April 22, 2025—KB5055629 (OS 22621.5262 and 22631.5262) Preview

A gradual rollout distributes a release update over a period of time, rather than all at once. This means that users receive the updates at different times, and it might not be immediately available to all users. To see the status of this feature, go to Windows release health dashboard.​​​​​​​

• [File Explorer] 

  • New! Pivot-based curated views on File Explorer Home that supports ease of access of Microsoft 365 content on Windows. Be more productive and get highly relevant content at your fingertips on File Explorer Home.

  • Fixed: Improved the performance of extracting zipped files, particularly in the case where you’re unzipping a large number of small files.

• [Narrator] New! Keep track of what Narrator has spoken and access it for quick reference. With speech recap, you can quickly access spoken content, follow along with live transcription, and copy what Narrator last said—all with simple keyboard shortcuts.

• [Phone Link] New! You can do even more with your Windows PC and your mobile device with direct access to cross-device features from the Start menu. For example, you can make phone calls, send SMS messages, access your photos, or share content between your mobile device and PC.

• [Widgets]

  • New! Web developers can use their existing content to create interactive widgets that can be added to multiple widgets surfaces. For more info, see Web widget providers​​​​​​​.

  • New!  Support for lock screen widgets (previously referred to as “Weather and more”) arrives on devices in the European Economic Area (EEA). You can add, remove, and rearrange lock screen widgets such as Weather, Watchlist, Sports, Traffic, and more. Any widget that supports the small sizing option can be added. To customize your lock screen widgets, navigate to Settings > Personalization > Lock screen​​​​​​​.

• [Desktop icons] The logic for apps pinned to the desktop has been updated, so that packaged apps no longer show an accent colored backplate. For example, if you were to drag and drop Snipping Tool from the apps list in Start to the desktop the icons should be bigger and easier to see now.

• [Start]

  • Fixed: You can’t use touch gestures to view the list of apps pinned in the Start menu.

  • Fixed: The Sign out and More options​​​​​​​  buttons in the Start menu account manager might not be visible with increased text size.

• [Taskbar] Fixed: If you use the arrow keys after pressing the Windows key + T, the arrows move in the wrong direction for Arabic and Hebrew display languages.

This non-security update includes quality improvements. Key changes include:

• This build includes all the improvements in Windows 11, version 22H2.

• No additional issues are documented for this release.

This non-security update includes quality improvements. The following summary outlines key issues addressed by the KB after you install it. Also, included are available new features. The bold text within the brackets indicates the item or area of the change.

• [Server Message Block (SMB)] Fixed: An issue where an Excel file, hosted on a SMB file share with Access Based Enumeration enabled, containing links to multiple other files hosted on network shares, might take longer to open.

• [Sign in Impact] Fixed: An issue affecting the USBxHCI controller and all devices that connect to your computer using a USB port on Intel(R) Core(TM) Ultra 200V Series Processors. The built-in USB camera won't work with Windows Hello sign-in unless you manually disable Enhanced Sign-in Security (ESS). To turn off ESS, go to Settings > Accounts > Sign-in options > Additional settings > Sign in with an external camera or fingerprint reader > toggle switch ON. If you create a Windows Hello container while using Windows 11, version 23H2, it might prevent you from using ESS after you upgrade to Windows 11, version 24H2 

• [Xbox] ​​​​​​​

  • This update addresses an issue affecting Xbox Elite Wireless Controllers with certain firmware versions, where the keyboard might not function and displays an error indicator in the device manager.

  • Fixed: The driver verifier stops responding during gamepad controller driver certification, affecting Windows Hardware Quality Labs testing.​​​​​​​

• [Windows Kernel Vulnerable Driver Blocklist file (DriverSiPolicy.p7b)] This update adds to the list of drivers that are at risk for Bring Your Own Vulnerable Driver (BYOVD) attacks.

Applies to​​​​​​​: All users

Symptom

Devices that have certain Citrix components installed might be unable to complete installation of the January 2025 Windows security update. This issue was observed on devices with Citrix Session Recording Agent (SRA) version 2411. The 2411 version of this application was released in December 2024.
 
Affected devices might initially download and apply the January 2025 Windows security update correctly, such as via the Windows Update page in Settings. However, when restarting the device to complete the update installation, an error message with text similar to “Something didn’t go as planned. No need to worry – undoing changes” appears. The device will then revert to the Windows updates previously present on the device. 
 
This issue likely affects a limited number of organizations as version 2411 of the SRA application is a new version. Home users are not expected to be affected by this issue. 

Workaround

Citrix has documented this issue, including a workaround, which can be performed prior to installing the January 2025 Windows security update. For details, see Citrix’s documentation.

Microsoft is working with Citrix to address this issue and will update this documentation once a resolution is available. ​​​​​​​

Symptom

Devices which have installed the April Windows monthly security update, released April 8, 2025, or later (starting with KB5055528) might be unable to update to Windows 11, version 24H2 via Windows Server Update Services (WSUS). WSUS allows Servers with the WSUS role to defer, selectively approve, and schedule updates for specific devices or groups across an organization.

As part of this issue, the download of Windows 11, version 24H2, doesn't initiate or complete. Windows updates log can show error code 0x80240069, and further logs might include text similar to "Service has unexpectedly stopped". 

Home users are unlikely to experience this issue, as WSUS is designed for use across business and enterprise environments.

Workaround

We are presently investigating and will provide an update when more information is available.