Windows 11 build 22579 outs with new features for Insiders

Windows 11 build 22579 is now available in the Dev Channel.
Build 22579 adds an option to rename folders in the Start menu.
You can now exclude USB removable drives from BitLocker encryption.

Microsoft is now rolling out Windows 11 build 22579 for devices enrolled in the Dev Channel of the Windows Insider Program. This small update introduces new features and changes and delivers a slew of fixes.

According to the changelogs, build 22579 for Windows 11 introduces a new policy to exclude USB removable drives from BitLocker encryption. It updates the print dialog experience interface, adds an option to rename folders in the Start menu, ships with touch gesture improvements, and more.

Build 22579 for Windows 11 new features

Here are all the new features and improvements for the latest release of Windows 11 in the Dev Channel:

BitLocker USB exclusion

On build 22579, Windows 11 introduces a new policy to exclude USB removable drives from BitLocker encryption. The company says that this will solve the problem of automatic or accidental encryption of storage built into specialized devices like video cameras, voice recorders, conferencing systems, medical devices, etc.

Print dialog redesign

Microsoft also points out that in addition to updating the Print Queue design, the print dialog has received an update to match the design of Windows 11. Also, the updated print dialog now discovers local network printers automatically. If you choose a new printer, it will be installed without going into Settings.

Start menu and Start button

Starting on Windows 11 build 22579, the Quick Links menu (Windows key + X) now points to Windows PowerShell if the Windows Terminal has been uninstalled.

As part of the Start menu improvements, you can now set a name for the app folder. You can do this by dropping an app onto another in the “Pinned” section, opening the folder, and clicking the Edit name option.

Start menu rename folder option (Source: Microsoft)

Other changes

The built-in “Get Started” app now shows pinned site suggestions so you can conveniently pin them to the Taskbar.

In the touch gestures, you can now use three fingers to swipe left and right and switch between recently used windows.

The Task Manager is also getting an update with build 22579 to show the “Run New Task” option with a new icon on all pages.

Finally, emojis with customization options now display a small accent-colored dot in the bottom corner of their entries in the emoji panel. Also, the Keyboard Layout section has been removed from the Quick Settings flyout.

General fixes for build 22579

In addition to the new features and improvements, Windows 11 build 22579 also ships with many fixes for the Taskbar, Start menu, Focus, Network, and more.

Taskbar

It’s no longer necessary to swipe twice from the tablet-optimized taskbar to show Start or Quick Settings – once the taskbar is fully expanded, these will display with a continued swipe upwards.

Addressed an issue where using the swipe gesture to invoke the Start menu might bring it up on the wrong screen if an external monitor was connected.

Notifications will no longer overlap with the tablet-optimized taskbar.

Fixed an issue where if you invoked Task View the Desktops area might not render completely.

Middle clicking an app icon to launch a new instance of that app should work again now.

Start menu

Fixed an issue where Start’s folders were still showing animations even if you had animation effects disabled.

Mitigated an issue that was causing Start’s pinned and folders layouts to get reset to default after explorer.exe restarts.

Addressed an underlying issue leading to a transparent line along the side of the Start menu when changing your display’s scale.

Focus

You’ll now see the same breaks in focus sessions over 30 minutes started from the Notification Center as you would in sessions started from the Clock app.

If Do not disturb is turned on prior to starting a focus session, stopping the focus session will no longer turn off Do not disturb.

If you turn on a focus session, it will not be reset if you have to log out or reboot now.

Fixed an issue causing your keyboard focus to unexpectedly move to the top of Notification Center when ending a focus session below the calendar.

Fixed an issue that was preventing you from adding apps to the Settings > System > Notifications > Set priority notifications

Input

Fixed an issue where the enraged face emoji wasn’t searchable in Turkish using the word angry (kızgın). Please continue giving feedback about the emoji search results under Input and Language > Emoji Panel in the Feedback Hub!

Addressed an issue where the Japanese IME was unexpectedly switching to Katakana mode when the focus was set to the UAC dialog.

Mitigated an issue recently where if you removed a third-party IME from that language in Settings > Time & Language > Language & Region and didn’t uninstall it, it might still show in the input switcher.

Fixed an issue that was causing the mouse to be invisible in fields of certain apps, as well as some unexpected cursor-related app crashes in recent flights.

Addressed an issue where the gesture for bringing in the Notification Center from the side of the screen wasn’t working for the Arabic or Hebrew display languages.

Windowing

If transparency is off under Settings > Personalization > Colors, the background of ALT + Tab will no longer be transparent.

If you drag a window to the top of the screen and then drag it back down, the dismiss animation for snap layouts will display more consistently now.

Made a small adjustment to fix an animation glitch when invoking snap layouts at the top of the screen.

Fixed an explorer.exe crash which was happening when dragging certain windows across snap layouts at the top of the screen.

Mitigated an issue that was causing Task View to appear unresponsive if you invoked Task View while Snap assist was showing on the screen.

Did some work to address an issue where Alt + Tab might get stuck open if you invoked it via a very quick gesture on your touchpad.

Fixed an explorer.exe crash that could happen when an app goes in and out of full-screen mode.

Network

Fixed an issue for the header at the top of Network & Internet, where the chevron was backward for Arabic and Hebrew display languages.

Mitigated an issue leading to cellular connections not working on certain devices in the last few builds.

Addressed an issue leading to Wi-Fi speed degradation in the previous flight.

Live captions

Live captions will now show across your Desktops.

The “floating on-screen” window position will now correctly show as selected in the settings flyout if the live captions window was forced to float (for example when using a full-screen app).

The maximum height of the live captions window is now capped at 40% of monitor height.

Live captions will no longer crash upon shrinking a max height live captions window.

Toggling mono audio will no longer crash live captions.

Voice access

Fixed an issue that was causing the voice access banner to block the top row of desktop icons or the top of full-screen applications.

Narrator

Fixed an issue with how Narrator readout collapsed sections in Settings > Accessibility > Narrator when navigating using Shift + Tab.

Task Manager

Fixed a few high-hitting Task Manager crashes.

Fixed an issue where if the focus was inside the Details page and you started typing, the focus would stop moving through the processes list after the first letter.

If you’re using the Performance page in Summary view, the title bar of Task Manager will now be hidden.

General fixes

Addressed an issue that was causing Gaming Services to not work in the previous flight, leading to issues launching and installing some games.

Fixed a few high-hitting explorer.exe crashes impacting recent flights during general usage of Windows.

Fixed a bug for Windows Insiders trying to upgrade directly from Windows 10 to recent Windows 11 Dev Channel builds.

The percentage on the volume flyout that shows when using your hardware keys will now be centered in the design consistently.

Improved how keyboard focus and navigation work when moving through and closing the accessibility options on the Lock screen.

In addition to these new features and improvements, Microsoft is also detailing many fixes and known issues that Insiders need to know before upgrading their devices.

Install Windows 11 build 22579

If you want to download and install the Windows 11 build 22579, you need to enroll your device in the Dev Channel using the “Windows Insider Program” settings from the “Update & Security” section.

Once you enroll the computer in the program, you can download build 22579 from the “Windows Update” settings by clicking the Check for Updates button. However, you will need a device that meets the minimum system requirements to receive the update if you are new to the Windows Insider Program.

Update March 22, 2022: Microsoft is now rolling out build 22572.100 as update KB5013192. However, the update does not include anything new, it’s only designed to test the update mechanism through the Dev Channel.