Amanda Langowski, Brandon LeBlanc, Author at Windows Insider Blog

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27950 (Canary Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 19 Sep 2025 17:04:47 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27950 to the Canary Channel.

Changes and Improvements

[General]

This update includes a small set of general improvements and fixes that improve the overall experience for Insiders running this build on their PCs.

[Settings]

Advanced Settings will revert to the previous “For Developers” experience after updating to this build. This change will come back soon.

Fixes

[General]

Fixed an issue causing some Insiders to experience a rollback attempting to install the latest build with either an 0xC1900101-0x20017 error or 0xC1900101-0x30017 error.

[Taskbar and System Tray]

Fixed an issue which could cause the app preview windows in the taskbar to become misaligned (away from the app icon you’d clicked / hovered over) after a display resolution change.

[File Explorer]

Fixed an issue where interacting with the context menu in File Explorer could lead to the body of File Explorer becoming unresponsive to clicks.
Fixed an issue which could lead to certain apps hanging when launching the Open or Save Dialog.
Fixed an issue where with certain apps installed, when you right clicked you may see the context menu unexpectedly switch back and forth with each right click between the normal initial view and “Show more options”.

[Graphics]

Fixed an which was causing some Insiders to experience screen flickers when using the browser (and potentially other scenarios) in the latest Canary builds.

[Audio]

If you were having issues with audio not working after the latest updates, that should be resolved now. Audio issues can have multiple root causes, though, so if you continue experiencing issues, please file feedback under Devices and Drivers > Audio and Sound in the Feedback Hub, if possible including a trace by using the “Capture the issue” option in Step #4 of the problem report.

[Dynamic Lighting]

Fixed an issue in Dynamic Lighting where the Dynamic Lighting Background Controller would occasionally consume excessive CPU after unlocking the machine.

[Other]

We've done some underlying work to help improve performance when gaming with game bar or other overlays on top of your game. This may particularly help those with multiple monitors which have different refresh rates. As always, if you're experiencing game performance issues, please file feedback including a trace of the issue, following these steps. Thanks Windows Insiders who've shared feedback so far!

Known issues

[General]

We’re working on the fix for an issue causing some Insiders with Arm64 PCs to experience an increase in bugchecks (green screens) with error IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL in the latest Canary builds.

[For developers]

PIX on Windows is unable to play back GPU captures on this OS version. This will be addressed by a new PIX release, estimated to arrive by the end of September. In the meantime, if you are impacted, you can use the "Send Feedback" button in PIX or contact us on the DirectX Discord server and we can help provide private builds.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Canary Channel

The builds we release to the Canary Channel represent the latest platform changes early in the development cycle and should not be seen as matched to any specific release of Windows and features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.

Many features in the Canary Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
Some features may show up in the Dev and Beta Channels first before showing up in the Canary Channel.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
To get off the Canary Channel, a clean install of Windows 11 will be required. As a reminder - Insiders can’t switch to a channel that is receiving builds with lower build numbers without doing a clean installation of Windows 11 due to technical setup requirements.

The desktop watermark shown at the lower right corner of the desktop is normal for these pre-release builds.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26220.6690 (Dev Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 19 Sep 2025 17:04:20 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26220.6690 (KB5065786) to the Dev Channel for Windows Insiders on Windows 11, version 25H2. Changes in Dev Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*) and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Dev Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[Click to Do (Preview)]

The following changes and improvements are rolling out for Click to Do on Copilot+ PCs:

Translation powered by Microsoft Copilot: We are introducing the ability to do translation with Microsoft Copilot with Click to Do, making it easier for you to translate on-screen text with just a few clicks. When you select text that is in a different language from your Windows display language or preferred language settings, a translation suggestion will appear. The selected text is sent to the Copilot app, which provides the translation seamlessly within the experience. This feature currently works if you have the new Copilot prompt box in Click to Do that began rolling out in the previous flight. This change is not yet rolling out to Windows Insiders in the EEA (European Economic Area) or China.

[caption id="attachment_178256" align="alignnone" width="243"] Option to translate to English what’s on your screen show in the Click to Do context menu.[/caption]

[Taskbar & System Tray]

Just like being able to share a window to Microsoft Teams when mousing over an opened app on your taskbar, we’re trying out this taskbar capability with Microsoft Copilot. When mousing over an opened app window on the taskbar, you will see an option to share with Copilot where you will be able to quickly start a new conversation with Copilot and use Copilot Vision to scan, analyze, and offer insights on what is shown on your screen from that app at that time.

[caption id="attachment_178254" align="alignnone" width="300"] Ability to share screen with Copilot shown when mousing over Microsoft Edge on the taskbar.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_178255" align="alignnone" width="300"] Microsoft Copilot Vision controls shown when an Edge window is shared.[/caption]

[Desktop Spotlight]

We are trying out a change that adds "Learn more about this background" and "Next desktop background" to the context menu when you click on your desktop if you have Windows Spotlight chosen as your desktop background under Settings > Personalization > Background.

[Settings]

We’ve refreshed the experience to make it easier to add or manage all your accounts in one place under Settings > Accounts. As part of this update, the “Email & accounts” section is now called “Your accounts,” reflecting a more unified and streamlined way to stay connected across Windows and your apps.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[File Explorer]

Fixed an issue where File Explorer may become unresponsive if a UNC server name was directly typed into address bar.

[Windows Update]

Fixed an issue causing some Insiders recently to find that installing the latest builds failed with error 0x80070002.

[Audio]

If you were having issues with audio not working after the latest updates, that should be resolved now. Audio issues can have multiple root causes, though, so if you continue experiencing issues, please file feedback under Devices and Drivers > Audio and Sound in the Feedback Hub, if possible, including a trace by using the “Capture the issue” option in Step #4 of the problem report.

[Settings]

Fixed an issue where Settings > System > Optional Features > Add an optional feature may not load when Administrator Protection was enabled.

Known issues

[Click to Do]

Launching Click to Do on your primary display via right-edge gesture will result in the swipe visuals appearing on the incorrect display. The issue is being investigated.

[Lock and login screens]

We’re investigating an issue in this build where the media controls may not display on the lock screen.

[Taskbar & System Tray]

[NEW] Our new animations on taskbar previews have been turned off temporarily because they were interfering with the ability to share a window from its preview, we will note when they’re brought back.
[NEW] We have a few issues that need ironing out with the changes in the previous flight when “automatically hide the taskbar” is enabled, including that the system tray may unexpectedly peek up – thanks Insiders that have shared feedback about it. We’re working on it.

[Search]

[NEW] Certain searches may show unexpected text instead of the expected results and images.

[Windows Studio Effects]

For some classes of external webcams, turning on "Use Windows Studio Effects" in the advanced camera setting may result in a camera preview failure. This is due to a compatibility issue with the camera firmware and is being addressed with a future update. In the meantime, if you are impacted by this issue, turn off Windows Studio Effects inside the camera settings.

[For developers]

PIX on Windows is unable to play back GPU captures on this OS version. This will be addressed by a new PIX release, estimated to arrive by the end of September. In the meantime, if you are impacted, you can use the "Send Feedback" button in PIX or contact us on the DirectX Discord server and we can help provide private builds.

[Settings]

The placeholder text in the Settings search box may appear vertically misaligned.
[NEW] Settings may crash when accessing drive information under Settings > System > Storage. This also impacts accessing the drive information from the properties when you right click a drive in File Explorer.

[Xbox Controllers]

Some Insiders are experiencing an issue where using their Xbox Controller via Bluetooth is causing their PC to bugcheck. Here is how to resolve the issue. Open Device Manager by searching for it via the search box on your taskbar. Once Device Manager is open, click on "View" and then "Devices by Driver". Find the driver named "oemXXX.inf (XboxGameControllerDriver.inf)" where the "XXX" will be a specific number on your PC. Right-click on that driver and click "Uninstall".

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel

Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel receive updates based on Windows 11, version 25H2 via an enablement package (Build 26220.xxxx).
Many features in the Dev Channel are rolled out using Controlled Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.

Please note that some accessibility features may not work with features like Recall and Click to Do while in preview with Windows Insiders.

Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.6690 (Beta Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 19 Sep 2025 17:03:58 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.6690 (KB5065786) to the Beta Channel for Windows Insiders on Windows 11, version 24H2. Changes in Beta Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*) and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Beta Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Click to Do (Preview)]

The following changes and improvements are rolling out for Click to Do on Copilot+ PCs:

Translation powered by Microsoft Copilot: We are introducing the ability to do translation with Microsoft Copilot with Click to Do, making it easier for you to translate on-screen text with just a few clicks. When you select text that is in a different language from your Windows display language or preferred language settings, a translation suggestion will appear. The selected text is sent to the Copilot app, which provides the translation seamlessly within the experience. This feature currently works if you have the new Copilot prompt box in Click to Do that began rolling out in the previous flight. This change is not yet rolling out to Windows Insiders in the EEA (European Economic Area) or China. [caption id="attachment_178256" align="alignnone" width="243"] Option to translate to English what’s on your screen show in the Click to Do context menu.[/caption]

[Taskbar & System Tray]

Just like being able to share a window to Microsoft Teams when mousing over an opened app on your taskbar, we’re trying out this taskbar capability with Microsoft Copilot. When mousing over an opened app window on the taskbar, you will see an option to share with Copilot where you will be able to quickly start a new conversation with Copilot and use Copilot Vision to scan, analyze, and offer insights on what is shown on your screen from that app at that time.

[Desktop Spotlight]

We are trying out a change that adds "Learn more about this background" and "Next desktop background" to the context menu when you click on your desktop if you have Windows Spotlight chosen as your desktop background under Settings > Personalization > Background.

[Settings]

We’ve refreshed the experience to make it easier to add or manage all your accounts in one place under Settings > Accounts. As part of this update, the “Email & accounts” section is now called “Your accounts,” reflecting a more unified and streamlined way to stay connected across Windows and your apps.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[File Explorer]

Fixed an issue where File Explorer may become unresponsive if a UNC server name was directly typed into address bar.

[Windows Update]

Fixed an issue causing some Insiders recently to find that installing the latest builds failed with error 0x80070002.

[Audio]

If you were having issues with audio not working after the latest updates, that should be resolved now. Audio issues can have multiple root causes, though, so if you continue experiencing issues, please file feedback under Devices and Drivers > Audio and Sound in the Feedback Hub, if possible, including a trace by using the “Capture the issue” option in Step #4 of the problem report.

[Settings]

Fixed an issue where Settings > System > Optional Features > Add an optional feature may not load when Administrator Protection was enabled.

Known issues

[Click to Do]

Launching Click to Do on your primary display via right-edge gesture will result in the swipe visuals appearing on the incorrect display. The issue is being investigated.

[Lock and login screens]

We’re investigating an issue in this build where the media controls may not be displayed on the lock screen.

[Taskbar & System Tray]

[NEW] Our new animations on taskbar previews have been turned off temporarily because they were interfering with the ability to share a window from its preview, we will note when they’re brought back.
[NEW] We have a few issues that need ironing out with the changes in the previous flight when “automatically hide the taskbar” is enabled, including that the system tray may unexpectedly peek up – thanks Insiders that have shared feedback about it. We’re working on it.

[Search]

[NEW] Certain searches may show unexpected text instead of the expected results and images.

[Windows Studio Effects]

For some classes of external webcams, turning on "Use Windows Studio Effects" in the advanced camera setting may result in a camera preview failure. This is due to a compatibility issue with the camera firmware and is being addressed with a future update. In the meantime, if you are impacted by this issue, turn off Windows Studio Effects inside the camera settings.

[For developers]

PIX on Windows is unable to play back GPU captures on this OS version. This will be addressed by a new PIX release, estimated to arrive by the end of September. In the meantime, if you are impacted, you can use the "Send Feedback" button in PIX or contact us on the DirectX Discord server and we can help provide private builds.

[Settings]

The placeholder text in the Settings search box may appear vertically misaligned.
[NEW] Settings may crash when accessing drive information under Settings > System > Storage. This also impacts accessing the drive information from the properties when you right click a drive in File Explorer.

[Xbox Controllers]

Some Insiders are experiencing an issue where using their Xbox Controller via Bluetooth is causing their PC to bugcheck. Here is how to resolve the issue. Open Device Manager by searching for it via the search box on your taskbar. Once Device Manager is open, click on "View" and then "Devices by Driver". Find the driver named "oemXXX.inf (XboxGameControllerDriver.inf)" where the "XXX" will be a specific number on your PC. Right-click on that driver and click "Uninstall".

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel

Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel on Windows 11, version 24H2 will receive updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 via an enablement package (Build 26120.xxxx).
Updates delivered to the Beta Channel are in a format that offers a preview of enhancements to servicing technology on Windows 11, version 24H2. To learn more, see https://aka.ms/CheckpointCumulativeUpdates.
Many features in the Beta Channel are rolled out using Controlled Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.

Please note that some accessibility features may not work with features like Recall and Click to Do while in preview with Windows Insiders.

Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26220.6682 (Dev Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 12 Sep 2025 17:04:44 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26220.6682 (KB5065782) to the Dev Channel for Windows Insiders on Windows 11, version 25H2. Changes in Dev Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*) and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Dev Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[Click to Do (Preview)]

The following changes and improvements are rolling out for Click to Do on Copilot+ PCs:

Copilot prompt box: The new Copilot prompt box in Click to Do is designed to streamline user interaction with Microsoft Copilot. This enhancement helps save time and allows users to type a custom prompt directly into a text box, which is then sent to Copilot along with your selected content on screen. Suggested prompts appear below the text box as well, powered locally by Phi-Silica (supported for text selections only and English, Spanish, and French). This change is not yet rolling out to Windows Insiders in the EEA (European Economic Area) or China.

[caption id="attachment_178235" align="alignnone" width="252"] New Copilot prompt box at the top of the Click to Do context menu.[/caption]

New visual animations for the right edge gesture in Click to Do: These new visual animations are designed to give you a clear visual cue as you swipe and follow your finger for a more delightful, intuitive experience. These animations help you better understand the gesture’s intent, making interactions feel more purposeful.
New and popular action tags: New and popular action tags to the context menu in Click to Do are designed to help you discover our newest and most popular AI-powered actions available to use.

[caption id="attachment_178236" align="alignnone" width="706"] Example of a top action highlighted in a red box in Click to Do’s context menu.[/caption]

The output from the Summarize action for text entities in Click to Do should start to feel even more brief and concise as we continue to tune for improvements.

[Start menu]

We are trying out a small change in the Recommended section of the Start menu where we will show examples of prompts that you can try using in the Copilot app such as creating an image with Copilot.

[Emoji]

The Emoji 16.0 release introduces a small but thoughtfully curated set of new emojis—one from each major category—designed to resonate across cultures and contexts. Each emoji carries timeless symbolism and practical versatility. With this build, you will see these new emoji available in the emoji panel. [caption id="attachment_178237" align="alignnone" width="609"] New Emoji 16.0 emoji from left to right: Face with Bags Under Eyes, Fingerprint, Root Vegetable, Leafless Tree, Harp, Shovel, and Splatter.[/caption]

Face with Bags Under Eyes: Captures exhaustion or the need to rest.
Fingerprint: Identity or security.
Root Vegetable: Represents healthy eating and gardening.
Leafless Tree: Symbolizes winter, emptiness, or dormancy.
Harp: A timeless musical icon with ancient roots.
Shovel: Useful for gardening or metaphorically digging out of trouble.
Splatter: Expressive and fun.

[Gaming]

We have made some improvements for using Xbox game controllers for gaming on Windows 11. Short pressing the Xbox button opens Game Bar. A new change we're introducing is when you long press the Xbox button, it will open Task View. Pressing and holding the Xbox button continues to turn off the game controller.

[Narrator]

We’ve made several improvements to ensure Narrator delivers smoother, more reliable experience when working with documents in Word. These updates focus on making reading, writing, and editing more natural and efficient.

More natural voice feedback: Narrator no longer raises pitch dramatically when announcing headings or grammar/spelling errors, making the experience smoother and less distracting when using Natural Voices.
Better footnote navigation: You can now navigate a document via footnotes and clearly hear the footnote number, helping you stay oriented while reading or editing documents with references.
Reliable continuous reading: Narrator will no longer stop unexpectedly during long passages of text. Continuous reading now flows smoothly from start to finish.
Improved comment reading: Narrator now correctly tracks focus when moving from the document canvas into the comments pane, so you can review and read comments without losing context

Creating & Consuming List

Coherent and consistent announcements: Narrator now reads lists in a consistent manner across surfaces and navigation methods. List entities such as style and level will be announced as per the chosen verbosity to ensure users have context about the formatting and their position in the list.
Complete list reading: Narrator will no longer cut off when a list item continues onto the next line — the entire content is announced properly.
Navigation List Items: You can now navigate Up and down from one list item to another using Ctrl + Up/Down keys.

Creating & Consuming Tables

Easier navigation commands: Narrator now supports quick navigation in Scan Mode to the first or last cell in a row or column, helping users move through tables more efficiently. You can navigate using the following commands:
- Beginning of Row – Ctrl + Alt + comma
- End of Row – Ctrl + Alt + period
- Beginning of Column - Ctrl + Alt + Shift + comma
- End of Column – Ctrl + Alt + Shift + period
Clearer guidance at table boundaries: When navigating with the Tab key inside an editable table, Narrator now provides an announcement when reaching the last cell. This prevents confusion and accidental row additions.
Less confusing entry announcements: Narrator no longer announces “entering table” twice when moving across cells. You’ll now hear this feedback only once, making it easier to track whether you’re still inside the same table.
Better feedback during selection: Narrator now make clear announcements as you select one or more cells across row and columns or both. It also clearly announces when a text selection extends across multiple cells, so you know exactly how much content they’ve selected.
Awareness of non-uniform tables: Narrator now alerts users if a table is non-uniform (for example, missing cells in certain rows or columns), giving important context about table structure.

[Settings]

After being temporarily disabled, Advanced Settings is rolling out again to Windows Insiders in the Dev and Beta Channels. However, we have temporarily removed the long path and virtual workspaces options to address some issues.

[Other]

We’re introducing a simple reminder that appears as a SCOOBE screen (Second Chance Out of Box Experience) to let you know your Microsoft subscription needs attention (for example, if a renewal payment didn’t go through). In just a few clicks, you can review and update your payment method and keep your subscription benefits uninterrupted.

[caption id="attachment_178233" align="alignnone" width="588"] SCOOBE screen for notifying you your Microsoft 365 subscription is past due with link to take action.[/caption]

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[General]

Fixed an issue causing some PCs to bugcheck (green screen) while hibernating after the latest flights. This may have made it look like hibernation had shut down your PC. This issue is believed to also be the cause of some Insiders finding that shutdown had hung and would sit on a black screen with a fan noise.

[Taskbar & System Tray]

Did some work to help improve reliability of taskbar hiding and unhiding when the setting “automatically hide the taskbar” is enabled. As part of this work, the animation may be smoother for you now. As a reminder – if an app has an alert (the orange highlight on the app icon) then the taskbar will show.
Fixed a couple issues which could lead to you not being able to interact with apps or the desktop in the area directly above the taskbar.

[File Explorer]

Fixed an issue for some users, where the Shared section in File Explorer Home might be visible even if there was no content to display.
Fixed an issue which was Fixed an issue where File Explorer was unexpectedly not showing thumbnails for video files containing certain EXIF metadata.
Fixed an issue where interacting with the context menu in File Explorer could lead to the body of File Explorer becoming unresponsive to clicks.
Fixed an issue which could lead to certain apps hanging when launching the Open or Save Dialog.

[Lock and Login screens]

Fixed an issue which could cause the lock screen to crash when interacting with the power button in the latest builds.

[Start menu]

Fixed an underlying issue which was causing Start menu to dismiss if you tried to use WIN + Shift + S to take a screenshot of it.
Fixed an issue impacting Start menu reliability in the latest builds.
Fixed an issue which was causing Start menu to randomly scroll back up to the top sometimes.

[Windows Sandbox]

Fixed an issue for Windows Sandbox users which could lead to the vmmemCmFirstBoot process consuming large amounts of CPU after login, causing your PC to potentially become unresponsive.

[Search]

We did some work to help reduce instances where search may get stuck in a loading state.

[Settings]

Fixed an issue which could lead to Settings crashing when interacting with Settings > System > Optional Features.

[Voice Access]

Fixed an issue which could result in Voice Access not working, showing error 9001.

[Windows Hello]

Fixed an issue where booting into safe mode wasn’t working, with a message saying “Something happened and your PIN isn’t available” for some people.
Fixed an issue where Windows Hello Pin setup might fail with error 0x80090010 on Entra-domain joined devices that had installed the latest updates.

[Other]

If the ability to move the hardware indicators disappeared for you after the last flight, it should be back now.

Fixes for everyone in the Dev Channel

[General]

This update addresses an issue that affects audio in apps using the Network Device Interface (NDI). Audio stutters when Display Capture is on in OBS Studio Application. This could occur after installing the latest updates.

Known issues

[Click to Do]

[NEW] Launching Click to Do on your primary display via right-edge gesture will result in the swipe visuals appearing on the incorrect display. The issue is being investigated.

[Lock and login screens]

[NEW] We’re investigating an issue in this build where the media controls may not display on the lock screen.

[Windows Studio Effects]

[NEW] For some classes of external webcams, turning on "Use Windows Studio Effects" in the advanced camera setting may result in a camera preview failure. This is due to a compatibility issue with the camera firmware and is being addressed with a future update. In the meantime, if you are impacted by this issue, turn off Windows Studio Effects inside the camera settings.

[For developers]

PIX on Windows is unable to play back GPU captures on this OS version. This will be addressed by a new PIX release, estimated to arrive by the end of September. In the meantime, if you are impacted, you can use the “Send Feedback” button in PIX or contact us on the DirectX Discord server and we can help provide private builds.

[Settings]

[NEW] The placeholder text in the Settings search box may appear vertically misaligned.

[Audio]

Some Windows Insiders in the Dev and Beta Channels are experiencing an issue where audio stops working and Device Manager shows one or more devices with a yellow exclamation mark, including “ACPI Audio Compositor” and others. Selecting Properties on these devices will show “Windows cannot load the device driver for this hardware. The driver may be corrupted or missing.” If you are impacted by this issue, you can follow these instructions to get back into a working state:
- Right-click on the device with a yellow exclamation mark in Device Manager and select “Update driver”.
- Choose “Browse my computer for drivers” and then “Let me pick from a list of available drivers on my computer”.
- Select the driver from the list with the most recent date and click “Next”. If you are presented with a list of common hardware types instead of one or more specific drivers, this device is not related to this issue.
- This device should be repaired and no longer show a yellow exclamation mark in Device Manager. If it continues to show a yellow exclamation mark, the yellow exclamation mark is not related to this issue.
- Repeat these steps for each device with a yellow exclamation mark.

[Xbox Controllers]

Some Insiders are experiencing an issue where using their Xbox Controller via Bluetooth is causing their PC to bugcheck. Here is how to resolve the issue. Open Device Manager by searching for it via the search box on your taskbar. Once Device Manager is open, click on "View" and then "Devices by Driver". Find the driver named "oemXXX.inf (XboxGameControllerDriver.inf)" where the "XXX" will be a specific number on your PC. Right-click on that driver and click "Uninstall".

Microsoft Store Update

Windows Insiders running version 22508.1401.x.x of the Microsoft Store and higher will see the following improvement rolling out: Microsoft Store's AI Hub is getting a new addition: Microsoft 365 Copilot Agents! Clicking on the agent cards will directly launch Microsoft 365 Copilot where you can explore the deeper capabilities of each agent. These include the Prompt, Writing, Idea, Career and Learning coaches as well as Analyst and Researcher. The cards will be shown to users with the Microsoft 365 Copilot app installed and are subject to availability based on subscription tier. [caption id="attachment_178239" align="alignnone" width="691"] Agents in Microsoft 365 Copilot in the Microsoft Store’s AI Hub.[/caption] Launching apps provided and updated by publishers: In previous months, we rolled out the capability to update apps that are provided and updated by publishers. Starting with this Microsoft Store update, you'll be able to launch these types of apps directly from the product page or from the downloads page if the app supports it. [caption id="attachment_178240" align="alignnone" width="374"] Launch app updates provided from publishers directly on the product page.[/caption] FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Microsoft Store.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel

Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel receive updates based on Windows 11, version 25H2 via an enablement package (Build 26220.xxxx).
Many features in the Dev Channel are rolled out using Controlled Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Please note that some accessibility features may not work with features like Recall and Click to Do while in preview with Windows Insiders.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.6682 (Beta Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 12 Sep 2025 17:04:40 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.6682 (KB5065782) to the Beta Channel for Windows Insiders on Windows 11, version 24H2. Changes in Beta Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*) and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Beta Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Click to Do (Preview)]

The following changes and improvements are rolling out for Click to Do on Copilot+ PCs:

Copilot prompt box: The new Copilot prompt box in Click to Do is designed to streamline user interaction with Microsoft Copilot. This enhancement helps save time and allows users to type a custom prompt directly into a text box, which is then sent to Copilot along with your selected content on screen. Suggested prompts appear below the text box as well, powered locally by Phi-Silica (supported for text selections only and English, Spanish, and French). This change is not yet rolling out to Windows Insiders in the EEA (European Economic Area) or China.

