Windows 11 Moment 4 Update (Fourth Feature Drop) Available for Download

Microsoft has officially announced that the next major feature update for Windows 11 will be released on September 26, 2023 to public. The feature update has been called as “Windows 11 Fall Update” by Microsoft. It’ll also be known as Windows 11 Moment 4 Update, 4th Feature Drop or September 2023 update by tech enthusiasts. Many people also consider these moment updates as service packs for Windows 11, so it can also be referred as Service Pack 4 (SP4) for Windows 11.

The last feature update i.e. Moment 3 update for Windows 11 was released on May 23, 2023 which also brought many UI changes and features to Windows 11 devices.

The upcoming Moment 4 update will be delivered as an optional non-security update on September 26, 2023 as a part of official Patch Tuesday program.

In this article, we’ll discuss what are the new features in Moment 4 update and how to download and install it in Windows 11 devices.

What’s New in Windows 11 Moment 4 Update or Fourth Feature Drop

Following are the main features and highlights of the new feature update for Windows 11 as mentioned officially at Microsoft website:

Copilot for Windows: It brings built-in artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities and support along with Bing chat to Windows 11 to help users find answers and complete tasks easily. Users can access Copilot right from the Taskbar or using WIN+C keyboard shortcut. (How-to Enable/Disable Guide)

Redesigned File Explorer: The File Explorer or Windows Explorer has been modernized using WinUI 3. Users can notice revamped home page, address bar and search box. A new Gallery feature is also available in Navigation Pane to help users in accessing their photo collection quickly. The Details Pane has also received many improvements including contextual information about the selected file such as file thumbnail, share status and button, file activity, related files and e-mails, and other information.

Taskbar Never Combined Mode: Users can now see each button of running applications on the taskbar individually ungrouped and uncombined, as well as their corresponding labels. You can find this feature by navigating to Settings -> Personalization -> Taskbar -> Taskbar behaviors page. (How-to Guide)

New “End Task” Option in Taskbar Context Menu: Users can use the new option to force kill not responding apps and programs directly using Taskbar. (How-to Enable Guide)

Websites Recommendations on Start Menu: The websites present in user’s browsing history will be shown under recommendations section on Start Menu. You can remove any website URL from the Recommended section using the shortcut menu. To completely turn off this feature, you can go to Settings -> Personalization -> Start page and adjust settings for all recommended content on Start Menu. (How-to Disable Guide)

New Outlook for Windows app: Microsoft was working on this new Outlook app since many months and now the new app replaces old stock Mail app in Windows 11. It’s a PWA (Progressive Web App) app i.e. web-based app which works like a placeholder for the main Outlook.com website. More information can be found about the new Outlook for Windows app in this article.

New Windows Backup app: A new Windows Backup app quickly gets your current PC backed up and ready to move to a new PC. Your Store apps from your prior PC will be pinned where you left them, both on taskbar and in the Start menu. Settings from your previous device will restore to your new PC to help you get back into the flow as quickly as possible. Once backed up, you can try out the new restore during the out-of-box-experience (OOBE) when setting up a new PC or by resetting an existing PC.

Improved Notepad app: Notepad now automatically saves user’s session to allow users to close Notepad without showing any interrupting dialogs. When the user opens Notepad again, it restores the previous session. Notepad also automatically restores previously opened tabs along with unsaved content.

Improved Paint app: The native or default Paint app has been improved to include AI features and tools (Cocreator) and ability to remove background from photos.

Improved Photos app: The Photos app has also received AI support and new features such as background blur and improved search.

Improved Snipping Tool app: The Snipping Tool app now provides new ways to capture computer screen. Users can now extract specific text from an image and paste the text in other applications. Similarly, users can protect sensitive information using text redaction action on post capture screen. Users can also create interactive videos as the Snipping Tool has received sound capturing using audio and mic support.

Improved Clipchamp app: Clipchamp has received new “Auto Compose” feature which automatically shows scene suggestions, edits and narratives based on the image to help users in creating and editing videos like professionals.

Dynamic Lighting: This new feature provides native control of Lighting Devices implementing the open HID LampArray standard. To control and configure a HID LampArray device, users can navigate to Settings -> Personalization -> Dynamic Lighting page.

Built-in RAR file support: Native support for reading additional archive file formats such as .tar, .rar, .7z, etc using the libarchive open-source project.

Updates to Windows Firewall: Addition of targeting firewall rules to specific applications, firewall location awareness updates and more granular firewall logging.

Accessibility improvements: New text authoring experiences to voice access and new natural voices in Narrator.

This update completes the work to comply with the GB18030-2022 requirements. It removes and remaps characters for Microsoft Wubi input and Microsoft Pinyin U-mode input. You can no longer enter character codepoints that are not supported. All the required codepoints are up to date.

This update supports daylight saving time (DST) changes in Greenland.

This update changes the spelling of Ukraine’s capital from Kiev to Kyiv.

