# Rancher Desktop v1.22.0 — Rancher Desktop 1.22

- Product: Rancher Desktop (https://whatsnew.fyi/product/rancher-desktop)
- Vendor: SUSE
- Date: 2026-01-20
- Version: v1.22.0
- Original notes: https://github.com/rancher-sandbox/rancher-desktop/releases/tag/v1.22.0
- Permalink: https://whatsnew.fyi/product/rancher-desktop/releases/v1.22.0
- Labels: Platforms: Desktop

What's New is an index, not a publisher: every entry below links to the vendor's own release notes, which are the authoritative source. Entries are labelled where they are hand-curated sample data, pre-releases, or drawn from a secondary source such as a developer blog.

Reuse: the summaries, labels and curation here are © What's New. Quote freely with attribution and a link back; wholesale republication of the corpus is not permitted — terms: https://whatsnew.fyi/terms. The vendors' own release notes remain their publishers'.

---

- **added** — Allow users to select between classic and containerd-snapshotter moby storage drivers via rdctl
- **added** — Add diagnostic to report when images exist in the inactive image store
- **added** — Add diagnostic to warn when wsl-vpnkit distribution is present on Windows
- **changed** — Update Alpine Linux to version 3.23 with Docker 29
- **changed** — Update Docker Compose to version 5.0
- **changed** — Update Helm to version 4.0
- **changed** — Make Dashboard button wait until Steve API server accepts connections before becoming active
- **changed** — Change connectivity check diagnostic to use HTTPS HEAD request instead of HTTP GET
- **fixed** — Fix pod log streaming in Kubernetes Dashboard
- **fixed** — Remove non-functional Download KubeConfig and Kubectl Shell buttons from cluster dashboard
- **fixed** — Fix bug where certificates from multiple keychains were written to the same file path on macOS
- **fixed** — Fix K3s version channel labels not updating when versions move to newer releases
- **fixed** — Make --all-platforms flag optional when loading K3s images for versions before 1.31
- **fixed** — Fix rdctl info command failing after upgrade from version 1.19.3 or earlier
- **fixed** — Fix [object Object] error on Containers page when backend becomes temporarily unavailable
- **fixed** — Fix Debian package not setting suid bit on chrome-sandbox
- **fixed** — Fix virtualization support check on Linux arm64 systems

This is the 1.22.0 release of Rancher Desktop, an open source desktop application to bring Kubernetes and container management to macOS, Windows, and Linux.

##### Installers

* [Windows](https://github.com/rancher-sandbox/rancher-desktop/releases/download/v1.22.0/Rancher.Desktop.Setup.1.22.0.msi)
* [macOS x86_64](https://github.com/rancher-sandbox/rancher-desktop/releases/download/v1.22.0/Rancher.Desktop-1.22.0.x86_64.dmg)
* [macOS aarch64](https://github.com/rancher-sandbox/rancher-desktop/releases/download/v1.22.0/Rancher.Desktop-1.22.0.aarch64.dmg)
* [Linux install notes](https://docs.rancherdesktop.io/1.22/getting-started/installation#linux)

##### Release Notes for 1.22.0

###### What's New

###### Select moby storage driver

Version 1.21.0 switched to the containerd-snapshotter storage driver by default. On Windows, this happened unconditionally (even on upgrades), which made existing images inaccessible.

Users can now choose between the classic and containerd-snapshotter storage drivers via `rdctl`:

```console
rdctl set --container-engine.moby-storage-driver classic
rdctl set --container-engine.moby-storage-driver snapshotter
```

Rancher Desktop automatically selects the driver based on where your existing images are stored. See [Migrating Images](https://docs.rancherdesktop.io/1.22/how-to-guides/migrating-images) for instructions on moving images between storage drivers. Windows users affected by the 1.21.0 issue can switch back to the classic driver to regain access to their images. ([#9732](https://github.com/rancher-sandbox/rancher-desktop/issues/9732))

###### Docker 29 in the VM

Alpine Linux has been updated to version 3.23, which includes Docker 29. This fixes issues with `docker inspect` returning incomplete image metadata. ([#9671](https://github.com/rancher-sandbox/rancher-desktop/issues/9671), [#9739](https://github.com/rancher-sandbox/rancher-desktop/issues/9739))

###### Kubernetes Dashboard improvements

Pod log streaming now works in the Dashboard. This was broken since version 1.6.0. ([#3212](https://github.com/rancher-sandbox/rancher-desktop/issues/3212))

The Dashboard button now waits until the Steve API server accepts connections before becoming active. Previously, clicking the button too quickly after Kubernetes started would show a spinner that never resolved. ([#8217](https://github.com/rancher-sandbox/rancher-desktop/issues/8217))

The non-functional "Download KubeConfig" and "Kubectl Shell" buttons have been removed from the cluster dashboard. ([#2208](https://github.com/rancher-sandbox/rancher-desktop/issues/2208), [#8151](https://github.com/rancher-sandbox/rancher-desktop/issues/8151), [#8757](https://github.com/rancher-sandbox/rancher-desktop/issues/8757))

###### Docker Compose 5.0

Docker Compose has been updated to version 5.0. Key changes include:
- Compose can now be used as an SDK for third-party integrations
- The internal builder has been removed; builds are delegated to Docker Bake
- Hooks now run on restart
- New `--wait` option for the start command

###### Helm 4.0

Helm has been updated to version 4.0. See the [Helm 4.0 release notes](https://helm.sh/blog/helm-4-0-released/) for details on the changes.

###### Diagnostics

###### Moby image store check

A new diagnostic reports when images exist in the inactive image store (classic vs. containerd-snapshotter), helping identify which images need migration. ([#9733](https://github.com/rancher-sandbox/rancher-desktop/issues/9733))

###### Windows: wsl-vpnkit detection

A new diagnostic warns when the wsl-vpnkit distribution is present, as it can cause networking issues with Rancher Desktop. ([#9623](https://github.com/rancher-sandbox/rancher-desktop/issues/9623))

###### Bug Fixes

###### macOS CA management with multiple keychains

Fixed a bug where certificates from multiple keychains were being written to the same file path, causing only the last keychain's cert

_[Truncated at 4000 characters — full notes: https://github.com/rancher-sandbox/rancher-desktop/releases/tag/v1.22.0]_