Windows 11 build 23481

10.0.23481.1000.ni_prerelease.230609-1655

Build of Nickel
OS family	Windows 11 (NT 10.0)
Version number	10.0
Build number	23481
Build revision	1000
Architecture	AMD64, ARM64
Build lab	ni_prerelease
Compiled on	2023-06-09
Expiration date
Timebomb	2023-09-15 (+98 days)
SKUs
Home (N, Single Language, China) SE (N) Pro (N, Single Language, China) Pro Education (N) Pro for Workstations (N) Education (N) Enterprise (Evaluation, G, GN, N, N Evaluation) IoT Enterprise Team
About dialog

Windows 11 build 23481 is an Insider Preview build of Nickel, the 22H2 development semester of Windows as a service. It was released to Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel on 14 June 2023, along with build 25393.

New features and changes

Windows Copilot

Windows Copilot, the AI personal assistant powered by Bing Chat and ChatGPT and initially announced during the Microsoft Build 2023 conference, has been partially implemented. It's currently only available to run through Microsoft Edge Canary, and most of its features have not yet been implemented. It's also disabled by default, but can be toggled on manually by the following steps:

1. Enable the 44788892 velocity ID and then restart Windows (A non-functional Copilot button will be pinned to the taskbar)
2. Install the latest version of Microsoft Edge Canary
3. Execute the command: "%LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\Edge SxS\Application\msedge.exe" --enable-features=msEdgeAskCopilot,msShorelineToolbarWinCopilot,msEdgeSidebarIntoFRE,msStandaloneSidebarFramework,msUndersideSidebarPinning
4. Click on the Bing button to launch Windows Copilot

File Explorer

• The ability to tear out and merge tabs, initially introduced in build 23471, has been rolled out to all users.
• The "Show files from Office.com" text in Folder Options has been changed to "Include account-based insights, recent, favorite, and recommended files."
• When pressing Ctrl+V to paste an image in the Gallery page, the image will be placed into the default pictures folder.
• The removal of the following legacy options under Folder Options, initially implemented in build 23403.1001 and build 25314, has been publicly rolled out. This change can be toggled on manually by enabling the 40608813 velocity ID:
  • Always show icons, never thumbnails
  • Display file icon on thumbnails
  • Display file type information on folder tips
  • Hide folder merge conflicts
  • Hide protected operating system files
  • Show drive letters
  • Show encrypted or compressed NTFS files in color
  • Show pop-up description for folder and desktop items
  • Use sharing wizard

Shell

• The support of ungrouping taskbar buttons and showing app labels on the taskbar, previously re-introduced in build 23466.1001, has been rolled out to all users.
• The ability to label apps with the word "Microsoft" in its name as system apps under Start menu's All Apps section has been implemented. This feature is disabled by default, but can be toggled on manually by enabling the 44573982 velocity ID.

Settings

• A new "Development" toggle switch has been added under Personalization > Device usage, and toggling it on will launch the Dev Home app. This feature is disabled by default, but can be toggled on manually by enabling the 43489782 and 44217597 velocity IDs.
• A new "Show account-related notifications" toggle swich has been added under Personalization > Start to toggle on and off the dot-style notification badge on the Start menu's user profile icon. This feature can be toggled on manually by enabling the 43698028 velocity ID.

Windows Ink

The Windows Ink has been updated to allow users to enable inking directly onto edit fields, along with accuracy improvements to recognition and scratch out gestures. These features can be managed via the "Shell Handwriting" option under Bluetooth and devices > Pen and Windows Ink in the Settings app, and only support the English (United States) language. These features are also only available to a subset of users, but can be toggled on manually by enabling the 41799415, 43679417 and 44504204 velocity IDs.

Accessibility

Several new text authoring commands in voice access, initially introduced in build 23466.1001, has been rolled out to all users.

Miscellaneous

The removal of the Chat from Microsoft Teams integration, the Chat icon on the taskbar and the Chat icon toggle switch under Personalization > Taskbar > Taskbar items in the Settings app, initially implemented in build 23466.1001, has been publicly rolled out. This change can be toggled on manually by enabling the 44520430 velocity ID.

