- The March 2024 Patch Tuesday Update (KB5035845) is now available for Windows 10 22H2 and 21H2.
- The update rolls out changes to comply with the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and issues security fixes.
- Windows 10 versions 1809, 1607, and 1507 also receive updates as part of the March release.
On March 12, 2024, Microsoft starts the rollout of the update KB5035845 for Windows 10 22H2 and version 21H2 with new security fixes, improvements, and changes to comply with the Digital Markets Act (DMA) for users in the European Union.
According to the official website announcement, update KB5035845 bumps the version number to build 19045.4170 for version 22H2 and 19044.4170 for version 21H2 and rolls out the DMA changes to allow you to remove more built-in apps, such as Edge and Bing. Microsoft is also making changes to enable users to add different news feeds to the Widgets dashboard and disable Bing search from the Taskbar.
The company is also making changes to ensure that your Microsoft account won’t automatically connect to other Microsoft services and, moving forward, will be more transparent in collecting user data.
As part of the March 2024 for everyone, this release brings the Spotlight feature to use dynamic wallpapers from Bing on the desktop.
The Share interface now allows you to share content directly into apps like WhatsApp, Gmail, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
The update also fixes problems with Azure Virtual Desktop sessions, game installations on secondary drives, Windows Hello for Business authentication, Microsoft Edge UI, Japanese IME, and Remote Desktop Web Authentication. Since this update replaces the preview update KB5034843, it also includes the improvements and fixes from the February 16, 2024, release.
Microsoft also notes that version 21H2 will stop receiving updates on June 11, 2024, for Enterprise, Education, IoT Enterprise, and Enterprise multi-session. The Home and Pro editions of version 21H2 have no longer been updated since June 13, 2023.
Older versions of Windows 10
In addition, the company is making available updates for older versions of the operating system, including versions 1809, 1607, and 1507.
For example, the company is rolling out the update KB5035849 for version 1809, bumping the build number to 17763.5576, and fixing some security problems and minor improvements.
Windows 10 1607 receives the update KB5035855, which bumps the version to build 14393.6796 and resolves a couple of problems with this version.
Finally, Windows 10 1507 is getting the update KB5035858, which increases the version to build 10240.20526 and introduces some miscellaneous security fixes.
March 2024 update installation
The update is available starting March 12, 2024, and will download and install automatically. However, you can always force the update from Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update, click the “Check for updates” button, and use the option to install the optional update.
If you prefer manually installing the March 2024 update, download it from the Microsoft Update Catalog website.
Microsoft is also releasing the update KB5035853 for Windows 11 as part of the March update.
Mauro Huculak is a Windows How-To Expert who started Pureinfotech in 2010 as an independent online publication. He has also been a Windows Central contributor for nearly a decade. Mauro has over 15 years of experience writing comprehensive guides and creating professional videos about Windows and software, including Android and Linux. Before becoming a technology writer, he was an IT administrator for seven years. In total, Mauro has over 21 years of combined experience in technology. Throughout his career, he achieved different professional certifications from Microsoft (MSCA), Cisco (CCNP), VMware (VCP), and CompTIA (A+ and Network+), and he has been recognized as a Microsoft MVP for many years. You can follow him on X (Twitter), YouTube, LinkedIn and About.me. Email him at [email protected].