Microsoft Releases September Optional Update for Windows 11

Microsoft has released today the optional September update for Windows 11 versions 23H2 and 22H2. This update brings a couple of new features that will start rolling out with next month’s Patch Tuesday update, as well as improvements to the Account Manager in Start Menu, media controls on the Lock Screen, and more.

Here are the main changes that will be rolling out gradually to users who install this optional patch (KB5043145):

Taskbar: You can now share local files directly from the search results that appear in the Search box on the taskbar.

Start Menu: The “Sign out” option now appears on the account manager when you open the Start menu, and a new ellipses (…) button makes it easier to change to a different user.

Lock screen: Microsoft has redesigned the media controls on the lock screen and moved them to the lower bottom center of the screen.

Settings app: The Delivery Optimization Settings page now matches the design language of Windows 11. Microsoft also added a new option for managing a Copilot Pro subscription in the app.

Windows Share: With this update, Microsoft has removed the search box from the Windows Share window.

In this optional update, Microsoft has also fixed the issue causing Task Manager to stop responding when users switch from a high contrast theme to a normal theme. Another bug causing Microsoft Edge to stop responding when using Internet Explorer mode has also been addressed.

For Windows 10 users, Microsoft also released the optional KB5043131 patch two days ago. With this update, Microsoft is testing a new background color for the left pane of the Start Menu to make menu items stand out more. Users may also notice that their profile picture has been moved to a different position.

As of this writing, the optional September update for Windows 11 version 24H2 isn’t available yet, but it may be coming later today. Stay tuned as we’ll let you know when it shows up on Windows Update.