Windows 11 KB5027303 Build 22621.1928 Release Preview

Microsoft rolls out KB5027303 for Windows 11 version 22h2 with all its new features, improvements, and bug fixes. This update is currently available as a non-security update and this upgrades Windows 11 22h2 to OS Build 22621.1928. As this one is an optional update, you can also skip upgrading to this Build OS. 

The release preview version of this update also came as KB5027303 on 20th June and was upgrading your device to OS Build 22621.1926. With this update finally available, all those (who have waited for it) may now go for this patch update. 

This cumulative update is available with quite a long list of new features and bug fixes. In this post, we will look into all new features, improvements, and bug fixes one after another. Do note that its final RP version will be available to all of us on 11th July, being the patch Tuesday of the next month. 

What’s new on Windows 11 KB5027303?

As stated earlier, the list of new features is quite long and for that, you have to see the complete changelog. We have tried to summarize and bring the key highlights of this update as follows – 

• With this update, you will find the default print screen (prt scr) opening the Snipping Tool instead of capturing a screenshot that you can paste inside MS Paint. You can always turn off this feature by reaching out to Settings > Accessibility > Keyboard. If you have previously changed this setting, Windows will preserve your preference.
• The leading tech company was long working on improving your privacy and the same is now visible with the introduction of Presence Sensing. Go to Settings > Privacy & Security> Presence Sensing, and you will find a presence sensor privacy setting available there. 

If you own a device that has compatible presence sensors, you may now pick applications that can access those sensors. This means that you can also decide on apps that don’t get any access to the sensors as well. Do note that Microsoft does not collect images or metadata. The device hardware processes your information locally to maximize privacy.

• Windows 11 KB5027303 improves the sharing of a local file in File Explorer with Microsoft Outlook contacts. Users now have the option to quickly email the file to themselves. Additionally, this also improves Contact loadings from Outlook. As of now, this feature is not available for files stored in Microsoft OneDrive folders. This is because OneDrive has its own sharing functionality.

Windows 11 KB5027303 Changelog

Here’s the complete changelog of Windows 11, version 22h2 (KB5027303) OS Build 22621.1928. This update contains the following new and exciting features for us all.

New Features

• Expands the rollout of notification badging for Microsoft accounts on the Start menu. A Microsoft account is what connects Windows to your Microsoft apps. The account backs up all your data and helps you to manage your subscriptions. You can also add extra security steps to keep you from being locked out of your account. This feature gives you quick access to important account-related notifications.
• Adds live captions for the following languages: Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), French (France, Canada), German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese (Brazil, Portugal), Spanish, Danish, English (Ireland, other English dialects), and Korean.

To turn on live captions, use the WIN + Ctrl + L keyboard shortcut. You can also use the Quick Settings accessibility flyout menu. When you turn it on for the first time, Windows will ask you to download the required speech recognition support. Speech recognition support might not be available in your preferred language, or you might want support in other languages. You can download speech recognition support from Settings > Time & Language > Language & Region. To learn more, see Use live captions to better understand audio.

• Redesigns the in-app voice access command help page. Every command now has a description and examples of its variations. The search bar allows you to quickly find commands. The new categories provide further guidance. You can access the command help page on the voice access bar from Help > View all commands or use the voice access command “What can I say?” Note that the help page might not include all commands. Also, the supplementary information might be inaccurate. We plan to update this in the future. For a list of all Voice Access commands, see Use voice access to control your PC & author text with your voice.
• Adds voice access command support for the following English dialects: English (United Kingdom), English (India), English (New Zealand), English (Canada), and English (Australia). 

When you turn on voice access for the first time, Windows will ask you to download a speech model. You might not find a speech model that matches your display language. However, you may still use voice access in English (US). You can always choose a different language from Settings > Language on the voice access bar.

• Adds new text selection and editing voice access commands. Some examples are in the table.

• Adds a VPN status icon, a small shield, to the system tray. It displays when you are connected to a recognized VPN profile. The VPN icon will be overlayed in your system’s accent color over the active network connection.
• You can now choose to display seconds in the clock on the system tray. To turn this on, go to the Taskbar behaviors section in Settings > Personalization > Taskbar. You can also right-click the taskbar to quickly get to taskbar settings.
• Provides a copy button for you to quickly copy two-factor authentication (2FA) codes. These are in notification toasts you get from apps installed on your PC or from phones linked to your PC. Note that this feature only works for English.
• Adds access key shortcuts to File Explorer’s context menu. An access key is a one-keystroke shortcut. You can use it to quickly run a command in a context menu using your keyboard. Each access key corresponds to a letter in the display name of the menu item. To try this out, you can click on a file in File Explorer and press the menu key on your keyboard.
• Adds multi-app kiosk mode, which is a lockdown feature. If you are an administrator, you can specify the apps that can run on a device. Other apps will not run. You can also block certain functionalities. You can configure distinct types of access and apps to run for different users on one device. Multi-app kiosk mode is ideal for scenarios in which multiple people use the same device. Some examples are frontline workers, retail, education, and test-taking. Some lockdown customizations include:
  • Limit access to Settings, except certain pages, such as Wi-Fi and screen brightness
  • Show only the apps that are allowed on the Start menu
  • Block certain toasts and pop-up windows

Currently, you can enable multi-app kiosk mode using PowerShell and WMI Bridge. To learn more, see Use MDM Bridge WMI Provider to create a Windows client kiosk and Create the JSON file. Support for Microsoft Intune, mobile device management (MDM), and provisioning package configuration is coming soon.

• Introduces live kernel memory dump (LKD) collection from Task Manager. Using LKD, you can gather data to troubleshoot an issue while the OS continues to work. This reduces downtime when you must investigate an unresponsive program or high-impact failures. To learn more, see Task Manager live memory dump.

