Windows 11 2022 Update Hit by Group Policy Glitch

The recently-announced Windows 11 2022 Update, which is now rolling out to devices out there, is also affected by a Group Policy glitch that’s also impacting the other versions of the operating system still supported by the software giant.

Microsoft explains on the Windows 11 health dashboard that copying files and shortcuts using Group Policy Preferences may not work as expected.

This happens on Windows 8.1 and newer operating systems, including Windows 10 and Windows 11 – both versions 21H2 and 22H2 are affected.

“File copies using Group Policy Preferences might fail or might create empty shortcuts or files using 0 (zero) bytes. Known affected Group Policy Objects are related to files and shortcuts in User Configuration -> Preferences -> Windows Settings in Group Policy Editor,” the software giant explains in an announcement.

The available workarounds for impacted devices

At this point, a full fix is already in the works, but Microsoft says that some workarounds are available for users struggling with this glitch:  

• ​Uncheck the "Run in logged-on user's security context (user policy option)". Note: This might not mitigate the issue for items using a wildcard (*).
• ​Within the affected Group Policy, change "Action" from "Replace" to "Update".
• ​If a wildcard (*) is used in the location or destination, deleting the trailing "\" (backslash, without quotes) from the destination might allow the copy to be successful.

Needless to say, there is no ETA as to when a full fix could be released to users, but Microsoft says it will be part of an upcoming release.

This means a future update going live to the affected Windows versions could also resolve the bug – the next Patch Tuesday cycle takes place on October 11, but at this point, there’s no confirmation that this is the target date for the rollout of this fix.