Windows 11 22H2 update: what's new for Windows 11 and should you upgrade?

The next major update for Windows 11 is right around the corner and is set to add a host of features that aim to keep you productive.

Known as 22H2 (and codenamed Sun Valley 2), Microsoft's free Windows 11 update adds time-saving tweaks to menus, along with bigger changes such as new swipe gestures on tablets, an improved taskbar and customisable wallpaper stickers. 

It's expected to be rolled out gradually from 20 September.

Below, we take a closer look at what this latest Windows 11 update has to offer. Plus, the Which? Tech Support team has its say on whether or not you should click that 'Download' button right away.

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Windows 11 22H2 update: 5 useful features

1. Organise your windows with Snap

The Snap feature on the latest version of Windows 11 presents your open windows so you can see lots of them (if not all of them) at once.

To use Snap on Windows 11, click and drag an open window to the top of the screen to reveal the snap layouts menu. If you drop a page inside that window, it'll 'snap' into a specific portion of your display. You can finish up by filling the gaps with the rest of your windows.

2. Sync your files with Microsoft OneDrive

Our expert advisors at Which? Tech Support regularly deal with Windows users struggling to access their OneDrive settings. In this latest update, Microsoft is on a mission to make the process easier.

OneDrive has its own section in File Explorer on the left-hand side of the screen. If you look in the top-right corner of the window, you'll see another small OneDrive logo – clicking that will tell you whether or not the files you're looking at are synced to cloud storage. You'll also see how much of your storage allowance you've powered through, and there's a View online button that opens OneDrive in a web browser. 

A basic OneDrive subscription gives you 5GB of storage for free – this is enough for around 2,500 photos at 2MB. But there are three other tiers: OneDrive Standalone (100GB, £1.99 per month), Microsoft 365 Personal (1,000GB, £5.99 per month) and Microsoft 365 Family (6,000GB, £7.99 per month). If you want to stick with OneDrive and need to upgrade your package, you can select Get more storage. 

To find out if your computer is able to upgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 11, use our free Windows 11 compatibility tool

3. Manage your Microsoft subscriptions

The new Accounts page in Windows 11 replaces the Your Microsoft Account page. If you have a Microsoft 365 subscription (perhaps you're a keen Microsoft Word or Excel user), you can control your settings here as it's designed to pull all of your Microsoft subscription details into one place. This means you can deal with payment information, billing alerts and cloud storage through the same window.

From the same page, you can also manage your Microsoft OneDrive account and see how much storage you have remaining as part of your allowance.

The Accounts page will also show information for standalone versions of Microsoft apps, such as Office.

But do remember there are free alternatives to Microsoft programs that will save you money. Apache OpenOffice, for example, is a popular office suite that comes with word processing and also lets you create spreadsheets and presentations. If you have a free Google account, you will already have access to Google Docs, Sheets and Slides.

4. Taskbar drag and drop

Microsoft has been playing around with the taskbar to make it more useful than ever. Now, you can select a file in your documents and drag it onto an app icon in the taskbar. This option was included in previous versions of Windows, but this is the first time it's made a return in Windows 11.

For example, let's say you have a text .txt file within your My Documents folder. If you click and hold on that .txt file, drag it to the taskbar and release it while you're on top of the Notepad app icon, the text from that file will be pasted instantly into a new Notepad file.

Or you might have a JPG file in your Pictures folder that you'd like to edit. With the new Windows 11 taskbar, you can click and hold on that image and drop it on the Paint icon in your taskbar – this will open up the image editing software with that photo in view.

You can also drag apps from the All apps menu to the Windows 11 taskbar to create pinned shortcuts (shown below). We suggest you do this for your most-used apps.

5. Folder preview is back

Microsoft mysteriously decided to launch the original version of Windows 11 without the popular folder preview feature – that meant you couldn't glance at what was inside a folder without double-clicking or tapping it.

We heard from plenty of disappointed Which? Tech Support members that wanted the feature back when Windows 11 landed. Thankfully, folder preview is once again a part of the operating system via the 22H2 update. See the Screenshots folder below as an example.

Even more Windows 11 22H2 features

• New gestures on tablets – if you're running Windows 11 on a tablet or a 2-in-1 device, you'll now have access to additional swipe gestures to help you get around. Swipe up from the bottom of the screen, for example, and you'll get instant access to the Start menu or Quick Settings.
• Personalise your PC with wallpaper stickers – Microsoft has added wallpaper stickers so you can customise your desktop background – just right-click on your desktop and choose Add or edit stickers. Then, you can decorate your background with cartoon characters. When you change your desktop wallpaper, the stickers will stay in place.
• A faster way to change volume – if your mouse has a scroll wheel, hover over the volume icon in the bottom-right corner of your screen. Scroll up or down to adjust the volume without going into system settings.
• Tabs support – when you open File Manager, you'll now see a + symbol at the top of the window that lets you run multiple File Manager tabs at the same time. You can also right-click folders within File Manager and select Open in new tab.

Keep scrolling to find out what our Which? Tech Support team thinks of the latest Windows 11 update..

Fancy a new computer? Consult our guide to reveal the best laptops. Alternatively, for more tips on improving your experience, see our guide: 9 easy ways to make Windows even better

Which? Tech Support: should you download Windows 11 22H2?

If your current Windows PC meets the requirements for the update, should you take the plunge and click 'Download'? We caught up with Which? Tech Support advisor Conor Houlihan for more details.

Our expert says:

'This upcoming update isn’t a drastic change (like moving from Windows 10 to Windows 11), but it contains some new features that serve up clear improvements.

'If you currently have Windows 11 installed, downloading this update is worth your time. There are an abundance of new features (as shown above), but for us on the Which? Tech Support team, we’re most excited about the Tab support in File Explorer. This is something that many users have wanted for a long time and, although it doesn’t sound like a major switch, it will no doubt improve navigation and efficiency – think of how useful tabs are within a web browser.'

Conor Houlihan, Which? Tech Support

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