- Windows 11 has been suffering from some strange interface issues lately
- They include the taskbar freezing, problems with File Explorer or Task View, or even the entire desktop being blank.
- The fix for this interface glitch is now rolling out to those who installed the latest May update for Windows 11.
If you’ve been experiencing strange slowness lately with some parts of the interface on the Windows 11 desktop, or elements seemingly MIA, the good news is that a fix is imminent.
Windows Latest reports that Microsoft is on top of things when it comes to fixing issues that can affect the taskbar, Task View, File Explorer, and the desktop itself.
Apparently some users find that the taskbar freezes or takes a long time to appear (and the context menu can take a long time to appear as well). Windows Latest further notes that Task View may also stop responding and that unpinning items from Quick Access in File Explorer does not work in some cases.
In the worst-case scenario described, these interface issues may mean that you find yourself with a completely blank desktop after booting into Windows 11 (which is always worrying).
These are all known issues and Microsoft has labeled them as “general reliability” issues with Windows 11.
The good news is that, according to Windows Latest, Microsoft has confirmed that the May update for Windows 11 (which arrived last week) fixes these problems, but the cure won’t appear right away.
This is because it’s being rolled out gradually, so you may have to be a little patient before these bugs are fixed (well, hopefully).
Microsoft notes: “This [May] The update brings underlying changes to help improve the reliability of explorer.exe, including when logging in, interacting with taskbar and Task View menus, unpinning items from File Explorer Quick Access, and more.”
Analysis: end slowness
It’s good to see this fix rolling out for Windows 11 25H2 PCs and note that it’s also in testing (the release preview channel, the final stage of preview builds) for version 26H1 (for Arm-based Snapdragon machines).
What’s also worth noting is that Windows Latest saw “visibly better performance” overall with the May update applied to Windows 11, and it’s not the only one: I’ve seen some comments along these lines on Reddit. (I haven’t launched the May update on my Windows 11 laptop yet, but I’m about to.)
Of course, what Microsoft needs to work on with its initiative to fix all the bugs in Windows 11 is ensuring that this type of weakness doesn’t appear in the first place. This is why some people may worry about installing a new monthly update for Windows 11, in case they later find that something strange happens, such as the desktop being blank when they reboot. (And much worse things can happen, like the dreaded boot failure – we witnessed one such error earlier in the year.)
Microsoft needs to rebuild Windows 11’s reputation in terms of reliability and overall stability, and that work has begun, but eliminating strange and random interface behaviors like this will be a necessary step toward that end.
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