Here are the list of hidden features you can enable in Windows 11 Build 25346. It was released last week for Insiders in the Canary channel. Traditionally, there are a number of hidden features that you can activate in addition to what is available out of the box. Some of them may be already familiar to you. Those include that ability to make Search open on hover, turn on different Start menu badge notifications, and "smart layouts" for Snap Assist.
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Before you start, I would like to mention that enabling work-in-progress features may cause various issues with the OS. This may affect its stability, reliability, and performance. Don't enable them if you have any mission-critical task for your Insider Preview OS instance.
- First of all, download the ViVeTool freeware app from GitHub.
- Extract the files from the downloaded ZIP archive to the c:\vivetool folder.
- Now, press Win + X and select Terminal(Admin) from the menu.
- In either PowerShell or Command Prompt tab, type one of the commands reviewed below.
- Restart Windows 11 to apply the change.
Open Search on hover
This feature allows opening the Search pane when you hover over the search taskbar icon with your mouse pointer. There is a hidden option in Settings that enables the new behavior.
To make it visible, run the following command:
c:\vivetool\vivetool /enable /id:43572857,43572692
Restart Windows 11, and navigate to Settings (Win + I) > Personalization > Taskbar. Under the Search section, you will find the new option.
The undo command that hides the new option is c:\vivetool\vivetool /disable /id:43572857,43572692
Don't forget to run the command in the Terminal app that you have earlier opened as Administrator.
Restart the operating system to apply the changes.
Preferred Camera for Windows Hello
Although this feature has been available in the Windows operating system for a considerable period of time, it appears to have been deactivated in the latest Canary build. However, if you really need this feature, you may re-enable with ViveTool.
For that, execute the following command:
c:\vivetool\vivetool /enable /id:42042272
The undo command that restores the defaults is c:\vivetool\vivetool /reset /id:42042272.
Don't forget to restart the computer.
New Home Page for the Settings app
Since Build 25300, Windows 11 includes a new Home page for the Settings app. It will open when you launch Settings when it will be ready. The recent Canary build shows some progress in this direction. It is no longer entirely blank, featuring the first section with the Storage information. Sadly, it is currently impossible to activate this page using ViveTool. It is force-disabled.
New Details panel in File Explorer
The new "Details" pane in File Explorer has also received a portion of updates in this build. As you may remember, it is anticipated to include various sections such as "Insights", "Activities", "Properties", "Related Files", "Conversations", and "Sharing status", as per the concepts. It was initially discovered in build 25276, but at that time, the panel mostly featured placeholder text. However, in the latest build, it has got a slightly refined visual look, and the "Properties" option finally works.
To enable the "Details" pane, you need to run a ViVeTool command that will do the trick for both the standard File Explorer and the version based on the Windows App SDK.
Open Terminal as Administrator, type this command and press Enter.
c:\vivetool\vivetool /enable /id:38613007
Restart Windows 11, and open File Explorer. You will now have the new details pane.
The undo command is c:\vivetool\vivetool /reset /id:38613007
The ability to hide date and time
Microsoft has recently reintroduced an option to hide the date and time from the taskbar. It is available by default to some users in Windows 11 Build 23440 in the Dev channel. However, it is still hidden in the Canary build. You need to enable the HideSystemTrayDateTimeSetting feature by using ViVeTool to activate it. After that, you will be able control the display of the date and time on the taskbar according to their preferences.
Moreover, this feature also allows users to permanently display the notification indicator on the taskbar, which will display a number indicating the number of notifications that have not yet been attended to. This way, users can keep track of their notifications more conveniently and efficiently. When there is no unread notifications, it will show zero in the counter badge.
To enable the option to hide the taskbar clock, do the following.
- Open Terminal as Administrator. For that, press Win + X and select Terminal(Admin) from the menu.
- Type the following command:
c:\vivetool\vivetool /enable /id:41437381. - Once you see the "Successfully set feature configuration" message, restart Windows 11.
- Open Settings (Win + I), navigate to Time & language > Date & Time. You will see the Hide time and date in the system tray option.
Done. The undo command is c:\vivetool\vivetool /reset /id:41437381. It will reset the feature state to its default value. The option will disappear again once you restart Windows 11.
Smart Snap Assist layouts
Microsoft is currently testing an innovative window snapping feature that enables the window manager to remember user-established layouts for specific groups of applications. This way, users can easily restore the placement of apps on the screen, even after restarting their computer. This addition is particularly beneficial to individuals who work with multiple applications simultaneously on a daily basis. There are plenty of other interesting snapping features that we should see in Windows 11 in the near future.
Windows 11 build 23435 was the first build to include bits of this new feature. Now, the Canary Build 25346 further improves Snap Assist layouts. They appear for both maximize button and the snap bar that appear at the top of the screen.
You can enable them with the following command.
c:\vivetool\vivetool /enable /id:41863571,42589465
Respectively, the undo command is c:\vivetool\vivetool /disable /id:41863571,42589465.
That's it!
Many thanks to @PhantomOfEarth, @thebookisclosed and @XenoPanther!
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