has made it easier to grab the most relevant windows side-by-side by introducing the Microsoft Edge tab as a suggested window in Snap Assist. When a window is snapped, you will now see the 3 most recent Edge tabs displayed as suggestions (by default). You can control at any time whether Microsoft Edge tabs are displayed and the number of tabs displayed when you crawl or press ALT + TAB by going to Settings > System > Multitasking.

[Input]

  • Starting with this release, Windows Insiders can now use 37 new emoji characters in the emoji selector as part of Emoji 14.0. Some of the new emoji include “melting face”, “troll”, “coral”, “beans”, “playground slide”, and “mirror ball”.

  • Gestures and human skin tone changes bring the total number of emoji to 112, including handshakes. You can now choose the skin tone of both hands in the handshake emoji.
  • The updated accessibility pop-up on the login screen, introduced in Build 22557, is now available to all Windows Insiders in the development channel.

[General]

  • Improved login performance for the special case of some very large temporary folders.
  • Fixed some issues affecting explorer.exe reliability.
  • Updated the volume popup when using the hardware keys on the keyboard to take into account the absence of working audio.

[Taskbar]

  • The auto-hidden taskbar will now remain expanded when you switch desktops using task view.
  • When dragging files or apps to the taskbar, Microsoft updated the message next to the mouse to show what is supported and what is not, and can now respond to dark mode and contrast themes.
  • Fixed a periodic explorer.exe crash issue that occurred on devices using the French (Canadian) display language, related to the battery icon tooltip.
  • Updated the mute icon in the taskbar to now give a keyboard shortcut (WIN + Alt + K) prompt.

[Tablet-optimized taskbar]

  • The top border line of the taskbar now extends across the entire taskbar, instead of stopping just before the system tray area.
  • The style of the button that hides the icon pop-up is now consistent with the design of the other buttons in the system tray.
  • The taskbar should no longer blink when switching input methods or otherwise adding and removing system tray icons.

[Start Menu]

  • Fixed an issue that caused the Start menu to not open consistently when swiping up from the bottom of the screen using the new touch gesture.
  • When recommended items are newly added or removed, their icons will now fade in and out in an animated fashion.
  • The sleep icon in the power menu no longer incorrectly displays as a bell.
  • Fixed an issue that caused the apostrophe in the power button tooltip to not display correctly.
  • Application names in folders no longer appear briefly blurred when opening folders in Start.
  • Fixed a crash that some users encountered when trying to share an app from the All Apps list.

[File Explorer]

  • Fixed an issue where the OneDrive icon would sometimes not show up in the File Explorer command bar when it should.
  • Removed a random white dot that appeared in the context menu when right-clicking on the title bar of File Explorer in dark mode.

[Input]

  • Made some improvements to the emoji search results based on feedback, including adding more "emoji" to the search results. Made some improvements to emoji search results based on feedback, including generally preferring exact name matches for emoji in search results (e.g., balloon emoji first when searching for balloons) rather than the various other emoji that may be returned for those keywords.
  • Fixed an issue that caused Insiders to not see the updated Korean IME design in previous versions.
  • Fixed several coloring issues in the IME candidate window.
  • Mitigated a crash that occurred when trying to access Personalization > Text Input in Settings after an upgrade if you have customized the appearance of the touch keyboard.
  • Addressed explorer.exe crashes that could occur when switching input methods.
  • Improved the performance of the input switcher when it is first launched.
  • If "Show accent color on Start and Taskbar" is enabled in the color settings, the background color of the input method switcher will now follow this preference.
  • Fixed the typing link name in the Touch Keyboard settings option to match the open settings page.
  • System > Clipboard in Settings now explains why the "Sync across your devices" option may be grayed out.
  • Added text to the emoji panel to help explain some cases where emoji search results are not supported.

[Search]

  • Microsoft has done more work to reduce the problem of recent searches getting stuck on the screen when they pop up.
  • Microsoft has resolved an issue in a recent Dev Channel build that caused some insiders to experience an issue where the search would open, but would only show a magnifying glass in the window, without showing any results.

[Settings]

  • Resolved an issue where pop-up dialogs in settings (e.g., when adding optional features, or when configuring your IP address) were launched left-aligned instead of centered.
  • Resolved an issue where the RSAT: DNS Server tool would show installed in Optional Features when trying to install it, but it was not actually installed.
  • Fixed an issue where the display settings may not show the option to change the refresh rate when your computer is in portrait mode.
  • When your User Account Control is set to Always Notify, the setting no longer crashes when trying to uninstall an application via Applications > Installed Applications.
  • In this release, Windows Update > Update History should again show the history of feature updates.
  • Mitigated an issue related to the Windows Update page that could cause settings to hang.
  • The link to provide feedback in Settings > System > Notifications now takes you directly to the Notification Feedback section of the Feedback Center.
  • Fixed an issue that prevented adding Bluetooth or Cast to Quick Settings from popping up.
  • Media controls above Quick Settings should now show when media is opened or hide when media is closed, more reliably.
  • Fixed an issue where the number in the open volume popup did not match the volume number in Quick Settings when the hardware button was used.
  • Improved the placement of the Accessibility pop-up above the login screen button.
  • Fixed an issue that sometimes caused some Bluetooth devices to not connect automatically after powering on or resuming the computer from sleep / hibernation.

[Widgets]

  • Information such as temperature is now displayed when the taskbar is left-aligned.
  • Fixed an issue where a widget's weather information might show different information in multi-monitor settings.

