ExplorerPatcher fixes new File Explorer crashes, never combine taskbar bug on Windows 11

Towards the end of August, Microsoft informed via its health dashboard that third-party app compatibility issues with the Start menu were resolved. This was right after ExplorerPatcher, one of the affected apps (Stardock's Start11 is not), had resolved its Windows 10 Start menu problems.

ExplorerPatcher developer Valinet published not one but two consecutive updates. The releases were tested on Windows 11 build 22621.1992, which happened to be the July 2023 Patch Tuesday.

Following that, a couple of days ago, ExplorerPatcher received a new update, version 22621.2283.57.2, that fixes several File Explorer and Taskbar-related bugs. From the version name itself, you may have figured out that the update was tested on the latest Windows 11 Patch Tuesday.

Since then, another pre-release update arrived, fixingbugs related to the never-combine Taskbar mode. The full changelog for the two updates is given below:

22621.2361.58.1

Tested on OS builds 22000.2416, 22621.1, 22621.2134, 22621.2361, 22631.2338, and 23545.1000.

Details

1

• Taskbar10: Fixed Windows 10 taskbar not showing up on Windows 11 builds with "Never combine" on the new taskbar. (bc3bbc7)
• Taskbar10: Fixed pen menu crashing explorer.exe on 22621.2134+. (1977d78)
• Taskbar11: Fixed a bug that crashed explorer.exe when right clicking the new taskbar on Windows 11 builds with "Never combine" on the new taskbar. (6023718)
• File Explorer: EP now tries to avoid crashes related to the new Windows App SDK views. (b426d2c)
• On OS builds 22621+, fixed a bug that crashed explorer.exe when required functions in twinui.pcshell.dll (for Win+X and Windows 10 Alt+Tab) could not be found using the fallback method. (6023718)

22621.2283.57.2

Tested on OS build 22621.2283. Installer requires Internet connectivity.

Details

1

• Taskbar10: Fixed Action Center, Control Center, and notification toasts placements on OS builds 22621.2134+ (thanks @Amrsatrio).
• Taskbar10: Fixed a bug that prevented Task View and/or the window switcher (Alt+Tab) from working on OS builds 22621.2134+ (thanks @Amrsatrio).
• Taskbar10: Fixed a bug that prevented the volume and brightness flyouts from displaying (thanks @Amrsatrio).
• Taskbar10: Fixed a bug that prevented the Win+A (Action Center), Win+N (Control Center), and Win+B (Focus on tray overflow button) shortcuts from working on OS builds 22621.2134+ (thanks @Amrsatrio).
• Taskbar10: Fixed the context menu of the new IME button OS builds 22621.2134+ (thanks @Amrsatrio).
• Taskbar11: Fixed a bug that crashed explorer.exe when right clicking the taskbar on OS builds 22621.2134+.
• Quality of life improvements regarding symbol data (thanks @Amrsatrio).

2

Fixed a bug that crashed explorer.exe on OS builds lower than 22621 (Windows 11 22H2). (dfee1ae)

In case you want to download the latest final version, head over to the Neowin software page or GitHub. On the latter, you can also find the pre-release versions.