Windows 11 build 22504 outs in the Dev Channel

Microsoft releases Windows 11 build 22504 in the Dev Channel.
The build introduces themes for the emoji panel, voice typing, and other input experiences.
You can now customize groups of emojis with different skin tones.

Microsoft is now rolling out Windows 11 build 22504 for devices enrolled in the Dev Channel. This is yet another small preview with minor fixes and improvements expected to arrive with version 22H2 in the fall of 2022.

According to the official notes, build 22504 for Windows 11 makes available the themes for the Touch Keyboard to other input features, such as IMEs, emoji panel, and voice typing.

As part of the emoji panel, the new preview of Windows adds the ability to make a combination of emojis (family members, couples with hearts, kissing, and people holding hands) and personalize them based on face and skin tones. Also, the emojis search is now more flexible in Portuguese and Polish languages.

Family emoji light theme (Source: Microsoft)

The new Taskbar button makes it possible to use the Windows key + Alt + K keyboard shortcut to mute and unmute calls.

The Sound settings page now displays a warning when microphone access has been restricted in your privacy setting.

The touch indicator option will now be disabled by default in the Mouse pointer and touch settings page in new installations. As part of this change, Microsoft adds a link to the Touch settings page and makes it so that the press and hold visual is now permanently displayed regardless of the setting state.

In the touch experience, Windows 11 build 22504 and later will launch apps maximized on tablet mode for devices 11-inch and under. Finally, this version of Windows ships with .NET Framework 4.8.1 that brings native ARM64 support for the runtime.

Build 22504 fixes and known issues

Alongside the new improvements, this flight ships with a slew of fixes and issues that you should know before installing.

Start menu fixes

Fixed an issue believed to be the root cause of icons not displaying correctly in the Recommended section of Start (showing the wrong or a generic icon) sometimes.

If you open Start and immediate press Shift + F10 or the context menu key, the context menu should be aligned with the search box now.

Taskbar fixes

Fixed an issue leading to an explorer.exe crash in recent builds if there were issues loading the battery icon in the Taskbar.

Made some changes to help the clock in the Taskbar update more reliably, including addressing a recent issue where it wasn’t updating at all over Remote Desktop.

Mitigated a positioning issue that could cause the date and time to get clipped off the end of the Taskbar.

If you’ve updated the critical and low battery level notification definitions, the battery icon in the Taskbar will now align with that, rather than using the default values to show a warning.

Right-clicking the date and time in the Taskbar will now dismiss the Notification Center if it’s open so that you can see the context menu options.

Input fixes

Keyboard lights (for example, for caps lock) should work properly again now with this build.

Made a few more tweaks to our emoji search keywords based on feedback, including improving results for day, night, and face with raised eyebrow. Please continue sharing feedback with us about this under Input and Language > Emoji Panel in the Feedback Hub.

Fixed an issue that was causing the kaomoji list in WIN + . to be blank when accessed while using a Chinese IME.

Fixed an issue with the emoji panel search results that could lead to a single gif being displayed repeatedly with certain queries.

Mitigated an issue resulting in IMEs not working with certain games.

Addressed an issue where the options under Settings > Personalization > Typing to change the settings “Show text suggestions & add a spacebar after I choose a text suggestions” for the touch keyboard might unexpectedly not display.

If you make a long pause while using voice typing (WIN + H), it should be able to resume listening more reliability now.

Fixed some inconsistencies between actual listening status and the microphone visual in voice typing.

The text should no longer be unexpectedly duplicated if the caret is moved while using voice typing.

Windowing fixes

Selecting snap layout options should no longer randomly put windows on your other monitor sometimes.

Settings fixes

The brightness and volume sliders in Quick Settings should no longer randomly become invisible.

Fixed an issue preventing Adjusting active hours from being set to manually.

Addressed an issue that could result in the touch keyboard occluding the password entry field when connecting to a network in Quick Settings.

General fixes

Fixed a scaling issue that was causing the update prompt dialog (and other dialogs of that style) to get cut off and not draw correctly after the DPI change.

Improved the positioning of the context menu when right-clicking the bottom corner of the desktop.

Mitigated an issue related to TCPIP which could result in bug checks when waking a device.

Fixed an issue where high priority notifications (such as an alarm) would sometimes unexpectedly dismiss without you engaging with it, leading to it randomly reappearing the next time a normal priority notification came in.

As for known issues on Windows 11 build 22504, Microsoft is investigating the error 0x80070002 installing new builds, the search feature on the Start menu may not work correctly, the Taskbar will sometimes flicker, and more.

Install Windows 11 build 22504

If you want to download and install the Windows 11 build 22504, 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 22504 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.

You can also read this guide with all the new features available with the official release of Windows 11.

Update November 19, 2021: Microsoft is now rolling out build 22504.1010 as update KB5008697. However, the update does not include anything new, it’s only designed to test the update mechanism through the Dev Channel.