At the end of June 2024, Microsoft confirmed an odd bug in certain Windows 11 editions and configurations. The company revealed that Windows N editions and regular versions with certain features turned off would suffer from a broken taskbar, causing it to stop responding or even appear on the screen. Now, the issue is finally fixed.
The problem with the taskbar mostly haunted customers of Windows N (a special SKU with certain media features disabled by default) and other editions with "Media Features" disabled in the Control Panel. In the official release notes for KB5040442, Windows 11"s July 2024 Patch Tuesday updates, Microsoft confirmed that the taskbar should be working again. Here is what the company said:
Taskbar (known issue) You might not be able to view or interact with the taskbar after you install KB5039302. This issue occurs on devices that run the Windows N edition. This edition is like other editions but lacks most media-related tools. The issue also occurs if you turn off “Media Features” from the Control Panel.
KB5040442 is a mandatory update since it contains important security updates. That means your system will download and install it without asking for permission. However, you can speed things up by heading to Settings > Windows Update and clicking "Check for updates." Alternatively, go to the Microsoft Update Catalog and download an offline install package.
There is still one known issue that Microsoft has to resolve. In Windows 11 versions 22H2 and 23H2, enterprise users cannot update from Pro to Enterprise edition even with a valid license. Microsoft is working on a fix for that.
In case you missed it, Microsoft recently issued a reminder that Windows 11 versions 21H2 and 22H2 would reach their end of support in less than 90 days. Customers sticking to those versions will be force-updated to version 23H2, which is currently the most recent Windows 11 release.