[Task Manager]

  • Microsoft has done some work to help resolve an issue where the navigation bar in the updated Task Manager design would show a black glitch when the Task Manager was launched from a minimized state.

[Windows]

  • Fixed an issue where you couldn't use the minimize, maximize, and close buttons on maximized applications (among other things) because the notification center kept focus.
  • Did some work to improve the smoothness of the animation when invoking the task view using the on-screen three-finger gesture.
  • Improved the general reliability of ALT + Tab to help resolve situations where it could get stuck.
  • Addressed an issue that affected performance when using ALT + Tab, Task View, or Snap Assist in recent releases.
  • Snap group titles should now display correctly when using windows with Arabic or Hebrew display languages.
  • Made some improvements to the Snap layout recall experience when moving a window to the top of the screen.
  • Fixed an issue where dragging a snapped window while Snap Assist was active would include the thumbnail of the window being dragged.
  • When using the down arrow to navigate through application thumbnails in Snapshot Assist, it should now cycle to the top when you reach the bottom row.
  • Fixed an issue that could crash twice when using Snap Layout on a secondary or portrait mode monitor.
  • Made the margins a bit larger when snapping on the left and right side of the screen.
  • Using keyboard shortcuts to switch desktops while the Start menu is open should no longer cause the desktop to accidentally switch back after closing Start.

[Network]

  • Added some text to show disconnected connections after clicking the Disconnect button in the Virtual Private Network section of Quick Setup to communicate whether work is in progress.
  • Fixed an issue where a managed Virtual Private Network profile with IPv4 routing specified could frequently disconnect.

[Narrator]

  • Narrators no longer jump to the search box in Start after using the Power or Account menus.
  • After switching to the "All Apps" section of the Start menu, the narrator will now properly navigate to and read application information.
  • The narrator in Word Online will now correctly read new lines when arrowing up and down between paragraphs.
  • Fixed an issue that caused narrators to stop reading or fail to move the cursor when entering tables in Microsoft Word.
  • Improved the way the narrator reads the content of the Accessibility pop-up on the login screen.

[Other]

  • Fixed an issue that caused the Back button to be invisible in the login window of some applications when using the Compare theme.

Note: Some of the fixes mentioned here from Insider Preview builds from active development branches may make their way into service updates for the October 5, 2021 generally available Windows 11 release.

Known issues in Windows 11 Build 22563

[General]

  • Users running Windows 10 who attempt to upgrade directly to Build 22563 in Dev Channel will experience a hang on Windows Update with a "0% download". To bypass this issue, join the Beta Channel, install the provided version of Windows 11 there, and then switch to the Dev Channel to receive Build 22563 updates. Microsoft is aware of this issue and will be fixing it in an upcoming release.
  • When doing the Device Setup Experience (OOBE) on Enterprise Edition, the Network Add screen will be skipped on the first attempt. As a workaround, when users see the "Name your computer" option, please restart and relaunch OOBE. the Network Add screen will now appear as expected.
  • Many users will now not hear the startup sound.

[Taskbar]

  • If you right-click the Start icon or press WIN + X in this build, explorer.exe may crash. If you use this menu to start Task Manager, please use CTRL + Shift + Esc for now.

[Tablet-optimized taskbar]

  • Windows Insiders who enable this feature will not be able to use the new touch gestures from the bottom of the screen announced in Build 22557 until they first remove or fold back the keyboard. Insiders using a PC that cannot be used as a tablet, such as a laptop, will not be able to use the touch gestures from the bottom of the screen if the feature is enabled. This will be fixed in a future release.
  • The taskbar does not always automatically collapse after launching an app on a 2-in-1 device or clicking outside of the extended taskbar.
  • Some areas of the OS do not yet track the height of the extended taskbar on 2-in-1 devices, so you may see overlapping components, such as widgets overlapping the taskbar.
  • On 2-in-1 devices, the transition animation between the expanded taskbar and the collapsed taskbar is still being adjusted.

[File Explorer]

  • The search box in File Explorer may not work when typing and clicking on suggestions.
  • Microsoft is working to fix issues related to icon size, visual errors, and displaying text clipping for OneDrive storage pop-ups.

[Widgets]

  • Sometimes when pinned from the feed stream, the pinned widget is placed on top and not below the other pinned widgets. If this happens, this will be automatically corrected within 30 minutes by moving the most recently pinned widget to the expected default position. Or you can log out of the widget panel and log back in immediately, which should correct the problem.
  • After rearranging the widgets in the widget panel, some users have experienced problems with the fixed section of the widget rendering incorrectly. If this happens, logging out of your widget panel and logging back in immediately should correct the problem.

[Focus]

  • Taskbar icons and tooltips may not match the focus state.
  • When a focus session is configured within an application, the Clock application has not yet updated the Windows focus state. This will be addressed in a future application update.

[Live Captioning]

  • Some full-screen applications (such as video players) prevent live captions from being displayed.
  • Some applications located near the top of the screen that are closed before running live captions will restart behind the live caption window located at the top. When the application has focus, use the system menu (ALT + Spacebar) to move the application's window further down.
  • When the live caption is at the top, the topmost part of the maximized application (e.g., the window management button in the title bar) is not reachable by touch.

[Task Manager]

  • Microsoft realized that the efficiency mode icon was missing on some sub-processes.
  • Some setting options were not retained.
  • Microsoft is working to fix issues with icon size, visual errors, and in most cases, resizing Task Manager or lowering the resolution setting from Settings > Display > Display Resolution.