Windows 11 23H2 and 22H2 get KB5050092 with taskbar, File Explorer improvements, and more

Following the release of non-security updates for Windows 11 version 24H2 and Windows 10 version 22H2, Microsoft pushed this month's c-updates for those using Windows 11 version 22H2 and 23H2. The update is now available as an optional release in Windows Update under KB5050092.

Here are the changes that Microsoft is rolling out gradually:

• [Taskbar] New! This update improves the previews that show when your cursor hovers over apps on the taskbar. The update also improves their animations.
• [Windows Studio Effects] New! An icon will appear in the system tray when you use an app that supports Windows Studio Effects. This only occurs on a device that has a neural processing unit (NPU). Select the icon to open the Studio Effects page in Quick Settings. To view the app that is using the camera, hover over the icon for a tooltip.
• [Work across devices] New! You know that you can use an iOS or Android phone to access your Microsoft OneDrive files. If you do that when your PC is locked, you can now continue working on that file from where you left off on your PC. Just sign in to your PC within five minutes of using your phone. When Windows asks if you want to resume work on that file, select the file to open it. To use this feature, you must sign in to OneDrive and your PC using the same Microsoft account. Work and school accounts do not support this feature. This feature works for Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and PDF files. For the best experience, sign in to OneDrive on your PC using your default browser. To manage this feature, go to Settings > Apps > Resume.
• [Fonts] New! This update adds Simsun-ExtG, a new simplified Chinese font. It includes the Biangbiang noodles character. Some apps might not be able to display these new extension characters yet. The font has 9,753 ideographs that support Unicode Extensions G, H, and I. See the list below.
  • Unicode range G 30000-3134A (4,939 chars)
  • Unicode range H 31350-323AF (4,192 chars)
  • Unicode range I 2EBF0-2EE5D (622 chars)
• [File Explorer]
  • New! When you right-click items in the left pane, the “New Folder” command appears on the context menu.
  • Fixed: After you do a search, that search might repeat when you don’t want it to.
  • Fixed: The date and time properties of a file might update after you copy it.
  • Fixed: Icons on the details pane might not update as you expect when you change a theme. This makes it hard to view the change when you switch between dark and light themes.
  • Fixed: The search box might lose input focus as you type.
• [Windows Share] New! You can now share directly to apps that support sharing in Windows. Just right-click local files in File Explorer or on the desktop.
• [Magnifier app]
  • New! This update adds a new keyboard shortcut: CTRL+ALT+Minus sign. Use it to quickly switch between the current zoom and 1X zoom.
  • New! This update adds buttons to reset zoom. You can reset zoom to fit to the screen and reset zoom to your last or preferred magnification.
• [Snipping Tool] Fixed: Snipping Tool screenshots might be distorted. This occurs when you use two or more monitors that have different display scaling.
• [Chinese Pinyin Input Method Editor (IME)] Fixed: When you switch app windows, the IME language might change from Chinese to English.

And here is what is rolling out in normal mode:

• [Exporting chart objects] Fixed: You can’t export a file to PDF and XLSX formats if the file has a chart object.
• [Chinese Pinyin IME] Bing will stop giving automatic suggestions in the search box for search engine sites, like Baidu. To get manual suggestions, use Ctrl+Tab or the chevron button (>).
• [Windows Backup] You will now have a standard Windows 11 taskbar after restoring from a backup via the Windows Setup experience (OOBE) on a new Windows PC. You can still find your apps in the Start menu and Search and pin apps you want to your taskbar.
• [Digital/Analog converter (DAC) (known issue)] Fixed: You might experience issues with USB audio devices. This is more likely when you use a DAC audio driver based on USB 1.0. USB audio devices might stop working, which stops playback.
• [USB audio device drivers] Fixed: The code 10 error message, “This device cannot start” appears. This occurs when you connect to certain external audio management devices.
• [USB cameras] Fixed: Your device does not recognize the camera is on. This issue occurs after you install the January 2025 security update.

Known issues in this update include bugs with OpenSSH and compatibility issues with Citrix software (both have workarounds).

You can download KB5050092 from Windows Update or the Microsoft Update Catalog. Since the update does not contain security updates, you can skip it and wait for next month's mandatory Patch Tuesday updates.

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