[caption id="attachment_178235" align="alignnone" width="252"] New Copilot prompt box at the top of the Click to Do context menu.[/caption]

New visual animations for the right edge gesture in Click to Do: These new visual animations are designed to give you a clear visual cue as you swipe and follow your finger for a more delightful, intuitive experience. These animations help you better understand the gesture’s intent, making interactions feel more purposeful.
New and popular action tags: New and popular action tags to the context menu in Click to Do are designed to help you discover our newest and most popular AI-powered actions available to use.

[caption id="attachment_178236" align="alignnone" width="706"] Example of a top action highlighted in a red box in Click to Do’s context menu.[/caption]

The output from the Summarize action for text entities in Click to Do should start to feel even more brief and concise as we continue to tune for improvements.

[Start menu]

We are trying out a small change in the Recommended section of the Start menu where we will show examples of prompts that you can try using in the Copilot app such as creating an image with Copilot.

[Emoji]

Face with Bags Under Eyes:Captures exhaustion or the need to rest.
Fingerprint:Identity or security.
Root Vegetable: Represents healthy eating and gardening.
Leafless Tree: Symbolizes winter, emptiness, or dormancy.
Harp: A timeless musical icon with ancient roots.
Shovel: Useful for gardening or metaphorically digging out of trouble.
Splatter: Expressive and fun.

[Gaming]

We have made some improvements for using Xbox game controllers for gaming on Windows 11. Short pressing the Xbox button opens Game Bar. A new change we're introducing is when you long press the Xbox button, it will open Task View. Pressing and holding the Xbox button continues to turn off the game controller.

[Narrator]

More natural voice feedback: Narrator no longer raises pitch dramatically when announcing headings or grammar/spelling errors, making the experience smoother and less distracting when using Natural Voices.
Better footnote navigation: You can now navigate a document via footnotes and clearly hear the footnote number, helping you stay oriented while reading or editing documents with references.
Reliable continuous reading: Narrator will no longer stop unexpectedly during long passages of text. Continuous reading now flows smoothly from start to finish.
Improved comment reading: Narrator now correctly tracks focus when moving from the document canvas into the comments pane, so you can review and read comments without losing context

Creating & Consuming List

Coherent and consistent announcements: Narrator now reads lists in a consistent manner across surfaces and navigation methods. List entities such as style and level will be announced as per the chosen verbosity to ensure users have context about the formatting and their position in the list.
Complete list reading: Narrator will no longer cut off when a list item continues onto the next line — the entire content is announced properly.
Navigation List Items: You can now navigate Up and down from one list item to another using Ctrl + Up/Down keys.

Creating & Consuming Tables

Easier navigation commands: Narrator now supports quick navigation in Scan Mode to the first or last cell in a row or column, helping users move through tables more efficiently. You can navigate using the following commands:
- Beginning of Row – Ctrl + Alt + comma
- End of Row – Ctrl + Alt + period
- Beginning of Column - Ctrl + Alt + Shift + comma
- End of Column – Ctrl + Alt + Shift + period
Clearer guidance at table boundaries: When navigating with the Tab key inside an editable table, Narrator now provides an announcement when reaching the last cell. This prevents confusion and accidental row additions.
Less confusing entry announcements: Narrator no longer announces “entering table” twice when moving across cells. You’ll now hear this feedback only once, making it easier to track whether you’re still inside the same table.
Better feedback during selection: Narrator now make clear announcements as you select one or more cells across row and columns or both. It also clearly announces when a text selection extends across multiple cells, so you know exactly how much content they’ve selected.
Awareness of non-uniform tables: Narrator now alerts users if a table is non-uniform (for example, missing cells in certain rows or columns), giving important context about table structure.

[Settings]

After being temporarily disabled, Advanced Settings is rolling out again to Windows Insiders in the Dev and Beta Channels. However, we have temporarily removed the long path and virtual workspaces options to address some issues.

[Other]

We’re introducing a simple reminder that appears as a SCOOBE screen (Second Chance Out of Box Experience) to let you know your Microsoft subscription needs attention (for example, if a renewal payment didn’t go through). In just a few clicks, you can review and update your payment method and keep your subscription benefits uninterrupted.

[caption id="attachment_178233" align="alignnone" width="588"] SCOOBE screen for notifying you your Microsoft 365 subscription is past due with link to take action.[/caption]

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[General]

Fixed an issue causing some PCs to bugcheck (green screen) while hibernating after the latest flights. This may have made it look like hibernation had shut down your PC. This issue is believed to also be the cause of some Insiders finding that shutdown had hung and would sit on a black screen with a fan noise.

[Taskbar & System Tray]

Did some work to help improve reliability of taskbar hiding and unhiding when the setting “automatically hide the taskbar” is enabled. As part of this work, the animation may be smoother for you now. As a reminder – if an app has an alert (the orange highlight on the app icon) then the taskbar will show.
Fixed a couple issues which could lead to you not being able to interact with apps or the desktop in the area directly above the taskbar.

[File Explorer]

Fixed an issue for some users, where the Shared section in File Explorer Home might be visible even if there was no content to display.
Fixed an issue which was Fixed an issue where File Explorer was unexpectedly not showing thumbnails for video files containing certain EXIF metadata.
Fixed an issue where interacting with the context menu in File Explorer could lead to the body of File Explorer becoming unresponsive to clicks.
Fixed an issue which could lead to certain apps hanging when launching the Open or Save Dialog.

[Lock and Login screens]

Fixed an issue which could cause the lock screen to crash when interacting with the power button in the latest builds.

[Start menu]

Fixed an underlying issue which was causing Start menu to dismiss if you tried to use WIN + Shift + S to take a screenshot of it.
Fixed an issue impacting Start menu reliability in the latest builds.
Fixed an issue which was causing Start menu to randomly scroll back up to the top sometimes.

[Windows Sandbox]

Fixed an issue for Windows Sandbox users which could lead to the vmmemCmFirstBoot process consuming large amounts of CPU after login, causing your PC to potentially become unresponsive.

[Search]

We did some work to help reduce instances where search may get stuck in a loading state.

[Settings]

Fixed an issue which could lead to Settings crashing when interacting with Settings > System > Optional Features.

[Voice Access]

Fixed an issue which could result in Voice Access not working, showing error 9001.

[Windows Hello]

Fixed an issue where booting into safe mode wasn’t working, with a message saying “Something happened and your PIN isn’t available” for some people.
Fixed an issue where Windows Hello Pin setup might fail with error 0x80090010 on Entra-domain joined devices that had installed the latest updates.

[Other]

If the ability to move the hardware indicators disappeared for you after the last flight, it should be back now.

Fixes for everyone in the Beta Channel

[General]

This update addresses an issue that affects audio in apps using the Network Device Interface (NDI). Audio stutters when Display Capture is on in OBS Studio Application. This could occur after installing the latest updates.

Known issues

[Click to Do]

[NEW] Launching Click to Do on your primary display via right-edge gesture will result in the swipe visuals appearing on the incorrect display. The issue is being investigated.

[Lock and login screens]

[NEW] We’re investigating an issue in this build where the media controls may not display on the lock screen.

[Windows Studio Effects]

[NEW] For some classes of external webcams, turning on "Use Windows Studio Effects" in the advanced camera setting may result in a camera preview failure. This is due to a compatibility issue with the camera firmware and is being addressed with a future update. In the meantime, if you are impacted by this issue, turn off Windows Studio Effects inside the camera settings.

[For developers]

PIX on Windows is unable to play back GPU captures on this OS version. This will be addressed by a new PIX release, estimated to arrive by the end of September. In the meantime, if you are impacted, you can use the “Send Feedback” button in PIX or contact us on the DirectX Discord server and we can help provide private builds.

[Settings]

[NEW] The placeholder text in the Settings search box may appear vertically misaligned.

[Audio]

Some Windows Insiders in the Dev and Beta Channels are experiencing an issue where audio stops working and Device Manager shows one or more devices with a yellow exclamation mark, including “ACPI Audio Compositor” and others. Selecting Properties on these devices will show “Windows cannot load the device driver for this hardware. The driver may be corrupted or missing.” If you are impacted by this issue, you can follow these instructions to get back into a working state:
- Right-click on the device with a yellow exclamation mark in Device Manager and select “Update driver”.
- Choose “Browse my computer for drivers” and then “Let me pick from a list of available drivers on my computer”.
- Select the driver from the list with the most recent date and click “Next”. If you are presented with a list of common hardware types instead of one or more specific drivers, this device is not related to this issue.
- This device should be repaired and no longer show a yellow exclamation mark in Device Manager. If it continues to show a yellow exclamation mark, the yellow exclamation mark is not related to this issue.
- Repeat these steps for each device with a yellow exclamation mark.

[Xbox Controllers]

Some Insiders are experiencing an issue where using their Xbox Controller via Bluetooth is causing their PC to bugcheck. Here is how to resolve the issue. Open Device Manager by searching for it via the search box on your taskbar. Once Device Manager is open, click on "View" and then "Devices by Driver". Find the driver named "oemXXX.inf (XboxGameControllerDriver.inf)" where the "XXX" will be a specific number on your PC. Right-click on that driver and click "Uninstall".

Microsoft Store Update

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel

Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel on Windows 11, version 24H2 will receive updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 via an enablement package (Build 26120.xxxx).
Updates delivered to the Beta Channel are in a format that offers a preview of enhancements to servicing technology on Windows 11, version 24H2. To learn more, see https://aka.ms/CheckpointCumulativeUpdates.
Many features in the Beta Channel are rolled out using Controlled Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Please note that some accessibility features may not work with features like Recall and Click to Do while in preview with Windows Insiders.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27943 (Canary Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Thu, 11 Sep 2025 17:05:03 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27943 to the Canary Channel.

Changes and Improvements

[General]

This update includes a small set of general improvements and fixes that improve the overall experience for Insiders running this build on their PCs.

Fixes

[General]

Fixed the issue causing Settings > System > Storage > Temporary files to get stuck when scanning files. This issue also caused the entry to clean up previous Windows Installations to not show in Storage Settings.

[Taskbar]

Fixed an issue where if you minimized an app and switched back and forth between desktops, you might end up seeing a duplicate preview thumbnail when hovering over the app in the taskbar.

[Display and Graphics]

Fixed an issue which could result in HDR unexpectedly turning off immediately after you enabled it in Settings.

[Other]

Fixed an issue causing an event saying “The “Microsoft Pluton Cryptographic Provider” provider was not loaded because initialization failed” with error 57 to appear in Event Viewer for some Insiders after boot.
Fixed an issue where if you had to enter a PIN for your device to cast from Quick Settings, pressing Enter wouldn’t confirm the PIN.
Made another fix to help with Group Policy Editor having unexpected large blank areas and not rendering correctly with the Chinese display language.

Known issues

[General]

[IMPORTANT]Some Windows Insiders may experience a rollback attempting to install this build with either an 0xC1900101-0x20017 error or 0xC1900101-0x30017 error. Unfortunately retrying to install the build will result in another rollback. We are working on a fix.
[NEW] We’re working on the fix for an issue causing some Insiders with Arm64 PCs to experience an increase in bugchecks (green screens) with error IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL in the latest Canary builds.

[For developers]

PIX on Windows is unable to play back GPU captures on this OS version. This will be addressed by a new PIX release, estimated to arrive by the end of September. In the meantime, if you are impacted, you can use the "Send Feedback" button in PIX or contact us on the DirectX Discord server and we can help provide private builds.

[Graphics]

We’re investigating an issue which is causing some Insiders to experience screen flickers when using the browser (and potentially other scenarios) in the latest Canary builds.

[Audio]

Some Windows Insiders in the Canary Channel are experiencing an issue where audio stops working and Device Manager shows one or more devices with a yellow exclamation mark, including “ACPI Audio Compositor” and others. Selecting Properties on these devices will show “Windows cannot load the device driver for this hardware. The driver may be corrupted or missing.” If you are impacted by this issue, you can follow these instructions to get back into a working state:
- Right-click on the device with a yellow exclamation mark in Device Manager and select “Update driver”.
- Choose “Browse my computer for drivers” and then “Let me pick from a list of available drivers on my computer”.
- Select the driver from the list with the most recent date and click “Next”. If you are presented with a list of common hardware types instead of one or more specific drivers, this device is not related to this issue.
- This device should be repaired and no longer show a yellow exclamation mark in Device Manager. If it continues to show a yellow exclamation mark, the yellow exclamation mark is not related to this issue.
- Repeat these steps for each device with a yellow exclamation mark.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Canary Channel

The builds we release to the Canary Channel represent the latest platform changes early in the development cycle and should not be seen as matched to any specific release of Windows and features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Many features in the Canary Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
Some features may show up in the Dev and Beta Channels first before showing up in the Canary Channel.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
To get off the Canary Channel, a clean install of Windows 11 will be required. As a reminder - Insiders can’t switch to a channel that is receiving builds with lower build numbers without doing a clean installation of Windows 11 due to technical setup requirements.
The desktop watermark shown at the lower right corner of the desktop is normal for these pre-release builds.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27938 (Canary Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Mon, 08 Sep 2025 21:02:47 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27938 to the Canary Channel.

What’s new in Build 27938

Introducing AI actions in File Explorer

With AI actions in File Explorer, you can interact more deeply with your files by right-clicking to quickly take actions like editing images or summarizing documents. Like with Click to Do, AI actions in File Explorer allow you to stay in your flow while leveraging the power of AI to take advantage of editing tools in apps or Copilot functionality without having to open your file. AI actions in File Explorer are easily accessible – to try out AI actions in File Explorer, just right-click on a file and you will see a new AI actions entry on the content menu that allows you to choose from available options for your file. [caption id="attachment_177881" align="alignnone" width="677"] File Explorer with context menu expanded on a file showing new AI actions highlighted in a red box.[/caption] Today, you can try one of four image actions for seamless editing or web searches with images:

Bing Visual Search: Allows you to search the web using an image instead of text. Find similar images and products, get details about sites using the image, and identify landmarks, plants, and famous faces. From searching what you see on your screen, to shopping your preferred style, getting help with that homework problem, or translating text, getting answers is more intuitive than ever.
Blur Background: Opens the Photos app which automatically finds the background in the photo, and with a single click, instantly highlights your subject and blurs out the background. You can also customize the effect by adjusting the Blur Intensity or use the Brush Tool to modify the areas being blurred.
Erase Objects: With Photos by selecting or highlighting an unwanted element in your photo and Generative Erase makes it disappear. It allows you to fix and remove distractions from your photos.
Remove Background: With Paint allows you to alter any image automatically in just one click leaving a smooth cutout of the subject. Background removal can detect the subject from the entire canvas or using the selection tool.

These four image actions currently support these file types: .jpg, .jpeg, and .png. Let us know what you think of these new AI actions in File Explorer! FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Files, Folders, and Online Story > File Explorer.

Bringing back the bigger clock with seconds option in notification center

We’re starting to roll out a highly requested feature from Windows 10, the option to show a bigger clock with seconds above the date and calendar in notification center. [caption id="attachment_177979" align="alignnone" width="599"] Clock showing in notification center with the calendar both collapsed and expanded.[/caption] To turn this option on, go to Settings > Time & language > Date & time and flip the switch for Show time in the Notification Center. [caption id="attachment_177980" align="alignnone" width="577"] The toggle to turn on showing the clock in notification center in Settings highlighted in a red box.[/caption] FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Desktop Environment > Clock and Calendar Flyout.

Changes and Improvements

[Settings]

You can now visit the Settings > Privacy & security > Text and image generation to see which third-party applications recently used generative AI models provided by Windows. This page gives you visibility into the specific apps leveraging local Windows provided generative AI models and allows you to control which apps are permitted to use them—putting you in charge of your device’s AI experience.

[caption id="attachment_178075" align="alignnone" width="606"] Text and image generation settings page with recent activity highlighted in a red box for seeing which apps use generative AI models provided by Windows.[/caption]

Fixes

[Reset & Recovery]

Fixed the issue causing the “Reset this PC” option under Settings > System > Recovery to not work on Build 27934.

[File Explorer]

Fixed an issue where In dark mode, the red color used for a low space drive in This PC might be unexpectedly light colored in the latest builds. Some of the other colors might also have been incorrect, including that black is used for space remaining instead of a more visible color.
Fixed an issue which was Fixed an issue where File Explorer was unexpectedly not showing thumbnails for video files containing certain EXIF metadata.

[Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI)]

Performance improvements related to WMI Registry scanning.

[Login and Lock screen]

Fixed an issue which was causing some of the sign in options to have a blank icon.

[Search]

Did some work to help reduce instances where search may get stuck in a loading state.

[Input]

Fixed an issue where if you typed on the touch keyboard with the Changjie, Bopomoji, or Japanese IME, it wouldn’t work if you had switched to using the previous version of the IME.

[Task Manager]

Fixed an issue which was causing Task Manager to freeze when going to the performance section recently for some Insiders.

[Other]

Fixed an issue which was causing some Insiders to experience bugchecks (green screens) with error IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL citing an issue with ntoskrnl.exe in the latest Canary builds when attempting to enter safe mode.
Fixed an issue causing some Insiders to experience bugchecks recently with error CRITICAL_PROCESS_DIED.

Known issues

[General]

[IMPORTANT] Some Windows Insiders may experience a rollback attempting to install this build with either an 0xC1900101-0x20017 error or 0xC1900101-0x30017 error. Unfortunately retrying to install the build will result in another rollback. We are working on a fix.
We’re working on the fix for an issue causing Settings > System > Storage > Temporary files to get stuck when scanning files. This issue also causes the entry to clean up previous Windows Installations to not show in Storage Settings.

[For developers]

[NEW] PIX on Windows is unable to play back GPU captures on this OS version. This will be addressed by a new PIX release, estimated to arrive by the end of September. In the meantime, if you are impacted, you can use the "Send Feedback" button in PIX or contact us on the DirectX Discord server and we can help provide private builds.

[Graphics]

We’re investigating an issue which is causing some Insiders to experience screen flickers when using the browser (and potentially other scenarios) in the latest Canary builds.

[Audio]

[NEW] Some Windows Insiders in the Canary Channel are experiencing an issue where audio stops working and Device Manager shows one or more devices with a yellow exclamation mark, including “ACPI Audio Compositor” and others. Selecting Properties on these devices will show “Windows cannot load the device driver for this hardware. The driver may be corrupted or missing.” If you are impacted by this issue, you can follow these instructions to get back into a working state:
- Right-click on the device with a yellow exclamation mark in Device Manager and select “Update driver”.
- Choose “Browse my computer for drivers” and then “Let me pick from a list of available drivers on my computer”.
- Select the driver from the list with the most recent date and click “Next”. If you are presented with a list of common hardware types instead of one or more specific drivers, this device is not related to this issue.
- This device should be repaired and no longer show a yellow exclamation mark in Device Manager. If it continues to show a yellow exclamation mark, the yellow exclamation mark is not related to this issue.
- Repeat these steps for each device with a yellow exclamation mark.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Canary Channel

The builds we release to the Canary Channel represent the latest platform changes early in the development cycle and should not be seen as matched to any specific release of Windows and features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Many features in the Canary Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
Some features may show up in the Dev and Beta Channels first before showing up in the Canary Channel.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
To get off the Canary Channel, a clean install of Windows 11 will be required. As a reminder - Insiders can’t switch to a channel that is receiving builds with lower build numbers without doing a clean installation of Windows 11 due to technical setup requirements.
The desktop watermark shown at the lower right corner of the desktop is normal for these pre-release builds.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26220.5790 (Dev Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 05 Sep 2025 17:03:34 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26220.5790 (KB5065779) to the Dev Channel for Windows Insiders on Windows 11, version 25H2. Changes in Dev Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*) and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Dev Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

New Copilot+ PC experiences

Introducing fluid dictation in voice access

Fluid dictation is a new feature in voice access on Copilot+ PCs, that makes voice-based dictation smoother and smarter. It automatically corrects grammar, punctuation, and filler words as you speak, reducing the need for manual editing. This experience is powered by on-device small language models (SLMs) so ensure fast and private processing. To use it, launch voice access and complete setup if you're a first-time user. Fluid dictation is enabled by default - you can check or toggle it via the settings flyout in the top-right corner or simply say “turn on/off fluid dictation.” [caption id="attachment_178209" align="alignnone" width="1024"] The option to turn fluid dictation on or off in the settings flyout in voice access highlighted in a red box.[/caption] It works in any text app but is disabled in secure fields like passwords or PINs to protect your privacy. Fluid dictation in voice access is currently available in all English locales and is available on all Copilot + PCs. FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Accessibility > Voice access.

Making Windows Studio Effects available on additional cameras

We are working to bring the Windows Studio Effects experience from integrated laptop cameras to a broader range of camera hardware, helping you stay professional and look your best across more setups. On supported Copilot+ PCs, we are rolling out the ability to use Studio Effect’s AI-powered camera enhancements with an additional, alternative camera - such as a USB webcam or your laptop’s built-in rear camera. [caption id="attachment_178211" align="alignnone" width="650"] New option inside Settings to turn on the ability to use Windows Studio Effects on an additional camera highlighted in a red box.[/caption] To get started, navigate to Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Cameras and select your preferred camera from the connected cameras list. Then, open the advanced camera options menu to find the new “Use Windows Studio Effects” toggle. Once enabled, you can now access and adjust Studio Effects directly from the camera settings page or via the quick settings menu in the taskbar. NOTE: The required update for the Windows Studio Effects driver will first roll out to Intel®-powered Copilot+ PCs with the update rolling out for AMD and Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PCs in the coming weeks. For more information on Windows Studio Effects and device prerequisites, check out Windows Studio Effects - Microsoft Support. FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Desktop Environment > Studio Effects.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[Agent in Settings]

The following changes and improvements are rolling out for agent in Settings on Copilot+ PCs:

We are beginning to roll out the new agent in Settings experience to Windows Insiders with their primary display language is set to French.

[File Explorer]

File Explorer Home now offers on-hover actions for faster file management. Hovering over a file with your mouse in File Explorer Home will display commands like Open file location and Ask Copilot about this file. You will be able to try out the Copilot integration and attach files easily. This experience currently only works if you’re signed in with a Microsoft account. Work or school account (Entra ID) support is coming in a future flight. This change is not yet rolling out to Windows Insiders in the EEA (European Economic Area).

[caption id="attachment_178212" align="alignnone" width="695"] On-hover actions in File Explorer Home highlighted in a red box.[/caption]

[Settings]

Advanced Settings will revert to the previous “For Developers” experience after updating to this build. This change will come back soon.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[General]

Fixed an underlying issue which was causing Insiders on certain devices to experience an unexpected increase in lag in various scenarios after the latest flights, including when interacting with File Explorer and taskbar (clicks could take 500ms to be processed), and browser windows (particularly when watching videos). Performance issues can have multiple causes, so if you’re continuing to experience issues, please let us know by filing feedback, including as many details as possible.

[Taskbar & System Tray]

Fixed an issue which could cause the app preview windows in the taskbar to become misaligned (away from the app icon you’d clicked / hovered over) after a display resolution change.

[File Explorer]

Fixed an issue where with certain apps installed, when you right clicked you may see the context menu unexpectedly switch back and forth with each right click between the normal initial view and “Show more options”.

[Settings]

Fixed an issue causing Settings > System > Storage > Temporary files to get stuck when scanning files.

[Other]

Fixed an issue causing an event saying “The "Microsoft Pluton Cryptographic Provider” provider was not loaded because initialization failed” with error 57 to appear in Event Viewer for some Insiders after boot.

Known issues

[General]

[NEW] We’re investigating an issue causing some PCs to bugcheck (green screen) while hibernating after the previous flight. This may make it look like hibernation has shut down your PC. We recommend not hibernating your PC until this is fixed if you are experiencing this issue.

