Windows 11 24H2 gets a smoother taskbar and some much-needed bug fixes in Microsoft's latest update

Windows 11 24H2 received a new optional update (still testing)
Makes helpful adjustments to the taskbar, Start menu, File Explorer and more
Microsoft is also providing fixes for various bugs in this preview release.

Windows 11 24H2 It has received an optional update that includes some useful tweaks to the interface.

This is patch KB5046740 and is in preview; So as always, if you install it you may encounter glitches; the main changes to the desktop are applied to the taskbar and start menu.

Starting with the taskbar, Microsoft Streamlined the system tray at the far right of the bar with more compact display of date and time. The year is no longer shown (let’s face it, that’s pretty redundant anyway), so for the date you only see the day and month, allowing the time and date to be shown in a small square (instead of the taller square). the rectangle also had to fit the year).

The overall effect is a more uniformly sized system tray; especially when you consider that Microsoft has made this so that the bell icon (for notifications) no longer appears in the tray when ‘Do not disturb’ mode is on. This again saves space and you can still open the notification center by clicking on the date and time field.

Moreover, we’ve also fixed a taskbar bug that caused the search box to turn into an icon when you set the bar to ‘autohide’.

Like Windows LatestDetecting all these changes, Microsoft also points out that it has made changes to the Start menu so that you can create a jump list by right-clicking on pinned applications.

If you’re not familiar with the jump list, it provides quick access to common functions used with that app or files recently opened by the app; It’s basically a handy shortcut bank.

Elsewhere, KB5046740 adds new functionality to File Explorer’s context menu; so when you right click on a file there is a new Phone connection option; Selecting this will share that file with your smartphone. Also with File Explorer, Microsoft fixed a bug. leaving too much space caused some weirdness among the icons on the left panel.

In fact, a number of bug fixes have been implemented here, including a cure for a Windows Update failure and a fix for an issue that caused the Windows clipboard history to be deleted, leaving it blank.

Using files and folders in Windows 11

(Image credit: Future)

Analysis: An option you should probably pass on

It’s worth noting that with these tweaks to the system tray on the taskbar, if you don’t like the new space-saving measures, you can turn them off and go back to normal if you wish (displaying the full date, along with the year).

This update Windows 11 interface and also implements a number of bug fixes that are useful. But speaking of bugs, we need to remind you that this is a preview update and therefore still in the testing phase; therefore, it may have its own glitches (or the bug fixes in question may not work or have undesirable side effects).

For this reason, we generally recommend staying away from preview updates unless you’re really desperate for functionality. Consider these just a glimpse of what you’ll be getting soon anyway, because this update will be Windows 11’s December patch next month (actually in just over two weeks, on December 10).

If you’ve been following Microsoft’s update schedule closely like us, you’ll probably remember that in December the company took a break for the holidays, so there was no preview when the main rollup update was released (on December 10, as mentioned). or optional update for Windows 11 will arrive in late December. The next release will be the completed patch for January and this will probably be a minor affair.

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