- Microsoft is working on several new improvements for the Settings app.
- These features include a new Home page for the app.
- Settings to create and manage virtual drives from Disks & volumes.
- In addition, there’s a new “Presence sensing” and “Keyboard” pages
Microsoft is working on a few new features and improvements for the Settings app on Windows 11, including a new Home page, the ability to create and manage Virtual Hard Disks (VHDs), and a new presence sensing page.
In addition to the new “End Task” option coming to the Taskbar JumpList and the interface improvements for the Snap Layouts flyout, Windows 11 build 25300 hides at least three improvements coming to the Settings app.
According to a few tweets from @thebookisclosed, the Settings app will include a “Home” page that is expected to be the default page when opening the app. The settings page already appears in the latest preview of Windows 11, but it doesn’t have any of the elements that are expected to appear on this page.
On the “Disks & volumes” page, Microsoft is also working on a new interface to create and manage VHDs. The experience will bring up a wizard to create a VHD or VHDX using a fixed size or dynamically expanding and the option to create a GPT (GUID Partition Table) or MBR (Master Boot Record) partition.
You can already create a virtual drive from the Computer Management app or PowerShell, but now, you will also be able to perform the same task from the Settings app.
In the “Privacy & security” section, the Settings app is also gaining a new “Presence sensing” page that introduces several new settings, including “Presence sensing access,” “Let apps access presence sensing,” “Let desktop app access presence sensing,” and “Recent activity.”
Presence sensing seems to refer to the features that can use the sensors on the device that can help determine whether you are near the device. These new settings will allow controlling whether apps can access the sensors to detect your presence.
Finally, in the “Time & language” section, the “Typing” settings page now becomes “Keyboard,” and it combines the existing “Typing” settings with the ability to add new keyboard languages and an option to change the default keyboard.
Although these settings already appear in the Settings app, they are experimental changes, meaning it’s unclear when or if they will ever become available in a future feature update or version of Windows.
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 14 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 20 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].