[File Explorer]

For some users, the Shared section in File Explorer Home may be visible even if there is no content to display.

[Windows Studio Effects]

[ADDED 9/11] For some classes of external webcams, turning on "Use Windows Studio Effects" in the advanced camera setting may result in a camera preview failure. This is due to a compatibility issue with the camera firmware and is being addressed with a future update. In the meantime, if you are impacted by this issue, turn off Windows Studio Effects inside the camera settings.

[For developers]

[NEW] PIX on Windows is unable to play back GPU captures on this OS version. This will be addressed by a new PIX release, estimated to arrive by the end of September. In the meantime, if you are impacted, you can use the "Send Feedback" button in PIX or contact us on the DirectX Discord server and we can help provide private builds.

[Audio]

[NEW] Some Windows Insiders in the Dev and Beta Channels are experiencing an issue where audio stops working and Device Manager shows one or more devices with a yellow exclamation mark, including “ACPI Audio Compositor” and others. Selecting Properties on these devices will show “Windows cannot load the device driver for this hardware. The driver may be corrupted or missing.” If you are impacted by this issue, you can follow these instructions to get back into a working state:
- Right-click on the device with a yellow exclamation mark in Device Manager and select “Update driver”.
- Choose “Browse my computer for drivers” and then “Let me pick from a list of available drivers on my computer”.
- Select the driver from the list with the most recent date and click “Next”. If you are presented with a list of common hardware types instead of one or more specific drivers, this device is not related to this issue.
- This device should be repaired and no longer show a yellow exclamation mark in Device Manager. If it continues to show a yellow exclamation mark, the yellow exclamation mark is not related to this issue.
- Repeat these steps for each device with a yellow exclamation mark.

[Xbox Controllers]

Some Insiders are experiencing an issue where using their Xbox Controller via Bluetooth is causing their PC to bugcheck. Here is how to resolve the issue. Open Device Manager by searching for it via the search box on your taskbar. Once Device Manager is open, click on "View" and then "Devices by Driver". Find the driver named "oemXXX.inf (XboxGameControllerDriver.inf)" where the "XXX" will be a specific number on your PC. Right-click on that driver and click "Uninstall".

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel

Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel receive updates based on Windows 11, version 25H2 via an enablement package (Build 26220.xxxx).
Many features in the Dev Channel are rolled out using Controlled Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Please note that some accessibility features may not work with features like Recall and Click to Do while in preview with Windows Insiders.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.
Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.5790 (Beta Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 05 Sep 2025 17:03:31 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.5790 (KB5065779) to the Beta Channel for Windows Insiders on Windows 11, version 24H2. Changes in Beta Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*) and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Beta Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

New Copilot+ PC experiences

Introducing fluid dictation in voice access

Making Windows Studio Effects available on additional cameras

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Agent in Settings]

The following changes and improvements are rolling out for agent in Settings on Copilot+ PCs:

We are beginning to roll out the new agent in Settings experience to Windows Insiders with their primary display language is set to French.

[File Explorer]

File Explorer Home now offers on-hover actions for faster file management. Hovering over a file with your mouse in File Explorer Home will display commands like Open file location and Ask Copilot about this file. You will be able to try out the Copilot integration and attach files easily. This experience currently only works if you’re signed in with a Microsoft account. Work or school account (Entra ID) support is coming in a future flight. This change is not yet rolling out to Windows Insiders in the EEA (European Economic Area).

[caption id="attachment_178212" align="alignnone" width="695"] On-hover actions in File Explorer Home highlighted in a red box.[/caption]

[Settings]

Advanced Settings will revert to the previous “For Developers” experience after updating to this build. This change will come back soon.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[General]

Fixed an underlying issue which was causing Insiders on certain devices to experience an unexpected increase in lag in various scenarios after the latest flights, including when interacting with File Explorer and taskbar (clicks could take 500ms to be processed), and browser windows (particularly when watching videos). Performance issues can have multiple causes, so if you’re continuing to experience issues, please let us know by filing feedback, including as many details as possible.

[Taskbar & System Tray]

Fixed an issue which could cause the app preview windows in the taskbar to become misaligned (away from the app icon you’d clicked / hovered over) after a display resolution change.

[File Explorer]

Fixed an issue where with certain apps installed, when you right clicked you may see the context menu unexpectedly switch back and forth with each right click between the normal initial view and “Show more options”.

[Settings]

Fixed an issue causing Settings > System > Storage > Temporary files to get stuck when scanning files.

[Other]

Fixed an issue causing an event saying “The "Microsoft Pluton Cryptographic Provider” provider was not loaded because initialization failed” with error 57 to appear in Event Viewer for some Insiders after boot.

Known issues

[General]

[NEW] We’re investigating an issue causing some PCs to bugcheck (green screen) while hibernating after the previous flight. This may make it look like hibernation has shut down your PC. We recommend not hibernating your PC until this is fixed if you are experiencing this issue.

[File Explorer]

For some users, the Shared section in File Explorer Home may be visible even if there is no content to display.

[Windows Studio Effects]

[ADDED 9/11] For some classes of external webcams, turning on "Use Windows Studio Effects" in the advanced camera setting may result in a camera preview failure. This is due to a compatibility issue with the camera firmware and is being addressed with a future update. In the meantime, if you are impacted by this issue, turn off Windows Studio Effects inside the camera settings.

[For developers]

[NEW] PIX on Windows is unable to play back GPU captures on this OS version. This will be addressed by a new PIX release, estimated to arrive by the end of September. In the meantime, if you are impacted, you can use the "Send Feedback" button in PIX or contact us on the DirectX Discord server and we can help provide private builds.

[Audio]

Some Windows Insiders in the Dev and Beta Channels are experiencing an issue where audio stops working and Device Manager shows one or more devices with a yellow exclamation mark, including “ACPI Audio Compositor” and others. Selecting Properties on these devices will show “Windows cannot load the device driver for this hardware. The driver may be corrupted or missing.” If you are impacted by this issue, you can follow these instructions to get back into a working state:
- Right-click on the device with a yellow exclamation mark in Device Manager and select “Update driver”.
- Choose “Browse my computer for drivers” and then “Let me pick from a list of available drivers on my computer”.
- Select the driver from the list with the most recent date and click “Next”. If you are presented with a list of common hardware types instead of one or more specific drivers, this device is not related to this issue.
- This device should be repaired and no longer show a yellow exclamation mark in Device Manager. If it continues to show a yellow exclamation mark, the yellow exclamation mark is not related to this issue.
- Repeat these steps for each device with a yellow exclamation mark.

[Xbox Controllers]

Some Insiders are experiencing an issue where using their Xbox Controller via Bluetooth is causing their PC to bugcheck. Here is how to resolve the issue. Open Device Manager by searching for it via the search box on your taskbar. Once Device Manager is open, click on "View" and then "Devices by Driver". Find the driver named "oemXXX.inf (XboxGameControllerDriver.inf)" where the "XXX" will be a specific number on your PC. Right-click on that driver and click "Uninstall".

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel

Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel on Windows 11, version 24H2 will receive updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 via an enablement package (Build 26120.xxxx).
Updates delivered to the Beta Channel are in a format that offers a preview of enhancements to servicing technology on Windows 11, version 24H2. To learn more, see https://aka.ms/CheckpointCumulativeUpdates.
Many features in the Beta Channel are rolled out using Controlled Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Please note that some accessibility features may not work with features like Recall and Click to Do while in preview with Windows Insiders.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27934 (Canary Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 29 Aug 2025 17:04:58 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27934 to the Canary Channel.

Changes and Improvements

[General]

This update includes a small set of general improvements and fixes that improve the overall experience for Insiders running this build on their PCs.

Fixes

[Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI)]

[ADDED 9/5] Performance improvements related to WMI Registry scanning.

[Windowing]

Fixed an issue causing an increase in DWM crashes in the previous build (which could lead to you seeing a black flash).

[Other]

Fixed an issue in the last few builds where if you launched cmd non-elevated from the Run dialog, it might open in Windows Console Host rather than Windows Terminal even if Windows Terminal was your default terminal app.
Fixed an underlying issue which could lead to certain UWP apps crashing when scrolling in the previous build.

Known issues

[General]

We’re investigating reports that Settings > System > Storage > Temporary files is getting stuck when scanning files. We are also investigating previous Windows Installations also not showing.

[File Explorer]

In dark mode, the red color used for a low space drive in This PC may be unexpectedly light colored in this build. Some of the other colors may also be incorrect, including that black is used for space remaining instead of a more visible color.

[Reset & Recovery]

[NEW] The “Reset this PC” option Settings > System > Recovery will not work on this build. This issue will be fixed in the next Canary Channel flight. Should you need to reset your PC, you can roll back to the previous build and do a PC reset then.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Canary Channel

The builds we release to the Canary Channel represent the latest platform changes early in the development cycle and should not be seen as matched to any specific release of Windows and features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Many features in the Canary Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
Some features may show up in the Dev and Beta Channels first before showing up in the Canary Channel.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
To get off the Canary Channel, a clean install of Windows 11 will be required. As a reminder - Insiders can’t switch to a channel that is receiving builds with lower build numbers without doing a clean installation of Windows 11 due to technical setup requirements.
The desktop watermark shown at the lower right corner of the desktop is normal for these pre-release builds.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26220.5770 (Dev Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 29 Aug 2025 17:04:43 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26220.5770 (KB5064089) to the Dev Channel. Please note the major build number has incremented to Build 26220 with this flight. This build number will only be used for builds flighted to the Dev Channel. Windows 11, version 25H2 will be released as Build 26200 and is now available in the Release Preview Channel. Changes in Dev Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*) and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Dev Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

New Copilot+ PC experiences

New Microsoft 365 text action in Click to Do

We are beginning to roll out a new text action in Click to Do! Convert to table with Excel: Click to Do now recognizes tables so you can work smarter and faster with information you encounter everyday – whether it’s a table you see shared over Teams in a meeting, a school calendar from a photo, or any other document with an embedded table. With tables in Click to Do, you can now highlight any simple table and immediately send to Excel, copy or share it – all without retyping a single cell. See a table in any application and you can press Win + Click to invoke Click to Do, or Win + Q or right swipe and tap to select the table. Once selected, you’ll see the actions you can take like Convert to table with Excel. Just click, capture and continue. [caption id="attachment_178195" align="alignnone" width="520"] Click to Do with table highlighted and action to convert to table with Excel shown in the Click to Do menu.[/caption] This is an early preview of this action in Click to Do and table detection may sometimes not work correctly. However, table detection quality will improve over time in subsequent flights to the Dev and Beta Channels. Tables in Click to Do are rolling out to Windows Insiders on Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PCs, with support for AMD and Intel-powered Copilot+ PCs coming soon. You’ll need the latest Microsoft Excel application installed on your PC to see Convert to table with Excel and a Microsoft 365 Subscription. This change is not yet rolling out to Windows Insiders in the EEA (European Economic Area). View Microsoft 365 Profile Cards: Rather than opening Microsoft Outlook or Teams or anywhere to look up someone’s profile, get straight to their info about them thanks to the integration of Live Persona Cards for from Microsoft 365 in Click to Do. See how to contact them or past collaborations without leaving your flow. This new action is available on emails seen in Click to Do. Press Win + Click right on an email and, if it’s part of your work or school’s organization, the profile card is displayed. [caption id="attachment_178197" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Click to Do showing a Microsoft 365 profile card after clicking on an email address.[/caption] You must be signed in to your PC with a work or school account (Entra ID) and have a Microsoft 365 subscription. This change is not yet rolling out to Windows Insiders in the EEA (European Economic Area). You can learn more about using Click to Do here. FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Desktop Environment > Click to Do.

New features gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

Get on-screen Braille and text output with Braille viewer

We are adding a new feature in Narrator called Braille viewer that allows you to see on-screen textual and Braille representation of the output shown on a refreshable Braille display. This is a helpful tool for sighted teachers, AT trainers, developers, and testers who do not read Braille or who have limited to no access to a Braille display. Teachers of Students with Visual Impairments (TVIs) can use Braille viewer to help improve student’s Braille skills or follow along in classroom as the teachers can visually see the textual and Braille representation on the screen while the student reads it on their connected Braille display. [caption id="attachment_178198" align="alignnone" width="1024"] On-screen textual and Braille representation shown over a Word document.[/caption] To open Braille viewer, start Narrator using Win + Ctrl + Enter and press Narrator key + Alt + B. A new floating window opens - contents of this window are updated as you continue to use Narrator. The number of Braille cells shown on the viewer depends on the size of your refreshable Braille display. If an 80-cell display is connected, the viewer shows 80 cells. If no display is connected, the viewer shows 40 cells by default. You could also change the display size and position of the viewer using settings menu on the viewer. NOTE: For Braille viewer to work, make sure Narrator is set up to give Braille output. To download and install Braille package, navigate to Settings > Accessibility > Narrator > Use a Braille display with Narrator. FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Accessibility > Narrator.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[Windows Share]

You can find apps installed on your PC or apps available in the Microsoft Store directly within the Windows share window using “Find Apps” under the “Share using” section.

[caption id="attachment_178199" align="alignnone" width="393"] Results shown for searching for Paint directly within the Windows search window using “Find Apps”.[/caption]

[Other]

The Windows OS version of Direct3D 12 has been updated to match the Agility SDK 1.616.1 package contents.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[Taskbar & System Tray]

Fixed an issue where clicking the date and time on a secondary monitor might open the flyout on your primary monitor.
Fixed an issue where if you minimized an app and switched back and forth between desktops, you might end up seeing a duplicate preview thumbnail when hovering over the app in the taskbar.

[Windowing]

Fixed an issue which was causing explorer.exe to crash when using ALT + Tab for some Insiders in the previous flight.

[Display]

Fixed an issue where the setting to enable HDR under Settings > System > Display might turn off after you turned it on, blocking you from enabling it.

[Audio]

Fixed an issue which could result in audio not working a few seconds after casting to a TV.

[Other]

Fixed an issue which was causing the drivers for certain smart cards to not work in recent flights (showing error 31).
Fixed a typo in the diskusage help list (diskusage /?).
Fixed an issue where if you had to enter a PIN for your device to cast from Quick Settings, pressing Enter wouldn’t confirm the PIN.
Fixed an issue where the tooltip for the "Abort if insufficient memory" setting in Task Manager’s advanced section of settings wasn’t correct.

Known issues

[File Explorer]

For some users, the Shared section in File Explorer Home may be visible even if there is no content to display.

[Settings]

We’re investigating reports that Settings > System > Storage > Temporary files is getting stuck when scanning files. We are also investigating previous Windows Installations also not showing.

[Audio]

[NEW] Some Windows Insiders in the Dev and Beta Channels are experiencing an issue where audio stops working and Device Manager shows one or more devices with a yellow exclamation mark, including “ACPI Audio Compositor” and others. Selecting Properties on these devices will show “Windows cannot load the device driver for this hardware. The driver may be corrupted or missing.” If you are impacted by this issue, you can follow these instructions to get back into a working state:
- Right-click on the device with a yellow exclamation mark in Device Manager and select “Update driver”.
- Choose “Browse my computer for drivers” and then “Let me pick from a list of available drivers on my computer”.
- Select the driver from the list with the most recent date and click “Next”. If you are presented with a list of common hardware types instead of one or more specific drivers, this device is not related to this issue.
- This device should be repaired and no longer show a yellow exclamation mark in Device Manager. If it continues to show a yellow exclamation mark, the yellow exclamation mark is not related to this issue.
- Repeat these steps for each device with a yellow exclamation mark.

[Xbox Controllers]

Some Insiders are experiencing an issue where using their Xbox Controller via Bluetooth is causing their PC to bugcheck. Here is how to resolve the issue. Open Device Manager by searching for it via the search box on your taskbar. Once Device Manager is open, click on "View" and then "Devices by Driver". Find the driver named "oemXXX.inf (XboxGameControllerDriver.inf)" where the "XXX" will be a specific number on your PC. Right-click on that driver and click "Uninstall".

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel

Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel receive updates based on Windows 11, version 25H2 via an enablement package (Build 26220.xxxx).
Many features in the Dev Channel are rolled out using Controlled Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Please note that some accessibility features may not work with features like Recall and Click to Do while in preview with Windows Insiders.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.5770 (Beta Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 29 Aug 2025 17:03:15 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.5770 (KB5064089) to the Beta Channel for Windows Insiders on Windows 11, version 24H2. Changes in Beta Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*) and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Beta Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

New Copilot+ PC experiences

New Microsoft 365 text action in Click to Do

New features gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

Get on-screen Braille and text output with Braille viewer

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Windows Share]

You can find apps installed on your PC or apps available in the Microsoft Store directly within the Windows share window using “Find Apps” under the “Share using” section.

[caption id="attachment_178199" align="alignnone" width="393"] Results shown for searching for Paint directly within the Windows search window using “Find Apps”.[/caption]

[Other]

The Windows OS version of Direct3D 12 has been updated to match the Agility SDK 1.616.1 package contents.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Taskbar & System Tray]

Fixed an issue where clicking the date and time on a secondary monitor might open the flyout on your primary monitor.
Fixed an issue where if you minimized an app and switched back and forth between desktops, you might end up seeing a duplicate preview thumbnail when hovering over the app in the taskbar.

[Windowing]

Fixed an issue which was causing explorer.exe to crash when using ALT + Tab for some Insiders in the previous flight.

[Display]

Fixed an issue where the setting to enable HDR under Settings > System > Display might turn off after you turned it on, blocking you from enabling it.

[Audio]

Fixed an issue which could result in audio not working a few seconds after casting to a TV.

[Other]

Fixed an issue which was causing the drivers for certain smart cards to not work in recent flights (showing error 31).
Fixed a typo in the diskusage help list (diskusage /?).
Fixed an issue where if you had to enter a PIN for your device to cast from Quick Settings, pressing Enter wouldn’t confirm the PIN.
Fixed an issue where the tooltip for the "Abort if insufficient memory" setting in Task Manager’s advanced section of settings wasn’t correct.

Known issues

[File Explorer]

For some users, the Shared section in File Explorer Home may be visible even if there is no content to display.

[Settings]

We’re investigating reports that Settings > System > Storage > Temporary files is getting stuck when scanning files.

[Audio]

[NEW] Some Windows Insiders in the Dev and Beta Channels are experiencing an issue where audio stops working and Device Manager shows one or more devices with a yellow exclamation mark, including “ACPI Audio Compositor” and others. Selecting Properties on these devices will show “Windows cannot load the device driver for this hardware. The driver may be corrupted or missing.” If you are impacted by this issue, you can follow these instructions to get back into a working state:
- Right-click on the device with a yellow exclamation mark in Device Manager and select “Update driver”.
- Choose “Browse my computer for drivers” and then “Let me pick from a list of available drivers on my computer”.
- Select the driver from the list with the most recent date and click “Next”. If you are presented with a list of common hardware types instead of one or more specific drivers, this device is not related to this issue.
- This device should be repaired and no longer show a yellow exclamation mark in Device Manager. If it continues to show a yellow exclamation mark, the yellow exclamation mark is not related to this issue.
- Repeat these steps for each device with a yellow exclamation mark.

[Xbox Controllers]

Some Insiders are experiencing an issue where using their Xbox Controller via Bluetooth is causing their PC to bugcheck. Here is how to resolve the issue. Open Device Manager by searching for it via the search box on your taskbar. Once Device Manager is open, click on "View" and then "Devices by Driver". Find the driver named "oemXXX.inf (XboxGameControllerDriver.inf)" where the "XXX" will be a specific number on your PC. Right-click on that driver and click "Uninstall".

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel

Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel on Windows 11, version 24H2 will receive updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 via an enablement package (Build 26120.xxxx).
Updates delivered to the Beta Channel are in a format that offers a preview of enhancements to servicing technology on Windows 11, version 24H2. To learn more, see https://aka.ms/CheckpointCumulativeUpdates.
Many features in the Beta Channel are rolled out using Controlled Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Please note that some accessibility features may not work with features like Recall and Click to Do while in preview with Windows Insiders.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5761 (Dev Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 22 Aug 2025 17:04:50 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5761 (KB5064093) to the Dev Channel. Changes in Dev Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*) and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Dev Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

New features gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

Ability to seamlessly resume apps from Android phone on PC

We are beginning to gradually roll out the ability to seamlessly resume using your favorite apps from your Android phone on your Windows 11 PC to Windows Insiders in the Dev and Beta Channels. To start with, you will be able to resume or continue listening to your favorite Spotify tracks and episodes right from where you left off on the Spotify app on your Android phone. First, start listening to one of your favorite songs or episodes in the Spotify app on your Android phone. On your PC (running the latest Insider Preview builds in the Dev or Beta Channels) a ‘Resume alert’ will appear on your taskbar. When you click on that alert, Spotify’s desktop app will open and the same track will now continue playing on your PC. [caption id="attachment_178169" align="alignnone" width="960"] A cross-device resume taskbar alert indicating that you can continue using Spotify app from your phone, now on your PC.[/caption] If the Spotify app is not installed on your PC, when you click on the alert it will initiate a 1-click installation from the Microsoft Store and will automatically download and open the app for you. You will then be prompted to sign into your Spotify account. [caption id="attachment_178182" align="alignnone" width="960"] A cross-device resume taskbar alert indicating that you can download and install Spotify app to resume on your PC.[/caption] Please note that you will need to use the same Spotify account on both your Android phone and your PC. Here is how you can get set up to try this feature out:

Turn on access to your phone.
1. On your PC, go to Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Mobile devices.
2. Switch "Allow this PC to access your mobile devices" to On.
3. Click the “Manage devices” button and follow the steps to connect your Android phone.
Set up the Link to Windows app on your phone.
1. On your Android phone, open the Link to Windows app.
2. Make sure you allow the app to run in the background (this keeps the Resume feature working reliably).
Try the feature.
1. Open Spotify on your phone and play a track or episode.
2. You should see a Resume alert on your PC’s taskbar.

After everything is all set up - just open Spotify on your phone and play a track to receive the resume alert on your PC’s taskbar. As mentioned above – this feature is gradually rolling out so if you do not see it after completing these steps, please be patient and once the feature is rolled out to you, you will see this experience light up for you on your PC. For App Developers: We invite app developers to integrate with Resume and offer your users the ability to seamlessly continue tasks from phone app on PC app. Click here to learn more about integrating Resume into your app. FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Devices and Drivers > Linked Phone.

Improving the battery iconography on lock screen

Our new and improved battery icons have been designed to communicate the battery status of your PC with just a quick glance - and we’re bringing them to the lock screen. [caption id="attachment_178183" align="alignnone" width="2880"] Lock screen with new battery icon and percentage showing on the bottom right.[/caption] FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Desktop Environment > Lock screen.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[Click to Do (Preview)]

The following changes and improvements are rolling out for Click to Do on Copilot+ PCs:

By pressing and holding two fingers anywhere on your screen (on your Copilot+ PC with a touch screen), you can simultaneously launch Click to Do, select the entity under your finger and see relevant actions. This new invocation method provides the ability to use touch with an accelerated entry point into Click to Do, like Win + Click when using a mouse or touchpad today.

[Agent in Settings]

The following changes and improvements are rolling out for agent in Settings on Copilot+ PCs:

We now provide a direct navigation link to the corresponding settings page from the agent search results.

[caption id="attachment_178184" align="alignnone" width="1184"] New navigation link in the agent search results in Settings highlighted in a red box.[/caption]

[Automatic Super Resolution]

The following changes and improvements are rolling out for Automatic Super Resolution (Auto SR) on Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PCs:

We have simplified the settings controls and added streamlined ways to configure Auto SR directly from toast notifications.

[Input]

We’re adding a new keyboard shortcut to make it easier for you to insert an En dash (–) or Em dash (—) while typing anywhere in Windows. Going forward, pressing WIN + Minus (-) will insert En dash, and WIN + Shift + Minus (-) will insert Em dash. Note – if you have Magnifier running, WIN + Minus (-) will still zoom out Magnifier, rather than inserting an En dash.

[Windows Share]

In the last few Dev and Beta flights, we have begun trying out the ability to pin your favorite apps in the Windows share window.

[caption id="attachment_178185" align="alignnone" width="915"] New pinning option for apps in the Windows share window highlighted in a red box.[/caption]

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[Settings]

Did some work to help improve performance of loading the apps list on the Apps > Installed apps page.
Fixed an issue which was causing the new “Copy current user settings to the welcome screen and system accounts” under Time & Language > Language & Region option to crash Settings for some Insiders.

