Microsoft’s latest update to Windows 11 is here, and the August patch fixes a fairly glaring BitLocker bug while adding some neat new twists to the desktop interface, including a nifty Start menu-related capability.
Cumulative update KB5041585 resolves the mentioned BitLocker bug that was actually Introduced as part of the July update Last month, this bug caused the BitLocker recovery page to appear for no reason after the user restarted their PC, no doubt giving them a scare and requiring them to enter their recovery data.
While this issue primarily affected business usersBitLocker is a drive encryption tool that's also included with Windows 11 Pro, so some users may have been putting off installing the July Update if they're using that OS. However, they can now proceed with the August Update, given that the fix is already in place. (Windows 11 Home users weren't affected here, as it doesn't have BitLocker.)
Useful tweaks and fixes in the August update
BitLocker resolution aside, what about the interface changes implemented in update KB5041585?
We mentioned a new Start menu feature at the beginning, which lets you pin apps directly to the taskbar – you can simply drag an app from the first one to the second one, where it will remain pinned. Yes, this is an obvious feature and we’re not sure why it wasn’t in Windows 11 in the first place, but at least it’s present now.
Latest Windows Also note that File Explorer tabs can now be easily duplicated – you can simply right-click on a tab and select the “Duplicate tab” option to do exactly that.
On top of that, File Explorer's performance has been improved in a number of ways. Issues where searching would fail have been fixed, as well as a memory leak bug that could bring everything to a halt when opening compressed files (such as ZIPs) and browsing them. In fact, there are a number of bugs affecting File Explorer that have been fixed here – another is that searching in the Gallery would crash and images would flicker when viewed.
As always, this month's patch also includes security fixes. You should receive the August update on your Windows 11 PC automatically, but if you don't have it yet, you can check for it manually: From the Start menu, select Settingsso Windows Update.
