Since this is an optional update, it needs to be installed manually; either through Windows Update or standalone installers that are given in the downloads section below. KB5018496 does not include any significant new features for the Windows 11 operating system, but many improvements and fixes. Finally, the option to open the Task Manager from the taskbar’s context menu makes its way to the stable channel. Installing this update will upgrade its build to 22621.755. We would also like to highlight that KB5018496 was also released to the Release Preview channel last week for the Insiders but only upgraded the build to 22621.754. This is common practice for Microsoft as a way of making an update safer through iterations when the update becomes publically available in next month’s Patch Tuesday. Let us now continue to see the details of this update and how to install it.

Windows 11 Build 22621.755 Summary

Here are some of the important details about this build for Windows 11. Here is the list of the latest Windows 11 builds and versions for each channel for your information:

Windows 11 Latest Versions Numbers

New in KB5018496 (Build 22621.755)

The following list of improvements has been included with this release:

Open Task Manager from Taskbar

Users can now open the Task Manager directly from the taskbar’s context menu. This feature was available earlier in Windows 10 but deprecated in Windows 11. Microsoft says that this feature has been restored based on the consumer’s feedback for its need.

Other Fixes and Improvements

A plethora of other fixes and improvements have also been included with this update. Here is a list:

Improvements have been made to the Microsoft Account experience in the Settings app. For instance, you can manage your Microsoft OneDrive subscription and related storage alerts.The search visual treatments on the taskbar have been enhanced to improve discoverability. This is available to a small audience initially and deploys more broadly in the months that follow.The backup experience when using your Microsoft Account (MSA) has been improved. Some devices might notice visual treatments for this enhancement.Microsoft has enabled the “ms-appinstaller” Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) to work for the DesktopAppInstaller.It stops the start of daylight saving time in Jordan at the end of October 2022. The Jordan time zone will permanently shift to the UTC + 3 time zone.An issue that affects Distributed Component Object Model (DCOM) authentication hardening is now fixed. It automatically raises the authentication level for all non-anonymous activation requests from DCOM clients to RPC_C_AUTHN_LEVEL_PKT_INTEGRITY.An issue that affects the Windows Search service has been addressed. Indexing progress was slow when you used the service.An issue that affects cached credentials for security keys and Fast Identity Online 2.0 (FIDO2) authentications is addressed. On hybrid domain-joined devices, the system removed these cached credentials.An issue that might affect some types of Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) and Transport Layer Security (TLS) connections has been fixed. These connections might have had handshake failures. For developers, the affected connections are likely to send multiple frames followed by a partial frame with a size of fewer than 5 bytes within a single input buffer. If the connection fails, your app will receive the error, “SEC_E_ILLEGAL_MESSAGE”.An issue that affects the Microsoft Azure Active Directory (AAD) Application Proxy connector is fixed. It could not retrieve a Kerberos ticket on behalf of the user.An issue that affects certificate mapping is now taken care of. When it failed, lsass.exe would stop working in schannel.dll.An issue that affects Microsoft Edge when it is in IE Mode is addressed. The titles of pop-up windows and tabs were wrong.An issue that affects Microsoft Edge IE mode is taken care of. It stopped users from opening web pages. This occurred when they enabled Windows Defender Application Guard (WDAG) and did not configure Network Isolation policies.An issue that affects title bars when using third-party tools to customize them is fixed. The title bars did not render properly. This update ensures that title bars render; however, Microsoft does not guarantee all text customizations will work as before.An issue that might cause vertical and horizontal line artifacts to appear on the screen has been fixed.An issue that affects Input Method Editors (IME) from Microsoft and third parties is fixed. They stopped working when closing the IME window. This occurred if the IME uses Windows Text Services Framework (TSF) 1.0.An issue that might fail to sync the audio when you record gameplay using the Xbox Game Bar is now fixed.The Windows kernel vulnerable driver blocklist has been updated (that is in the DriverSiPolicy.p7b file). This update also ensures that the blocklist is the same across Windows 10 and Windows 11.It extends Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) control of Hypervisor-Protected Code Integrity (HVCI) enforcement for targeted hardware configurations.An issue that affects File Explorer is fixed. It is less dependable when you browse Microsoft OneDrive folders.An issue that affects the button style BS_PUSHLIKE has been fixed. Buttons that have this style were difficult to identify against a dark background.An issue that stops the credential UI from displaying in IE mode when you use Microsoft Edge has been addressed.An issue that affects the Server Manager is fixed. It used to reset the wrong disk when several disks have the same UniqueId.An issue that affects the CopyFile function is fixed. It returned ERROR_INVALID_HANDLE instead of ERROR_FILE_NOT_FOUND when it was called with an invalid source file.An issue that affects the Start menu is addressed. It stopped working when you used keyboard commands to move pinned items to a folder at the end of a list.

