Windows 11 Build 23521 comes with Windows Copilot, taskbar and system tray improvements

Yesterday, Microsoft rolled a new flight to Windows 11 Insiders in the Canary Channel. Today the company has a new build for those on the Dev Channel.

Build 23521 introduces a number of changes and improvements, as well as fixes for known problems.

Earlier we reported on the new Windows 365 Switch that lets users easily move between a Windows 365 Cloud PC and the local desktop. Dev Channel users on this new build can give the feature a try if they meet the requirements.

Other changes and improvements include:

[Windows Copilot]

• 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.

[Taskbar & System Tray]

• To make it easier to enable never combined mode on the taskbar, Microsoft has updated the settings. You can turn never combined mode on by simply adjusting "Combine taskbar buttons and hide labels" to never. And we provide a separate setting for turning this on for other taskbars (multiple monitor scenarios for example).

 [Dynamic Lighting]

• You can now instantly sync your Windows accent color with the devices around you with the "Match my Windows accent color" toggle under "Effects" for Dynamic Lighting via Settings > Personalization > Dynamic Lighting. This improvement started rolling out in last week’s Dev Channel flight.
• Microsoft has added the ability to choose a custom color to light up your devices with.

[Task Manager]

• Microsoft has updated the Task Manager settings page to match the design principles of Windows 11. The design has a similar look and feel to the Settings in Windows 11 and provides a cleaner UI separating categories into different sections. Oh, and it has updated some dialogs in Task Manager too.

[Windows Spotlight]

• 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.

[Search on the Taskbar]

• 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.

[Settings]

• The end task feature under System > For Developers no longer requires Developer Mode to be enabled first before it can be used.

[Other]

• 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.

Fixes in this build include:

[File Explorer]

• 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.

Microsoft fixed the following issues for Insiders who have the modernized File Explorer address bar that began rolling out with Build 23475:

• 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).

Microsoft fixed the following issues for Insiders who have the modernized File Explorer Home that began rolling out with Build 23475:

• 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.

[Taskbar & System Tray]

• 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.

[HDR Backgrounds]

• 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.

[Other]

• 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.

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.

Known issues include:

[General]

• Microsoft is investigating reports that the taskbar isn’t loading for some Insiders when logging into their PC after installing this build. See this forum post for more details and workaround options.
• Microsoft is working on the fix for an issue causing explorer.exe to crash on the login screen when attempting to enter safe mode.

[Start menu]

• 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 Copilot]

• You can use Alt + Tab to switch out of Windows Copilot, but not back into it. Windows + C will move focus back to Windows Copilot
• When first launching or after refreshing Copilot while using voice access you’ll need to use "Show grid" commands to click in the "Ask me anything" box for the first time.

[Input]

• Microsoft is investigating reports that typing with the Japanese and Chinese IMEs is not working correctly after the last flight.