Windows 11 KB5012592 has been released to the public. This is a mandatory security update that cannot be skipped unless the update is suspended for up to seven days. You can get the patch through Windows Update or install it manually through the download link posted by Microsoft.
Unlike last month's security update, the April 2022 security update doesn't bring a ton of new features, but contains a long list of improvements and enables support for features like Windows Search Highlights. In addition, Microsoft has added support for up to three high-priority toast notifications in Notification Center.
This new notification feature may be useful if users frequently receive notifications for calls, messages, reminders, or alerts from applications that use Windows notifications. After the update, notifications will be specially handled and these alerts will appear at the same time.
Highlights in Windows 11 KB5012592 (Build 22000.613)
Microsoft says it fixed an issue where OneDrive files could lose focus when renaming them and hitting enter. If a file loses focus, you will be asked to select it again or the action cannot be performed.
As the screenshot shows, Microsoft is introducing a new search interface for Windows 11. When clicking on the search box in the taskbar without typing anything, this brings up highlight features to help discover trending searches, learn more about outdoor activities, events with current dates, and more.
In addition to the new features and improvements, there are many bug fixes in the Windows 11 April 2022 update.
For example, Microsoft has fixed a bug where the settings page would not appear in the results when searching for the word widgets. Microsoft has fixed an issue where the operating system accidentally turned off the autostart feature for the Universal Windows Platform (UWP) and it only happened when using the latest version of the operating system.
Similarly, Microsoft says it fixed potential performance issues with Windows Settings and Search, including a bug where SystemSettings.exe could stop responding and searchindexer.exe would prevent Outlook's offline search from returning recent emails.
As mentioned at the beginning, the Windows 11 April 2022 update includes several bug fixes and quality improvements. According to the release notes, Microsoft patched an issue that could cause the operating system to take longer to boot. The issue occurs on devices when UI threads in the network API stop responding.
Improvements and fixes in Windows 11 KB5012592 (Build 22000.613)
- Fixed an issue with the wmipicmp.dll module that caused a large number of false alarms and increased memory usage.
- Fixed issues with enforcing policy settings, modern browsers not rendering HTML generated by gpresult / h, and "access denied" errors for files during PowerShell testing of AppLocker.
- Microsoft has resolved an issue where Kerberos.dll may have stopped working in the Local Security Authorization Subsystem Service (LSASS).
- Fixed an issue that prevented the User Account Control (UAC) dialog from displaying applications that requested elevated privileges. For example, if a game was launched with administrator privileges, a pop-up window requesting access would appear on the screen, but the name of the game would not be displayed.
- Fixed an issue that prevented users from accessing SMB shares.
Known issue in this update
Recovery disc (CD or DVD) created using the Backup and Restore (Windows 7) application in Control Panel may not start after installing a Windows Update or later version of Windows released on January 11, 2022 on the affected Windows version.
Recovery discs created using the Backup and Restore (Windows 7) application on devices with Windows updates released before January 11, 2022 are not affected by this issue and should boot as expected. There are no third-party backup or recovery applications known to be affected by this issue.