Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 23471 adds Phone Photos in File Explorer

The dev channel of Windows 11 Insider has received a build with a mass number of bug fixes including Phone Photos in File Explorer Gallery.  Narrator natural voices in Spanish are also part of this update. This is Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 23471.

Full name of this release is Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 23471.1000 (ni_prerelease) and the build is 10.0.23471.1000.ni_prerelease.230526-1341. Let’s see what is new in this build:

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 23471 changes, bug fixes, features, and improvements

Here is the changelog –

Features

Add Phone Photos in File Explorer Gallery

Accessing the camera roll of your phone from a PC has become a simpler and more convenient task thanks to the File Explorer Gallery. In the Command Bar of File Explorer, a new button called “Add Phone Photos” has been introduced to facilitate the setup process, enabling your PC to display these photos seamlessly in the Gallery. By clicking this button, a URL will be opened, presenting a QR code that can be scanned with your phone to initiate the setup procedure.

To utilize the functionality enabled by clicking the aforementioned button, users might be required to participate in the OneDrive Insider Program. This program provides access to a specific version of the OneDrive sync client, capable of handling the underlying protocol. To join the OneDrive Insider Program, follow these steps:

1. Open the OneDrive settings by accessing the OneDrive flyout from the system tray.
2. Navigate to the About page within the settings.
3. Locate and enable the toggle for the OneDrive Insider Program.

Windows 11 Build 25158.1000 brings DNS over TLS (DOT) to Dev Channel of Insider

Narrator natural voices in Spanish (Spain and Mexico)

The latest Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 23471 introduces new natural voices in Spanish for Narrator users, catering specifically to users in Spain and Mexico. These voices provide a seamless experience while browsing the web, reading, writing emails, and performing various tasks. The natural Narrator voices utilize advanced on-device text-to-speech technology, ensuring high-quality output. Once downloaded, these voices are fully supported even without an internet connection.

1. To utilize one of the natural voices, you can easily add it to your PC by following these simple steps:
2. Access Narrator Settings by simultaneously pressing the WIN + Ctrl + N hotkey combination.
3. In the Narrator Settings, locate the section for Narrator’s voice and click on the “Add” button next to the option labeled “Add natural voices.”
4. Choose the specific voice that you wish to install in the following list. While you have the option to install all available voices, it’s important to note that each voice must be installed individually.

• The new Spanish (Spain) voices are Microsoft Alvaro and Microsoft Elvira.
• The new Spanish (Mexico) voices are Microsoft Jorge and Microsoft Dalia.

1. To initiate the download of the selected voice, simply click on the “Install” button. The new voice will begin downloading and will be ready for use in a few minutes, the duration of which may vary based on your internet download speed.
2. Once the new voice has finished downloading, go to the Narrator settings and navigate to the “Narrator’s voice” section. From the drop-down menu labeled “Choose a voice,” select your preferred voice.

Note: If your display language is not currently set to Spanish, you will need to follow an additional step before Step 3. In Step 3, instead of directly selecting the voice, you should first choose “Choose a different language” and then select the appropriate language. After selecting the language, you can proceed to select the specific voice within that language.

Changes and Improvements

Lock screen

1. In alignment with the design principles of Windows 11, we have made enhancements to the network flyout on the Lock screen.

File Explorer

1. The capability to tear out and merge tabs in File Explorer is now being gradually introduced. Please note that this feature is currently rolling out, and it may not be immediately available to all Insiders in the Dev Channel.
2. The Gallery feature in File Explorer, initially introduced in Build 23435, has now been made accessible to all Insiders in the Dev Channel.

Settings

1. We have introduced a new toggle in the Settings menu, specifically in Settings > Network & Internet > Cellular, to simplify the process of managing cellular usage when Wi-Fi signals are weak despite their availability. This enhancement allows users to have more control over the decision of utilizing cellular data in such situations.

Bug Fixes

File Explorer

1. Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 23471 has resolved an issue where the context menu in File Explorer was not opening when users pressed Shift + F10. This issue has been fixed.
2. We have addressed an issue where access keys would display inconsistently when no button was pressed. This issue has been resolved.

Windows App SDK version of File Explorer

1. We have resolved an issue that was causing explorer.exe to crash for certain Insiders when attempting to open the context menu. Additionally, this particular issue was also identified as the underlying cause for some Insiders experiencing an older design instead of the updated one.

Gallery in File Explorer

1. Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 23471 have successfully addressed an explorer.exe crash that occurred in the previous flight when loading or interacting with the scrollbar in Gallery. This issue has been resolved
2. We have resolved an issue where Gallery occasionally required users to click twice on a node in the navigation pane to initiate the loading process. This issue has been fixed, and users should now be able to load the Gallery with a single click on the node.
3. We have addressed an issue where minimizing and reopening File Explorer would result in the loss of scroll position within the Gallery. This issue has been fixed,
4. We have implemented an enhancement where hovering the mouse cursor over pictures in Gallery will now display a tooltip containing information about the respective picture. This improvement allows users to conveniently access details about the images within the Galler
5. We have enabled live updates in the Gallery, including real-time filtering, eliminating the need for manual refreshing. As a result, users can now experience automatic updates and apply filters without the requirement of manually clicking the Refresh button.
6. Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 23471 have resolved an issue where certain file types, such as .heic, were not displayed correctly or experienced performance issues. This problem has been fixed, and now these file types will be rendered correctly and perform optimally in the respective application or system.

