Windows 11 Build 22523: Uninstalling Apps and Updates Shifted To Settings

Windows 11 Insider Update Generic 1Windows 11 Insider Update Generic 1

Microsoft has made its final flight for the year 2021 with its latest Windows 11 Insider Preview release 22523 on the Dev channel. As opposed to the last flight 22518, this update will be offered to ARM64 computers.

The Preview Build 22523 includes several fixes for the operating system, but more importantly, Microsoft has focused on shifting some features from the Control Panel to the Settings app. This shift has been inaugurated in an attempt to eventually eliminate the legacy Control Panel so the new Settings app will be the modern hub for Windows configurations.

If you are subscribed to the Dev channel, you can either upgrade to this build or perform a clean installation using the ISO provided by Microsoft.

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22523

Uninstall Apps and Windows Update from the Settings App

This Insider flight now launches the Settings application when attempting to uninstall a program or a Windows update through the legacy Control Panel. The options are still present when you navigate to Control Panel >> Programs >> Programs and Features (or “Uninstall a program”), but then you are automatically redirected to Settings App >> Apps >> Installed Apps.

Furthermore, when attempting to uninstall a Windows update through the Control Panel by navigating to Control Panel >> Programs >> View installed updates, you are automatically redirected to Settings App >> Windows Update >> Update History.

Microsoft has currently left the links for these features in the Control Panel and only redirected the users to the Settings app. However, it is anticipated that soon, the options to do so from the Control Panel will be entirely eliminated and users will be left with only the Settings app to uninstall apps, programs, and Windows updates.

Other Improvements and Fixes

Some other changes and fixes have also been made with this flight:

  • [General]
    • When “This PC” is open in File Explorer, the “Connect to a Media Server” and “Remove Media Server” options are available when you click the ellipses (3 dots) in the command bar.
      connect to media server
  • [Taskbar]
    • An issue related to text input initialization that could lead to the shell (for example, Start menu and search) becoming non-responsive on ARM64 PCs has been fixed.
    • The battery icon tooltip should no longer unexpectedly show a percentage above 100.
    • App icons should no longer overlap the date & time on secondary monitors when there are a lot of open apps.
  • [File Explorer]
    • An issue that was leading to occasionally losing keyboard focus after pressing Enter when using F2 to rename OneDrive files has been addressed.
  • [Spotlight collection]
    • After enabling spotlight collection, your first image (after Whitehaven Beach) should arrive a little faster now.
    • Icons have been added to the spotlight collection context menu entries.
  • [Input]
    • Reliability of invoking voice typing has been improved.
    • An issue where the border of the text input experiences (voice typing, emoji panel, etc) wasn’t drawing correctly when a contrast theme was enabled has been fixed.
    • An intermittent crash has been mitigated with the pen menu process if it was launched and then immediately closed before the launch happened.
  • [Widgets]
    • An issue causing links to not open properly when opening the widgets board using hover has been fixed.
  • [Settings]
    • Settings content should no longer get truncated off the side of the window when making the Settings window small.
    • Settings should no longer sporadically crash when opening comboboxes.
    • An issue where the “Add a device” option in Bluetooth & Devices was silently crashing when trying to connect new Bluetooth devices has been addressed.
    • A number of keywords to make the Voice Access feature appear in settings search results have been added.
  • [Other]
    • An issue that was causing ARM64 PCs to experience bug checks citing a memory management error in the previous flight has been addressed.
    • An issue that was causing DWM to crash (causing the screen to flash repeatedly) when trying to use certain apps has been fixed.
    • An issue leading to certain apps hanging when Narrator was running has been taken care of.
    • Missing information when examining the details in the properties of narratorquickstart.exe has been added.
    • An issue where Narrator would not respond to UIA events such as notifications, live regions or text events, has been fixed.

Microsoft intimate’s the users that some of these fixes may make their way to the Windows 11 stable release through the servicing updates.

