Microsoft’s latest update for Windows 11 is here. The August patch fixes a notable bug in BitLocker and adds some nice new tweaks to the desktop interface, including a handy Start menu feature.
Cumulative update KB5041585 fixes the mentioned BitLocker bug which actually introduced as part of the July update last month. The glitch caused the BitLocker recovery page to appear for no reason after the user restarted their PC, no doubt giving them a bit of a scare and forcing them to enter their recovery information.
Although this issue mainly affected business usersBitLocker is a disk encryption tool that also ships with Windows 11 Pro, so some consumers may have held off on installing the July Update if they’re running that operating system. Now, however, they can go ahead with the August Update, as the fix has been implemented. (Windows 11 Home users were not affected, as it doesn’t have BitLocker.)
Useful adjustments and fixes in the August update
Aside from the fix for the BitLocker issue, what about the interface changes brought in the KB5041585 update?
We mentioned a new feature of the Start menu at the beginning, and it allows you to pin apps directly to the taskbar. You can simply drag an app from the first to the last, where it will stay pinned. Yes, this is an obvious functionality, and we’re not sure why it wasn’t present in Windows 11 in the first place, but at least it’s there now.
Windows Latest It also notes that tabs in File Explorer can now be easily duplicated. You can simply right-click on a tab and select the “Duplicate Tab” option to do just that.
Additionally, File Explorer’s performance has been improved in a number of ways. Issues where search would fail have been fixed, as well as a memory leak bug that would cause everything to hang when opening archive files (such as ZIPs) and browsing through them. There are a couple of bugs affecting File Explorer that have been fixed here, another being that Gallery Search skips and images flicker when viewed.
As always, there are also security fixes bundled into this month’s patch. You should get the August update automatically on your Windows 11 PC, but if you haven’t yet, you can check for it manually: from the Start menu, select InstitutionsThan Windows update.