If you are running Windows 11 and are a member of Windows Insiders, you are eligible to download and install this update. When I ran Windows Update to download the build 22000.160, it completed the download process in a few minutes. That means it is not a very heavy update. But a restart is required after installing the update. When you run Windows Update, it will show up as Cumulative Update for Windows 11 (10.0.22000.160) (KB5005189).
Download Windows 11 Insider Preview ISO
Previously, Windows 11 ISO was not available for download. Users had to install Windows 10 first and then opt into the Windows Insider program to install Windows 11 Insider Preview. However, Microsoft has made Windows 11 Insider Preview ISO available for download and clean install. Here is how you can download the ISO: Both the editions are 64-bit as Windows 11 does not support 32-bit installations. When you clean install Windows 11 using the above mentioned ISO images, you will have the option to install the following editions from the same ISO: Home, Pro, Education, and Home Single Language. Enterprise edition is not yet available but if you want to try out all the features of Enterprise edition, select Education edition for installation as it will come with all the features of Enterprise.
New clock and Focus sessions in Windows 11
In the last few releases, Microsoft introduced the new snipping tool and updates to calculator and mail and calendar apps. In Build 22000.160, Microsoft has released a new clock through the Microsoft Store. The new clock is geared towards increasing the productivity of users by combining focus sessions, Microsoft Todo and Spotify. Focus sessions can set timers for specific tasks that can be selected from the Microsoft Todo list. During these sessions, you can set the focus timer and play your favorite music on Spotify. This is Microsoft’s way of making users productive. Although not all users may agree with it, according to Spotify research, audio reduces the chance of getting distracted by other things.
Windows 11 Build 22000.160 improvements and fixes
Apart from the two major changes mentioned above, the following are some of the improvements and fixes made in this build:
The estimated time to restart will only be shown on the system with an SSD. If you are running Windows 11 on an HDD, the estimated time to restart will not be shown. This feature will be added back once Microsoft fixes a few bugs with the estimation.The issue where the “location in use” icon starts showing in the taskbar when the location usage is blocked in preferences has been fixed.
Windows 11 Build 22000.160 known issues
There are still a lot of known issues in this build which will be fixed in the upcoming versions of Windows 11 Insider Preview. Here’s the list:
[REMINDER] When upgrading to Windows 11 from Windows 10 or when installing an update to Windows 11, some features may be deprecated or removed. See details here.We’re investigating an issue where on some devices, when going to Settings > Windows Update > Windows Insider Program, only the “Stop getting preview builds” option is visible. This prevents Insiders from selecting a channel. We have posted a workaround on Answers.[BETA CHANNEL] We’re investigating reports from Insiders in the Beta Channel where after upgrading to Windows 11, they are not seeing the new Taskbar and the Start menu doesn’t work. To workaround this if you are impacted, please try going to Windows Update > Update history, uninstalling the latest cumulative update for Windows, and the reinstall it by checking for updates.We’re working on a fix for an issue that is causing some Surface Pro X devices to bug check with a WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR.Start:In some cases, you might be unable to enter text when using Search from Start or the Taskbar. If you experience the issue, press WIN + R on the keyboard to launch the Run dialog box, then close it.System and Windows Terminal is missing when right-clicking on the Start button (WIN + X).Taskbar:The Taskbar will sometimes flicker when switching input methods.Search:After clicking the Search icon on the Taskbar, the Search panel may not open. If this occurs, restart the “Windows Explorer” process, and open the search panel again.Search panel might appear as black and not display any content below the search box.On pen enabled devices, apps may not launch from the Search panel. If you experience this issue, please log out and back in to resolve the issue.Settings:Certain searches using the search box in Settings may crash Settings.Bluetooth:We’re investigating reports from Insiders with paired Bluetooth LE devices that are experiencing an increase in Bluetooth reliability issues and bugchecks after resume from hibernate or when Bluetooth is turned off.Widgets:The widgets board may appear empty. To work around the issue, you can sign out and then sign back in again.Widgets may be displayed in the wrong size on external monitors. If you encounter this, you can launch the widgets via touch or WIN + W shortcut on your actual PC display first and then launch on your secondary monitors.[Family widget] Some users may see a ‘connect a device to see screen time activity’ message even with screen time settings enable.[Family widget] Location information may not be available for some users on iOS.Store:We are working to improve search relevance in the Store including resolving an issue where in some cases the ordering of search results is inaccurate.The install button might not be functional yet in some limited scenarios.Rating and reviews are not available for some apps.Windows SandboxWithin Windows Sandbox, the language input switcher does not launch after clicking the switcher icon on the Taskbar. As a workaround, users can switch their input language via any of the following hardware keyboard shortcuts: Alt + Shift, Ctrl + Shift, or Win + Space (the third option is available only if Sandbox is full-screened).Within Windows Sandbox, the IME context menu does not launch after clicking the IME icon in the Taskbar. As workarounds, users can access the functionalities of the IME context menu with either of following methods:Accessing the IME settings via Settings > Time & language > Language & region > (e.g. Japanese) three dots > Language options > (e.g. Microsoft IME) three dots > Keyboard options.Optionally, you may also enable the IME toolbar, an alternative UI to quickly invoke specific IME functions. Continuing from above, navigate to Keyboard options > Appearance > Use IME toolbar.Using the unique set of hardware keyboard shortcuts associated with each IME-supported language. (See: Japanese IME Shortcuts, Traditional Chinese IME Shortcuts).LocalizationThere is an issue where some Insiders may be some missing translations from their user experience for a small subset of languages running the latest Insider Preview builds. To confirm if you have been impacted, please visit this Answers forum post and follow the steps for remediation.Chat from Microsoft TeamsExperience is localized for English (US) only. Additional languages and locales forthcoming.When you make an outgoing call, while you do not hear a ring tone, the user interface shows that the call is getting connected.In a video call, sometimes people videos freeze or display a black image. There is a workaround to this issue, which is to pin the video that freezes and unpin it to fix the problem.When switching between calls, the previous call is not automatically put on hold, so audio and video streams continue on both calls. Be sure to complete a call before taking another.
More information here.
How to install Windows 11 Build 22000.160 (KB5005189)
To install this update, you already need to be running Windows 11. If you want to install Windows 11, you can follow this guide here. Alternatively, you can download an ISO using the method mentioned above and then upgrade to Build 22000.160. Once done with the installation, continue checking for new updates on Windows 11. You will see the following item in the available updates: Pressing the Download now button will start the download process. Once downloaded, the update will install automatically and show a Restart message. You can either restart right away or set a time so Windows can restart automatically when the system is not being used.
Rollback/remove Windows 11 Insider Preview update
If you do not wish to keep the installed preview 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 rollback 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 Command Prompt with administrative privileges: Have you installed Windows 11 yet? Please let us know about this update in the comments below.