[Windows Hello]

Did some work to address an issue where Windows Hello might recognize your face on the login screen, however it would still fail and then prompt you to enter your pin. If you continue experiencing issues, you may need to go to the Facial Recognition section under Settings > Accounts > Sign-in options and select Improve recognition.

[Other]

Did some underlying work to help improve performance when gaming with game bar or other overlays on top of your game. This may particularly help those with multiple monitors which have different refresh rates. As always, if you're experiencing game performance issues, please file feedback including a trace of the issue, following these steps. Thanks Windows Insiders who've shared feedback so far!

Fixes for everyone in the Dev Channel

[For developers]

The issue causing Visual Studio to crash on Arm64 PCs when running various scenarios that depend on Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) will be fixed after installing the KB5064402 .NET update.

Known issues

[Recall]

Windows Insiders in the EEA may hit in issue where Recall is not working correctly on their PCs after the most recent Dev and Beta Channel flights. To get back into a working state - please go to Settings > Privacy & security > Recall & snapshots > Advanced settings > Reset Recall and click "Reset Recall".

[File Explorer]

For some users, the Shared section in File Explorer Home may be visible even if there is no content to display.

[Settings]

We’re investigating reports that Settings > System > Storage > Temporary files is getting stuck when scanning files. We are also investigating previous Windows Installations also not showing.

[Xbox Controllers]

Some Insiders are experiencing an issue where using their Xbox Controller via Bluetooth is causing their PC to bugcheck. Here is how to resolve the issue. Open Device Manager by searching for it via the search box on your taskbar. Once Device Manager is open, click on "View" and then "Devices by Driver". Find the driver named "oemXXX.inf (XboxGameControllerDriver.inf)" where the "XXX" will be a specific number on your PC. Right-click on that driver and click "Uninstall".

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel

Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel receive updates based on Windows 11, version 25H2 via an enablement package (Build 26200.xxxx). For more information on Windows 11, version 25H2 – see this blog post.
Many features in the Dev Channel are rolled out using Controlled Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.

Please note that some accessibility features may not work with features like Recall and Click to Do while in preview with Windows Insiders.

Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.5761 (Beta Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 22 Aug 2025 17:04:27 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.5761 (KB5064093) to the Beta Channel for Windows Insiders on Windows 11, version 24H2. Changes in Beta Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*) and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Beta Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

New features gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

Ability to seamlessly resume apps from Android phone on PC

[caption id="attachment_178169" align="alignnone" width="960"] A cross-device resume taskbar alert indicating that you can continue using Spotify app from your phone, now on your PC.[/caption] If the Spotify app is not installed on your PC, when you click on the alert it will initiate a 1-click installation from the Microsoft Store and will automatically download and open the app for you. You will then be prompted to sign into your Spotify account. [caption id="attachment_178182" align="alignnone" width="960"] A cross-device resume taskbar alert indicating that you can download and install Spotify app to resume on your PC.[/caption] Please note that you will need to use the same Spotify account on both your Android phone and your PC. Here is how you can get set up to try this feature out:

Turn on access to your phone.
1. On your PC, go to Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Mobile devices.
2. Switch "Allow this PC to access your mobile devices" to On.
3. Click the “Manage devices” button and follow the steps to connect your Android phone.
Set up the Link to Windows app on your phone.
1. On your Android phone, open the Link to Windows app.
2. Make sure you allow the app to run in the background (this keeps the Resume feature working reliably).
Try the feature.
1. Open Spotify on your phone and play a track or episode.
2. You should see a Resume alert on your PC’s taskbar.

Improving the battery iconography on lock screen

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Click to Do (Preview)]

The following changes and improvements are rolling out for Click to Do on Copilot+ PCs:

By pressing and holding two fingers anywhere on your screen (on your Copilot+ PC with a touch screen), you can simultaneously launch Click to Do, select the entity under your finger and see relevant actions. This new invocation method provides the ability to use touch with an accelerated entry point into Click to Do, like Win + Click when using a mouse or touchpad today.

[Agent in Settings]

The following changes and improvements are rolling out for agent in Settings on Copilot+ PCs:

We now provide a direct navigation link to the corresponding settings page from the agent search results.

[caption id="attachment_178184" align="alignnone" width="1024"] New navigation link in the agent search results in Settings highlighted in a red box.[/caption]

[Automatic Super Resolution]

The following changes and improvements are rolling out for Automatic Super Resolution (Auto SR) on Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PCs:

We have simplified the settings controls and added streamlined ways to configure Auto SR directly from toast notifications.

[Input]

We’re adding a new keyboard shortcut to make it easier for you to insert an En dash (–) or Em dash (—) while typing anywhere in Windows. Going forward, pressing WIN + Minus (-) will insert En dash, and WIN + Shift + Minus (-) will insert Em dash. Note – if you have Magnifier running, WIN + Minus (-) will still zoom out Magnifier, rather than inserting an En dash.

[Windows Share]

In the last few Dev and Beta flights, we have begun trying out the ability to pin your favorite apps in the Windows share window.

[caption id="attachment_178185" align="alignnone" width="915"] New pinning option for apps in the Windows share window highlighted in a red box.[/caption]

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Settings]

Did some work to help improve performance of loading the apps list on the Apps > Installed apps page.
Fixed an issue which was causing the new “Copy current user settings to the welcome screen and system accounts” under Time & Language > Language & Region option to crash Settings for some Insiders.

[Windows Hello]

Did some work to address an issue where Windows Hello might recognize your face on the login screen, however it would still fail and then prompt you to enter your pin. If you continue experiencing issues, you may need to go to the Facial Recognition section under Settings > Accounts > Sign-in options and select Improve recognition.

[Other]

Did some underlying work to help improve performance when gaming with game bar or other overlays on top of your game. This may particularly help those with multiple monitors which have different refresh rates. As always, if you're experiencing game performance issues, please file feedback including a trace of the issue, following these steps. Thanks Windows Insiders who've shared feedback so far!

Known issues

[Recall]

Windows Insiders in the EEA may hit in issue where Recall is not working correctly on their PCs after the most recent Dev and Beta Channel flights. To get back into a working state - please go to Settings > Privacy & security > Recall & snapshots > Advanced settings > Reset Recall and click "Reset Recall".

[File Explorer]

For some users, the Shared section in File Explorer Home may be visible even if there is no content to display.

[Settings]

We’re working on the fix for an issue causing Settings > System > Storage > Temporary files is to get stuck when scanning files. This issue is also related to the previous Windows Installations section not showing on this page when it should.

[Xbox Controllers]

Some Insiders are experiencing an issue where using their Xbox Controller via Bluetooth is causing their PC to bugcheck. Here is how to resolve the issue. Open Device Manager by searching for it via the search box on your taskbar. Once Device Manager is open, click on "View" and then "Devices by Driver". Find the driver named "oemXXX.inf (XboxGameControllerDriver.inf)" where the "XXX" will be a specific number on your PC. Right-click on that driver and click "Uninstall".

Snipping Tool Update

We are rolling out an update for Snipping Tool (version 11.2507.14.0 and higher) to Windows Insiders in the Beta and Release Preview Channels. In this update, we’re introducing window mode screen recording in Snipping Tool—an easy way to capture activity within a specific app window. To get started, toggle over to the Record option in the capture toolbar and click on the dropdown menu for Recording area to select window mode. [caption id="attachment_178139" align="alignnone" width="300"] New option to set recording region by selecting a specific app window in the Snipping Tool toolbar.[/caption] When you select window mode, Snipping Tool will automatically size the recording region to tightly match the app window you choose, making setup quick and precise. Once recording begins, however, the region remains fixed—so if the app moves or gets covered by another window, the recording won’t follow it. This gives you a simple, focused way to record what’s happening in a defined space on your screen, without needing to crop or adjust later. [caption id="attachment_178141" align="alignnone" width="2592"] Screen recording setup of the Paint app window with UI denoting that screen recording is set to the position of that specific app window.[/caption] FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Apps > Snipping Tool.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel

Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel on Windows 11, version 24H2 will receive updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 via an enablement package (Build 26120.xxxx).
Updates delivered to the Beta Channel are in a format that offers a preview of enhancements to servicing technology on Windows 11, version 24H2. To learn more, see https://aka.ms/CheckpointCumulativeUpdates.
Many features in the Beta Channel are rolled out using Controlled Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.

Please note that some accessibility features may not work with features like Recall and Click to Do while in preview with Windows Insiders.

Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27928 (Canary Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Wed, 20 Aug 2025 17:03:26 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27928 to the Canary Channel.

Changes and Improvements

[General]

The updated battery iconography we began rolling out in the Canary Channel with Build 27802 is disabled in this build. This is only temporary, and we will re-enable this in a future Canary Channel flight.
[ADDED 8/21] Administrator protection we began rolling out in the Canary Channel with Build 27718 is disabled in this build. This is only temporary, and we will re-enable this in a future Canary Channel flight.

[Settings]

We’re moving more time and language settings from Control Panel to Settings:

You can now add additional clocks from Settings > Time & language > Date & time under the collapsed section which can be expanded for “Show time and date in the system tray”. For those unfamiliar with the feature, these additional clocks display in Notification Center, as well as the tooltip when hovering over the clock in the taskbar.
You can now change your time server from Settings > Time & language > Date & time, under “Additional settings”.
The formatting settings for date and time have moved from Settings > Time & language > Language & region to Settings > Time & language > Date & time, and you can now change your AM/PM symbol from here as well (along with other existing formatting settings).
You can now change number and currency format from Settings > Time & language > Language & region, under the “Region” section.
If you’d like to enable Unicode UTF-8 for worldwide language support, there is now a toggle for this under Settings > Time & language > Language & region, under the “Language” section.
If needed, you can now copy current user language and region settings to welcome screen and system account, as well as new user accounts, from Settings > Time & language > Language & region, under “Additional settings”.

Fixes

[General]

Fixed an underlying issue with dao360.dll in the latest builds which could result in some apps crashing.

[Click to Do (Preview)]

Fixed the issue causing text and image actions in Click to Do to not work correctly and Click to Do to crash.

[File Explorer]

Fixed an issue where File Explorer preview windows might appear when hovering over unrelated app icons in the taskbar.
Fixed an issue where if you tried to use the unblock open in Properties for a file, it still shows as blocked when you open Properties the next time.

[Taskbar]

Fixed an issue where If you accidentally clicked down and slid your mouse on the taskbar preview thumbnail, clicking it would stop working.

[Input]

Fixed an underlying issue related to textinputframework.dll could result in certain apps like Sticky Notes and Notepad crashing.
Fixed an issue where if you attempted to type Chinese with an IME after copying something with CTRL + C, it could result in the first character getting dropped.

[Login and Lock screen]

Did some work to address underlying cases which could lead to you seeing a blank white screen, or a screen saying, “just a moment”, for a few minutes when logging in to your PC.
Did some work to address an underlying issue which could lead to the taskbar being slow to load when unlocking your PC after coming out of sleep. This issue could also have led to the password field and other login screen contents not rendering when transitioning from lock screen to login screen after sleep. If you continue experiencing issues, please report them in the Feedback Hub under Install and Update > Logon hangs.

[Live captions]

Fixed an issue where if you changed the opacity of live captions in Settings > Accessibility > Captions > Caption Style, it had no effect.

[Settings]

Fixed an issue where Settings might crash if you attempt to add a security key under Settings > Account > Sign-in options.

[Other]

Fixed an issue in the previous build where you might see multiple error pop ups about unexpected elements when opening Group Policy Editor.

Known issues

[General]

We’re investigating reports that Settings > System > Storage > Temporary files is getting stuck when scanning files. We are also investigating previous Windows Installations also not showing.
[NEW] Launching cmd non-elevated from the Run dialog may open in Windows Console Host rather than Windows Terminal, even if Windows Terminal is your default terminal app. If you’re experiencing this, you can type wt into Run to launch Windows Terminal directly.

[Windowing]

[NEW] You may experience an increase in DWM crashes in this build (which could lead to you seeing a black flash).

[File Explorer]

In dark mode, the red color used for a low space drive in This PC may be unexpectedly light colored in this build. Some of the other colors may also be incorrect, including that black is used for space remaining instead of a more visible color.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Canary Channel

The builds we release to the Canary Channel represent the latest platform changes early in the development cycle and should not be seen as matched to any specific release of Windows and features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Many features in the Canary Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
Some features may show up in the Dev and Beta Channels first before showing up in the Canary Channel.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
To get off the Canary Channel, a clean install of Windows 11 will be required. As a reminder - Insiders can’t switch to a channel that is receiving builds with lower build numbers without doing a clean installation of Windows 11 due to technical setup requirements.
The desktop watermark shown at the lower right corner of the desktop is normal for these pre-release builds.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5751 (Dev Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 15 Aug 2025 17:03:57 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5751 (KB5064071) to the Dev Channel. Changes in Dev Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*) and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Dev Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

New Copilot+ PC experiences

Introducing New Selection Modes in Click to Do

We’re excited to announce powerful new ways to select objects in Click to Do: Freeform Selection, Rectangle Selection, and Ctrl + Click, giving you more control and flexibility than ever before. [caption id="attachment_178146" align="alignnone" width="769"] New Freeform and Rectangle Selection Mode buttons in Click to Do highlighted in a red box.[/caption] Freeform Selection Mode: Tap the Freeform Selection button in the toolbar to activate this mode. Then use your pen or finger to draw freely around the entities you want to select. This makes selection feel more natural and intuitive, especially on touch-enabled devices. Rectangle Selection Mode: Click the Rectangle Selection button in the Click to Do toolbar, then drag a box around the items you want to select. Everything inside the rectangle, regardless of type, will be included in your selection. Ctrl + Click: Use your keyboard and mouse to multi-select different entity types, like text, images, and more, by holding down the Ctrl key and clicking on each item you want to include. These new modes allow you to select multiple different entity types in a single gesture, making your Click to Do actions more powerful and efficient. Click to Do selection is now smarter, faster, and more fluid. You can learn more about using Click to Do here. FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Desktop Environment > Click to Do.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[General]

IT Admins can now remove select pre-installed Microsoft Store apps via Group Policy/MDM CSP on Enterprise/EDU devices. For more details, see this KB article.

[File Explorer]

We’re updating the “Open with” section of the File Explorer context menu when right clicking a file to remove the accent colored backplate behind packaged app icons in the list (for example, for Snipping Tool). In doing this, the icons should be bigger and easier to see now.

[caption id="attachment_178147" align="alignnone" width="421"] File Explorer context menu showing icons with no backplating highlighted in a red box.[/caption]

[Taskbar & System Tray]

We are updating the animations for mousing over app groups on the taskbar.

[caption id="attachment_178148" align="alignnone" width="668"] New animation shown when mousing over open app groups on the taskbar.[/caption]

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[Taskbar & System Tray]

Fixed an issue where, if you were using the option to show additional clocks, the date and time tooltip may show them duplicated.

[Start menu]

Fixed an issue for Insiders with the new Start menu with the previous flight, where the layout might temporarily show a smaller Start menu (ex. 6 columns of pinned apps instead of 8).
Fixed an issue for Insiders with the new Start menu, where it wasn’t opening when in safe mode.
Fixed an issue where when right clicking on Start menu, the context menu may appear very far away from the Start menu.
Fixed an issue where the “Hide this pane” option for the mobile device companion for the Start menu may be difficult to see if the option to use a custom accent color has been enabled for Start menu.

[File Explorer]

Fixed an issue where in dark mode, the red color used for a low space drive in This PC was unexpectedly light colored in the latest builds (and some of the other colors were incorrect, including that black was used for space remaining instead of a more visible color).

[Login and Lock screen]

Fixed an issue where some of the login options were shown as blank square icons.
We did some work to help improve lock screen reliability, by fixing a few underlying issues which could result in the lock screen hanging.

[Live captions]

Fixed an issue where live captions might crash when attempting to use live translation on a Copilot+ PC.

[Other]

Fixed an issue causing some Insiders to experience an increase in DWM crashes in the previous flight.
Fixed an issue where if you’d used the new option to move the hardware indicators, while the hardware indicator was visible, you wouldn’t be able to interact with the screen area underneath (spanning the length of the screen).

Fixes for everyone in the Dev Channel

[Click to Do (Preview)]

Fixed the issue causing text and image actions in Click to Do to not work and Click to Do to crash after updating to Build 26200.5742.

[Taskbar & System Tray]

After updating to the current Dev Channel builds, apps pinned to the taskbar should no longer be unpinned. If the issue persists, submit feedback via Feedback Hub.

Known issues

[General]

Some Windows Insiders may experience a rollback trying to install this update with a 0x80070005 in Windows Update. We’re working on a fix for Windows Insiders impacted. If you are impacted, using Settings > System > Recovery > “Fix issues using Windows update” may resolve the issue.

[For developers]

We are investigating reports after updating to Build 26200.5722 and higher in the Dev Channe that Visual Studio may crash on Arm64 PCs when running various scenarios that depend on Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF).

[Recall]

[NEW] Windows Insiders in the EEA may hit in issue where Recall is not working correctly on their PCs after the most recent Dev and Beta Channel flights. To get back into a working state - please go to Settings > Privacy & security > Recall & snapshots > Advanced settings > Reset Recall and click "Reset Recall".

[File Explorer]

[NEW] For some users, the Shared section in File Explorer Home may be visible even if there is no content to display.

[Settings]

[NEW] We’re investigating reports that Settings > System > Storage > Temporary files is getting stuck when scanning files. We are also investigating previous Windows Installations also not showing.

[Xbox Controllers]

Some Insiders are experiencing an issue where using their Xbox Controller via Bluetooth is causing their PC to bugcheck. Here is how to resolve the issue. Open Device Manager by searching for it via the search box on your taskbar. Once Device Manager is open, click on "View" and then "Devices by Driver". Find the driver named "oemXXX.inf (XboxGameControllerDriver.inf)" where the "XXX" will be a specific number on your PC. Right-click on that driver and click "Uninstall".

Snipping Tool Update

We are rolling out an update for Snipping Tool (version 11.2507.14.0 and higher) to Windows Insiders in the Canary and Dev Channels. In this update, we’re introducing window mode screen recording in Snipping Tool—an easy way to capture activity within a specific app window. To get started, toggle over to the Record option in the capture toolbar and click on the dropdown menu for Recording area to select window mode. [caption id="attachment_178139" align="alignnone" width="474"] New option to set recording region by selecting a specific app window in the Snipping Tool toolbar.[/caption] When you select window mode, Snipping Tool will automatically size the recording region to tightly match the app window you choose, making setup quick and precise. Once recording begins, however, the region remains fixed—so if the app moves or gets covered by another window, the recording won’t follow it. This gives you a simple, focused way to record what’s happening in a defined space on your screen, without needing to crop or adjust later. [caption id="attachment_178141" align="alignnone" width="581"] Screen recording setup of the Paint app window with UI denoting that screen recording is set to the position of that specific app window.[/caption] FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Apps > Snipping Tool.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel

Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel receive updates based on Windows 11, version 25H2 via an enablement package (Build 26200.xxxx). For more information on Windows 11, version 25H2 – see this blog post.
Many features in the Dev Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Please note that some accessibility features may not work with features like Recall and Click to Do while in preview with Windows Insiders.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.5751 (Beta Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 15 Aug 2025 17:03:53 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.5751 (KB5064071) to the Beta Channel for Windows Insiders on Windows 11, version 24H2. Changes in Beta Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*) and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Beta Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

New Copilot+ PC experiences

Introducing New Selection Modes in Click to Do

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[File Explorer]

We’re updating the “Open with” section of the File Explorer context menu when right clicking a file to remove the accent colored backplate behind packaged app icons in the list (for example, for Snipping Tool). In doing this, the icons should be bigger and easier to see now.

[caption id="attachment_178147" align="alignnone" width="421"] File Explorer context menu showing icons with no backplating highlighted in a red box.[/caption]

[Taskbar & System Tray]

We are updating the animations for mousing over app groups on the taskbar.

[caption id="attachment_178148" align="alignnone" width="668"] New animation shown when mousing over open app groups on the taskbar.[/caption]

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Taskbar & System Tray]

Fixed an issue where, if you were using the option to show additional clocks, the date and time tooltip may show them duplicated.

[Start menu]

Fixed an issue for Insiders with the new Start menu with the previous flight, where the layout might temporarily show a smaller Start menu (ex. 6 columns of pinned apps instead of 8).
Fixed an issue for Insiders with the new Start menu, where it wasn’t opening when in safe mode.
Fixed an issue where when right clicking on Start menu, the context menu may appear very far away from the Start menu.
Fixed an issue where the “Hide this pane” option for the mobile device companion for the Start menu may be difficult to see if the option to use a custom accent color has been enabled for Start menu.

[File Explorer]

Fixed an issue where in dark mode, the red color used for a low space drive in This PC was unexpectedly light colored in the latest builds (and some of the other colors were incorrect, including that black was used for space remaining instead of a more visible color).

[Login and Lock screen]

Fixed an issue where some of the login options were shown as blank square icons.
We did some work to help improve lock screen reliability, by fixing a few underlying issues which could result in the lock screen hanging.

[Live captions]

Fixed an issue where live captions might crash when attempting to use live translation on a Copilot+ PC.

[Other]

Fixed an issue causing some Insiders to experience an increase in DWM crashes in the previous flight.
Fixed an issue where if you’d used the new option to move the hardware indicators, while the hardware indicator was visible, you wouldn’t be able to interact with the screen area underneath (spanning the length of the screen).

Fixes for everyone in the Beta Channel

[Click to Do (Preview)]

Fixed the issue causing text and image actions in Click to Do to not work and Click to Do to crash after updating to Build 26120.5742.

Known issues

[General]

Some Windows Insiders may experience a rollback trying to install this update with a 0x80070005 in Windows Update. We’re working on a fix for Windows Insiders impacted. If you are impacted, using Settings > System > Recovery > “Fix issues using Windows update” may resolve the issue.

[Recall]

[NEW] Windows Insiders in the EEA may hit in issue where Recall is not working correctly on their PCs after the most recent Dev and Beta Channel flights. To get back into a working state - please go to Settings > Privacy & security > Recall & snapshots > Advanced settings > Reset Recall and click "Reset Recall".

[File Explorer]

[NEW] For some users, the Shared section in File Explorer Home may be visible even if there is no content to display.

[Settings]

[NEW] We’re investigating reports that Settings > System > Storage > Temporary files is getting stuck when scanning files. We are also investigating previous Windows Installations also not showing.

[Xbox Controllers]

Some Insiders are experiencing an issue where using their Xbox Controller via Bluetooth is causing their PC to bugcheck. Here is how to resolve the issue. Open Device Manager by searching for it via the search box on your taskbar. Once Device Manager is open, click on "View" and then "Devices by Driver". Find the driver named "oemXXX.inf (XboxGameControllerDriver.inf)" where the "XXX" will be a specific number on your PC. Right-click on that driver and click "Uninstall".

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel

Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel on Windows 11, version 24H2 will receive updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 via an enablement package (Build 26120.xxxx).
Updates delivered to the Beta Channel are in a format that offers a preview of enhancements to servicing technology on Windows 11, version 24H2. To learn more, see https://aka.ms/CheckpointCumulativeUpdates.
Many features in the Beta Channel are rolled out using Controlled Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Please note that some accessibility features may not work with features like Recall and Click to Do while in preview with Windows Insiders.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27924 (Canary Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Thu, 14 Aug 2025 17:05:14 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27924 to the Canary Channel. We are releasing ISOs for this build – they can be downloaded here.

What’s new in Build 27924

Copilot+ PC experiences

We are beginning to enable many of the Copilot+ PC experiences* for Windows Insiders in the Canary Channel on Copilot+ PCs such as:

Recall (Preview)
Click to Do (Preview)
Improved Windows Search
Live captions with real-time translation
Agent in Settings

Note that some features are gradually rolling out such as Improved Windows Search and agent in Settings. And we’re still working to enable some features like image descriptions in Narrator – so if you don’t see something right away on your Copilot+ PC after updating to this build, that’s expected. We’re working hard to get everything enabled across the board over for the Canary Channel. As is normal for the Canary Channel, the quality of these features will not match the quality of the same features in the Dev or Beta Channels. Expect some of these features to not work quite right. We will try to document known issues for the most impactful issues for these features and one such issue regarding Click to Do is documented in the known issues below. As always, please file feedback on any issues you see when using these Copilot+ experiences via Feedback Hub.

