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Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 23619 (Dev Channel)

Written By published January 18, 2024

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 23619 to the Dev Channel.

What’s new in Build 23619

Instantly access new photos and screenshots from your mobile device

We are also beginning to gradually roll out a new feature for Windows that introduces the ability to effortlessly access and edit your most recent photos and screenshots from your Android mobile device in Snipping Tool on your PC. With this feature, you’ll receive instant notifications on your PC whenever a new photo or screenshot is captured on your Android device.

Windows notification prompting to open capture in Snipping Tool for markup.
Windows notification prompting to open capture in Snipping Tool for markup.

To enable this experience, go to Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Mobile devices (this settings page was updated with Build 26016 in the Canary Channel and Build 23606 in the Dev Channel) and choose “Manage devices” and allow your PC to access your Android phone. Your PC will get a Cross Device Experience Host update in the Microsoft Store that is required for this experience to work.

New settings window for managing mobile devices that are allowed to connect to your PC.
New settings window for managing mobile devices that are allowed to connect to your PC.

This new experience replaces the remote capture with Phone Link experience that was announced back in September.

[We are beginning to roll this out to Windows Insiders in BOTH the Canary and Dev Channels this week, so the experience isn’t available to all Insiders just yet as we plan to monitor feedback before pushing it out to everyone.]

FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Devices and Drivers > Linked devices.

Changes and Improvements

[Start menu]

  • For people logged into Windows 11 Pro or Enterprise editions with a Microsoft Entra ID account, we are trying out the ability to view and join upcoming Microsoft Teams meetings directly from the Start menu. The next online Teams meeting will show up as a Recommended item 5 minutes before it begins, clicking the meeting recommendation will open the join meeting flow in Teams.
Join upcoming Microsoft Teams meetings directly Start menu.
Join upcoming Microsoft Teams meetings directly Start menu.

Fixes

[File Explorer]

  • Did some more work to help improve the launch performance of File Explorer.

[Task Manager]

  • Fixed an issue where dragging the Task Manager window wouldn’t work if your mouse was on the search box.

[Other]

  • Fixed a crash when you tried to add natural voices for Narrator in Settings.

NOTE: Some fixes noted here in Insider Preview builds from the Dev Channel may make their way into the servicing updates for the released version of Windows 11.

Known issues

[Copilot in Windows*]

  • When first launching or after refreshing Copilot in Windows while using voice access, you’ll need to use “Show grid” commands to click in the “Ask me anything” box for the first time.

[Widgets]

  • Announcements from the Microsoft Start feed are still shown on the taskbar after the feed is hidden.
  • Keyboard navigation from settings subpages back to the top-level Settings page is broken.
  • Incorrect spacing and fonts used in some settings pages.

For developers

You can download the latest Windows Insider SDK at aka.ms/windowsinsidersdk.

SDK NuGet packages are now also flighting at NuGet Gallery | WindowsSDK which include:

These NuGet packages provide more granular access to the SDK and better integration in CI/CD pipelines.

SDK flights are now published for both the Canary and Dev Channels, so be sure to choose the right version for your Insider Channel.

Remember to use adaptive code when targeting new APIs to make sure your app runs on all customer machines, particularly when building against the Dev Channel SDK. Feature detection is recommended over OS version checks, as OS version checks are unreliable and will not work as expected in all cases.

About the Dev Channel

REMINDER: The Dev Channel has been rebooted. Windows Insiders who were in the Dev Channel on 25000 series builds have been moved to the new Canary Channel. Going forward, the Dev Channel will receive 23000 series builds. Insiders who were moved to the Canary Channel and want to move back to the Dev Channel can follow these instructions to do a clean installation of Windows 11 and then re-join the Dev Channel to receive 23000 series builds.

The Dev Channel receives builds that represent long lead work from our engineers with features and experiences that may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. It is important to remember that the builds we release to the Dev Channel should not be seen as matched to any specific release of Windows and the features included may change over time, be removed, or replaced in Insider builds or may never be released beyond Windows Insiders to general customers. For more information, please read this blog post about how we plan to use the Dev Channel to incubate new ideas, work on long lead items, and control the states of individual features.

In some cases, features and experiences may go out to the Canary Channel first before going out to the Dev Channel however the Dev Channel will provide better platform stability. As we get closer to shipping, some features and experiences will also make their way to the Beta Channel when they are ready.

The desktop watermark you see at the lower right corner of your desktop is normal for these pre-release builds.

*Availability of Copilot in Windows: Copilot in Windows in preview is being rolled out gradually to Windows Insiders in select global markets. The initial markets for the Copilot in Windows preview include North America, United Kingdom and parts of Asia and South America. It is our intention to add additional markets over time.

Important Insider Links

Thanks,
Amanda & Brandon