Microsoft's latest desktop operating system, Windows 11, version 23H2, was released October 2023. The OS may be considered Microsoft's most innovative – with artificial intelligence assistant Copilot baked into the Edge browser. Plus, there have been some cool enhancements with Paint, the Snipping Tool, Backup and Windows Hello secure sign-in, among other more under-the-hood updates since Windows 10. However, a look through the Microsoft Windows 11 community forum, Reddit and even Microsoft's own Windows 11 blog, shows there are some issues with the OS that are puzzling as to why they still exist six months after the software's release. After scouring several Windows 11 forums and blogs, here are some of the most reported issues users are having with Microsoft's latest client operating system:
1. Bluetooth connection issue
This is an issue I have personally experienced and has also been reported by several Reddit users – problems getting Windows 11 to pair with a Bluetooth device. In my case, the issue was pairing Windows 11 installed on an HP EliteBook with a Sony headset. I had no issue doing so on another HP laptop with Windows 10. Windows 11 refused to detect the headset and I was left with no choice but to use a crummy 3.5mm headphone I coopted on a recent flight. Other users, mostly on Reddit, also reported the same issue connecting Bluetooth devices to this latest iteration of Win11. One clever user found a solution while on hold with Microsoft support, nonetheless. He figured out that in Win11's Bluetooth settings, you have to toggle the setting "Bluetooth devices discovery" from Default to Advanced. That is exactly what worked for me, but it's perplexing why Microsoft hasn't addressed this issue with so many people using hands-free devices, especially for remote work calls.
2. VPN connections failing after April security update
This is a bug Microsoft itself posted on its own website in April. After security release KB5036893, users began reporting issues with connecting to various VPN platforms. On its blog, Microsoft says it is working on a resolution and will provide an update in an upcoming release.
3. Copilot showing up in installed apps
From Microsoft's blog: "Updates to Edge browser version 123.0.2420.65, released on March 28, 2024 and later, might incorrectly install a new package (MSIX) called ‘Microsoft chat provider for Copilot in Windows' on Windows devices. Resulting from this, the Microsoft Copilot app might appear in the Installed apps in Settings menu."
The issue has been resolved, but you do need to update Edge to version 124.0.2478.67 .
4. Intuit QuickBooks compatibility issues
From online chatter, there seems to be quite a few issues with QuickBooks software and Windows 11. One Microsoft tech community user reported, just yesterday, that after installing a Windows update, QuickBooks' payroll direct deposit feature is no longer working for them. Intuit, apparently, posted several steps to take to resolve the issue, but there is no feedback yet from the original poster if the issue had been resolved. Another user reported a QuickBooks error "80070057" while opening a company file on a Win11 machine. More than one user reported that QuickBooks wouldn't even open after a Windows 11 update.
5. Issue installing on a BitLocker encrypted partition
Someone on the Microsoft tech community forum posted, "The Windows 11 installer refused to install Windows 11 on a partition with BitLocker encryption." If this turns out to be a legitimate issue with Win11 and not local to the user, that is inexcusable since this is Microsoft's own encryption technology.
6. Unable to install Windows Subsystem for Linux after upgrading to 24H2
Another person said they had a problem installing WSL on Win11 after upgrading. Upon attempting the install, according to this user, they are receiving the message, "Catastrophic failure," and the install fails. So far there has been no response to the user from other users, nor from Microsoft.
7. Issue changing notification setting
One user posted on Microsoft's tech community that when they right-clicked on the notification icon on the taskbar to reconfigure the settings, the settings window opened for a "fraction of a second" and then disappeared. Other users chimed in with suggested fixes including re-registering the Settings app using PowerShell and doing a hard restart.
8. Notepad issues
Several users online reported issues with Win11's Notepad app:
"When editing a text of more than 10 lines that ends with an empty line, it is impossible to click onto the last text line. The cursor will always jump to the empty line instead."
"Another bug I have noticed, is when selecting text and using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + C, to copy, the text is not copied into the clipboard." "In my case, it had to do with inserting a special character using the ALT key and the numeric keypad. Inserting a character that way seems to work fine at first. But a second attempt fails with a "garbage" character and subsequent attempts fail completely as if that functionality is blocked. "
"When clicking with mouse right button on notepad app icon to view the list of recent / pinned txt files, as I click on any one of the listed files a message is shown that says that the file is not available, as it could have been renamed or moved or deleted, but the file exists, has exactly the same name and is placed in the correct shown path."
9. Issue with File Explorer and UNC paths
Other complaints are about Win11's File Explorer and UNC paths. One user posted, "Any access via a UNC path to a share of the Windows 11 file cluster (also replicable with Windows Server 2022) causes Windows Explorer or even the command line to be very sluggish and does not display any icons. This only happens if there is an .EXE file in the root directory of the UNC share."
Here is another reported UNC path bug from a user who says they are on Windows 11 Enterprise: "In the past few months a bug has appeared in File Explorer: when I enter a server UNC path in the address box, e.g. \\myserver\e$ and hit Return often nothing happens (no error), when what should happen is a login dialogue should appear so I can enter the username & password I need to connect. Note this issue is intermittent but is frequent. It does not happen in Windows 10 File Explorer, e.g. for the same UNC path."
10. Problems with Windows Start menu
Yet another frequent complaint has to do with the Start menu not opening. One user complained that after an update, the start menu would no longer open. The fix suggestions seemed rather extreme: one suggestion was to do a complete system restore. Another user who had the same issue, said they resolved the problem by deleting C:\Users\{Problem account}\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Shell folder using a different account.
We will reach out to Microsoft and Intuit to see if these issues are being worked on or if they have been resolved and will update the article accordingly.