Advanced Settings

Advanced settings are now available via Settings > System > Advanced with some new features. The Advanced page is a redesign of the For Developers page, intending to make its settings easier to find for a broader audience. With the redesign of this page, we’ve added additional settings: Enable long paths, Virtual workspaces, and File Explorer + version control. Enable long paths allows you to remove MAX_PATH limitations from common Win32 file and directory functions. Virtual workspaces allow you to enable/disable virtual environments such as Hyper-V, Windows Sandbox, and more. File Explorer + version control provides the ability to display Git information directly inside File Explorer. Simply select your repository folder and File Explorer will display information such as your branch, diff count, last commit message, and more. [caption id="attachment_177884" align="alignnone" width="607"] Advanced settings page for File Explorer.[/caption] FEEDBACK: Please file feedback on GitHub at microsoft/WindowsAdvancedSettings.

Changes and Improvements

[Input]

Adjusted the pointer indicator to be a little more transparent, so it’s easier to see what’s under the crosshairs when it’s enabled.
For the time being we have changed the keyboard shortcut for the new pointer indicator from CTRL + WIN + X to ~~CTRL + WIN + ALT + X~~ WIN + CTRL + SHIFT + X, to help reduce accidental invocations.

[Windows MIDI Services]

The inbox preview MIDI Service and API has a feedback-driven breaking change to optionally allow for waiting for messages to be completely sent before returning from function calls. Any apps written against previous versions of the Windows MIDI Services MIDI 2.0 SDK will need to update to the latest preview available at https://aka.ms/midireleases and be recompiled to continue working properly. For more discussion and feedback, please join our discord server at https://aka.ms/mididiscord.

Fixes

[General]

Fixed an issue where the progress wheel might show as a rectangle glyph instead of rendering correctly when upgrading to the latest builds.

[Widgets]

Fixed an issue causing widgets to disappear or not work for some Insiders after the previous flight.

[Remote desktop]

Fixed an issue in the latest flights where remote desktop only used your primary monitor even if it was configured to use multiple monitors.

[Other]

Fixed an underlying webauth.dll crash in the previous flight which may have impacted the ability to use passkeys.

Known issues

[General]

[IMPORTANT NOTE FOR COPILOT+ PCs] If you are joining the Canary Channel on a new Copilot+ PC from the Dev Channel, Release Preview Channel or retail, you will lose Windows Hello pin and biometrics to sign into your PC with error 0xd0000225 and error message “Something went wrong, and your PIN isn’t available”. You should be able to re-create your PIN by clicking “Set up my PIN”.
You may see multiple error pop ups about unexpected elements when opening Group Policy Editor.
There’s an underlying issue with dao360.dll in this build which may result in some apps crashing.
[ADDED 8/15] We’re investigating reports that Settings > System > Storage > Temporary files is getting stuck when scanning files. We are also investigating previous Windows Installations also not showing.

[Click to Do (Preview)]

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

[NEW] Text and image actions in Click to Do may not work and Click to Do may crash. This issue will be fixed in the next flight.

[File Explorer]

[ADDED 8/15] In dark mode, the red color used for a low space drive in This PC may be unexpectedly light colored in this build. Some of the other colors may also be incorrect, including that black is used for space remaining instead of a more visible color.

Snipping Tool Update

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Canary Channel

The builds we release to the Canary Channel represent the latest platform changes early in the development cycle and should not be seen as matched to any specific release of Windows and features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Many features in the Canary Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
Some features may show up in the Dev and Beta Channels first before showing up in the Canary Channel.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
To get off the Canary Channel, a clean install of Windows 11 will be required. As a reminder - Insiders can’t switch to a channel that is receiving builds with lower build numbers without doing a clean installation of Windows 11 due to technical setup requirements.
The desktop watermark shown at the lower right corner of the desktop is normal for these pre-release builds.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon *Functionality will vary by device and market; text actions will be available across markets in select character sets. See aka.ms/copilotpluspcs.

Xbox PC App Experience Expanding on Arm®-based Windows 11 PCs

Brandon LeBlanc — Wed, 13 Aug 2025 17:12:55 +0000

Today, we’re beginning to roll out an update for Arm®-based Windows 11 PCs, which introduces changes and improvements to the Xbox PC app experience. Game Downloads: The Xbox PC app experience is expanding to support game downloads and local play on Arm®-based Windows 11 PCs. Insiders can download titles from the Xbox PC app catalog unlocking more games to play locally on Arm®-based Windows 11 PCs – including titles offered through your PC Game Pass or Game Pass Ultimate subscription. Windows and Xbox are working closely together to ensure compatibility across the catalog, and we’re developing new features that will enable more games to be played on Arm®-based Windows 11 PCs in the coming months. We’re excited to team up with Insiders to continue testing and helping us enable full access to your library of games. [caption id="attachment_178130" align="alignnone" width="602"] Join the PC Gaming Preview on your Arm®-based Windows 11 PC![/caption] This update (version 2508.1001.27.0 and higher) is available to Windows Insiders who are also Xbox Insiders enrolled in the PC Gaming Preview on their Arm®-based Windows 11 PCs, located in the Xbox Insider Hub. If you’re not enrolled in the PC Gaming Preview, here’s how to get started:

Download the Xbox Insider Hub from the Microsoft Store.
Launch the Xbox Insider Hub and sign-in with your Microsoft account you use for gaming.
Under “Previews”, navigate to “PC Gaming” and click join.
Once the Xbox Insider Hub shows you as “joined” for the PC Gaming Preview – go to the Microsoft Store and check for updates and you should see an Xbox PC app update for version 1001.27.0 or higher).

These features will roll out gradually over time, so some Insiders may see the update before others. FEEDBACK: To provide feedback or report a problem, click on the “Feedback” item in the “Profile & Settings” menu. Thanks, Brynnan Fink – Principal Program Manager, Windows Silicon and System Integration Peter Dawoud – Principal Product Manager, Windows Silicon and System Integration Brandon LeBlanc – Principal Product Manager, Windows Insider Program Nicole Allen – Senior Director, Xbox Next Generation

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.5742 (Beta Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 08 Aug 2025 17:04:56 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.5742 (KB5064075) to the Beta Channel for Windows Insiders on Windows 11, version 24H2. Changes in Beta Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*) and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Beta Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Settings]

We’re moving more time and language settings from Control Panel to Settings:

You can now add additional clocks from Settings > Time & language > Date & time under the collapsed section which can be expanded for "Show time and date in the system tray". For those unfamiliar with the feature, these additional clocks display in Notification Center, as well as the tooltip when hovering over the clock in the taskbar.
You can now change your time server from Settings > Time & language > Date & time, under “Additional settings”.
The formatting settings for date and time have moved from Settings > Time & language > Language & region to Settings > Time & language > Date & time, and you can now change your AM/PM symbol from here as well (along with other existing formatting settings).
You can now change number and currency format from Settings > Time & language > Language & region, under the “Region” section.
If you'd like to enable Unicode UTF-8 for worldwide language support, there is now a toggle for this under Settings > Time & language > Language & region, under the “Language” section.
If needed, you can now copy current user language and region settings to welcome screen and system account, as well as new user accounts, from Settings > Time & language > Language & region, under “Additional settings”.

We’re moving more keyboard settings from Control Panel to Settings:

The setting for character repeat delay/rate has moved to Settings > Accessibility > Keyboard.
The setting for cursor blink rate has moved to Settings > Accessibility >Text cursor. Keyboard character repeat delay/rate is used to control the character repeat duration and repeat frequency. Cursor blink rate is used to control the cursor blinking frequency.

[Other]

We have updated more dialogs to match the Windows 11 visuals including the dialog for when an app can’t open.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[File Explorer]

Fixed an issue where some of the icons in Details, Preview, and navigation panes of File Explorer weren’t properly mirrored when Arabic or Hebrew display languages.
Fixed an issue where the tooltips in File Explorer might unexpectedly stay visible.
~~Fixed an issue where duplicating a tab in File Explorer on a maximized window would result in a black flash.~~ [UPDATED 8/14] Not fixed.
Improved support for text scaling on desktop icons, addressing an issue which could lead to overlapping icons and text.
[UPDATED 8/14] Fixed a case where Narrator was not announcing details in the Copy dialog.
Made some more performance improvements – particularly to help the performance of launching cloud files and loading context menus.

[Start menu]

Fixed an issue for Insiders with the new Start menu, where they might unexpectedly see a category generated for every letter of the alphabet with blank icons, when opening the Start menu in the “All” section after updating to the previous build.
Fixed an issue where Visual Studio wasn’t showing in the correct category.

[Task Manager]

Fixed a few issues impacting Task Manager reliability, including a recent issue which could cause Task Manager to freeze when going to the performance section for some Insiders.
Fixed a few issues impacting accessibility – including adjusting minimum field sizes, improving contrast for the column headers on the Details page when contrast themes are enabled, and addressing a focus issue with the 'Select Columns' dialog on the Details page.

[Input]

Fixed an underlying issue where if you tried to type Chinese with an IME after copying something with CTRL + C could result in the first character getting dropped.
Fixed an issue where if you were typing on the touch keyboard with the Changjie, Bopomoji, or Japanese IME wouldn’t work if you had switched to using the previous version of the IME.

[Settings]

Fixed an issue where if you attempt to add a security key under Settings > Account > Sign-in options could result in Settings crashing.

[Other]

Fixed an underlying issue with dao360.dll resulting in some apps crashing after the last two builds.
Fixed an issue causing a small number of Insiders to experience bugchecks with SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION in the latest builds.

Known issues

[General]

Some Windows Insiders may experience a rollback trying to install this update with a 0x80070005 in Windows Update. We’re working on a fix for Windows Insiders impacted. If you are impacted, using Settings > System > Recovery > “Fix issues using Windows update” may resolve the issue.

[Click to Do (Preview)]

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

[NEW] After updating to Build 26120.5742, text and image actions in Click to Do may not work and Click to Do may crash. This issue will be fixed in the next flight.
Windows Insiders on AMD or Intel®-powered Copilot+ PCs may experience long wait times on the first attempt to perform intelligent text actions in Click to Do after a new build or model update.

[Start menu]

[NEW] For Insiders with the new Start menu, the layout may temporarily show a smaller Start menu (ex. 6 columns of pinned apps instead of 8). This issue will be resolved shortly, and the larger layout will be restored.

[File Explorer]

In dark mode, the red color used for a low space drive in This PC may be unexpectedly light colored in this build. Some of the other colors may also be incorrect, including that black is used for space remaining instead of a more visible color.

[Live Captions]

Live captions may crash when attempting to use live translation on a Copilot+ PC.

[Xbox Controllers]

Some Insiders are experiencing an issue where using their Xbox Controller via Bluetooth is causing their PC to bugcheck. Here is how to resolve the issue. Open Device Manager by searching for it via the search box on your taskbar. Once Device Manager is open, click on "View" and then "Devices by Driver". Find the driver named "oemXXX.inf (XboxGameControllerDriver.inf)" where the "XXX" will be a specific number on your PC. Right-click on that driver and click "Uninstall".

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel

Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel on Windows 11, version 24H2 will receive updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 via an enablement package (Build 26120.xxxx).
Updates delivered to the Beta Channel are in a format that offers a preview of enhancements to servicing technology on Windows 11, version 24H2. To learn more, see https://aka.ms/CheckpointCumulativeUpdates.
Many features in the Beta Channel are rolled out using Controlled Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Please note that some accessibility features may not work with features like Recall and Click to Do while in preview with Windows Insiders.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5742 (Dev Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 08 Aug 2025 17:04:52 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5742 (KB5064075) to the Dev Channel. Changes in Dev Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*) and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Dev Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[Start menu]

We’ve redesigned the mobile device companion with an updated layout that lets you access more right from Start. Now, you can scroll to access more recent activity items so you can stay on top of updates from your mobile device. Users will be able to access messages, calls, photos, mobile app updates and more from this new updated layout.

[caption id="attachment_178119" align="alignnone" width="470"] The redesigned mobile device companion experience for the Start menu showing an Android device on the left and iPhone® on the right.[/caption]

[Settings]

We’re moving more time and language settings from Control Panel to Settings:

You can now add additional clocks from Settings > Time & language > Date & time under the collapsed section which can be expanded for "Show time and date in the system tray". For those unfamiliar with the feature, these additional clocks display in Notification Center, as well as the tooltip when hovering over the clock in the taskbar.
You can now change your time server from Settings > Time & language > Date & time, under “Additional settings”.
The formatting settings for date and time have moved from Settings > Time & language > Language & region to Settings > Time & language > Date & time, and you can now change your AM/PM symbol from here as well (along with other existing formatting settings).
You can now change number and currency format from Settings > Time & language > Language & region, under the “Region” section.
If you'd like to enable Unicode UTF-8 for worldwide language support, there is now a toggle for this under Settings > Time & language > Language & region, under the “Language” section.
If needed, you can now copy current user language and region settings to welcome screen and system account, as well as new user accounts, from Settings > Time & language > Language & region, under “Additional settings”.

We’re moving more keyboard settings from Control Panel to Settings:

The setting for character repeat delay/rate has moved to Settings > Accessibility > Keyboard.
The setting for cursor blink rate has moved to Settings > Accessibility >Text cursor. Keyboard character repeat delay/rate is used to control the character repeat duration and repeat frequency. Cursor blink rate is used to control the cursor blinking frequency.

[Other]

We have updated more dialogs to match the Windows 11 visuals including the dialog for when an app can’t open.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[File Explorer]

Fixed an issue where some of the icons in Details, Preview, and navigation panes of File Explorer weren’t properly mirrored when Arabic or Hebrew display languages.
Fixed an issue where the tooltips in File Explorer might unexpectedly stay visible.
~~Fixed an issue where duplicating a tab in File Explorer on a maximized window would result in a black flash.~~ [UPDATED 8/14] Not fixed.
Improved support for text scaling on desktop icons, addressing an issue which could lead to overlapping icons and text.
[UPDATED 8/14] Fixed a case where Narrator was not announcing details in the Copy dialog.
Made some more performance improvements – particularly to help the performance of launching cloud files and loading context menus.

[Start menu]

Fixed an issue for Insiders with the new Start menu, where they might unexpectedly see a category generated for every letter of the alphabet with blank icons, when opening the Start menu in the “All” section after updating to the previous build.
Fixed an issue where Visual Studio wasn’t showing in the correct category.

[Task Manager]

Fixed a few issues impacting Task Manager reliability, including a recent issue which could cause Task Manager to freeze when going to the performance section for some Insiders.
Fixed a few issues impacting accessibility – including adjusting minimum field sizes, improving contrast for the column headers on the Details page when contrast themes are enabled, and addressing a focus issue with the 'Select Columns' dialog on the Details page.

[Input]

Fixed an underlying issue where if you tried to type Chinese with an IME after copying something with CTRL + C could result in the first character getting dropped.
Fixed an issue where if you were typing on the touch keyboard with the Changjie, Bopomoji, or Japanese IME wouldn’t work if you had switched to using the previous version of the IME.

[Settings]

Fixed an issue where if you attempt to add a security key under Settings > Account > Sign-in options could result in Settings crashing.

[Other]

Fixed an underlying issue with dao360.dll resulting in some apps crashing after the last two builds.
Fixed an issue causing a small number of Insiders to experience bugchecks with SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION in the latest builds.

Known issues

[General]

Some Windows Insiders may experience a rollback trying to install this update with a 0x80070005 in Windows Update. We’re working on a fix for Windows Insiders impacted. If you are impacted, using Settings > System > Recovery > “Fix issues using Windows update” may resolve the issue.

[For developers]

We are investigating reports after updating to Build 26200.5722 and higher in the Dev Channe that Visual Studio may crash on Arm64 PCs when running various scenarios that depend on Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF).

[Click to Do (Preview)]

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

[NEW] After updating to Build 26200.5742, text and image actions in Click to Do may not work and Click to Do may crash. This issue will be fixed in the next flight.
Windows Insiders on AMD or Intel®-powered Copilot+ PCs may experience long wait times on the first attempt to perform intelligent text actions in Click to Do after a new build or model update.

[Start menu]

[NEW] For Insiders with the new Start menu, the layout may temporarily show a smaller Start menu (ex. 6 columns of pinned apps instead of 8). This issue will be resolved shortly, and the larger layout will be restored.

[Taskbar & System Tray]

We are investigating reports that all apps pinned to the taskbar are unpinned for some Insiders after updating to Build 26200.5722 and higher.

[File Explorer]

In dark mode, the red color used for a low space drive in This PC may be unexpectedly light colored in this build. Some of the other colors may also be incorrect, including that black is used for space remaining instead of a more visible color.

[Live Captions]

Live captions may crash when attempting to use live translation on a Copilot+ PC.

[Xbox Controllers]

Some Insiders are experiencing an issue where using their Xbox Controller via Bluetooth is causing their PC to bugcheck. Here is how to resolve the issue. Open Device Manager by searching for it via the search box on your taskbar. Once Device Manager is open, click on "View" and then "Devices by Driver". Find the driver named "oemXXX.inf (XboxGameControllerDriver.inf)" where the "XXX" will be a specific number on your PC. Right-click on that driver and click "Uninstall".

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel

Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel receive updates based on Windows 11, version 25H2 via an enablement package (Build 26200.xxxx). For more information on Windows 11, version 25H2 – see this blog post.
Many features in the Dev Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.

Please note that some accessibility features may not work with features like Recall and Click to Do while in preview with Windows Insiders.

Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27919 (Canary Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 08 Aug 2025 17:04:47 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27919 to the Canary Channel.

Changes and Improvements

[Windows Search]

Today, we rationalize and organize Windows Search settings under Settings > Privacy & security under a “Search permissions” settings page and a “Searching Windows” settings page. We are beginning to roll out a change that brings those two settings pages together so you can easily access to all the Windows Search settings under a single settings page via Settings > Privacy & security > Search. The page is refreshed with a new modern visual for you to clearly browse the settings and control your experiences inside Windows Search, with the items listed in a better order.

[caption id="attachment_177961" align="alignnone" width="579"] The updated single settings page for Windows Search.[/caption]

Fixes

[File Explorer]

Fixed an issue where File Explorer might crash when trying to view the digital signatures tab in the properties for a file.

[Input]

Fixed an issue which was causing the Microsoft Changjie Input method to not work properly in the previous build.
Fixed an issue which was causing phonetic keyboards, such as the Hindi Phonetic Input keyboard and the Marathi Phonetic keyboard, to not work properly in the previous build.

Known issues

[General]

[IMPORTANT NOTE FOR COPILOT+ PCs] If you are joining the Canary Channel on a new Copilot+ PC from the Dev Channel, Release Preview Channel or retail, you will lose Windows Hello pin and biometrics to sign into your PC with error 0xd0000225 and error message “Something went wrong, and your PIN isn’t available”. You should be able to re-create your PIN by clicking “Set up my PIN”.
The progress wheel may show as a rectangle glyph instead of rendering correctly when upgrading to this build.
[NEW] You may see multiple error pop ups about unexpected elements when opening Group Policy Editor.
[NEW] There’s an underlying issue with dao360.dll in this build which may result in some apps crashing.

[Remote desktop]

[NEW] There’s an issue starting with the last build where remote desktop only uses your primary monitor even if it’s configured to use multiple monitors.

[Widgets]

[ADDED] We're investigating reports that widgets are non-functional and unavailable after upgrading to this build.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Canary Channel

The builds we release to the Canary Channel represent the latest platform changes early in the development cycle and should not be seen as matched to any specific release of Windows and features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Many features in the Canary Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
Some features may show up in the Dev and Beta Channels first before showing up in the Canary Channel.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
To get off the Canary Channel, a clean install of Windows 11 will be required. As a reminder - Insiders can’t switch to a channel that is receiving builds with lower build numbers without doing a clean installation of Windows 11 due to technical setup requirements.
The desktop watermark shown at the lower right corner of the desktop is normal for these pre-release builds.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5733 (Dev Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 01 Aug 2025 17:04:00 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5733 (KB5062673) to the Dev Channel. Changes in Dev Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*) and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Dev Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[File Explorer]

For Windows Insiders signed in with a work or school account (Entra ID), File Explorer will begin showing people icons under the “Activity” column on File Explorer Home and on “Recommended” at the top of File Explorer Home. When you hover or click over a people icon, it will display the Live Persona Card for that person from Microsoft 365.

[caption id="attachment_177609" align="alignnone" width="550"] Activity column under File Explorer Home showing people icons highlighted in a red box.[/caption]

[Settings]

We are removing the "Manage or clear your Bing search history" entry from Settings > Privacy & security > Search under Search history. You can manage your Bing search history directly through the Privacy dashboard, accessible via the Privacy resources link under Related settings on that settings page.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[Start menu]

Fixed an issue which was causing the updated Start menu to crash for some Insiders.

[Taskbar & System Tray]

Fixed an issue where If you accidentally clicked down and slid your mouse on the taskbar preview thumbnail, clicking it would stop working.

[Lock screen]

Fixed an underlying crash which could result in widgets on the lock screen not displaying in the last couple builds – you also couldn’t add new ones.

[Input]

Fixed an issue in the previous flight which was leading to multi-finger touchpad gestures not working in the previous flight.

Known issues

[General]

Some Windows Insiders may experience a rollback trying to install this update with a 0x80070005 in Windows Update. We’re working on a fix for Windows Insiders impacted. If you are impacted, using Settings > System > Recovery > “Fix issues using Windows update” may resolve the issue.
[NEW] We’re working on the fix for an underlying issue with dao360.dll resulting in some apps crashing after the previous flight.
[ADDED 8/4] We are investigating reports after updating to Build 26200.5722 and higher in the Dev Channe that Visual Studio may crash on Arm64 PCs when running various scenarios that depend on Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF).

[Start menu]

[NEW] For Insiders with the new Start menu, you may unexpectedly see a category generated for every letter of the alphabet with blank icons, when opening the Start menu in the "All" section after updating to this build. Switching to a different view and then switching back should resolve the issue.

[Taskbar & System Tray]

We are investigating reports that all apps pinned to the taskbar are unpinned for some Insiders after updating to Build 26200.5722 and higher.

[File Explorer]

[NEW] In dark mode, the red color used for a low space drive in This PC may be unexpectedly light colored in this build. Some of the other colors may also be incorrect, including that black is used for space remaining instead of a more visible color.

[Click to Do (Preview)]

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

Windows Insiders on AMD or Intel®-powered Copilot+ PCs may experience long wait times on the first attempt to perform intelligent text actions in Click to Do after a new build or model update.

[Live Captions]

Live captions may crash when attempting to use live translation on a Copilot+ PC.

[Xbox Controllers]

Some Insiders are experiencing an issue where using their Xbox Controller via Bluetooth is causing their PC to bugcheck. Here is how to resolve the issue. Open Device Manager by searching for it via the search box on your taskbar. Once Device Manager is open, click on "View" and then "Devices by Driver". Find the driver named "oemXXX.inf (XboxGameControllerDriver.inf)" where the "XXX" will be a specific number on your PC. Right-click on that driver and click "Uninstall".

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel

Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel receive updates based on Windows 11, version 25H2 via an enablement package (Build 26200.xxxx). For more information on Windows 11, version 25H2 – see this blog post.
Many features in the Dev Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Please note that some accessibility features may not work with features like Recall and Click to Do while in preview with Windows Insiders.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.5733 (Beta Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 01 Aug 2025 17:03:55 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.5733 (KB5062673) to the Beta Channel for Windows Insiders on Windows 11, version 24H2. Changes in Beta Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*) and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Beta Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[File Explorer]

For Windows Insiders signed in with a work or school account (Entra ID), File Explorer will begin showing people icons under the “Activity” column on File Explorer Home and on “Recommended” at the top of File Explorer Home. When you hover or click over a people icon, it will display the Live Persona Card for that person from Microsoft 365.

[caption id="attachment_177609" align="alignnone" width="550"] Activity column under File Explorer Home showing people icons highlighted in a red box.[/caption]

[Settings]

We are removing the "Manage or clear your Bing search history" entry from Settings > Privacy & security > Search under Search history. You can manage your Bing search history directly through the Privacy dashboard, accessible via the Privacy resources link under Related settings on that settings page.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Start menu]

Fixed an issue which was causing the Start menu to crash for some Insiders in the last couple builds.

[Taskbar & System Tray]

Fixed an issue where If you accidentally clicked down and slid your mouse on the taskbar preview thumbnail, clicking it would stop working.

[Lock screen]

Fixed an underlying crash which could result in widgets on the lock screen not displaying in the last couple builds – you also couldn’t add new ones.