This update affects the Key Distribution Center (KDC) and user security identifiers (SID). KDC now reads the user SID from the Subject Alternative Name (SAN) of a certificate. Because of this, mobile device management (MDM) providers can use offline templates to fill in the user SID.

What’s Fixed in Windows 11 Moment 4 Update or Fourth Feature Drop

Following issues are fixed by Windows 11 Moment 4 Update:

• This update addresses an issue that affects Microsoft Excel. It stops responding when you try to share a file as a PDF in Outlook.
• This update addresses an issue that affects the Korean touch keyboard. It completes the first character in the search box on the taskbar. This is not expected.
• This update addresses an issue that affects the search box tooltip. It does not appear in the correct position.
• This update addresses an issue that affects the search button. It disappears when you interact with the search flyout box.
• This update addresses an issue that affects sleep mode. After you resume from sleep, a blank window appears that has the title “Windows Input Experience.”
• This update addresses an issue that affects iCloud Calendar and Contacts. Outlooks fails to properly sync them when you use the iCloud for Windows app. To resume syncing, follow the steps in this Apple Support article.
• This update addresses an issue that affects account lockout event 4625. The format of the event is wrong in the ForwardedEvents log. This occurs when an account name is in the user principal name (UPN) format.
• This update addresses an issue that is related to changes in the forwarding of events.
• This update addresses an issue that affects events that have a TAB character. The events do not render, or you cannot forward them.
• This update addresses an issue that affects XPath queries on FileHash and other binary fields. It stops them from matching values in event records.
• This update addresses an issue that affects an Application Virtualization (App-V) environment. Copy operations within it stop working. This occurs after you install the April 2023 update.
• This update addresses an issue that affects Microsoft Print to PDF. It uses the metadata for the name you sign in with as the author of a printed PDF. It should use the display name instead.
• This update addresses an issue that affects some USB printers. Microsoft Defender stops them from printing.
• This update addresses an issue that affects Windows Defender Application Control (WDAC). AppID Tagging policies might greatly increase how long it takes your device to start up.
• This update addresses an issue that affects IMEPad. It stops working. This occurs when you enter end-user-defined characters (EUDC).
• This update addresses an issue that affects Remote Apps. The display of some elements is not aligned correctly.
• This update addresses an issue that affects the Microsoft Distributed Transaction Coordinator (DTC). It has a handle leak. Because of this, the system runs out of memory.
• This update addresses an issue that might make Windows stop responding. This might occur if you use Microsoft OneDrive files that are compressed by NTFS.
• This update addresses an issue that might cause a user-mode memory leak. It might occur when you call CopyFile() or MoveFile().
• This update addresses an issue that affects application compatibility. It is related to Microsoft Defender for Endpoint.
• This update addresses an issue that affects external binding. It fails. This occurs after you install Windows updates dated May 2023 or later. Because of this, there are issues that affect LDAP queries and authentication.

Known Issues in Windows 11 Moment 4 Update or Fourth Feature Drop

Following are the known issues present in Windows 11 Moment 4 Update:

• Microsoft is not currently aware of any issues with this update.

Also Check: Windows 11 2022 Update (22H2) Known Issues and Workarounds

How to Download and Install Windows 11 Moment 4 Update or Fourth Feature Drop

First make sure you are using Windows 11 2022 Update (version 22H2) in your computer. You can install or upgrade to Windows 11 2022 Update with the help of following article:

How to Download and Install Windows 11 2022 Update (22H2)

Moment 4 Update will be released on September 26, 2023 as an optional non-security release which means interested users will be able to manually download and install the update by clicking on “Check for Updates” button present on Settings -> Windows Update page.

Make sure to enable the “Get the Latest Updates as Soon as They’re Available” toggle option if you want to receive the update right now in your device.

The update will appear as KB5030310 on Windows Updates page as shown in following screenshot:

UPDATE: The previous preview update KB5030310 has been replaced by new KB5031354 update.

Moment 4 Update will change/increase the build number of Windows 11 to 22621.2428.

Microsoft will make the new update broadly available to all editions of Windows 11 by the November 2023 security update release.

The same features will also be a part of the upcoming Windows 11 version 23H2 which will be the annual feature update for Windows 11. It’ll be released in fourth quarter (Q4) of 2023.

Direct Download Links for Windows 11 Moment 4 Update Offline Installers

You can also manually download and install the update right now from official Microsoft Update Catalog website:

Download Windows 11 Moment 4 Update

You’ll see 2 updates listed for Windows 11 version 22H2: one update for x64-based systems and other for arm64-based systems. Just click on the “Download” button given next to the update and you’ll get the direct download link to grab the offline installer for Moment 4 update.

For your convenience, here is the download link for the offline installer:

Download Windows 11 Moment 4 Update Offline Installer

The update installer file size is 605.1 MB for x64 and 721.7 MB for arm64-based systems.

Also Check:

[Tip] How to Download Windows 11 Offline ISO Files

How to Create Bootable USB Drive to Install Windows 11