📢 Windows 11 Build 22616 adds an early preview of Xbox controller bar

An early preview of the Xbox Game Controller Bar

Starting with the Windows 11 (Preview) Build 22616, you can now try out an early preview of an experimental feature called ‘Controller Bar’. This new feature is for the Xbox gamers that provide user-friendly access to the Xbox controller when you play games.

Windows Insiders can now try out an early preview of a feature called controller bar. The controller bar is a preview of a new view of the Xbox Game Bar that provides easy, controller-friendly access to recently played games and game launchers, says Microsoft.

The controller bar opens when you pair or connect a controller to your Windows 11 PC running the latest Insider Preview build 22616 or higher in the Dev or Beta Channels. You can get started with Controller Bar by pressing the Xbox button on your controller.

How to get started with the Controller Bar on Windows 11

1. Be a Windows Insider running the latest Insider Preview Build (Build 225xx) from the Dev and Beta Channels.
2. Download the Xbox Insider Hub from the Microsoft Store.
3. Open the Xbox Insider Hub and sign in with your Microsoft Account. If you are not already an Xbox Insider, it will ask you to join.
4. After signing in, navigate to “Previews” and join the Windows Gaming preview.
5. Check for updates in the Microsoft Store and make sure you have the latest version of Xbox Game Bar (Version 5.722.5022.0 or higher).
6. Reboot your PC (this is important in order for the Game Bar update to kick in for the controller bar).
7. All you need to do next is pair or plug in your controller.
8. Try the feature out and give feedback to Microsoft.

List of fixes in Windows 11 Build 22616

[General]

• We fixed an issue where the performance and reliability of explorer.exe could degrade over time, eventually resulting in a bugcheck, in the recent Insider Preview builds.

[Taskbar]

• We fixed the issue causing the “Show hidden icons” flyout in the system tray to disappear completely for some Insiders, even though it shows as “on” under Settings > Personalization > Taskbar and “Other system tray icons”.

[Input]

• Fixed an issue that was leading to some apps crashing when pressing the half-width/full-width key while using the Japanese IME.

[Widgets]

• Fixed an issue where if you tried to open the widgets board using a gesture from the side of the screen, you would see the widgets board open and then immediately close.
• Fixed an issue where users were unable to use the swipe functionality to reliably invoke Widgets.

[Settings]

• Fixed an issue that could cause Quick Settings to crash when projecting to certain wireless devices.

[Windowing]

• Addressed an issue where using the 3-finger on-screen touch gesture for minimizing could cause animations to stop working across the system.
• Fixed an issue impacting DWM reliability in recent flights.
• Fixed an issue that was causing some apps like Settings to open blank if they were re-opened after an upgrade or reboot.

[Task Manager]

• We fixed an issue that was causing the process list to fluctuate between Apps & Background groups when clicking on Efficiency mode from the command bar

[Windows Sandbox]

• Fixed an underlying issue that could cause some text in Windows Sandbox to appear as black boxes in certain cases.

[Other]

• Fixed an issue leading to Windows Update notifications showing they were sent from “Windows.SystemToast.WindowsUpdate.MoNotification” instead of “Windows Update”.