[Input]

Fixed an issue in the previous flight which was leading to multi-finger touchpad gestures not working in the previous flight.

Known issues

[General]

Some Windows Insiders may experience a rollback trying to install this update with a 0x80070005 in Windows Update. We’re working on a fix for Windows Insiders impacted. If you are impacted, using Settings > System > Recovery > “Fix issues using Windows update” may resolve the issue.
[NEW] We’re working on the fix for an underlying issue with dao360.dll resulting in some apps crashing after the previous flight.

[Start menu]

[NEW] For Insiders with the new Start menu, you may unexpectedly see a category generated for every letter of the alphabet with blank icons, when opening the Start menu in the "All" section after updating to this build. Switching to a different view and then switching back should resolve the issue.

[File Explorer]

[NEW] In dark mode, the red color used for a low space drive in This PC may be unexpectedly light colored in this build. Some of the other colors may also be incorrect, including that black is used for space remaining instead of a more visible color.

[Click to Do (Preview)]

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

Windows Insiders on AMD or Intel®-powered Copilot+ PCs may experience long wait times on the first attempt to perform intelligent text actions in Click to Do after a new build or model update.

[Live Captions]

Live captions may crash when attempting to use live translation on a Copilot+ PC.

[Xbox Controllers]

Some Insiders are experiencing an issue where using their Xbox Controller via Bluetooth is causing their PC to bugcheck. Here is how to resolve the issue. Open Device Manager by searching for it via the search box on your taskbar. Once Device Manager is open, click on "View" and then "Devices by Driver". Find the driver named "oemXXX.inf (XboxGameControllerDriver.inf)" where the "XXX" will be a specific number on your PC. Right-click on that driver and click "Uninstall".

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel

Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel on Windows 11, version 24H2 will receive updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 via an enablement package (Build 26120.xxxx).
Updates delivered to the Beta Channel are in a format that offers a preview of enhancements to servicing technology on Windows 11, version 24H2. To learn more, see https://aka.ms/CheckpointCumulativeUpdates.
Many features in the Beta Channel are rolled out using Controlled Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Please note that some accessibility features may not work with features like Recall and Click to Do while in preview with Windows Insiders.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27913 (Canary Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Wed, 30 Jul 2025 17:04:03 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27913 to the Canary Channel. [UPDATE 7/31] The SDK for Build 27913 is now available. We plan to publish SDKs for Canary Channel builds again going forward.

Changes and Improvements

[General]

This update includes a small set of general improvements and fixes that improve the overall experience for Insiders running this build on their PCs.

[Input]

[ADDED 8/1] The new pointer indicator accessibility setting for low vision Windows users that originally rolled out last year is now re-enabled in Build 27913.

[Settings]

The search box in Settings will now be located at the top center to deliver a more consistent and better search experience.

Fixes

[General]

Fixed an issue where the Windows Vista boot sound was unexpectedly being used instead of the Windows 11 boot sound.

[Desktop background]

Did some underlying work to help address issues which could result in the desktop background unexpectedly becoming black rather than displaying the expected wallpaper image. If you continue experiencing issues, please don’t hesitate to report them in the Feedback Hub under Desktop Environment > Background and Wallpaper.

[Settings]

Fixed an issue in the latest builds which could cause Settings to crash when interacting with the options under Settings > System > Power & Battery.
Fixed an underlying issue where some of the apostrophes across text in Settings and settings-related dialogs were not displaying correctly and were showing random characters.

[Audio]

Fixed an issue which could result in audio not working a few seconds after casting to a TV.

[Other]

Fixed an issue in the latest builds causing a small number of Insiders to experience repeated bugchecks with KERNEL_SECURITY_CHECK_FAILURE after upgrading. This may occur when connecting to VPN.
Fixed an underlying issue which could result in acrylic in certain apps unexpectedly being transparent.
Made another fix for the issue causing Group Policy Editor to not display correctly in certain languages (like Chinese), showing large blank areas.

Known issues

[General]

[IMPORTANT NOTE FOR COPILOT+ PCs] If you are joining the Canary Channel on a new Copilot+ PC from the Dev Channel, Release Preview Channel or retail, you will lose Windows Hello pin and biometrics to sign into your PC with error 0xd0000225 and error message “Something went wrong, and your PIN isn’t available”. You should be able to re-create your PIN by clicking “Set up my PIN”.
[NEW] The progress wheel may show as a rectangle glyph instead of rendering correctly when upgrading to this build.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Canary Channel

The builds we release to the Canary Channel represent the latest platform changes early in the development cycle and should not be seen as matched to any specific release of Windows and features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Many features in the Canary Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
Some features may show up in the Dev and Beta Channels first before showing up in the Canary Channel.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
To get off the Canary Channel, a clean install of Windows 11 will be required. As a reminder - Insiders can’t switch to a channel that is receiving builds with lower build numbers without doing a clean installation of Windows 11 due to technical setup requirements.
The desktop watermark shown at the lower right corner of the desktop is normal for these pre-release builds.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5722 (Dev Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Mon, 28 Jul 2025 21:03:59 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5722 (KB5062669) to the Dev Channel. Changes in Dev Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*) and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Dev Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

New Copilot+ PC experiences

Introducing the new agent in Settings rolling out for AMD and Intel®-powered Copilot+ PCs

We are rolling out the new agent in Settings experience for AMD and Intel®-powered Copilot+ PCs. This experience is designed to help solve one of the most common frustrations we heard: finding and changing settings on your PC. With this update to Settings, you will be able to simply describe what you need help with like, “how to control my PC by voice” or “my mouse pointer is too small” and the agent will recommend the right steps you can take to address the issue. An agent uses AI on your PC to understand your intent and with your permission, automate and execute tasks on your behalf. Please note that this experience works if your primary display language is set to English. [caption id="attachment_177859" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Agent powered search results for my mouse pointer is too small in Settings.[/caption] FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Settings > All other settings.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[General]

Some Windows Insiders in the Dev and Beta Channels will see a refreshed SCOOBE screen (Second Chance Out of Box Experience) for reviewing recommended settings on your PC. This redesigned screen is meant to be more intuitive and streamlined, allowing you to choose the recommended settings you want for your PC without having to navigate through multiple setup screens. If you see this screen, let us know if you have any feedback via Feedback Hub.

[caption id="attachment_178097" align="alignnone" width="625"] Refreshed SCOOBE screen for reviewing recommended settings.[/caption]

[Click to Do (Preview)]

The following changes and improvements are rolling out for Click to Do on Copilot+ PCs:

We are beginning to roll out a new tutorial for Click to Do. When you launch Click to Do for the first time, you’ll be offered a quick interactive tutorial that shows you how to accomplish tasks faster. During the tutorial, you’ll take actions on both text and images, so you’ll know how to quickly get a summary of a large block of text or remove the background from an image. You can revisit the tutorial at any time by selecting …, then Start tutorial.

[caption id="attachment_178094" align="alignnone" width="635"] New tutorial in Click to Do on Copilot+ PCs.[/caption]

[Taskbar & System Tray]

We are making a change to how quickly Windows can apply enterprise pins to the taskbar when initiated by the IT admins. We want to reduce the gap between an IT admin applying the pinning policy and when their users see a pin on their taskbar. Today, the policy only applies when explorer restarts. With this change, the gap is only up to ~8 hours (policy refresh interval) and sidesteps the explorer restart requirement.

[Search on the Taskbar]

In the left pane of the search results in the Windows Search box on the taskbar, we are introducing a new grid view to help you more quickly and accurately identify the desired image within your search.

[caption id="attachment_178095" align="alignnone" width="386"] Search results in the Windows Search box with grid view of images highlighted in a red box.[/caption]

[Lock screen]

We have made some updates to the UI for configuring widgets on the lock screen under Settings > Personalization > Lock screen.

[Notification Center]

To address your feedback, we are extending the functionality of Notification Center to secondary monitors. This means you will be able to see your calendar on any of your monitors as well as the option to show a bigger clock with seconds above calendar. You will be able to open Notification Center on any monitor by clicking the date and time in the system tray of your taskbar.

[Task Manager]

After disabling to fix some issues, we are beginning to roll out the change the way Task Manager calculates CPU utilization for the Processes, Performance, and Users pages again to Windows Insiders in the Dev and Beta Channels. Task Manager will now use the standard metrics to display CPU workload consistently across all pages and aligning with industry standards and third-party tools. For backward compatibility, a new optional column called CPU Utility is available (hidden by default) on the Details tab showing the previous CPU value used on the Processes page.

[caption id="attachment_177652" align="alignnone" width="380"] New CPU utility column option for Details page in Task Manager.[/caption]

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[Taskbar]

Fixed an issue where the Task View icon in the taskbar might be unexpectedly invisible if you turned it off and back on in Settings (the space was reserved and you could click it to open Task View, but nothing showed in the space).
Fixed a race condition which could lead to the Widgets icon not displaying in the taskbar although it was enabled in Settings (no space reserved, clicking the area did nothing).

[Login and lock]

Fixed an issue which was causing the text for lock screen widgets to be unreadable in some cases because it was white on a light background.
Did some work to address an underlying issue which could lead to the taskbar being slow to load when unlocking your PC after coming out of sleep. This issue could also have led to the password field and other login screen contents not rendering when transitioning from lock screen to login screen after sleep. If you continue experiencing issues, please report them in the Feedback Hub under Install and Update > Logon hangs.

[File Explorer]

Fixed an issue where if you tried to use the unblock open in Properties for a file, it will still show as blocked when you opened Properties the next time.

[Start menu]

Fixed an issue for those with the new Start menu where if you used touch to navigate the new Start menu, it wasn’t working reliably. For example, it didn’t support the swipe-up gesture.

[Input]

Fixed an issue which was causing the Microsoft Changjie Input method to not work properly in the previous build.
Fixed an issue which was causing phonetic keyboards, such as the Hindi Phonetic Input keyboard and the Marathi Phonetic keyboard, to not work properly in the previous build.

[Administrator Protection]

Fixed an underlying issue where the Xbox app wouldn’t launch when administrator protection was enabled. This may have also impacted other apps too, showing error 0xC0000142 or 0xC0000045.

[Settings]

Fixed an issue where under Settings > System > Storage > Disks and Volumes there might show a link for BitLocker drive encryption although it wasn’t supported in that case. Clicking it would result in BitLocker opening and displaying error 0x80004005.

[Other]

Fixed an issue causing Insiders to see multiple error pop ups about unexpected elements when opening Group Policy Editor.
Fixed an underlying issue causing a small number of Insiders to experience a bugcheck with error DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL in the latest builds.
Fixed an underlying issue impacting installers for certain apps on ARM64 PCs, which could result in a long stall during the installation process.

Fixes for everyone in the Dev Channel

[Graphics]

Fixed an issue where external graphics cards connected over Thunderbolt were unexpectedly not discoverable in some cases.

Known issues

[General]

Some Windows Insiders may experience a rollback trying to install this update with a 0x80070005 in Windows Update. We’re working on a fix for Windows Insiders impacted. If you are impacted, using Settings > System > Recovery > “Fix issues using Windows update” may resolve the issue.
[ADDED 8/4] We are investigating reports after updating to Build 26200.5722 and higher in the Dev Channe that Visual Studio may crash on Arm64 PCs when running various scenarios that depend on Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF).

[Taskbar & System Tray]

[ADDED 7/30] We are investigating reports that all apps pinned to the taskbar are unpinned for some Insiders after updating to Build 26200.5722.

[Live Captions]

Live captions may crash when attempting to use live translation on a Copilot+ PC.

[Xbox Controllers]

Some Insiders are experiencing an issue where using their Xbox Controller via Bluetooth is causing their PC to bugcheck. Here is how to resolve the issue. Open Device Manager by searching for it via the search box on your taskbar. Once Device Manager is open, click on "View" and then "Devices by Driver". Find the driver named "oemXXX.inf (XboxGameControllerDriver.inf)" where the "XXX" will be a specific number on your PC. Right-click on that driver and click "Uninstall".

[Click to Do (Preview)]

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

Windows Insiders on AMD or Intel®-powered Copilot+ PCs may experience long wait times on the first attempt to perform intelligent text actions in Click to Do after a new build or model update.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel

Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel receive updates based on Windows 11, version 25H2 via an enablement package (Build 26200.xxxx). For more information on Windows 11, version 25H2 – see this blog post.
Many features in the Dev Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Please note that some accessibility features may not work with features like Recall and Click to Do while in preview with Windows Insiders.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.5722 (Beta Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Mon, 28 Jul 2025 21:03:55 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.5722 (KB5062669) to the Beta Channel for Windows Insiders on Windows 11, version 24H2. Changes in Beta Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*) and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Beta Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

New Copilot+ PC experiences

Introducing the new agent in Settings rolling out for AMD and Intel®-powered Copilot+ PCs

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[General]

Some Windows Insiders in the Dev and Beta Channels will see a refreshed SCOOBE screen (Second Chance Out of Box Experience) for reviewing recommended settings on your PC. This redesigned screen is meant to be more intuitive and streamlined, allowing you to choose the recommended settings you want for your PC without having to navigate through multiple setup screens. If you see this screen, let us know if you have any feedback via Feedback Hub.

[caption id="attachment_178097" align="alignnone" width="625"] Refreshed SCOOBE screen for reviewing recommended settings.[/caption]

[Click to Do (Preview)]

The following changes and improvements are rolling out for Click to Do on Copilot+ PCs:

We are beginning to roll out a new tutorial for Click to Do. When you launch Click to Do for the first time, you’ll be offered a quick interactive tutorial that shows you how to accomplish tasks faster. During the tutorial, you’ll take actions on both text and images, so you’ll know how to quickly get a summary of a large block of text or remove the background from an image. You can revisit the tutorial at any time by selecting …, then Start tutorial.

[caption id="attachment_178094" align="alignnone" width="635"] New tutorial in Click to Do on Copilot+ PCs.[/caption]

[Taskbar & System Tray]

We are making a change to how quickly Windows can apply enterprise pins to the taskbar when initiated by the IT admins. We want to reduce the gap between an IT admin applying the pinning policy and when their users see a pin on their taskbar. Today, the policy only applies when explorer restarts. With this change, the gap is only up to ~8 hours (policy refresh interval) and sidesteps the explorer restart requirement.

[Search on the Taskbar]

In the left pane of the search results in the Windows Search box on the taskbar, we are introducing a new grid view to help you more quickly and accurately identify the desired image within your search.

[caption id="attachment_178095" align="alignnone" width="386"] Search results in the Windows Search box with grid view of images highlighted in a red box.[/caption]

[Lock screen]

We have made some updates to the UI for configuring widgets on the lock screen under Settings > Personalization > Lock screen.

[Notification Center]

To address your feedback, we are extending the functionality of Notification Center to secondary monitors. This means you will be able to see your calendar on any of your monitors as well as the option to show a bigger clock with seconds above calendar. You will be able to open Notification Center on any monitor by clicking the date and time in the system tray of your taskbar.

[Task Manager]

After disabling to fix some issues, we are beginning to roll out the change the way Task Manager calculates CPU utilization for the Processes, Performance, and Users pages again to Windows Insiders in the Dev and Beta Channels. Task Manager will now use the standard metrics to display CPU workload consistently across all pages and aligning with industry standards and third-party tools. For backward compatibility, a new optional column called CPU Utility is available (hidden by default) on the Details tab showing the previous CPU value used on the Processes page.

[caption id="attachment_177652" align="alignnone" width="380"] New CPU utility column option for Details page in Task Manager.[/caption]

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Taskbar]

Fixed an issue where the Task View icon in the taskbar might be unexpectedly invisible if you turned it off and back on in Settings (the space was reserved and you could click it to open Task View, but nothing showed in the space).
Fixed a race condition which could lead to the Widgets icon not displaying in the taskbar although it was enabled in Settings (no space reserved, clicking the area did nothing).

[Login and lock]

Fixed an issue which was causing the text for lock screen widgets to be unreadable in some cases because it was white on a light background.
Did some work to address an underlying issue which could lead to the taskbar being slow to load when unlocking your PC after coming out of sleep. This issue could also have led to the password field and other login screen contents not rendering when transitioning from lock screen to login screen after sleep. If you continue experiencing issues, please report them in the Feedback Hub under Install and Update > Logon hangs.

[File Explorer]

Fixed an issue where if you tried to use the unblock open in Properties for a file, it will still show as blocked when you opened Properties the next time.

[Start menu]

Fixed an issue for those with the new Start menu where if you used touch to navigate the new Start menu, it wasn’t working reliably. For example, it didn’t support the swipe-up gesture.

[Input]

Fixed an issue which was causing the Microsoft Changjie Input method to not work properly in the previous build.
Fixed an issue which was causing phonetic keyboards, such as the Hindi Phonetic Input keyboard and the Marathi Phonetic keyboard, to not work properly in the previous build.

[Administrator Protection]

Fixed an underlying issue where the Xbox app wouldn’t launch when administrator protection was enabled. This may have also impacted other apps too, showing error 0xC0000142 or 0xC0000045.

[Settings]

Fixed an issue where under Settings > System > Storage > Disks and Volumes there might show a link for BitLocker drive encryption although it wasn’t supported in that case. Clicking it would result in BitLocker opening and displaying error 0x80004005.

[Other]

Fixed an issue causing Insiders to see multiple error pop ups about unexpected elements when opening Group Policy Editor.
Fixed an underlying issue causing a small number of Insiders to experience a bugcheck with error DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL in the latest builds.
Fixed an underlying issue impacting installers for certain apps on ARM64 PCs, which could result in a long stall during the installation process.

Fixes for everyone in the Beta Channel

[Graphics]

Fixed an issue where external graphics cards connected over Thunderbolt were unexpectedly not discoverable in some cases.

Known issues

[General]

Some Windows Insiders may experience a rollback trying to install this update with a 0x80070005 in Windows Update. We’re working on a fix for Windows Insiders impacted. If you are impacted, using Settings > System > Recovery > “Fix issues using Windows update” may resolve the issue.

[Live Captions]

Live captions may crash when attempting to use live translation on a Copilot+ PC.

[Xbox Controllers]

Some Insiders are experiencing an issue where using their Xbox Controller via Bluetooth is causing their PC to bugcheck. Here is how to resolve the issue. Open Device Manager by searching for it via the search box on your taskbar. Once Device Manager is open, click on "View" and then "Devices by Driver". Find the driver named "oemXXX.inf (XboxGameControllerDriver.inf)" where the "XXX" will be a specific number on your PC. Right-click on that driver and click "Uninstall".

[Click to Do (Preview)]

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

Windows Insiders on AMD or Intel®-powered Copilot+ PCs may experience long wait times on the first attempt to perform intelligent text actions in Click to Do after a new build or model update.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel

Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel on Windows 11, version 24H2 will receive updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 via an enablement package (Build 26120.xxxx).
Updates delivered to the Beta Channel are in a format that offers a preview of enhancements to servicing technology on Windows 11, version 24H2. To learn more, see https://aka.ms/CheckpointCumulativeUpdates.
Many features in the Beta Channel are rolled out using Controlled Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Please note that some accessibility features may not work with features like Recall and Click to Do while in preview with Windows Insiders.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27909 (Canary Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 25 Jul 2025 17:04:55 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27909 to the Canary Channel. We are also not planning to release SDKs for 27xxx series builds for the time being.

Changes and Improvements

[General]

This update includes a small set of general improvements and fixes that improve the overall experience for Insiders running this build on their PCs.

Fixes

[Administrator Protection]

Fixed an underlying issue where the Xbox app wouldn’t launch when administrator protection was enabled. This may have also impacted other apps too, showing error 0xC0000142 or 0xC0000045.

[Settings]

Fixed an issue where the battery percentage was unexpectedly missing from the top of System > Power & Battery in the last few builds.

[Remote desktop]

Fixed an issue causing extreme graphical distortion and rendering issues using remote desktop on Arm64 PCs in the last couple builds.

[Other]

Fixed a high hitting pcasvc.dll crash in the previous build.
Fixed an underlying issue where if you disconnected the device you were casting to from outside of Media Player, Media Player would still show an option to disconnect from the device.
Fixed an issue which was causing Remote Credential Guard scenarios between the latest Windows 11 builds and Server 2022 (and below) to fail.

Known issues

[General]

[IMPORTANT NOTE FOR COPILOT+ PCs] If you are joining the Canary Channel on a new Copilot+ PC from the Dev Channel, Release Preview Channel or retail, you will lose Windows Hello pin and biometrics to sign into your PC with error 0xd0000225 and error message “Something went wrong, and your PIN isn’t available”. You should be able to re-create your PIN by clicking “Set up my PIN”.
There's an issue starting with the latest builds causing a small number of Insiders to experience repeated bugchecks with KERNEL_SECURITY_CHECK_FAILURE after upgrading.This may occur when connecting to VPN.
This Canary Channel flight comes with a delightful blast from the past and will play the Windows Vista boot sound instead of the Windows 11 boot sound. The fix should be coming in a future Canary Channel flight soon.

[Settings]

We’re investigating an issue in this build which could cause Settings to crash when interacting with the options under Settings > System > Power & Battery.
We’re investigating an issue where some of the apostrophes across text in Settings and settings-related dialogs are not displaying correctly and are showing random characters.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Canary Channel

The builds we release to the Canary Channel represent the latest platform changes early in the development cycle and should not be seen as matched to any specific release of Windows and features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Many features in the Canary Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
Some features may show up in the Dev and Beta Channels first before showing up in the Canary Channel.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
To get off the Canary Channel, a clean install of Windows 11 will be required. As a reminder - Insiders can’t switch to a channel that is receiving builds with lower build numbers without doing a clean installation of Windows 11 due to technical setup requirements.
The desktop watermark shown at the lower right corner of the desktop is normal for these pre-release builds.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5710 (Dev Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 18 Jul 2025 19:06:11 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5710 (KB5062676) to the Dev Channel. Changes in Dev Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*) and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Dev Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

New Copilot+ PC experiences

New describe image action in Click to Do rolling out for AMD and Intel®-powered Copilot+ PCs

We are introducing a new “describe image” action in Click to Do to get detailed descriptions of images, charts and graphs for AMD and Intel®-powered Copilot+ PCs. This feature was introduced for Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PCs in the previous Dev Channel flight. This feature is useful to get a quick overview of the visual content. This feature is designed to improve accessibility and can be used by everyone in scenarios like getting a quick overview of a graph or a chart, generating alt text for artefacts you create, etc. When you use the action for the first time, the required models are set up, and the descriptions are generated locally on your device making sure your sensitive data stays on your PC. [caption id="attachment_178057" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Describe image action in Click to Do menu highlighted in a red box.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_178059" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Image description dialog shown with text description of image of Brandon’s dog Kilo.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_178069" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Image description dialog shown with text description of a graph.[/caption] You can learn more about using Click to Do here. You can check out frequently asked questions about rich image descriptions here. FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Desktop Environment > Click to Do.

Making visual content more accessible with image descriptions in Narrator

We are enhancing digital accessibility with the ability to get rich, detailed descriptions of images, charts, graphs in Narrator by using the power of AI on Copilot+ PCs. In today’s digital world, images are everywhere—on websites, apps, and documents. But for blind and low-vision users, many of these visuals remain inaccessible due to missing or inadequate alt text. After beginning the rollout for this feature for Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PCs, we are also now rolling this feature out for AMD and Intel®-powered Copilot+ PCs. With this new feature that is beginning to roll out, Narrator will now generate richer image descriptions on your Copilot+ PC. Simply press Narrator key + Ctrl + D and Narrator will read out a contextual description of the image describing people, objects, colors, text, and numbers from the image. On non-Copilot+ PCs, this experience will continue to give you very basic image descriptions. For example, for an image about stock performance, users will get the following detailed description. The image is a graph showing the stock prices of Microsoft Corporation, with the S&P 500 and NASDAQ Computer indexes. The graph shows a steady increase in Microsoft’s stock price over the period from June 18th to June 23rd. [caption id="attachment_177792" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Screenshot of Edge browser containing an image of “stock performance graph” with “Describe image” window open next to it showing the description of the image.[/caption] The window also contains regenerate, like, dislike and copy button at the bottom. [caption id="attachment_177794" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Screenshot of Edge browser with Narrator’s focus on an image of graph. There’s an info bar on top of the screen which says, “We are setting up image description feature. Keep your PC connected to internet and check back soon.” along with a “Check status” button.[/caption] To turn Narrator on, you can press “Ctrl + Windows key + Enter” on your PC or search for “Narrator” in Windows search box. When you try the image descriptions feature for the first time using Narrator Key + Ctrl + D, we download the models required for getting image descriptions. You can check the download status via Settings > Windows update. If you are new to Narrator, you can find more information and learn about using Narrator from the complete guide to Narrator. Also check out frequently asked questions about rich image descriptions in Narrator here. FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Accessibility > Narrator.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[General]

As part of our commitment to improving Windows performance, logs are now collected when your PC has experienced any slow or sluggish performance. Windows Insiders are encouraged to provide feedback when experiencing PC issues related to slow or sluggish performance, allowing Feedback Hub to automatically collect these logs, which will help us root cause issues faster. Use the Desktop > System Sluggishness category when filing feedback to allow Feedback Hub to automatically pick up these logs. These logs are stored locally (%systemRoot%\Temp\DiagOutputDir\Whesvc folder) and only sent to Microsoft via Feedback Hub when feedback is submitted.

