Windows 11 22H2 and 23H2 get KB5046732 with File Explorer, Start menu improvements, and more

If you are a Windows 11 user but your system is not yet on version 24H2, which just received its November 2024 non-security update, you can still get a lot of fixes and some new features in a fresh update. This month's non-security update (also known as C-update) is now available for Windows 11 version 23H2 and 22H2 (Enterprise and Education users only) under KB5046732 with build numbers 22621.4541 and 22631.4541.

KB5046732 does not include security patches, which means it is not mandatory, and you can skip it.

Here are the changes that are rolling out gradually:

• [Settings] New! Tailored Experiences is now Personalized offers in the out of box experience (OOBE). You can find it on the Recommendations and offers page. Go to Settings > Privacy & security. Here, you can turn off the setting that sends data about your device to enhance Windows.
• [Taskbar]
  • New! The system tray shows a shortened date and time. Also, the notification bell icon might not show if you have set the toggle for “Do not disturb” to on. If the bell icon does not show, click the date and time to view your messages in the notification center. To go back to the long form of the date and time, go to Settings > Date and Time. Then turn on the toggle for “Show time and day in the system tray.” To show the bell icon, go to Settings > System > Notifications. Turn on the toggle for “Notifications.” You can also get to these settings using the context menu. Just right click the system tray clock or bell icon.
• Fixed: When you choose "Automatically hide the taskbar," the search box shows as an icon, not as a search box.
• [Input Method Editor (IME)] New! After you install this update, the IME toolbar will hide when apps are in full screen mode. This only occurs when the IME toolbar is active and you type Chinese or Japanese characters.
• [Start menu] New! When you right-click apps that you have pinned to the Start menu, jump lists will appear for apps that have jump lists.
• [File Explorer]
  • New! You canshare content to an Android device from the context menu in File Explorer and on the desktop. To use this feature, you must install and configure Phone Link on your PC.
  • Fixed: There might be more space than you expect between the items listed in the left pane.
  • Fixed: The search box is cut off when the File Explorer window is small.
• [Touchscreen] New! This update adds a new section for touchscreen edge gestures. Go to Settings > Bluetooth & Devices > Touch. There, you can choose if you would like to turn off the left or right screen edge touch gesture.
• [Mouse] New! This update adds the option to turn off enhanced mouse pointer precision to Settings > Bluetooth & Devices > Mouse. There is also a new option to change the direction in which the mouse scrolls.
• [Dynamic Lighting Settings page]
  • New! Its page will show a placeholder message when there is no compatible device attached to your computer. Also, the Brightness and Effects controls will be off.
  • New! This update adds the Forward, Backward, Outward, and Inward direction options to the Wave effect. The Gradient effect now has the Forward direction option.
• [Jump lists] New! If you hold Shift and CTRL and click a jump list item, this opens the item as an admin.

"Normal rollout" changes (those that are available right away for all) include these two:

• [Bluetooth LE Audio] Fixed: Some devices, like hearing aids, do not stream Bluetooth audio.
• [Mouse and game bar] Fixed: Your mouse might unlock from the game window. This occurs when you have multiple monitors and open and close the game bar.

And here are the rest of the improvements and fixes in KB5046732:

Gradual rollout:

[IFilters] New! Windows Search runs IFilters in Less Privileged App Containers (LPAC). LPACs are like app containers, but they deny more permissions by default. A process that runs in an LPAC only has access to the resources it needs. The process does not have access to sensitive system components and data. This reduces the potential damage that a compromised process can cause.

[Task Manager]

• New! The Disconnect and Logoff dialogs now support dark mode and text scaling.
• New! The Performance section now shows the type for each disk.

Normal rollout:

• [Motherboard replacement] Fixed: Windows does not activate after you replace a motherboard.
• [Country and Operator Settings Asset (COSA)] Fixed: This update brings profiles up to date for certain mobile operators.
• [Internet Printing Protocol (IPP) printer] Fixed: Windows stops responding when you use an IPP USB printer.

As usual, you can download KB5046732 for Windows 11 23H2 from Windows Update or the Microsoft Update Catalog. As a reminder, Windows 10 and 11 will not receive optional updates in December due to minimal operations during the holiday season. Look out for the next non-security update (or don't) in January 2025.