- Windows 11 build 23440 is now rolling out in the Dev Channel.
- The update introduces an option to hide the date and time from Taskbar.
- The Search box now opens on hover, and the network context menu gets diagnose option.
- Microsoft is also releasing various fixes and improvements.
Microsoft is now rolling out Windows 11 build 23440 for devices enrolled in the Dev Channel of the Windows Insider Program. This is a minor update, but it packs some interesting new features, improvements, and fixes.
Build 23440 for Windows 11, according to the official changes, introduces new note suggestions for Insiders in the Start menu. You can now hide the time and date and access the network diagnostics from the Taskbar. Also, the Taskbar Search box now has a new behavior that opens on hover. Finally, this update rolls out with a slew of fixes and improvements.
Windows 11 build 23440 changes
Here are all the new features and improvements for the latest release of Windows 11 in the Dev Channel:
New Start menu recommendations
Starting with build 23440, the Start menu will now show an option to open the release notes for Windows Insider Preview builds in the “Recommended” section.
New Taskbar changes
It’s now possible to hide the time and date from the Taskbar by turning on or off the “Hide time and date in System tray” from the “Date & time” settings page.
The context menu for the network icon in the System tray will now include the “Diagnose network problems” option to troubleshoot and fix networking issues faster.
Finally, the Taskbar Search box will now open automatically when hovering over it. You can change this behavior from the “Taskbar” settings page by turning on or off the “Open search on hover (when available)” toggle switch.
Fixes and improvements
This flight also ships with a bunch of fixes and improvements for Taskbar, Input, Settings, File Explorer, and more.
Taskbar
- Fixed a few explorer.exe crashes that were impacting taskbar reliability.
- Updated the Widgets invocation logic, so that if you brush your mouse quickly across the Widgets icon in the taskbar while travelling somewhere else, it should be less likely to accidentally open Widgets.
- Fixed an issue where the cursor wasn’t displaying correctly in the search box when using an Arabic display language.
File Explorer
- Fixed an issue where the context menu was opening far away from where your mouse had right-clicked sometimes.
- Fixed an issue which was causing some of the icons in File Explorer and the context menu to be blurry after DPI changes.
- Fixed an issue where the New button in the command bar might not show anything in the dropdown.
- Shift + Right click on a file or folder should open “Show more options” again now.
- Adjusted how Narrator was reading out the access keys after pressing the menu key, to make it clearer.
- CTRL + Mouse wheel scrolling should now resize the thumbnails in Gallery.
- Made some improvements to how Narrator reads out the recommended files.
Windowing
- Fixed a shellexperiencehost.exe crash when disconnecting from another monitor using WIN + P.
Input
- Fixed an issue where the touch keyboard didn’t correctly recognize a hardware keyboard was available in some cases.
Notifications
- Fixed an issue where 2FA codes weren’t being recognized if they were in parentheses.
Live Captions
- Fixed an issue that was causing live captions to crash on first launch due to an issue impacting registry data retrieval.
- Adding enhanced language recognition support in Language & region settings will now install the right files on ARM64 devices.
- Fixed an issue in Language & region settings that caused language feature installation progress to be hidden.
- Fixed an issue causing live captions’ Add a language menu icon and label to overlap.
Task Manager
- Double clicking Task Manager’s title bar to maximize the window should work again now.
- Fixed a Task Manager crash which was impacting Insiders in the last couple flights.
Accessibility
- Fixed an issue that was leaving voice access’s window empty after opening.
- Fixed an issue where voice access was crashing when using the command to go to the start of a document.
- Fixed an issue where Narrator’s CTRL + Narrator + Home and Ctrl + Narrator + End commands to move to the beginning and end of text weren’t working correctly in Edge.
This release also has known issues with the File Explorer, Live Captions, and Taskbar.
Install build 23440
If you want to download and install the Windows 11 build 23440, enroll your device in the Dev Channel using the “Windows Insider Program” settings from the “Windows Update” section.
Once you enroll the computer in the program, you can download build 23440 from the “Windows Update” settings by clicking the Check for Updates button. However, you will need a device that meets the minimum system requirements to receive the update if you are new to the Windows Insider Program.
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].