Microsoft has just acknowledged a new known issue in the recently released Windows 11 version 24H2 and its latest non-security optional update. However, it is not as serious as some of the previously confirmed issues.
According to a new notification published on the official Windows Health Dashboard, Task Manager in Windows 11 version 24H2, after applying KB5044384, incorrectly shows the number of running apps and background processes on the "Processes" tab. In fact, it shows zero running apps and background processes, to be precise. Microsoft says the bug appears specifically when the list of processes is grouped by type, but we managed to recreate it even with the default sorting.
After installing the October 2024 non-security preview update (KB5044384), users will encounter an issue where the number of Apps, Background Processes, and Windows Processes in Task Manager display a count of zero, despite having active applications running. This issue appears specifically on the Processes page when the "Group by Type" view is enabled.
Normally, Task Manager displays the count of processes next to each group name (e.g., Apps, Background processes), providing users with a quick view of active processes. However, due to this issue, Task Manager instead shows (0) for each group, regardless of the actual number of running processes.
There are no workarounds for this bug at the moment. Fortunately, it does not prevent you from viewing all the running apps and processes or interacting with them—you can still check all the details, terminate apps, run new processes, and more. Microsoft says it is working on a fix, which should be available in future cumulative updates.
For now, if you are already on Windows 11 version 24H2 with its latest updates, you will have to deal with this small inconvenience. As for older Windows versions, Microsoft says the issue does not affect them—only Windows 11 version 24H2 is experiencing the bug with Task Manager showing zero apps and processes.