Windows 11 Build 23526 (Dev) improves Cast and Start menu

Microsoft releases Windows 11 Build 23526 to Insiders in the Dev channel. It comes with a good number of fixes and improvements. The Cast to feature can now be conveniently launched from Quick Access. The right tooltips in the Start menu will no longer show a huge blank area. And much more.

What's new in Windows 11 Build 23526 (Dev)

Insider Preview Build Expiration: The expiration date for Insider Preview builds released on the Dev Channel has been revised to 9/15/2024, starting from Build 23526. It is advised to ensure that you are updated to the latest build available on the Dev Channel.

Start menu: Regarding files that lack rich thumbnail previews, the preview area will no longer appear blank. This enhancement is part of the ongoing efforts to provide rich thumbnail previews (tooltips) for cloud files on the Start menu, which began rolling out with Build 23511.

Cast improvements: Expanding on the Cast improvements introduced in Build 23516, the Cast flyout in Quick Settings has been further enhanced to offer additional support in case you encounter any issues with discovering nearby displays, fixing connections, and more.

Narrator

• The following improvements have been made to Narrator:
  • Verbosity level 3 is now the default instead of 2. This means that Narrator will now automatically announce the “Current context name and type” when you navigate to a bulleted list or toolbar. This will allow users to understand which control has focus. The approach is similar to JAWS and NVDA.
  • Improved Narrator experience for Traditional Chinese users. From now on, they will not have to manually enter characters in this language, as the corresponding dictionary has been added to the system for greater accuracy of voice acting.
• Braille has also been improved for Narrator:
  • Now, when you navigate to any attachment in Outlook in scanning mode, Narrator will announce the presence of the attachment. This information will also be displayed on a Braille display.
  • When navigating to different headings in scan mode using the down arrow or Space + 4 combination on a braille device, information about heading to the heading will be shown on the braille display.
  • As you navigate through a numbered list, Narrator will announce the index with the name of the item, and these index values, such as "1 of 4", will appear on the Braille display.

Fixes

Start menu

Fixed an issue that was making the System label in Start’s all apps list the wrong color in high contrast themes.

Taskbar & System Tray

• Fixed an issue where the taskbar wasn’t loading for some Insiders when logging into their PC after installing the previous build.
• Disabled the setting for uncombining taskbar buttons on other screens by default when no secondary monitors are connected.
• Fixed an issue where if the taskbar was set to uncombined it would still show animations even if they’d been turned off.
• Fixed an issue where app icons on the taskbar would become empty (with no icon) in recent Insider builds after switching between desktops.
• Fixed an issue where the hidden icons flyout might close unexpectedly when using keyboard navigation to move focus between icons.
• Fixed an issue where using drag to rearrange icons in the overflow area wasn’t working well when the taskbar was set to uncombined.
• Fixed an issue where the new bell icon might be very difficult to see in some cases because it was using a dark outline when your taskbar was dark.
• Fixed an issue where if you had enabled the End Task option in the taskbar, the setting wouldn’t persist across upgrades.
• Fixed an issue where after upgrading the Bluetooth icon in the system tray might not display in the system tray after upgrade even though your PC supported Bluetooth and the Bluetooth options were shown in Settings.

Start menu

• Fixed an issue where if you attempt to uninstall certain apps, it would just open Settings and not navigate to the Installed Apps page.

File Explorer

• Fixed a high hitting explorer.exe crashes when launching or interacting with File Explorer in the last couple flights.
• Fixed an issue where using the Reset Folders button in Folder Options could cause explorer.exe to crash.
• Fixed an issue where the chevrons in the File Explorer address bar were pointing in the wrong direction if your display language was set to Arabic or Hebrew.
• Fixed an issue where saving files to OneDrive locations in File Explorer could take a very long time, making it seem like the app you were saving from had become unresponsive, in the latest Insider builds.
• Fixed an issue where the context menu and dropdown menus in File Explorer weren’t working with touch.
• Made another fix for the issue causing the context menu and dropdown menu backgrounds to be transparent.
• Fixed an issue where the menu shown when doing a right click drag on one of the newly supported archive formats didn’t have an extract option like it does for zip files.

