Windows 11 Build 22621.1776 Brings Several New Features on the Release Preview Channel

Microsoft has released today the Windows 11 preview build 22621.1776 to Insiders on the Release Preview channel. This new build introduces several new features that the company has been testing with Insiders on other rings, including the option to display seconds in the system tray clock and new access key shortcuts in File Explorer.

The Windows Insider team emphasized that Insiders on the Release Preview channel will need to turn on the new toggle in Windows Update for getting the latest updates as soon as they’re available to receive all these new features quickly. Otherwise, they will roll out gradually to all testers on this channel.

Here are the main new features rolling out in today’s build 22621.1176:

Display seconds on system tray clock: After rebuilding the taskbar from scratch on Windows 11, Microsoft is bringing back another feature that was available on previous versions of Windows.

VPN status icon in system tray: The new VPN icon indicates when you’re connected to a recognized VPN profile

New print screen key behavior: Pressing the print screen key now opens the Snipping Tool by default.

Access key shortcuts in File Explorer’s context menu: These new access key shortcuts make it easier to cut, copy, share, or delete content in the context menu of File Explorer

New languages for live captions: The new accessibility feature now supports Chinese, French (Canada), German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish, Danish, English (Ireland and other dialects, and Korean).

Voice Access improvements: Microsoft has redesigned the in-app voice access command help page and added support for more English dialects.

Content Adaptive Brightness Control (CABC): On laptops and 2-in-1 devices, CABC can dim or brighten areas of a display based on the content. However, it must be enabled by hardware manufacturers.

Presence sensor privacy settings: On devices with compatible presence sensors, users can now choose the apps that can access those sensors.

USB4 hubs and devices Settings page: This new page provides information about attached USB4 peripherals on devices that support them.

Multi-app kiosk mode: This new feature offers lockdown customization options on Windows 11 devices used by multiple people.

Live kernel memory dump (LKD) collection from Task Manager: This feature lets developers gather data to troubleshoot an issue with an app.

With Microsoft’s new “continuous innovation” paradigm, the company can roll out new Windows 11 features without the need for a major update. You can expect these new features to be included in the next optional non-security update for Windows 11 version 22H2, which will be released in the last week of May. The public rollout should follow next month with the June Patch Tuesday update.

“We will not be releasing new build for the Canary or Dev Channels this week. Know that we’re hard at work prepping for next week,” the Windows Insider team also tweeted today.