Known issues

Before installing or updating to build 22523, we suggest that you read this section thoroughly as it highlights the problems with this flight that may cause trouble later:

  • [General]
    • Users may not be able to sign into certain apps. If you experience such a problem, Microsoft suggests that you try restarting your PC and then try again.
    • Some Insiders are experiencing driver and firmware update failures in recent builds with the error 0x8007012a.
  • [Start]
    • You might be unable to enter text when using Search from the Start Menu or the Taskbar. If you experience the issue, press the Windows Key + R shortcut keys to launch the Run dialog box and then close it. This may temporarily resolve the issue.
  • [Taskbar]
    • The Taskbar may flicker at times when switching input methods.
    • The network icon sometimes goes missing in the taskbar when it’s supposed to be there. Microsoft suggests that you restart File Explorer to resolve the problem.
    • Explorer.exe will crash if you have multiple monitors connected to your PC and right-click on the date and time on the Taskbar on your primary monitor.
  • [Search]
  • [Settings]
    • The signal strength indicators may not reflect the correct signal strength when viewing the list of available Wi-Fi networks.
    • The Settings app may crash when navigating to System >> Display >> HDR.
    • There is a blank entry under Bluetooth & Devices.
      blank
  • [Spotlight collection]
    • If you’re using spotlight collection, the current image does not currently migrate on upgrade, which may leave you with a black desktop background after upgrading to this build. Microsoft says that the issue will be addressed in the next update.
  • [Widgets]
    • Changing the Taskbar alignment can cause the Widgets button to disappear.
    • Widgets board may not have the correct resolution when hovering the entry point on a secondary monitor.
    • The Widgets board may be temporarily blank.
    • The widgets content on Taskbar may get out of sync between monitors when having multiple display devices.
    • When the Taskbar is configured to left-alignement, the information (such as temperature) is not shown. This will be fixed in a future flight.
  • [Voice access]
    • Some text authoring commands, e.g., “select that” or “delete that”, may not work as expected across Windows applications.
    • Recognition of some punctuation marks and symbols such as the “@” sign is not accurate.

As we have noticed, some of the issues with this update are new, while the majority of them have been continuing with some recent flights. We strongly recommend that you consider these issues before proceeding forward with the upgrading process.

How to install Windows 11 Build 22523

To install this update, you already need to be running Windows 11 and subscribed to the Dev channel, or perform a clean install using the downloaded ISO image using the given guide.

How to install Windows 11.

Through Windows Update

Here is how to upgrade to Preview Build 22523:

  1. Navigate to the Settings app and then click Windows Update on the bottom-left. The app will then scan for pending updates. When scanned, you will see “Windows 11 Insider Preview 22523.1000 (rs_prerelease)”. Click the Download & install button.
    download and install 1
  2. The update will then begin to download and install itself. This step can take a few minutes depending upon your internet speed and PC performance. When it installs, click Restart Now.
    restart now 4

Once the computer reboots, you can check that it has been updated to build 22523.1000 by typing in winver in Run.

updated 6
Windows 11 successfully updated

Download Windows 11 Dev Build 22523 ISO Image

You can also download the ISO image for Windows 11 Build 22523 and perform a clean install. Here is how:

  1. Open the Windows Insider Preview Downloads page and log in with your Microsoft account registered with the Windows Insider program.
  2. Once logged in, scroll down and select Windows 11 Insider Preview (Dev Channel) – Build 22523 from the drop-down menu and click Confirm.
    select confirm
  3. Now select the language you want to download it in and click Confirm.
    language confirm
  4. Finally, click 64-bit Download to begin downloading the ISO image.
    64 bit

You are now set to perform a fresh installation of Windows 11 Dev Build 22523 using the downloaded ISO image.

Rollback/Uninstall 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 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 Command Prompt with administrative privileges:

dism.exe /Online /Cleanup-Image /AnalyzeComponentStore
dism.exe /Online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup
dism cleanup
DISM Cleanup
If you liked this post, Share it on:

Get Updates in Your Inbox

Sign up for the regular updates and be the first to know about the latest tech information

Subhan Zafar is an established IT professional with interests in Windows and Server infrastructure testing and research, and is currently working with Itechtics as a research consultant. He has studied Electrical Engineering and is also certified by Huawei (HCNA & HCNP Routing and Switching).

Leave the first comment