To capture an LKD, go to Task Manager > Details. Right-click the System process. Select Create live kernel memory dump file. This captures a Full live kernel or Kernel stack memory dump. The dump will be written to a fixed location: %LocalAppData%\Microsoft\Windows\TaskManager\LiveKernelDumps. You can also go to the Task Manager Settings page to view or edit the settings for live kernel memory dumps.

• Replaces the settings for Show the touch keyboard when there’s no keyboard attached. These are located at Settings > Time & Language> Typing > Touch keyboard. A new dropdown menu gives you three options to control whether tapping an edit control should open the touch keyboard. The options are:
  • Never. This suppresses the touch keyboard even when no hardware keyboard is attached.
  • When no keyboard is attached. This shows the touch keyboard only when you use the device as a tablet without the hardware keyboard.
  • Always. This shows the touch keyboard even when the hardware keyboard is attached.
• Enables Content Adaptive Brightness Control (CABC) to run on laptops and 2-in-1 devices. This feature dims or brightens areas of a display based on the content. It tries to strike a balance between saving battery life and providing a good visual experience. You can adjust the feature setting from Settings > System > Display > Brightness & Color. The drop-down menu gives you three options: Off, Always, and On Battery Only. For battery-powered devices, the default is On Battery Only. Because the device manufacturer must enable CABC, the feature might not be on all laptops or 2-in-1 devices.
• Adds a USB4 hubs and devices Settings page. You can find it at Settings > Bluetooth & devices > USB > USB4 Hubs and Devices. This new page provides information about the system’s USB4 capabilities and the attached peripherals on a system that supports USB4. This information helps with troubleshooting when you need manufacturer or system administrator support. Some features include:
  • You can view the tree of the connected USB4 hubs and devices.
  • You can copy details to the clipboard to share them.

If your system does not support USB4 with the Microsoft USB4 Connection Manager, this page will not appear. On systems that support USB4, you will see USB4 Host Router in Device Manager.

• Improves the performance of search within Settings.
• Introduces a limit of 20 most recent tabs in Settings > Multitasking. This affects the number of tabs that appear when you use ALT + TAB and Snap Assist.
• Improves the cloud suggestion and the integrated search suggestion. This helps you to easily type popular words in Simplified Chinese using the Input Method Editor (IME). The cloud suggestion adds the most relevant word from Microsoft Bing to the IME candidate window. The integrated search suggestion gives you additional suggestions that are like what you see on a Bing search page. You can insert a suggestion as text or search for it directly in Bing. To turn on these features, select a chevron button in the upper right of the IME candidate window. Then select the Turn on button.
• Improves your computer’s performance when you use a mouse that has a high report rate for gaming. To learn more, see “Reduced game stutter with high report rate mice” in Delivering Delightful Performance for More Than One Billion Users Worldwide.
• Affects virtual memory ranges. They are now added to kernel-generated minidumps after a stop error. These ranges are marked by a KbCallbackTriageDumpData BugCheck Callback Routine.

New Improvements

• New features and improvements are now available to Microsoft Defender for Endpoint. For more information, see Microsoft Defender for Endpoint.
• Users may now authenticate across Microsoft Clouds. This feature also satisfies Conditional Access checks if they are needed.
• Virtual Memory ranges are now added to kernel-generated minidumps after a stop error. These ranges are marked by a KbCallbackTriageDumpData BugCheck Callback Routine.
• Improves several simplified Chinese fonts and the Microsoft Pinyin Input Method Editor (IME) to support GB18030-2022. Characters in the Standard Chinese Characters List (GB18030-2022 implementation level 2) are available in Microsoft Yahei (regular, light, and bold), Dengxian (optional font: regular, light, and bold), and Simsun. The Simsun Ext-B font (GB18030-2022 implementation level 3) now supports Unicode CJK Unified Ideographs Extensions E and F.

Existing Features and Bug Fixes

KB5027303 affects the reliability of Windows and improves your system after you update the OS. With this update, you get the following features and bug fixes on your Windows 11 PC – 

• Addresses an issue that affects Microsoft Intune push notifications. The issue stops devices that have less than 3.5 GB of RAM from getting them.
• Resolves an issue that affects certain apps. It stops working when it tries to scan a barcode.
• Addresses an issue that affects certain applications that use IDBObjectStore. They do not work in Microsoft Edge and IE mode.
• Resolves an issue that affects all the registry settings under the Policies paths. They might be deleted. This occurs when you do not rename the local temporary user policy file during Group Policy processing.
• Fixes an issue that affects a tib.sys driver. It does not load. This occurs when HyperVisor-protected Code Integrity (HVCI) is enabled.

Now that you know what new features and bug fixes, Windows 11 KB5027303 brings, you may decide much better on whether to go for this patch update or wait for 27th June, or 11th July. 

Servicing Stack and Known Issues on this update

Microsoft announced a new SSU for this non-security update and that is 22621.1916. This servicing stack will download and install automatically, so you need not worry about the same. We are not aware of any new issues with this update.

One long pending issue might still occur which involves using the provisioning packages on Windows 11 version 22h2. Microsoft is still working on this issue and might provide a resolution to this in future CU releases. 

Download and Install KB5027303

By default, this update downloads and installs automatically on your Windows PC. If you have disabled the auto-update feature on Windows 11, you may download its standalone package from Microsoft’s Update Catalog. 

Once you visit this site, make sure to pick the update matching your system architecture, and hit the Download button. On the next screen, click the top link to begin downloading the setup file. After this update downloads, double-click on the downloaded .msu file, and your system starts upgrading to OS Build 22621.1928.

Release Notes from Microsoft & Windows Blogs.