As typically happens on Wednesdays, Microsoft is rolling out a new build of Windows 11 to Insiders enrolled in the Dev channel today. Today's Windows 11 build is 22494, and it brings a new feature in the form of a mute button on the taskbar. It also includes the usual array of fixes and known issues.

The mute button on the taskbar is meant to allow users to easily mute their own microphone from any screen when they're on a Teams call. Yes, that means the mute button is only available during Teams calls, but not only that, it's only available for the work and school version of Teams. To clarify, this is not the version of Teams that's built into Windows 11 - called Chat with Microsoft Teams - which is meant for personal Microsoft accounts. Microsoft says it plans to add this capability to Chat with Microsoft Teams later on.

This was actually announced alongside Windows 11 itself back in June, but it's only now making its way to Insiders. However, Microsoft notes this will make its way to the stable Windows 11 through a servicing update, so you won't have to wait until next year's feature update to receive this.

Taskbar mute button in Windows 11

Some Windows Insiders with Windows 11 build 22494 may also start seeing Snap Groups show up in Task View and the Alt+Tab app switcher, similar to how they show up on the taskbar right now. There are a few other improvements in the Settings app, especially the Apps section. You can now see search results in the Default apps section without having to press Enter, you can open the Installed apps page with a new URI, and the sorting options on this page have also been tweaked.

Aside from that, this new build mostly focuses on fixes and smaller improvements. You can find the full list of fixes below.

There are also a few known issues with this build, but that's to be expected with any development build of a piece of software. Here's what you need to look out for in this release:

The pace of adding new features to Windows 11 has definitely slowed down after the first public build was released, and that's just the nature of preview builds. These changes and improvements will pile up over time, and by the time the next feature update is ready for the public, general users will have a lot to look forward to. We have a page where you can keep track of all the Windows 11 features available in preview if you're interested in knowing what's coming without signing up for unstable builds.