Windows 11's 2022 Update arrived on September 20, 2022. Named 22H2 during development, this update is packed with features like File Explorer tabs (coming soon), automatically generated captions for any audio content, enhancements to Snap Layouts, and performance and battery life improvements.
Most features are available to everyone in all regions immediately after installing the update. However, Microsoft cautions that File Explorer tabs aren't available yet, but are coming in October 2022. In addition, automatically generated captions are initially available for U.S. English and not yet other languages and regions. Check out our guide to the top new features in Windows 11's 2022 Update for more information.
If you haven't installed Windows 11 yet, you will have to upgrade to Windows 11 to install the update on your PC. The update doesn't make any older PCs compatible with Windows 11, so you may have to buy a new PC to use Windows 11---or go through the steps to install Windows 11 on an unsupported PC.
As usual, Microsoft is slowly offering the update to more and more Windows 11 PCs. If it's available for installation on your PC, you can head to Settings > Window Update and you will see a "Download & install" button under a message saying "Windows 11, version 22H2 is available." Click this button to install the update.
If the update hasn't been offered to your PC in Windows Update yet, you can download and run the Windows 11 Installation Assistant from Microsoft. Click the "Download Now" button under Windows 11 Installation Assistant and launch the downloaded file. It will offer to automatically upgrade your PC to the latest release of Windows 11, even if it hasn't been offered to you via Windows Update yet.
If you choose to download the Installation Assistant, you're skipping Microsoft's gradual rollout process and increasing the likelihood you will encounter bugs with the update on your PC. If you're not prepared to accept that, you should wait until the update is offered in Windows Update---depending on how things go, that may be a few weeks or a few months after the release.
We've been using the prerelease version of Windows 11's 22H2 on a few PCs for several months now and have had good experiences. Here's hoping this will be a stable update that causes few problems.