Bugfixes

File Explorer

• Fixed an issue where the icons in the File Explorer context menu could be blurry.
• Fixed an issue where sync status icons for files backing up to a storage provider were not reliably displayed.
• Fixed an issue for authentication errors on the Home page where the Please Sign-in button appeared but clicking on it did not pop-up the authentication dialog.
• Fixed the issue when hovering the mouse over the Details button, the tooltip would block the Close button for the window.
• The following fixes are applied when the changes to the File Explorer (introduced in build 23466.1001) are enabled:
  • Fixed the direction of the search icon within the tab when doing a search in File Explorer.
  • Fixed an issue where tabbing from the command bar wouldn't land focus inside the current folder.
  • Fixed an issue when setting focus into the address bar to edit the path, users wouldn't be able to use tab to move focus out of it.
  • Fixed the issue that was preventing users from going into edit mode if the current path is longer than the available space in the address bar.
• The following fixes are applied when the redesigned Home page is enabled:
  • Fixed an issue where hovering over folders in the Quick Access section of Home was causing the name to disappear and the icon to slide to the side if the checkboxes are enabled.
  • Fixed the issue where dragging and dropping into the Favorites or Quick Access sections won't work correctly.

Taskbar

Fixed an issue where navigating the search flyout on the taskbar with the keyboard arrow keys did not work as expected.

Dev Drive

• Fixed the issue that was causing additional filters beyond AV to be attached to the Dev Drive on a reboot.
• Fixed an issue that was causing a bugcheck when using Dev Drive.

Bugs and quirks

File Explorer

• File Explorer may crash when dragging the scroll bar or attempting to close the window during an extended file-loading process.
• Users may experience thumbnail loading performance for dehydrated cloud files and memory usage in large collections if the Gallery page is enabled.
• Clicking on the Share command may bring up the Windows share sheet (non-OneDrive) when the file recommendations feature is enabled.
• The count shown for selected files in the Details pane may be extremely large.
• The following issues will only apply if the redesigned Home page is enabled:
  • The file type icons may be displayed in place of file thumbnails under the Recommended section.
  • When navigating from another group to the Recommended section using a keyboard, focus may not appear on the group header or files appropriately.
  • The file name extensions may be displayed even if the "Hide extensions for known file types" option under Folder Options is checked.
  • Sync status icons for files backing up to a storage provider may not reliably displayed.
• The following issues will only apply if the changes to the File Explorer (introduced in build 23466) are enabled:
  • Users may notice missing craftmanship polish with the modernized address bar and search box.
  • Users may experience lost keyboard focus and missing keyboard shortcuts.
  • File Explorer may crash when clicking the ellipsis and chevron next to it in the address bar to open the flyout.

Taskbar

• Text scaling may not work in the search flyout.
• Navigating the search flyout on the taskbar with the keyboard arrow keys may not work as expected.

Dev Drive

The performance of Dev Drive may vary between different devices.

Windows Ink

The following issues will only apply if the aforementioned Windows Ink feature is enabled:

• Users may not use handwriting to erase text in Microsoft Edge.
• The address box in Microsoft Edge, as well as search boxes and comment fields in Microsoft 365 applications may not work correctly.
• Windows Ink may not convert handwriting to text into the main content in Microsoft 365 applications.

Dynamic lighting

• The device LEDs may not turn on automatically on first boot after installing this build and connecting the device.
• All-device settings changes may not propagate to per-device settings.
• Device icons may be missing from the device cards under the Dynamic Lighting page in the Settings app.
• Switching user accounts may turn off device LEDs.

Shell

The copy button for copying two-factor authentication codes in notification toasts may not work.

Safe mode

• Quick Settings and date/time clock on the taskbar may be missing due to the Capability Access Manager Service service not running.
• Clicking Bluetooth & devices and Personalization pages may crash the Settings app due to an overrun of a stack-based buffer 0xc0000409.

Gallery

• 

  Boot screen

• 

  Desktop with the Copilot icon on the taskbar

• 

  The Device usage page in the Settings app

• 

  The Start page in the Settings app

External links

• Official announcement