April 2025 Windows 11 23H3 and 22H2 Non-Security Preview Update

  Microsoft released KB5055629 (OS Builds 22621.5262 and 22631.5262) for Windows 11 23H3 and Windows 11 22H2. 

Highlights

Gradual rollout

A gradual rollout releases updates over a period of time, so users receive them at different times. To see the status of this feature, go to Windows release health dashboard.​​​​​​​

• [File Explorer] 

  
  

  • New! Pivot-based curated views on File Explorer Home that supports ease of access of Microsoft 365 content on Windows. Be more productive and get highly relevant content at your fingertips on File Explorer Home.

  • Fixed: Improved the performance of extracting zipped files, particularly in the case where you’re unzipping a large number of small files.

• [Narrator] New! Keep track of what Narrator has spoken and access it for quick reference. With speech recap, you can quickly access spoken content, follow along with live transcription, and copy what Narrator last said—all with simple keyboard shortcuts.

• [Phone Link] New! You can do even more with your Windows PC and your mobile device with direct access to cross-device features from the Start menu. For example, you can make phone calls, send SMS messages, access your photos, or share content between your mobile device and PC.

• [Widgets]

  
  

  • New! Web developers can use their existing content to create interactive widgets that can be added to multiple widgets surfaces. For more info, see Web widget providers​​​​​​​.

  • New!  Support for lock screen widgets (previously referred to as “Weather and more”) arrives on devices in the European Economic Area (EEA). You can add, remove, and rearrange lock screen widgets such as Weather, Watchlist, Sports, Traffic, and more. Any widget that supports the small sizing option can be added. To customize your lock screen widgets, navigate to Settings > Personalization > Lock screen​​​​​​​.

• [Desktop icons] The logic for apps pinned to the desktop has been updated, so that packaged apps no longer show an accent colored backplate. For example, if you were to drag and drop Snipping Tool from the apps list in Start to the desktop the icons should be bigger and easier to see now.

• [Share Sheet] Make last-minute edits such as cropping, rotating, and adding filters to images shared though the share sheet.

• [Start]

  
  

  • Fixed: You can’t use touch gestures to view the list of apps pinned in the Start menu.

  • Fixed: The Sign out and More options​​​​​​​ buttons in the Start menu account manager might not be visible with increased text size.

• [Taskbar] Fixed: If you use the arrow keys after pressing the Windows key + T, the arrows move in the wrong direction for Arabic and Hebrew display languages.

Update:  To get the update, go to Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update. The link to download and install the update can be found in the Optional updates available area.  

References:

Windows 11 update history

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