Meta Quest v72 Update: Seamless Remote Desktop, Better Hand Tracking, and More

We’re closing in on the end of the year—and with it, the chance that some of you will be unwrapping a brand new Meta Quest 3 or Meta Quest 3S in the next few weeks. Exciting!

There’s still time for one last software update though, and it’s a big one. Today we’ll begin rolling out the Meta Quest v72 software update, which includes a new (faster) way of pairing your Quest and PC for remote desktop access, lets you use keyboard tracking with any keyboard, improves hand tracking and makes it more responsive, adds captions to calls through the People app, and more.

Per usual, v72 will roll out gradually—and certain features (like keyboard tracking) even more so. If you don’t see the update today, don’t worry! It’ll make its way to your headset soon.

Windows 11 and Remote Desktop

We’ve partnered with Microsoft to turn Meta Quest 3 and 3S into a natural extension of your Windows 11 PC. Once you’ve done the initial setup, all you’ll have to do is look at your Windows 11 PC and you’ll be prompted to pair. No need to lift up your headset or do anything on your PC itself. Easy.

We're still working to make this the default experience on both Windows 11+ and Meta Quest 3 and 3S. That said, we’ll be launching as an experimental feature later this month, and you can access it by following a few simple steps:

Once paired, you can reconnect to your PC at any time by looking at it and pressing the “Connect” button above the keyboard (or going to Quick Settings > Remote Desktop).

We’re excited to get this experimental feature into your hands, and want to hear any feedback you have! For general issues, report a bug in the headset, or file feedback for the Mixed Reality Link app on PC and the Windows App on Quest by following these instructions.

Choose Your Own Keyboard

While we’re on the topic of Remote Desktop and keyboards: A few years back we introduced support for keyboard tracking in VR so that you could “see” your keyboard and get work done without fumbling around trying to find the home row. The problem? It only ever supported a handful of keyboards.

With v72, we’re excited to start rolling out a more general keyboard tracking system. The goal is for Quest to automatically detect and track any keyboard in your vicinity, then create a dynamic Passthrough “window” around it when you’re in a work-centric immersive environment. This means you’ll be able to escape to a cabin in the redwoods, a futuristic city, or wherever you prefer to get work done—and your keyboard can come with you.

We’ll be rolling this feature out to a subset of Meta Quest owners with v72, then expanding it to more people over time.

Hand Tracking 2.3

Hand tracking should feel like magic. You put on your headset and watch a video, get some work done, maybe even play a game—all without touching your controllers.

We’ve done a lot of work this year to make the hand-tracking experience more seamless. With v72 we’re excited to roll out Hands 2.3, a major new release that enhances the stability, accuracy, and ease-of-use of hand tracking across the board, making it easier to interact with Quest using your hands.

As part of v72, we’ll be gradually rolling out additional hand tracking improvements in Horizon OS over the next few weeks :

• We’re making the hand cursor more stable and responsive when navigating the universal menu.
• We’re stabilizing the cursor while pinching, ensuring it’s easier to select what you want to select.
• We’re improving the responsiveness and stability of pinch-and-drag interactions, like dragging a Browser tab into a new window.
• We’re making it easier to use hands in confined spaces, which are especially common in Travel Mode.
• Finally, we’re adding a new hand ray visualization to help with locating and targeting with the cursor.

These v72 updates are the most recent (and substantial) advances in hand tracking, but it’s an area we’ve focused on a lot this year. For instance, you might have noticed a significant reduction in “hand stealing” —basically, Quest is now better at focusing on your hands instead of your friends’ hands, your feet, or even your cat. With Quest 3S, you can even use your hands in the dark—perfect for those red eye flights or late night movies.

Instagram Direct Messenger

Back in October we launched a new Instagram app for Meta Quest so you could browse your feed, see your friends’ Stories, watch Reels, and more, all without removing your headset.

Today we’re excited to announce Instagram Direct Messenger support on Quest. Now you can easily share Reels, Stories, and posts with friends—or just chat about weekend plans—from within the Instagram app on Quest. Use dictation to cut down on the amount of typing you need to do, or cut it out entirely and send voice messages instead.

Just open the Instagram app on Quest and look for the Messenger icon in the left-hand navigation bar to get started.

Media Gallery

We’re making it easier to manage screenshots, video captures, and more with a new Media Gallery app for Horizon OS.

You’ll find the Media Gallery app in your Library after updating to v72. Pop it open for quick access to any videos (spatial or otherwise), photos, screenshots, and more on your Meta Quest headset. You’ll be able to view your favorites, of course, but also manage your collection (if you need to free up space) or back everything up so you don’t lose all those amazing one-of-a-kind moments, e.g. with friends in Meta Horizon Worlds.

Call Captions

On that note, we recently added live captions to Meta Horizon Worlds. Now, with v72, we’re adding live captions to calls in the People app as well, making it easier for people who are deaf or hard of hearing to meet up with friends on Meta Quest.

You can turn on captions for calls in either the Accessibility tab in the Horizon OS Settings menu, or in the Settings menu for the People app itself. Once enabled, you’ll see a live transcript of people’s words (and any other sounds) in a dedicated window. You can customize the look of captions from the Settings menu as well.

Note that when enabled, Horizon OS will notify other people in the call that their audio is being used to provide captions.

That’s it for v72—and for 2024! It’s been an exciting year, between Travel Mode, all those Passthrough updates, spatial video support, an overhauled Meta Quest interface, and more.

We’ve got big plans for 2025 as well, so we’ll see you (and anyone lucky enough to unwrap a Meta Quest 3S this month) back here in the new year for another software update!