With these fixes and improvements, there are also a few known issues that Microsoft has warned us about.

Known Issues

Provisioning Windows 11 22H2

Microsoft warns its users that provisioning the Windows 11 version 22H2 might not work as expected and may cause issues. It can cause the Windows 11 operating system to be configured only partially or can cause the OS to restart when on the Out Of Box Experience (OOBE) screens. Provisioning is done by IT administrators when setting up new devices for businesses or schools using .PPKG files. Currently, the only workaround Microsoft came up with is to provision the Windows device before upgrading to the 2022 update, while they work on a permanent fix.

Slow File Transfers

Another issue that Microsoft acknowledged is the slow file transfers in Windows 11 22H2. As per an earlier announcement on Microsoft Tech Community, the company confirmed that updating your operating systems to Windows 11 2022 Update slows down file transfers of larger files (files in GBs) by almost 40% of the regular speed. Since the file transfer uses the SMB protocol, there ought to be an issue with the protocol itself resulting in slower file transfer speeds for larger files. However, according to Microsoft, the problem isn’t with the protocol. As a workaround, Microsoft recommends using the Robocopy command-line utility to transfer files from one place to another over the network. This will restore the transfer speeds to the older Windows 11 version 21H2 speed. Alternatively, you can also use the xcopy command with a similar syntax to Robocopy. You can use the command Robocopy with the /J switch to transfer large files without buffering. Here is the syntax to be used in an elevated Command Prompt: Replace someserver and someshare with the complete server name and file name that needs to be copied, respectively. Also, replace somefolder with the name of the folder where you want to replace the copied file, and somefile.exe with the file name and extension you wish to save the file as. This is the only workaround for now till Microsoft works on a permanent fix. After considering both the improvements as well as the known issues in this update, if you still feel like upgrading to this build, continue to learn how.

How to Install Windows 11 Build 22621.755 (KB5018496)

This update can be installed through Windows Update as well as using standalone installers.

Offline Installers

Click on the respective link below to download KB5019509 for Windows 11 2022 Update. Download KB5018496 Preview for Windows 11 22H2 for x64-based Systems [249.4 MB] Download KB5018496 Preview for Windows 11 22H2 for ARM64-based Systems [345.0 MB] To install the update, simply run the downloaded MSU file and Windows will automatically install the update. To download any other updates related to any of the above, please check the Microsoft Catalog.

Windows Update

To install this update via Windows Update, you need to be running Windows 11 version 22H2. To check your version of the operating system, type in winver in Run and press Enter. Follow these steps to install the update via Windows Update: Once the computer restarts, you can verify that the OS has been updated by typing in winver in the Run Command box.KB5018496 installed successfully Click Download and install under it.

Rollback/Remove Windows Cumulative Update

If you do not wish to keep the installed update for some reason, you can always roll back to the previous build of the OS. However, this can only be performed within the next 10 days after installing the new update. To roll back after 10 days, you will need to apply this trick.

Cleanup After Installing Windows Updates

If you want to save space after installing Windows updates, you can run the following commands one after the other in an elevated Command Prompt: Also see:

Windows 11 Build 22621.754 (KB5018496) Allows You To Delete Biometric DataWindows 11 21H2 Build 22000.1163 (KB5018483) Adds Task Manager To Taskbar’s Context MenuWindows 11 Builds 22623.870 & 22621.870 (KB5018499) Automatically Changes Braille Drivers For Screen ReadersWindows 11 Preview Builds 22622.440 & 22621.440 (KB5015890) Brings Taskbar Overflow To Beta ChannelDownload KB5021255 & KB5021234 Patch Tuesday Updates For Windows 11 22H2 & 21H2