July 25, 2024—KB5040527 (OS Builds 22621.3958 and 22631.3958) Preview

Windows 11 Enterprise and Education, version 22H2 Windows 11 version 23H2, all editions More...Less

Release Date:

7/25/2024

Version:

OS Builds 22621.3958 and 22631.3958

07/09/24---END OF SERVICE NOTICE---

IMPORTANT Home and Pro editions of Windows 11, version 22H2 will reach end of service on October 8, 2024. Until then, these editions will only receive security updates. They will not receive non-security, preview updates. To continue receiving security and non-security updates after October 8, 2024, we recommend that you update to the latest version of Windows.

Note We will continue to support Enterprise and Education editions after October 8, 2024.

For information about Windows update terminology, see the article about the types of Windows updates and the monthly quality update types. For an overview of Windows 11, version 23H2, see its update history page.

Note Follow @WindowsUpdate to find out when new content is published to the Windows release health dashboard.

Highlights

Note: Below is a summary of the key issues that this update addresses when you install this KB. If there are new features, it lists them as well. The bold text within the brackets indicates the item or area of the change we are documenting.

Gradual rollout

[Notification for Windows Share in China] New! For nearby sharing to work, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth must be on. If they are off when you turn on nearby sharing, Windows will ask you to allow them to be turned on.
[Start menu] New! You can drag apps from the Pinned section of the menu and pin them to the taskbar.
[Taskbar]
- New! When the taskbar has keyboard focus (WIN + T), you can press a letter, and you will go to the app whose name starts with that letter. When you press a letter more than once, you will go to the next app whose name starts with that letter. Pressing a letter more than once only works if there are multiple pinned or open apps whose name starts with that letter. If you are using an uncombined taskbar, when you press a letter, you go to the window whose name starts with that letter. Also, when you press Home and End, the keyboard focus changes to the first and last items in the taskbar.
- The End task option no longer shows a not responding dialog before it stops a task. This option is only available when you turn on End task in Settings > System > For Developers.
[File Explorer]
- New! When you right-click a tab, you have the choice to duplicate it.
- A memory leak occurs when you interact with archive folders.
- File Explorer stops responding when you browse within it.
- When you search from Home for the first time, you might not get any results.
- The address bar dropdown menu might appear when you do not expect it.
- When you use the Save dialog to save a file to Gallery, an error occurs. Because of this update, your file saves to the Pictures library instead.
- The search box does not show the correct folder name when you are in Gallery.
- A blank area shows at the top of File Explorer.
- The back and forward mouse buttons do not work when you hover over the Recommended Files section of Home.
- Images flash when you view them in the Gallery.
[Desktop icons] Spacing between them might become very wide.

Improvements

Note: To view the list of addressed issues, click or tap the OS name to expand the collapsible section.

Important: Use EKB KB5027397 to update to Windows 11, version 23H2.

This non-security update includes quality improvements. Key changes include:

This build includes all the improvements in Windows 11, version 22H2.
No additional issues are documented for this release.

This non-security update includes quality improvements. Below is a summary of the key issues that this update addresses when you install this KB. If there are new features, it lists them as well. The bold text within the brackets indicates the item or area of the change we are documenting.

[Bluetooth] You cannot put calls on hold from Bluetooth peripherals.
[FrameShutdownDelay] The browser ignores its value in the “HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main” registry key.
[Windows Server vNext] In the latest build, the cache size display behavior is not what you expect.
[Group Policy Preferences Item Level Targeting (ILT) and Local Users and Groups] You cannot choose a group from the target domain for ILT. Also, you cannot choose an account from Local Users and Groups. The forest does not appear. This issue occurs when you deploy multiple forests, and the target domain has a one-way trust with the domain of the admin. This issue affects Enhanced Security Admin Environment (ESAE), Hardened Forests (HF) or Privileged Access Management (PAM) deployments.
[Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCPIP)] The issue causes high CPU usage and loss of packets. It also affects TCP connection success rates.
[NetAdapterCx module] A system stops responding when large amounts of data travel over Wi-Fi. This issue occurs on devices that have certain wireless network cards.
[Universal Print clients] They fail to communicate with the Universal Print service. This affects printing functions. This issue occurs when you turn on Web Proxy Auto Discovery (WPAD).
[Print Support App] When you use the app with a USB device, the app stops responding and does not print. This issue also limits the functions of the user interface.
[Autopilot] Using it to provision Surface Laptop SE devices fails.
[Windows Defender Application Control (WDAC)]
- A memory leak occurs that might exhaust system memory as time goes by. This issue occurs when you provision a device.
- When you apply WDAC Application ID policies, some apps might fail.
[Windows Kernel Vulnerable Driver Blocklist file (DriverSiPolicy.p7b)] This update adds to the list of drivers that are at risk for Bring Your Own Vulnerable Driver (BYOVD) attacks.
[Windows Backup] Backup sometimes fails. This occurs when a device has an Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) system partition (ESP).
[Cache manager] It might stop responding. This occurs when you use Hyperthreading on Windows Server 2022.
[Windows Update Agent API (WUA) (known issue)] You might get an empty result when you query the properties of IUpdate objects in the IUpdateCollection for Windows updates. You might also get the error code 0x8002802B (TYPE_E_ELEMENTNOTFOUND). This occurs when you call methods on the object from a script (PowerShell, VBScript, and so on).
[Windows Enterprise subscription (known issue)] When you upgrade from Windows Professional, the upgrade might fail. In Task Scheduler, a message shows in the LicenseAcquisition scheduled task. The message is, “Access denied error (error code 0x80070005).”

Windows 11 servicing stack update (KB5040568) - 22621.3947 and 22631.3947

This update makes quality improvements to the servicing stack, which is the component that installs Windows updates. Servicing stack updates (SSU) ensure that you have a robust and reliable servicing stack so that your devices can receive and install Microsoft updates.

Known issues in this update

Applies to	Symptom	Workaround
All users

How to get this update

Before you install this update

Microsoft combines the latest servicing stack update (SSU) for your operating system with the latest cumulative update (LCU). For general information about SSUs, see Servicing stack updates and Servicing Stack Updates (SSU): Frequently Asked Questions.

Install this update

To install this update, use one of the following Windows and Microsoft release channels.

Windows Update Business Catalog Server Update Services

Available	Next Step
Yes	Go to Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update. In the Optional updates available area, you will find the link to download and install the update.

Available	Next Step
No	None. These changes will be included in the next security update to Windows Update for Business.

Available	Next Step
Yes	To get the standalone package for this update, go to the Microsoft Update Catalog website.

Available	Next Step
No	You can import this update into Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) manually. See the Microsoft Update Catalog for instructions.

If you want to remove the LCU

To remove the LCU after installing the combined SSU and LCU package, use the DISM/Remove-Package command line option with the LCU package name as the argument. You can find the package name by using this command: DISM /online /get-packages.

Running Windows Update Standalone Installer (wusa.exe) with the /uninstall switch on the combined package will not work because the combined package contains the SSU. You cannot remove the SSU from the system after installation.

File information

For a list of the files that are provided in this update, download the file information for cumulative update 5040527.

For a list of the files that are provided in the servicing stack update, download the file information for the SSU (KB5040568) - versions 22621.3947 and 22631.3947.