This v1.21.91 Update Has Really Messed Things Up
Hi Minecraft Education Team,
There is serious frustration here. This latest v1.21.91 update has caused a lot of problems for our classes and these aren’t new issues. We have raised them before, but nothing seems to change. It got worse!!!!!
1. No control over update timing
Why can’t we control when the update happens? We run coding workshops using Minecraft Education, and our students need to be on the exact same version to join the teacher’s world. But the laptops update at random times, some do, some don’t, so we waste hours just trying to update each one manually. This week alone, we spent over 4 hours just making sure all the laptops are running the same version. That’s ridiculous.
2. CodeBuilder wiped everything
This one really hurts. After the update, all the Code Builder code is gone. Just gone. Weeks of student work wiped out. No backups. No warning. We had students almost crying because they lost everything they wrote and tested in class. We trusted the platform to keep their work safe. This is a major letdown.
3. The update is just… weird
When we tried to fix things manually by uninstalling and reinstalling, we ended up with two versions installed at once v1.21.10 and v1.21.91. Even the desktop shortcuts are pointing to different versions. So now students are opening the wrong version and unable to join the world. What’s going on here?
Honestly, this update has been a complete mess. It has made class prep a nightmare, upset our students, and wasted a ton of time. We really hope your team can fix these issues and give schools like us:
Control over when and how updates happen
A fix or recovery tool for lost CodeBuilder work
A clean installer that doesn’t leave old versions behind
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Hey David,
Thanks for reaching out. I'm Kaleb with the Minecraft Education Support Team, I'm happy to assist you today!
I understand how this could all cause some frustration. I'd be happy to help find potential solutions, and forward feedback on anything we can't fix.
Firstly, updates can be managed, but not from the app directly. Since I don't know which platform you're on, ill provide some general advice for all of them below, and link to their relevant resources. However, if you can give me some more insight to your environment that would help a lot!
For Windows, there's 2 different install options that update different.
For the Microsoft Store version, this will update in accordance to your school's update policies. These could be set by Intune, Group Policy, or other management software. But by default, Windows will update Store apps will update through Windows Update. You can also manually update by opening the Microsoft Store, going to "Downloads" and then click "Check for Updates"
For the EXE Version (other wise called Legacy Installer), updates are controlled by Task Scheduler. These can again be controlled by your IT Team, but the default policy is to:- On weekends, check for update and install if version is outdated
- On login, check for update and install if version is outdated
Either of these will be cancelled if the user launches Minecraft Education. So our recommendation if you app refuses to update is to restart your device, sign back in, and then not launch Minecraft Education for about 10 minutes to make sure the update has time to complete. You can also manually run the update by downloading the latest installer from https://aka.ms/downloadmee-desktopApp
I would refer to your IT Team to verify if they have policies that may affect either of these.
For MacOS, auto-updates are not currently supported, so you'll need to manually update from aka.ms/download and download the latest MacOS Package.
For Android and IOS, updates are installed from the Google Play Store and App Store respectivley, they will auto-update depending on the policies you set in settings. By default, neither store will auto-update over cellular data. You can also manually update by visiting their pages in their respective stores. This is also true for ChromeOS that updates through the play store. If these devices are managed by Google Workspace, or Apple Device Manager, you'll want to refer to your policies there.
You can learn more about Auto Updates here: Update to a New Version of Minecraft Education – Minecraft Education
For Code Builder, to prevent over using space and prevent weird coding issues, the CodeBuilder cache is automatically cleared every now and then. This is intentional. We recommend backing up your projects between sessions to ensure they are not lost. You can use this guide to backup your projects: Managing Projects in Code Builder for MakeCode – Minecraft Education.
We are looking into better solutions to better auto-save projects, but we don't have news to share on this right now.