[Click to Do (Preview)]

The following changes and improvements are rolling out for Click to Do on Copilot+ PCs:

We are trying out a change that removes the search box in the top bar of Click to Do.

[Lock screen]

We're updating lock screen widgets experience for Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel, with widget suggestions to help you easily discover more widgets. This feature can be enabled or disabled with the “Discover widgets” toggle under Settings > Personalization > Lock screen. Please note this experience is still being refined and will change in future flights.

[Settings]

You can now visit the Settings > Privacy & security > Text and image generation to see which third-party applications recently used generative AI models provided by Windows. This page gives you visibility into the specific apps leveraging local Windows provided generative AI models and allows you to control which apps are permitted to use them—putting you in charge of your device’s AI experience. The UI is present in this flight today, however the functionality will light up in a upcoming flight.

[caption id="attachment_178075" align="alignnone" width="540"] Text and image generation settings page with recent activity highlighted in a red box for seeing which apps use generative AI models provided by Windows.[/caption]

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[Notification Center]

Fixed an issue where if you’d enabled the clock in Notification Center it might result in the Notification Center content getting clipped.

[Other]

Fixed an underlying issue with dbgcore.dll, which could lead to explorer.exe and some other apps crashing recently.

Known issues

[General]

Some Windows Insiders may experience a rollback trying to install this update with a 0x80070005 in Windows Update. We’re working on a fix for Windows Insiders impacted. If you are impacted, using Settings > System > Recovery > “Fix issues using Windows update” may resolve the issue.
You may see multiple error pop ups about unexpected elements when opening Group Policy Editor.

[Start menu]

The following are known issues for Windows Insiders with the new Start menu:

Using touch to navigate the new Start menu may not work reliably. For example, it currently does not support the swipe-up gesture.
Drag and drop capabilities are limited from “All” to “Pinned.”

[Live Captions]

[NEW] Live captions may crash when attempting to use live translation on a Copilot+ PC.

[Xbox Controllers]

Some Insiders are experiencing an issue where using their Xbox Controller via Bluetooth is causing their PC to bugcheck. Here is how to resolve the issue. Open Device Manager by searching for it via the search box on your taskbar. Once Device Manager is open, click on "View" and then "Devices by Driver". Find the driver named "oemXXX.inf (XboxGameControllerDriver.inf)" where the "XXX" will be a specific number on your PC. Right-click on that driver and click "Uninstall".

[Click to Do (Preview)]

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

Windows Insiders on AMD or Intel®-powered Copilot+ PCs may experience long wait times on the first attempt to perform intelligent text actions in Click to Do after a new build or model update.

[Input]

The Microsoft Changjie Input method doesn’t work properly in this build - not able to select words. Reverting to the previous version of the IME in Settings should mitigate the issue while we work on a fix.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel

Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel receive updates based on Windows 11, version 25H2 via an enablement package (Build 26200.xxxx). For more information on Windows 11, version 25H2 – see this blog post.
Many features in the Dev Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Please note that some accessibility features may not work with features like Recall and Click to Do while in preview with Windows Insiders.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.4741 (Beta Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 18 Jul 2025 19:06:07 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.4741 (KB5062678) to the Beta Channel for Windows Insiders on Windows 11, version 24H2. Changes in Beta Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*) and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Beta Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

New Copilot+ PC experiences

New describe image action in Click to Do rolling out for AMD and Intel®-powered Copilot+ PCs

We are introducing a new “describe image” action in Click to Do to get detailed descriptions of images, charts and graphs for AMD and Intel®-powered Copilot+ PCs. This feature was introduced for Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PCs in the previous Beta Channel flight. This feature is useful to get a quick overview of the visual content. This feature is designed to improve accessibility and can be used by everyone in scenarios like getting a quick overview of a graph or a chart, generating alt text for artefacts you create, etc. When you use the action for the first time, the required models are set up, and the descriptions are generated locally on your device making sure your sensitive data stays on your PC. [caption id="attachment_178057" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Describe image action in Click to Do menu highlighted in a red box.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_178059" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Image description dialog shown with text description of image of Brandon’s dog Kilo.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_178069" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Image description dialog shown with text description of a graph.[/caption] You can learn more about using Click to Do here. You can check out frequently asked questions about rich image descriptions here. FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Desktop Environment > Click to Do.

Making visual content more accessible with image descriptions in Narrator

We are enhancing digital accessibility with the ability to get rich, detailed descriptions of images, charts, graphs in Narrator by using the power of AI on Copilot+ PCs. In today’s digital world, images are everywhere—on websites, apps, and documents. But for blind and low-vision users, many of these visuals remain inaccessible due to missing or inadequate alt text. After beginning the rollout for this feature for Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PCs, we are also now rolling this feature out for AMD and Intel-powered Copilot+ PCs. With this new feature that is beginning to roll out, Narrator will now generate richer image descriptions on your Copilot+ PC. Simply press Narrator key + Ctrl + D and Narrator will read out a contextual description of the image describing people, objects, colors, text, and numbers from the image. On non-Copilot+ PCs, this experience will continue to give you very basic image descriptions. For example, for an image about stock performance, users will get the following detailed description. The image is a graph showing the stock prices of Microsoft Corporation, with the S&P 500 and NASDAQ Computer indexes. The graph shows a steady increase in Microsoft’s stock price over the period from June 18th to June 23rd. [caption id="attachment_177792" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Screenshot of Edge browser containing an image of “stock performance graph” with “Describe image” window open next to it showing the description of the image.[/caption] The window also contains regenerate, like, dislike and copy button at the bottom. [caption id="attachment_177794" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Screenshot of Edge browser with Narrator’s focus on an image of graph. There’s an info bar on top of the screen which says, “We are setting up image description feature. Keep your PC connected to internet and check back soon.” along with a “Check status” button.[/caption] To turn Narrator on, you can press “Ctrl + Windows key + Enter” on your PC or search for “Narrator” in Windows search box. When you try the image descriptions feature for the first time using Narrator Key + Ctrl + D, we download the models required for getting image descriptions. You can check the download status via Settings > Windows update. If you are new to Narrator, you can find more information and learn about using Narrator from the complete guide to Narrator. Also check out frequently asked questions about rich image descriptions in Narrator here. FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Accessibility > Narrator.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[General]

As part of our commitment to improving Windows performance, logs are now collected when your PC has experienced any slow or sluggish performance. Windows Insiders are encouraged to provide feedback when experiencing PC issues related to slow or sluggish performance, allowing Feedback Hub to automatically collect these logs, which will help us root cause issues faster. Use the Desktop > System Sluggishness category when filing feedback to allow Feedback Hub to automatically pick up these logs. These logs are stored locally (%systemRoot%\Temp\DiagOutputDir\Whesvc folder) and only sent to Microsoft via Feedback Hub when feedback is submitted.

[Click to Do (Preview)]

The following changes and improvements are rolling out for Click to Do on Copilot+ PCs:

We are trying out a change that removes the search box in the top bar of Click to Do.

[Lock screen]

We're updating lock screen widgets experience for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel, with widget suggestions to help you easily discover more widgets. This feature can be enabled or disabled with the “Discover widgets” toggle under Settings > Personalization > Lock screen. Please note this experience is still being refined and will change in future flights.

[Settings]

You can now visit the Settings > Privacy & security > Text and image generation to see which third-party applications recently used generative AI models provided by Windows. This page gives you visibility into the specific apps leveraging local Windows provided generative AI models and allows you to control which apps are permitted to use them—putting you in charge of your device’s AI experience. The UI is present in this flight today, however the functionality will light up in a upcoming flight.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Notification Center]

Fixed an issue where if you’d enabled the clock in Notification Center it might result in the Notification Center content getting clipped.

[Other]

Fixed an underlying issue with dbgcore.dll, which could lead to explorer.exe and some other apps crashing recently.

Known issues

[General]

Some Windows Insiders may experience a rollback trying to install this update with a 0x80070005 in Windows Update. We’re working on a fix for Windows Insiders impacted. If you are impacted, using Settings > System > Recovery > “Fix issues using Windows update” may resolve the issue.
You may see multiple error pop ups about unexpected elements when opening Group Policy Editor.

[Start menu]

The following are known issues for Windows Insiders with the new Start menu:

Using touch to navigate the new Start menu may not work reliably. For example, it currently does not support the swipe-up gesture.
Drag and drop capabilities are limited from “All” to “Pinned.”

[Live Captions]

[NEW] Live captions may crash when attempting to use live translation on a Copilot+ PC.

[Xbox Controllers]

Some Insiders are experiencing an issue where using their Xbox Controller via Bluetooth is causing their PC to bugcheck. Here is how to resolve the issue. Open Device Manager by searching for it via the search box on your taskbar. Once Device Manager is open, click on "View" and then "Devices by Driver". Find the driver named "oemXXX.inf (XboxGameControllerDriver.inf)" where the "XXX" will be a specific number on your PC. Right-click on that driver and click "Uninstall".

[Click to Do (Preview)]

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

Windows Insiders on AMD or Intel®-powered Copilot+ PCs may experience long wait times on the first attempt to perform intelligent text actions in Click to Do after a new build or model update.

[Input]

The Microsoft Changjie Input method doesn’t work properly in this build - not able to select words. Reverting to the previous version of the IME in Settings should mitigate the issue while we work on a fix.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel

Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel on Windows 11, version 24H2 will receive updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 via an enablement package (Build 26120.xxxx).
Updates delivered to the Beta Channel are in a format that offers a preview of enhancements to servicing technology on Windows 11, version 24H2. To learn more, see https://aka.ms/CheckpointCumulativeUpdates.
Many features in the Beta Channel are rolled out using Controlled Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Please note that some accessibility features may not work with features like Recall and Click to Do while in preview with Windows Insiders.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27902 (Canary Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Thu, 17 Jul 2025 17:04:54 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27902 to the Canary Channel. We are releasing ISOs for this build – they can be downloaded here. We are also not planning to release SDKs for 27xxx series builds for the time being.

Changes and Improvements

[General]

This update includes a small set of general improvements and fixes that improve the overall experience for Insiders running this build on their PCs.

Fixes

[File Explorer]

Fixed an issue in the previous build where File Explorer might fail to persist any view changes. This also impacted desktop icons, which could unexpectedly move or change size back to default. Jen is happy this bug is fixed.

[Camera]

Fixed an issue which could cause the Camera app to get stuck on some PCs in the last couple builds after switching between front and back camera.

Known issues

[General]

[IMPORTANT NOTE FOR COPILOT+ PCs] If you are joining the Canary Channel on a new Copilot+ PC from the Dev Channel, Release Preview Channel or retail, you will lose Windows Hello pin and biometrics to sign into your PC with error 0xd0000225 and error message “Something went wrong, and your PIN isn’t available”. You should be able to re-create your PIN by clicking “Set up my PIN”.
[NEW] There's an issue starting with the previous build causing a small number of Insiders to experience repeated bugchecks with KERNEL_SECURITY_CHECK_FAILURE after upgrading. This may occur when connecting to VPN.
This Canary Channel flight comes with a delightful blast from the past and will play the Windows Vista boot sound instead of the Windows 11 boot sound. The fix should be coming in a future Canary Channel flight soon.

[Settings]

We’re investigating an issue in this build which could cause Settings to crash when interacting with the options under Settings > System > Power & Battery.
[NEW] We’re investigating an issue where some of the apostrophes across text in Settings and settings-related dialogs are not displaying correctly and are showing random characters.

[Remote Desktop]

You may see extreme graphical distortion and rendering issues using remote desktop on Arm64 PCs in this build.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Canary Channel

The builds we release to the Canary Channel represent the latest platform changes early in the development cycle and should not be seen as matched to any specific release of Windows and features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Many features in the Canary Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
Some features may show up in the Dev and Beta Channels first before showing up in the Canary Channel.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
To get off the Canary Channel, a clean install of Windows 11 will be required. As a reminder - Insiders can’t switch to a channel that is receiving builds with lower build numbers without doing a clean installation of Windows 11 due to technical setup requirements.
The desktop watermark shown at the lower right corner of the desktop is normal for these pre-release builds.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5702 (Dev Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Mon, 14 Jul 2025 21:01:43 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5702 (KB5062653) to the Dev Channel. Changes in Dev Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*) and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Dev Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

New Copilot+ PC experiences

[UPDATED 7/16] New describe image action in Click to Do

We are introducing a new “describe image” action in Click to Do to get detailed descriptions of images, charts and graphs – useful to get a quick overview of the visual content. When you use the action for the first time, the required models are set up, and the descriptions are generated locally on your device making sure your sensitive data stays on your PC. This feature is designed to improve accessibility and can be used by everyone in scenarios like getting a quick overview of a graph or a chart, generating alt text for artefacts you create, etc. [caption id="attachment_178057" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Describe image action in Click to Do menu highlighted in a red box.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_178059" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Image description dialog shown with text description of image of Brandon’s dog Kilo.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_178069" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Image description dialog shown with text description of a graph.[/caption] The new describe image action in Click to Do is rolling out to Windows Insiders on Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PCs, with support for AMD and Intel®-powered Copilot+ PCs coming soon. You can learn more about using Click to Do here. You can check out frequently asked questions about rich image descriptions here. FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Desktop Environment > Click to Do.

New features gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

Administrator protection

Administrator protection is an upcoming platform security feature in Windows 11, which aims to protect free floating admin rights for administrator users allowing them to still perform all admin functions with just-in-time admin privileges. This feature is off by default and needs to be enabled via Windows Security under Account protection or via group policy. For more information on administrator protection, please read this blog post here from Katharine Holdsworth.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[General]

We're updating the design of the privacy dialogs for app permissions. When an app requests permission to access location, camera, mic, etc., it is now a system modal dialog. When one of these dialogs appears from an app requesting permission, the screen will slightly darken now, and the privacy dialog will take focus in center of the screen.

[caption id="attachment_178050" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Before and after of design change for privacy dialogs.[/caption]

[Windows Security]

Windows Insiders in the Dev and Beta Channels with Smart App Control in evaluation mode may see Smart App Control get turned on in Windows Security. If Smart App Control is turned on, it can be switched off via Windows Security > App & browser control > Smart App Control.

[Other]

Windows PowerShell 2.0 is deprecated and in the most current Insider Preview builds flighted to the Dev Channel, is removed. More information will be shared in the coming months on the removal of Windows PowerShell 2.0 in an upcoming update for Windows 11.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[Taskbar & System Tray]

Fixed an issue which could cause random File Explorer preview windows to appear when hovering over unrelated app icons in the taskbar.

[Search on the Taskbar]

Fixed an issue where the search box in the taskbar might show animations even if animations were turned off in Settings.

[File Explorer]

Fixed an underlying issue which could lead to file operation progress dialogs to stop appearing when displayed from apps.
Made some more improvements to the performance of zip extraction – specifically in the case if you were trying to extract a zip file that was downloaded from the web and contained many small files.
Fixed an issue where if you’d pinned the shortcut for an app to your desktop, after the app updated, the icon may become a white page icon rather than having a proper thumbnail image.
Fixed an issue which was causing File Explorer Home to flash white again when launching File Explorer.

The following are fixes for AI actions in File Explorer:

Fixed an issue where Narrator scan mode might not work properly in the action result canvas window for the Summarize AI action for Microsoft 365 files when reading bulleted lists.

[Live captions]

Fixed an issue where if you changed the opacity of live captions in Settings > Accessibility > Captions > Caption Style, it would have no effect.

[Dynamic Lighting]

Fixed an issue in Dynamic Lighting where the Dynamic Lighting Background Controller would occasionally consume excessive CPU after unlocking the machine.

[Graphics]

Fixed an issue where game content might become out of sync with the cursor position after using ALT + Tab to switch away and back from certain games running in full screen exclusive mode (when the game resolution didn’t match the desktop resolution).

[Settings]

Fixed an issue which could cause Settings to crash when navigating to Time & Language > Language & Region in the previous flight.

[Other]

Fixed an issue which was resulting in some people unexpectedly seeing error 2042 in Event View, citing a problem with Windows Firewall config not being read correctly.
Fixed an underlying issue which could cause apps to not come to the foreground when interacting with notifications – for example if you clicked on an Outlook notification.

Known issues

[General]

Some Windows Insiders may experience a rollback trying to install this update with a 0x80070005 in Windows Update. We’re working on a fix for Windows Insiders impacted. If you are impacted, using Settings > System > Recovery > “Fix issues using Windows update” may resolve the issue.
[NEW] You may see multiple error pop ups about unexpected elements when opening Group Policy Editor.

[Start menu]

The following are known issues for Windows Insiders with the new Start menu:

Using touch to navigate the new Start menu may not work reliably. For example, it currently does not support the swipe-up gesture.
Drag and drop capabilities are limited from “All” to “Pinned.”

[Xbox Controllers]

Some Insiders are experiencing an issue where using their Xbox Controller via Bluetooth is causing their PC to bugcheck. Here is how to resolve the issue. Open Device Manager by searching for it via the search box on your taskbar. Once Device Manager is open, click on "View" and then "Devices by Driver". Find the driver named "oemXXX.inf (XboxGameControllerDriver.inf)" where the "XXX" will be a specific number on your PC. Right-click on that driver and click "Uninstall".

[Click to Do (Preview)]

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

Windows Insiders on AMD or Intel™-powered Copilot+ PCs may experience long wait times on the first attempt to perform intelligent text actions in Click to Do after a new build or model update.

[Input]

[NEW] The Microsoft Changjie Input method doesn’t work properly in this build - not able to select words. Reverting to the previous version of the IME in Settings should mitigate the issue while we work on a fix.

[Widgets]

Until we complete support for pinning in the new widgets board experience, pinning reverts you back to the previous experience.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel

Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel receive updates based on Windows 11, version 25H2 via an enablement package (Build 26200.xxxx). For more information on Windows 11, version 25H2 – see this blog post.
Many features in the Dev Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Please note that some accessibility features may not work with features like Recall and Click to Do while in preview with Windows Insiders.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon EDITOR'S NOTE 7/16: Edited the section above for the new describe image action in Click to Do to include more details for clarity.

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.4733 (Beta Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Mon, 14 Jul 2025 21:01:38 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.4733 (KB5062651) to the Beta Channel for Windows Insiders on Windows 11, version 24H2. Changes in Beta Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*) and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Beta Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

New Copilot+ PC experiences

[UPDATED 7/16] New describe image action in Click to Do

New features gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

Administrator protection

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[General]

We're updating the design of the privacy dialogs for app permissions. When an app requests permission to access location, camera, mic, etc., it is now a system modal dialog. When one of these dialogs appears from an app requesting permission, the screen will slightly darken now, and the privacy dialog will take focus in center of the screen.

[caption id="attachment_178050" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Before and after of design change for privacy dialogs.[/caption]

[Windows Security]

Windows Insiders in the Dev and Beta Channels with Smart App Control in evaluation mode may see Smart App Control get turned on in Windows Security. If Smart App Control is turned on, it can be switched off via Windows Security > App & browser control > Smart App Control.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Taskbar & System Tray]

Fixed an issue which could cause random File Explorer preview windows to appear when hovering over unrelated app icons in the taskbar.

[Search on the Taskbar]

Fixed an issue where the search box in the taskbar might show animations even if animations were turned off in Settings.

[File Explorer]

Fixed an underlying issue which could lead to file operation progress dialogs to stop appearing when displayed from apps.
Made some more improvements to the performance of zip extraction – specifically in the case if you were trying to extract a zip file that was downloaded from the web and contained many small files.
Fixed an issue where if you’d pinned the shortcut for an app to your desktop, after the app updated, the icon may become a white page icon rather than having a proper thumbnail image.
Fixed an issue which was causing File Explorer Home to flash white again when launching File Explorer.

The following are fixes for AI actions in File Explorer:

Fixed an issue where Narrator scan mode might not work properly in the action result canvas window for the Summarize AI action for Microsoft 365 files when reading bulleted lists.

[Live captions]

Fixed an issue where if you changed the opacity of live captions in Settings > Accessibility > Captions > Caption Style, it would have no effect.

[Dynamic Lighting]

Fixed an issue in Dynamic Lighting where the Dynamic Lighting Background Controller would occasionally consume excessive CPU after unlocking the machine.

[Graphics]

Fixed an issue where game content might become out of sync with the cursor position after using ALT + Tab to switch away and back from certain games running in full screen exclusive mode (when the game resolution didn’t match the desktop resolution).

[Settings]

Fixed an issue which could cause Settings to crash when navigating to Time & Language > Language & Region in the previous flight.

[Other]

Fixed an issue which was resulting in some people unexpectedly seeing error 2042 in Event View, citing a problem with Windows Firewall config not being read correctly.
Fixed an underlying issue which could cause apps to not come to the foreground when interacting with notifications – for example if you clicked on an Outlook notification.

Known issues

[General]

Some Windows Insiders may experience a rollback trying to install this update with a 0x80070005 in Windows Update. We’re working on a fix for Windows Insiders impacted. If you are impacted, using Settings > System > Recovery > “Fix issues using Windows update” may resolve the issue.
[NEW] You may see multiple error pop ups about unexpected elements when opening Group Policy Editor.

[Start menu]

The following are known issues for Windows Insiders with the new Start menu:

Using touch to navigate the new Start menu may not work reliably. For example, it currently does not support the swipe-up gesture.
Drag and drop capabilities are limited from “All” to “Pinned.”

[Xbox Controllers]

Some Insiders are experiencing an issue where using their Xbox Controller via Bluetooth is causing their PC to bugcheck. Here is how to resolve the issue. Open Device Manager by searching for it via the search box on your taskbar. Once Device Manager is open, click on "View" and then "Devices by Driver". Find the driver named "oemXXX.inf (XboxGameControllerDriver.inf)" where the "XXX" will be a specific number on your PC. Right-click on that driver and click "Uninstall".

[Click to Do (Preview)]

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

Windows Insiders on AMD or Intel™-powered Copilot+ PCs may experience long wait times on the first attempt to perform intelligent text actions in Click to Do after a new build or model update.

[Input]

[NEW] The Microsoft Changjie Input method doesn’t work properly in this build - not able to select words. Reverting to the previous version of the IME in Settings should mitigate the issue while we work on a fix.

[Widgets]

Until we complete support for pinning in the new widgets board experience, pinning reverts you back to the previous experience

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel

Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel on Windows 11, version 24H2 will receive updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 via an enablement package (Build 26120.xxxx).
Updates delivered to the Beta Channel are in a format that offers a preview of enhancements to servicing technology on Windows 11, version 24H2. To learn more, see https://aka.ms/CheckpointCumulativeUpdates.
Many features in the Beta Channel are rolled out using Controlled Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Please note that some accessibility features may not work with features like Recall and Click to Do while in preview with Windows Insiders.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon EDITOR'S NOTE 7/16: Edited the section above for the new describe image action in Click to Do to include more details for clarity.

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27898 (Canary Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 11 Jul 2025 17:03:23 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27898 to the Canary Channel. We are also not planning to release SDKs for 27xxx series builds for the time being.

What’s new in Build 27898

Taskbar icon scaling

We are starting to roll out taskbar icon scaling to Windows Insiders in the Canary Channel – an improvement to the Windows taskbar that ensures that you have quick access to more of your favorite apps, even when your taskbar is full. With taskbar icon scaling, when your taskbar starts to get crowded with pinned or open apps, the icons will automatically scale down to a smaller size. This means you can keep more apps visible and accessible without the need to dive into a secondary menu. It’s all about making your workflow smoother and more efficient. [caption id="attachment_177768" align="alignnone" width="1024"] The taskbar with small taskbar icons with setting highlighted in a red box.[/caption] We understand that everyone has their own preferences, so we’ve included settings to tailor this feature to your liking. You can choose when Windows will show smaller taskbar buttons:

When taskbar is full: By default, taskbar icons will automatically turn smaller when the taskbar is full. This helps you maintain access to more apps without any extra effort.
Never: For users who prefer their icons to remain the same size as before, regardless of how many apps are open, there’s an option to prevent the icons from scaling down.
Always: If you love the look of smaller icons and want them to stay that way all the time, you can set your taskbar icons to always be small.

