Microsoft Windows 11 22H2 update is coming! Allows users to disable all app icons in the notification area of the taskbar

According to neowin, the upcoming Microsoft Windows 11 22H2 will allow users to disable all app icons in the notification area of the taskbar.

It is reported that Windows 11 22H2 is an upcoming feature update for Microsoft's latest operating system. As early as last year when the Windows 11 system was released, Microsoft announced that "a major version update mechanism will be adopted once a year to improve the update experience." And "22H2" (code-named Sun Valley 2) has just been confirmed to be the major update version and version number ushered in this year.

Although the original release of Windows 11 did not have these features, the release notes for the development version did not mention it. According to Windows engineers, this is not a critical feature, although it is the most supported request in the Feedback Hub. But now, the "22H2" feature update is coming.

As we all know, Microsoft releases numerous changelogs detailing new features, changes, fixes, and known issues with every version of the Windows operating system updated. Updates sometimes include undocumented and experimental features discovered by Windows Insiders themselves, and the ability to "disable all app icons in the notification area" is one such unknown change.

According to reports, the arrival of a new feature change in Windows 11 22H2 will allow Windows 10 and Windows 11 users to show or hide application icons in the lower right corner of the screen. That is, for these users, if you run out of free space, you can delete apps from the notification area, or keep all icons on the taskbar for added convenience. Additionally, Windows settings allow users to choose which apps are always next to the clock and which apps are hidden in the overflow menu behind the button with the up arrow icon.

Many users have expressed concern about this new feature change in Windows 11 22H2: this operation will remove the "Safely Eject Media" or OneDrive status indicator, and if some applications do not appear in the lower right corner of the screen, they cannot be closed, So does disabling icons in the notification area break the user experience?

In fact, users with the above problems don't have to worry, because you can still delete all unnecessary icons and leave the most needed icons. All in all, this new feature will make your taskbar clutter-free without the need for additional expandable menus. It's also a great alternative to fix the system's bug of restoring icons that were previously hidden in the taskbar.

In addition, after upgrading to the new version of Microsoft Windows 11 22H2, when the operating system is turned on and enabled, it will automatically have a phishing detection mechanism for enhanced security protection. Microsoft has also stated earlier that the upgraded "22H2" version will have system-level phishing security protection: after users upgrade the new version of Win 11 22H2, if they enter a password in an untrusted application, a "pop-up window" will appear. Alert notifications to reduce the potential risk of malicious phishing attacks.

According to reports, the security protection mechanism is mainly based on Microsoft Defender SmartScreen, which uses AI detection and identification technology to ensure that running files and applications are in trusted mode, and also reminds users to prevent malicious attacks from phishing activities.

That is to say, when a user enters a password in an untrusted application and uses an unencrypted plain text file (.txt format) to store the password, the screen will notify the user in the form of a "pop-up window" to prevent maliciously attacked.

At present, Microsoft has not officially disclosed the specific release time of Windows 11 22H2. For more relevant information, we will continue to pay attention. If you have different views on this, you are also welcome to exchange and interact in the comment area.