And for the last issue, what I suspect happened is that (if you're on Windows) you ended up with both the Microsoft Store, and EXE versions installed. This can happen if you attempted to reinstall the wrong version. You can confirm this by going to Windows Settings > Apps > Installed Apps and then searching for Minecraft Education. I would recommend uninstalling one of the versions, as you can run into some issues if both versions are present (they're incompatible with each other as they require access to the same files and services).
If you need additional assistance with any of these issues, please let me know and I would be more than happy to open a ticket for you and work with you, and/or your team, directly.
Have a great weekend!0 -
Since v1.21.91, on Windows, is the title bar (with the close/maximise/minimise buttons) defaulting to off the top of the screen for you too? (for new installs or new users that havent launched an older version in their profile of it yet).
Seems like the default window position is set too high in this release.
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Dear Kaleb,
Thank you very much for your detailed response :)
We are just a group of teachers, and do not really have the full/ constant support of an IT team, so bear with us here.
Our classroom laptops are on Windows 11 and upon checking, I think it is indeed the case that some of use the windows store for installation, and some of us somehow use the installation file for installation. I am not exactly sure how this happens as we usually just go to the website click on "Download Minecraft Education". We assumed it was all the same.
Hearing from you though, I think we will standardize to ensure all future installations happen from the Windows Store. Thank you for this tip!
We have some students who bring their own macbook for classes, and for this, we have to manually go to https://education.minecraft.net/en-us/get-started/download and get them to download and install. I am not sure if the correct process is to uninstall the old one, then install the new one? or do we just install the new one? In any case, most of us bluster through and get it done for our students anyway.
It would be great if there is "only one way that works perfectly", instead of offering so many choices, as it can be daunting to teachers like us. I understand the technical implications here, but would appreciate if it could be done :)
For the saving of student Code Builder files, please understand that some of our young students may have significant problems with understanding instructions to save files to the proper locations without overwriting over or accidentally deleting other student's files (its a huge challenge to ask a big class of 8 year olds to follow step by step instructions without them messing up), so it would be great if we could have a more convenient way to "permanently" store the code builder files. At the very least, pls offer us a warning message that the CodeBuilder files will be wiped out by DD-MM-YYYY or during the next update so we can get the codes backed up.
Thank you for your patience, and truly appreciate your support!
Regards,
David0 -
Hi Robert, it seems ok on my end and haven't had issue of windows resizing or not showing the three buttons on top right.
Just on the off chance, could it be because the students were changing their video setting to "Full Screen" ?
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Hello Minecraft Education Team
I just wanted to comment about all the issues about the new update well for some reason I cannot do other methods to get the new update my Minecraft version is still in v1.21.06 I tried searching for methods but they do not seem t work you maybe think I could just re download it on Microsoft store but since 2020 I can't seem to be able to use that app because it said something about an update which doesn't really work cause when I try pressing it says error, I don't know if this had happened to more students but this is a very big issue especially when I exactly need that app for other apps I need to install.
is it maybe just because of my country I live in Puerto Rico is part of the United States i would be very grateful if you would respond to my question.0 -
Hey David Lee,
Appreciate your feedback!
For MacOS you should be okay to just run the new installer over the top of your existing install.
We do understand the Code Builder issue can cause some confusion, and we are working on some solutions for this in future updates. However, I have no specific news to share at this time. But your feedback is greatly appreciated!!
Lastly, we provide the alternative installer on Windows for schools that prefer not to use the Microsoft Store. It's a link a little lower on the download page. Some schools require an EXE installer for their management systems. We try to be as flexible with all deployment options as we can. MacOS, ChromeOS, and mobile platforms all can only be installed one way, however.0 -
Hey Nicsha M Navarro,
Would you be able to try the alternative installer here: https://aka.ms/downloadmee-desktopApp
You'll want to backup all of your worlds, and then uninstall the Microsoft Store variant before installing this version. Otherwise you'll be unable to sign in with both varients installed!
Let us know if you have any additional questions, or concerns!
Thank you!0
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