Modernized details pane in File Explorer:

1. We have made a slight adjustment to the background color of thumbnails in light mode, making it slightly lighter. This change aims to ensure that the thumbnails blend in more seamlessly with the overall user interface and do not appear overly prominent.
2. If the setting to display file name extensions has been enabled, it will now be accurately reflected in the details pane as well. This enhancement ensures consistency in the file information presented, allowing users to have a cohesive experience throughout the interface when managing files.

Taskbar

1. We have resolved an issue that caused the taskbar to be cut off when transitioning between the tablet-optimized taskbar and the regular taskbar. This issue has been fixed, and users will now experience a smooth and uninterrupted transition without any visual disruptions to the taskbar.

Search on the Taskbar

1. Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 23471 has addressed the issue that was causing Insiders to encounter an empty tooltip momentarily in specific cases, including when hovering over the gleam while utilizing the new hover behavior for the search box and search highlight. This issue has been resolved, and users will no longer experience the display of empty tooltips in these scenarios.

Other

We have resolved an issue where Narrator with Braille support was not accurately reading numbered lists in Microsoft 365 apps.

Known issues

Dev Drive

1. After rebooting your system, you might notice that additional filters, apart from your AV (Antivirus) filters, are attached to your Dev Drive. To verify which filters are currently attached, please execute the command ‘fsutil devdrv query :’ in Windows PowerShell. If you find more filters than just your AV filters, you can resolve this by running ‘fsutil volume dismount :’ followed by ‘fsutil devdrv query :’. After completing these steps, only your AV filters should be visible.

Search on the Taskbar

1. [NEW] We have identified an issue with navigating the search flyout on the taskbar using the keyboard arrow keys. Currently, the expected functionality is not being achieved. Our team is actively working on resolving this issue to ensure that users can effectively navigate the search flyout using the keyboard arrow keys as intended. We apologize for any inconvenience caused and appreciate your patience while we work on a fix.
2. We have identified an issue where Narrator users may experience difficulty navigating down the left side panel of the search flyout. Currently, the expected navigation behavior is not being achieved for this particular feature. Our team is actively working on resolving this issue to ensure that Narrator customers can seamlessly navigate through the left side panel of the search flyout. We apologize for any inconvenience caused and appreciate your understanding as we work towards a solution.
3. We have discovered an issue where text scaling does not function as expected in the search flyout. Currently, the ability to adjust the text scaling within the search flyout is not functioning properly. Our team is actively working on resolving this issue to ensure that users can effectively adjust the text scaling as intended.

File Explorer

1. Insiders may encounter a crash in File Explorer when attempting to drag the scroll bar or close the window while a file-loading process is ongoing. This issue can disrupt the user experience during extended file-loading processes. Our team is actively addressing this issue to prevent such crashes and ensure smooth functionality in File Explorer. We apologize for any inconvenience caused and appreciate your understanding as we work on a solution.

Gallery in File Explorer

1. In Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 23471, two known issues related to thumbnail loading performance for dehydrated cloud files and memory usage in large collections. Our team is actively working on improving these areas to enhance overall performance. If you encounter any performance-related issues, we kindly request that you capture Performance traces using the Feedback Hub. Additionally, if you notice missing thumbnails for cloud files, rebuilding your Indexer can be a helpful solution. You can find the rebuild tool by searching for “Indexing Options” and navigating to the Advanced settings. Thank you for your cooperation, and we appreciate your assistance in providing feedback to help us further refine and optimize these features.
2. Currently, clicking on the Share command will open the Windows share sheet (non-OneDrive) interface. This behavior allows users to access the Windows share functionality for sharing files and content.

Taskbar & System Tray

1. When utilizing multiple desktops, the taskbar may not display the correct apps as expected. This issue can result in apps not appearing or being incorrectly represented on the taskbar across different desktops. Our team is aware of this issue and actively working on resolving it to ensure accurate app visibility and representation on the taskbar in a multi-desktop environment. We apologize for any inconvenience caused and appreciate your patience as we work towards a solution.

Notifications

1. The copy button, introduced in Build 23403, designed to facilitate the quick copying of two-factor authentication (2FA) codes from notification toasts, is currently not functioning in this build. We are aware of this issue and are actively working on a fix, which will be included in an upcoming flight. We apologize for any inconvenience caused and appreciate your understanding as we address this matter.

Backup and Restore

1. In cases where a PC was set up using a restore process, backups of that PC may not be visible in subsequent restore attempts. This issue results in the absence of backups during the restore process. Our team is aware of this issue and is actively working on resolving it to ensure that backups are properly recognized and accessible during subsequent restores. We apologize for any inconvenience caused and appreciate your patience as we work towards a solution.
2. At present, the restoration of solid color desktop backgrounds is not supported. If you attempt to restore your desktop background to a solid color, it may not function as expected. Our team is aware of this limitation and is actively working on enabling the restoration of solid color desktop backgrounds in future updates. We appreciate your understanding and apologize for any inconvenience caused.

How to download Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 23471 and install

1. Press Windows and S keys.
2. Select Windows Update.
3. Click on Check for updates.

Source: Windows Insider blog.

That’s all!!