What you need to know
- Microsoft shipped Windows 11 Build 26120.1542 to Insiders in the Dev Channel recently.
- The update begins the rollout of a new position for the widgets entry point when taskbars are aligned to the left.
- The build also adds a new behavior that lets you navigate between apps in the taskbar by pressing a letter key after pressing WIN + T.
A new build just shipped for Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel. Windows 11 Build 26120.1542 brings a small handful of new features and enhancements, two of which focus on the taskbar. Starting with this build, a new position for the Widgets entry point has been implemented when the taskbar is left-aligned. The change allows for richer content to appear within taskbars with that layout enabled. Additionally, after pressing WIN + T, you can press a letter to jump to a specific app within the taskbar.
The new taskbar feature that lets you jump to an app is rather interesting. After you press a letter, Windows 11 will jump to an open or pinned app whose name starts with the same letter. If you press a letter multiple times, the feature will jump to the next app whose name starts with that letter. If you don't use an uncombined taskbar, the feature will rely on the window name instead. Alongside the letter-focused change, the build adds the ability to jump to the first and last items in the taskbar with the Home and End buttons, respectively.
Microsoft lists the new features, changes, and fixes in a blog post about the build. Note that the new features and improvements in this build are rolling out to those an optional toggle on.
Windows 11 Build 26120.1542: What's new
New position for the Widgets entry-point on left-aligned taskbars
We’re beginning to roll out a new position for the Widgets entry-point on left-aligned taskbars. The taskbar entry-point will move to the left of the systems tray and will be wider so you can see richer content from Widgets on your taskbar. When you launch the Widgets board, it will fly out from the right side instead of the left side.
Windows 11 Build 26120.1542: Changes and Improvements
Taskbar & System Tray
- Updated the taskbar to now support first letter navigation, so when keyboard focus is set to the taskbar (WIN + T), you can press a letter, and it will jump to the open or pinned app whose name starts with that letter. Pressing the letter multiple times will jump to the subsequent app which starts with that letter, if there are multiple apps for that letter. For those using uncombined taskbar, rather than app name, the first letter navigation will use window name. Along with this, pressing Home and End will now move keyboard focus to the first and last (respectively) items in the taskbar.
Input
- Fixed an issue causing text suggestions for the hardware keyboard to not work properly (selecting one unexpectedly concatenated).
- Fixed an issue causing the emoji panel to close when trying to switch to the kaomoji and symbols sections, or after selecting an emoji.
Other
- Fixed an issue in Registry Editor where when editing a DWORD or QWORD if you pasted in a HEX value into the text box and saved it, the value saved might not be the one you had entered (for example, pasting 0x1 would become 0x411).
