By the end of May 2024, Microsoft released the latest non-security updates for Windows 11 users under build numbers 22621.3662 and 22621.3662 (KB5037959). Shortly after that, the company confirmed that the update was causing issues with the taskbar, resulting in the latter temporarily glitching, not responding, disappearing, and doing other nasty things. Besides that, users would see errors in the Event Viewer, such as "Faulting application name," "Taskbar.View.dll," and "Faulting module name."
Fortunately, all those annoyances are now gone.
Microsoft has updated the official release notes for KB5037959 to clarify that taskbar issues in the latest non-security updates are now gone. The company fixed the problem using the Known Issue Rollback technique that can remotely mend affected systems without them having to uninstall updates, install additional patches, restart, or perform any other user action.
If you are a regular customer on builds 22621.3662 or 22621.3662, there is nothing you have to do to apply the fix. However, it might take up to 24 hours before the resolution gets to your non-managed computers. If you want to speed things up, just restart your system.
As for IT admins, they can fix the broken taskbar in Windows 11 KB5037959 using special group policies:
IT administrators can resolve this issue by installing and configuring the special Group Policy listed below. The special Group Policy can be found in Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > .
For information on deploying and configuring these special Group Policy, please see How to use Group Policy to deploy a Known Issue Rollback.
Group Policy downloads with Group Policy name:
- Download for Windows 11, version 23H2 and 22H2 -Windows 11 22H2 KB5037853 240505_142035 Known Issue Rollback
All the feature changes and improvements in KB5037959 are expected in the June 2024 Patch Tuesday Updates, which should land later today. They include the fixed address bar in File Explorer, a new Linked Devices page in the Settings app, the slightly cursed "Account Manager" in the Start menu, the built-in QR generator for links, and more. Also, expect the operating system to receive plenty of security updates to make your devices safer.