Dev Drive

• Fixed an issue where Dev Drives might not auto-mount after upgrading to a new build, causing apps that tried to access them to not work.
• Improved error messages if Dev Drives fail to format.
• Fixed an issue related to the use of Dev Drives which could cause a bugcheck with an INVALID DATA TRAP on upgrade (and then the upgrade would roll back).

HDR Backgrounds

Fixed an issue which could cause sporadic explorer.exe crashes when using an HDR wallpaper.

Narrator

• Fixed an issue where Narrator was not reading various list items in a combo box on various web pages when navigating with up and down arrow.
• Fixed an issue where Narrator was incorrectly announcing combo boxes as read-only even when users could actually select different values from the combo box list items.
• Addressed the issue where Narrator was not announcing the checked and unchecked status of radio buttons but was announcing selected for every item.
• Fixed an issue where Narrator was announcing older information  while navigating in date/time picker  using arrow keys .
• Fixed an issue where Narrator was incorrectly reading contents of previous cell and the current cell when navigating in a table using right and left arrow keys.
• Fixed an issue where Narrator is incorrectly reading older Window title even after navigating to inner control.
• Fixed an issue where Narrator is reading entire paragraph when up arrow is invoked in online word document.
• Fixed an issue where Narrator was incorrectly reading out last word of previous paragraph when a new paragraph started with a punctuation mark.
• Fixed a bug where Narrator was not announcing the character being deleted when using backspace key in some text fields on the web.
• Fixed an issue in narrator where while entering any number in CVV edit field, Narrator should only announce as “hidden”, instead of “CVV edit, hidden new line selected”.
• Fixed an issue where Narrator is not able to detect different headings on some web pages in scan mode while using “h” key to navigate.
• Fixed an issue where Narrator scan mode arrow navigation skipped first item in container.
• Fixed an issue, where Narrator is skipping the first item after navigating via landmark using “d” key in scan mode.
• Fixed an issue where Narrator focus did not move past the first check box if there was a list of check boxes  when using up and down arrow key in scan mode.
• Fixed an issue where Narrator was not activating combo box when navigating using up and down  arrow and using enter/spacebar to activate it in scan mode.
• Fixed an issue where Narrator would collapse the combo boxes in scan mode when navigating with up and down arrows.
• Fixed an issue where navigation commands are not executed as expected in a dialog  box when you enter the dialog the second time.
• Fixed an issue where Narrator find was not working consistently on web pages when using Narrator key + Ctrl + F key combination.

Input

• Fixed an issue where typing with the Japanese and Chinese IMEs may not have performed as expected in certain apps in the last few flights when you had selected the option to use the previous version of the IME. If you are continuing to experience issues with this build installed, please file feedback.
• Fixed an issue where when inking into a text field, if you were writing in Chinese, certain characters were being perceived as taps and not working.
• Fixed an issue where inking into a text field while magnifier was running was not working well as the ink was offset.

Other

• Fixed an issue where removing a monitor while connected to a Cloud PC could result in a black screen with only a mouse visible in recent builds.
• Made some fixes to improve how the Share dialog worked with screen readers, as well as addressing some other accessibility issues.

NOTE: Some fixes noted here in Insider Preview builds from the Dev Channel may make their way into the servicing updates for the released version of Windows 11.

Known Issues

General

Engineers are working on a fix for an issue that causes explorer.exe to crash (with an error popup) in safe mode when trying to login to a profile on the system.

Start menu

Some apps in the Start Menu's All Apps list (such as PWA apps installed via Microsoft Edge) may be marked as system apps when they aren't.

Search on the taskbar

Sometimes the tooltip that appears when you hover over the search field does not match the selection of text.

Windows Copilot

• You can use the Alt + Tab combination to exit Windows Copilot, but not return to it. To switch to Windows Copilot, use the combination WIN + C.
• On first launch or after updating Copilot, when using Voice Control, you must use the Show grid command to then navigate to the Ask me anything field.

Source