To customize your taskbar icon scaling settings, simply right-click an empty region of your taskbar and select “Taskbar settings”, expand “Taskbar behaviors” section, and make your selection for the setting “Show smaller taskbar buttons”. As always, we value your feedback, so let us know what you think! FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Desktop Environment > Taskbar.

Introducing quick machine recovery

Quick machine recovery, a feature introduced as part of the Windows Resiliency Initiative at Ignite 2024 – is available for Windows Insiders in the Canary Channel. When enabled, it automatically detects and fixes widespread issues on Windows 11 devices using the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE). This reduces downtime and avoids the need for manual fixes. If a device experiences a widespread boot issue, it enters WinRE, connects to the internet, and Microsoft can deliver a targeted fix through Windows Update. IT admins can enable or customize this experience for their organization through the Intune Settings Catalog UI using the RemoteRemediationCSP. There is also a dedicated quick machine recovery settings page available under System > Recovery > Quick machine recovery. Today, it’s enabled by default for home users. FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Recovery and Uninstall > Quick Machine Recovery.

Add custom words to the dictionary in voice access

We are introducing the ability for you to add your own words to the dictionary in voice access. Adding your own words, including difficult to pronounce words, to the dictionary in voice access will help improve dictation accuracy. It increases the probability of recognizing these words more accurately by creating a bias that helps voice access become more context aware and proactively understanding your specific vocabulary. The feature will be available in all the currently supported voice access languages i.e. English, French, German, Spanish and Chinese. You can add your own words to the dictionary in voice access in a few ways:

After spelling a word using “Spell that” command or making a correction using “Correct that”
Anywhere when you want to manually add a word by using “Add to Vocabulary”

[caption id="attachment_177816" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Voice access vocabulary builder dialog for adding your own words to the dictionary.[/caption]

Directly through the settings menu in voice access.

[caption id="attachment_177817" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Add to vocabulary option in voice access settings menu highlighted in a red box.[/caption] FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Accessibility > Voice access.

Screen Curtain in Narrator

The Screen Curtain feature in Narrator is designed to enhance privacy and focus for users who rely on screen reading. When activated, Screen Curtain completely blacks out the display, ensuring that only the user hears what’s on the screen through Narrator, while the visual content remains hidden from view. This is especially useful in public spaces or shared environments, allowing users to read and work with sensitive information without revealing it to others nearby. How to enable/disable Screen Curtain:

Turn On Narrator using Ctrl + Win + Enter.
Press Caps + Ctrl + C to enable Screen Curtain.
Try using Narrator, while your Screen Curtain is turned on.
Press Caps + Ctrl + C to disable Screen Curtain.

FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Accessibility > Narrator.

Changes and Improvements

[General]

We're updating the design of the privacy dialogs for app permissions. When an app requests permission to access location, camera, mic, etc., it is now a system modal dialog. When one of these dialogs appears from an app requesting permission, the screen will slightly darken now, and the privacy dialog will take focus in the center of the screen.

[caption id="attachment_178050" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Before and after of design change for privacy dialogs.[/caption]

We are rolling out a change where Microsoft Entra ID authentication requests will be rendered using WebView2 instead of WebView1.

[Taskbar & System Tray]

In addition to the new grouping of the Accessibility flyout in quick settings, we are adding text descriptions for the assistive technologies like Narrator, Voice access, etc. for easy identification and learning by the users.

[caption id="attachment_178051" align="alignnone" width="290"] Accessibility flyout via quick setting showing text descriptions for assistive technologies like Narrator, Voice access, etc.[/caption]

Admins can now allow users to unpin specific pinned apps, ensuring they are not pinned again during the next policy refresh cycle. To enable this feature, use the new PinGeneration option. Learn more about configuring pinned apps on the taskbar.

[File Explorer]

We have added dividers to the top-level icons that show at the top (or bottom) of the File Explorer context menu.

[caption id="attachment_177986" align="alignnone" width="403"] Dividers between top-level icons in the File Explorer context menu.[/caption]

[Energy Saver]

We are beginning to preview adaptive energy saver. Adaptive energy saver is an opt-in feature that automatically enables and disables energy saver, without changing screen brightness, based on the power state of the device and the current system load. This will only be available on devices with a battery. As we try this experience out in the Canary Channel, some Insiders may see this experience get enabled – you can manage your energy saver settings under Settings > System > Power & battery.

[caption id="attachment_178052" align="alignnone" width="665"] Energy saver setting with new dropdown menu for choosing adaptive energy saver.[/caption]

[Windows Share]

When you share links or web content using the Windows share window, you will see a visual preview for that content.

[caption id="attachment_177485" align="alignnone" width="476"] Visual preview of links and web content in the Windows share window.[/caption]

In the Windows share window, as part of the ability to quickly edit and enhance images while sharing, we have adjusted the UI so that now you can now select their compression scale from High, Medium, or Low Quality, instead of choosing from an entire scale ranging from 0-100.

[caption id="attachment_177889" align="alignnone" width="335"] New drop-down menu for compression scale of high, medium, or low when sharing images in the Windows share window.[/caption]

[Voice access]

We are introducing Chinese and Japanese support for voice access. You can now use Voice access to navigate, dictate, and interact with Windows using voice commands in Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, and Japanese. Japanese support is still a work-in-progress and may have some issues.

[Narrator]

We’re introducing a smoother way to discover and learn about Narrator capabilities right from experience. Whether you’re a new user or exploring deeper functionality, Narrator will now guide you through its new features by launching a series of modal windows which contain the details of all the new features and changes in Narrator.

[caption id="attachment_177962" align="alignnone" width="425"] New prompt to highlight new features and improvements in Narrator.[/caption]

[Snipping Tool]

With this build, we’re making it easier to jump directly into text extractor in Snipping Tool via Win + Shift + T. You can learn more about using text extractor here.

[Settings]

We have added the country or region selected during device setup under Settings > Time & language > Language & region.

We are rolling out some small changes for your setting your browser defaults in Windows 11 via Settings > Apps > Default apps:

For Add new link/file types of ‘Set Default’ button, we have added additional types for the “Set Default” button. You can now set more types.
For one-click button of PDF for browser sets, we have added a new button for making your default browser also the default app for PDF files.
The new default browser will be pinned to the Taskbar and Start menu unless you choose not to pin it by clearing the checkboxes.

[caption id="attachment_177927" align="alignnone" width="611"] Browser default settings page showing new set default button for PDF files and pinning to Start and Taskbar.[/caption]

Fixes

[File Explorer]

We've done some more work to improve the performance of extracting archive files - this will particularly help in the case of copy pasting large numbers of files out of large 7z or .rar archives.

[Input]

Fixed an issue where typing Japanese with the touch keyboard might stop working after switching to typing with an English keyboard and back.

[Settings]

Fixed an issue which could cause Settings to crash when changing mouse cursor.
Fixed an underlying issue which could lead to the Settings window hanging and no longer responding to input or resizing unless you closed and reopened it.

[Other]

Fixed an underlying issue in the previous flight which could lead to Math.Pow() not outputting the correct result, which could lead to unexpected behavior in apps and games.
Adjusted the error text if a Windows Update fails due to the system reserved partition not having enough free space, to make it clearer that that’s the issue.

Known issues

[General]

[IMPORTANT NOTE FOR COPILOT+ PCs] If you are joining the Canary Channel on a new Copilot+ PC from the Dev Channel, Beta Channel, Release Preview Channel or retail, you will lose Windows Hello pin and biometrics to sign into your PC with error 0xd0000225 and error message “Something went wrong, and your PIN isn’t available”. You should be able to re-create your PIN by clicking “Set up my PIN”.
[ADDED] This week’s Canary Channel flight comes with a delightful blast from the past and will play the Windows Vista boot sound instead of the Windows 11 boot sound. The fix should be coming in a future Canary Channel flight soon.

[File Explorer]

[NEW] There’s an issue in this build where File Explorer may fail to persist any view changes. This also impacts desktop icons, which may unexpectedly move or change size back to default.

[Settings]

We’re investigating an issue in this build which could cause Settings to crash when interacting with the options under Settings > System > Power & Battery.

[Remote Desktop]

You may see extreme graphical distortion and rendering issues using remote desktop on Arm64 PCs in this build.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Canary Channel

The builds we release to the Canary Channel represent the latest platform changes early in the development cycle and should not be seen as matched to any specific release of Windows and features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Many features in the Canary Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
Some features may show up in the Dev and Beta Channels first before showing up in the Canary Channel.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
To get off the Canary Channel, a clean install of Windows 11 will be required. As a reminder - Insiders can’t switch to a channel that is receiving builds with lower build numbers without doing a clean installation of Windows 11 due to technical setup requirements.
The desktop watermark shown at the lower right corner of the desktop is normal for these pre-release builds.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27891 (Canary Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Thu, 03 Jul 2025 17:04:49 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27891 to the Canary Channel. We also have a Microsoft Store update rolling out to Insiders in the Canary and Dev Channels (details below). We are also not planning to release SDKs for 27xxx series builds for the time being.

Changes and Improvements

[Other]

Windows PowerShell 2.0 is deprecated and in the most current Insider Preview builds flighted to the Canary Channel, is removed. More information will be shared in the coming months on the removal of Windows PowerShell 2.0 in an upcoming update for Windows 11.

Fixes

[General]

We fixed the issue causing the “Reset this PC” option under Settings > System > Recovery to not work after upgrading the last few Canary Channel builds.
Fixed the underlying issue which was causing the taskbar to unexpectedly not showing acrylic material after upgrading to the latest Canary builds. This also impacted a few other scenarios, leading to unexpected black or white in some UI.
Fixed an underlying issue believed to be the cause of some Insiders seeing Windows update downloads to get stuck at 2% recently.
Fixed a few more languages including Vietnamese and Arabic that were still having issues with certain characters not rendering correctly for Insiders after the latest builds, causing nonsense to display in places like Task Manager and more. This impacted characters outside of A-Z.

[File Explorer]

Fixed an issue where if you opened the “…” menu in the File Explorer address bar to show the full list of folders for the current path, the dropdown might be cut off and the bottom of it inaccessible.

[Settings]

Fixed an issue in the previous build which could cause Settings to crash when opening microphone properties under Settings > System > Sound.
Fixed an underlying issue related to Bluetooth which could cause Settings or Quick Settings to crash on launch for some people.

[Windowing]

Fixed an issue which was causing the window minimizing animation to not display correctly in the previous flight.

[Task Manager]

Fixed an issue where the CPU graphs in the Performance page were still using the old CPU utility calculations.
Fixed an issue where after adding the new CPU Utility column, you might notice that System Idle Process always showed as 0.

[Audio]

Fixed an issue which could cause all system sounds to stop working (for example notification alert sound and the sound that plays when clicking the volume slider in quick settings), although audio in general was working on your PC.

[Other]

Fixed an underlying issue which was causing fonts in certain app menu items to unexpectedly appear corrupted or overlapped for some people. This also impacted typing in Word – where when using Hebrew a period may unexpectedly show as a 3, and in Thai typing space may show a 2.
Fixed an underlying issue which could cause the playback controls in Media Player to become distorted in the latest Canary flights.
Fixed an underlying issue believed to be the cause of LDAP queries from apps to take an unexpectedly long time in the previous flight.
Fixed an issue which could cause print previews to appear slightly blurry in recent Canary flights.

Known issues

[General]

[IMPORTANT NOTE FOR COPILOT+ PCs] If you are joining the Canary Channel on a new Copilot+ PC from the Dev Channel, Release Preview Channel or retail, you will lose Windows Hello pin and biometrics to sign into your PC with error 0xd0000225 and error message “Something went wrong, and your PIN isn’t available”. You should be able to re-create your PIN by clicking “Set up my PIN”.

[Settings]

[NEW] We’re investigating an issue in this build which could cause Settings to crash when interacting with the options under Settings > System > Power & Battery.

[Remote Desktop]

[NEW] You may see extreme graphical distortion and rendering issues using remote desktop on Arm64 PCs in this build.

Microsoft Store Update

Windows Insiders in the Canary and Dev Channels running version 22506.xxxx.x of the Microsoft Store and higher will see the following improvement rolling out: Install directly from top featured sections: We are rolling out the ability to directly install apps and games from the top featured sections of the Store’s homepages, helping you download your favorite products in fewer steps. Give it a try and let us know what you think! [caption id="attachment_178035" align="alignnone" width="742"] Install apps and games from the top featured sections of the Microsoft Store’s homepages.[/caption] FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Microsoft Store.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Canary Channel

The builds we release to the Canary Channel represent the latest platform changes early in the development cycle and should not be seen as matched to any specific release of Windows and features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Many features in the Canary Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
Some features may show up in the Dev and Beta Channels first before showing up in the Canary Channel.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
To get off the Canary Channel, a clean install of Windows 11 will be required. As a reminder - Insiders can’t switch to a channel that is receiving builds with lower build numbers without doing a clean installation of Windows 11 due to technical setup requirements.
The desktop watermark shown at the lower right corner of the desktop is normal for these pre-release builds.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5670 (Dev Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 27 Jun 2025 19:05:04 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5670 (KB5060838) to the Dev Channel. Changes in Dev Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*) and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Dev Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

New features gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

Passwordless Improvements

We have partnered with 1Password to bring users a seamless plugin passkey provider integration in Windows 11. Setup is simple and intuitive:

Install 1Password Beta on your Windows 11 PC.
Go to Settings > Accounts > Passkeys > Advanced options to enable the plugin credential manager.
Toggle on support and complete user verification with Windows Hello (face, fingerprint, or PIN).
You can now use your existing passkeys saved to the plugin credential manager or save new passkeys.

[caption id="attachment_178024" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Enabling plugin passkey services in Settings.[/caption] To use a passkey, go to a website where you have an account with a passkey you've saved to your credential manager and select that passkey. Sign in quickly and easily with Windows Hello. [caption id="attachment_178026" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Saving a passkey to 1Password.[/caption] Save new passkeys to your credential manager by going to a website that supports passkeys. Find the option to create a passkey for your account, choose to save to your credential manager, authenticate with Windows Hello, and your passkey is saved. [caption id="attachment_178027" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Windows Hello user verification for saving passkey.[/caption] If you are a credential manager developer, we invite you to integrate with Windows 11 to support customers in their passkey journey. To find out more about implementation detail, go to https://aka.ms/3P-Plugin-API. FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Security and Privacy > Passkey.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[General]

With this build today, Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel will see the versioning updated under Settings > System > About (and winver) to version 25H2. This denotes that Windows 11, version 25H2 will be this year’s annual feature update. As mentioned here, Windows 11 will have an annual feature update cadence that releases in the second half of the calendar year. For more information, see this blog post here.

[Voice access]

We are temporarily disabling support for Japanese to iron out a few more bugs.

[Settings]

In addition to the small changes that we made in the EEA region for default browsers via Settings > Apps > Default apps with Build 26200.5603, we’re also making this change:

The new default browser will be pinned to the Taskbar and Start menu unless you choose not to pin it by clearing the checkboxes.

[caption id="attachment_177927" align="alignnone" width="709"] Browser default settings page showing new set default button for PDF files.[/caption]

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[File Explorer]

Fixed an issue which could cause File Explorer Home to crash (potentially also making File Explorer crash on launch, since Home is the default section for File Explorer).
Fixed an issue which could cause the thumbnail for a pinned favorite in Home to disappear.

[Start menu]

Fixed an issue which was causing duplicate entries to appear when interacting with folders on the Start menu.
Fixed an issue where the folder expand animation wasn’t correct in some cases.

[Input]

Fixed a high hitting ctfmon.exe crash in the latest flights, which could impact the ability to type.

[Other]

Fixed a memory leak which could happen when lock screen was set to use a slide show, which could impact performance and reliability over time.
Did some more work improving how dialogs in the system react to increased text scaling, for example the “You must restart your computer to apply these changes” dialog should now support it.

Fixes for everyone in the Dev Channel

[General]

Fixed the issue causing the Windows Vista boot sound to play instead of the Windows 11 boot sound. Unfortunately the fix wasn’t completely working in the last Dev Channel flight.

[File Explorer]

Fixed the issue causing File Explorer to not persist view changes after the last Dev Channel flight, including desktop icons.

Known issues

[General]

[UPDATED!]When joining the Dev Channel on Windows 11, version 24H2 – you will no longer be offered Build 26200.5641 first and will be offered the most current update available in the Dev Channel.
[UPDATED!] Some Windows Insiders may experience a rollback trying to install this update with a 0x80070005 in Windows Update. We’re working on a fix for Windows Insiders impacted. If you are impacted, using Settings > System > Recovery > “Fix issues using Windows Update” may resolve the issue.

[Start menu]

The following are known issues for Windows Insiders with the new Start menu:

Using touch to navigate the new Start menu may not work reliably. For example, it currently does not support the swipe-up gesture.
Drag and drop capabilities are limited from “All” to “Pinned.”

[Xbox Controllers]

Some Insiders are experiencing an issue where using their Xbox Controller via Bluetooth is causing their PC to bugcheck. Here is how to resolve the issue. Open Device Manager by searching for it via the search box on your taskbar. Once Device Manager is open, click on "View" and then "Devices by Driver". Find the driver named "oemXXX.inf (XboxGameControllerDriver.inf)" where the "XXX" will be a specific number on your PC. Right-click on that driver and click "Uninstall".

[Click to Do (Preview)]

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

Windows Insiders on AMD or Intel™-powered Copilot+ PCs may experience long wait times on the first attempt to perform intelligent text actions in Click to Do after a new build or model update.

[File Explorer]

The following are known issues for AI actions in File Explorer:

Narrator scan mode may not work properly in the action result canvas window for the Summarize AI action for Microsoft 365 files when reading bulleted lists. As a workaround, you can use Caps + Right key to navigate.

[Widgets]

Until we complete support for pinning in the new widgets board experience, pinning reverts you back to the previous experience.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel

Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel receive updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 via an enablement package (Build 26200.xxxx).
Many features in the Dev Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Please note that some accessibility features may not work with features like Recall and Click to Do while in preview with Windows Insiders.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.4520 (Beta Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 27 Jun 2025 19:05:00 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.4520 (KB5060834) to the Beta Channel for Windows Insiders on Windows 11, version 24H2. Changes in Beta Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*) and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Beta Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

New features gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

Passwordless Improvements

We have partnered with 1Password to bring users a seamless plugin passkey provider integration in Windows 11. Setup is simple and intuitive:

Install 1Password Beta on your Windows 11 PC.
Go to Settings > Accounts > Passkeys > Advanced options to enable the plugin credential manager.
Toggle on support and complete user verification with Windows Hello (face, fingerprint, or PIN).
You can now use your existing passkeys saved to the plugin credential manager or save new passkeys.

[caption id="attachment_178024" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Enabling plugin passkey services in Settings.[/caption] To use a passkey, go to a website where you have an account with a passkey you've saved to your credential manager and select that passkey. Sign in quickly and easily with Windows Hello. [caption id="attachment_178026" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Saving a passkey to 1Password.[/caption] Save new passkeys to your credential manager by going to a website that supports passkeys. Find the option to create a passkey for your account, choose to save to your credential manager, authenticate with Windows Hello, and your passkey is saved. [caption id="attachment_178027" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Windows Hello user verification for saving passkey.[/caption] Use passkeys across your devices with your passkey provider and a native user experience on Windows 11. If you are a credential manager developer, we invite you to integrate with Windows 11 to support customers in their passkey journey. To find out more about implementation detail, go to https://aka.ms/3P-Plugin-API. FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Security and Privacy > Passkey.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Voice access]

We are temporarily disabling support for Japanese to iron out a few more bugs.

[Settings]

In addition to the small changes that we made in the EEA region for default browsers via Settings > Apps > Default apps with Build 26120.4151, we’re also making this change:

The new default browser will be pinned to the Taskbar and Start menu unless you choose not to pin it by clearing the checkboxes.

[caption id="attachment_177927" align="alignnone" width="709"] Default apps settings page showing new functionality for pinning and .pdf file type.[/caption]

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[File Explorer]

Fixed an issue which could cause File Explorer Home to crash (potentially also making File Explorer crash on launch, since Home is the default section for File Explorer).
Fixed an issue which could cause the thumbnail for a pinned favorite in Home to disappear.

[Start menu]

Fixed an issue which was causing duplicate entries to appear when interacting with folders on the Start menu.
Fixed an issue where the folder expand animation wasn’t correct in some cases.

[Input]

Fixed a high hitting ctfmon.exe crash in the latest flights, which could impact the ability to type.

[Other]

Fixed a memory leak which could happen when lock screen was set to use a slide show, which could impact performance and reliability over time.
Did some more work improving how dialogs in the system react to increased text scaling, for example the “You must restart your computer to apply these changes” dialog should now support it.

Known issues

[General]

[UPDATED!] When joining the Beta Channel on Windows 11, version 24H2 – you no longer will be offered Build 26120.4250 first and will be offered the most current update available in the Beta Channel.
[UPDATED!] Some Windows Insiders may experience a rollback trying to install this update with a 0x80070005 in Windows Update. We’re working on a fix for Windows Insiders impacted. If you are impacted, using Settings > System > Recovery > “Fix issues using Windows Update” may resolve the issue.

[Start menu]

The following are known issues for Windows Insiders with the new Start menu:

Using touch to navigate the new Start menu may not work reliably. For example, it currently does not support the swipe-up gesture.
Drag and drop capabilities are limited from “All” to “Pinned.”

[Xbox Controllers]

Some Insiders are experiencing an issue where using their Xbox Controller via Bluetooth is causing their PC to bugcheck. Here is how to resolve the issue. Open Device Manager by searching for it via the search box on your taskbar. Once Device Manager is open, click on "View" and then "Devices by Driver". Find the driver named "oemXXX.inf (XboxGameControllerDriver.inf)" where the "XXX" will be a specific number on your PC. Right-click on that driver and click "Uninstall".

[Click to Do (Preview)]

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

Windows Insiders on AMD or Intel™-powered Copilot+ PCs may experience long wait times on the first attempt to perform intelligent text actions in Click to Do after a new build or model update.

[File Explorer]

The following are known issues for AI actions in File Explorer:

Narrator scan mode may not work properly in the action result canvas window for the Summarize AI action for Microsoft 365 files when reading bulleted lists. As a workaround, you can use Caps + Right key to navigate.

[Widgets]

Until we complete support for pinning in the new widgets board experience, pinning reverts you back to the previous experience

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel

Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel on Windows 11, version 24H2 will receive updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 via an enablement package (Build 26120.xxxx).
Updates delivered to the Beta Channel are in a format that offers a preview of enhancements to servicing technology on Windows 11, version 24H2. To learn more, see https://aka.ms/CheckpointCumulativeUpdates.
Many features in the Beta Channel are rolled out using Controlled Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Please note that some accessibility features may not work with features like Recall and Click to Do while in preview with Windows Insiders.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.4452 (Beta Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Mon, 23 Jun 2025 21:03:51 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.4452 (KB5060836) to the Beta Channel for Windows Insiders on Windows 11, version 24H2. Changes in Beta Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*) and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Beta Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

New Copilot+ PC experiences

Recall Homepage

We are making it easier and faster for you to find and reconnect with the apps and websites that matter to you by introducing a new personalized homepage to Recall. The new homepage brings your recent activity and top-used content front and center, enabling you to easily get back to your previous tasks. After you opt-in to snapshot collection, your homepage becomes your personalized productivity portal, displaying:

Recent Snapshots: Your most recent snapshots captured by Recall, helping you quickly pick up where you left off.
Top Apps and Websites: A curated view of the top three applications and websites you have spent the most time on in the past 24 hours.

As a reminder, you can set filters for what apps and websites are saved in snapshots by Recall in Settings. For more information, visit: Filtering apps, websites, and sensitive information in Recall - Microsoft Support. [caption id="attachment_178008" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Recall Homepage.[/caption] Additionally, we are improving the way you navigate in Recall with the new navigation bar. Located on the left side of the screen, the new navigation bar provides intuitive access to key Recall features including Home, Timeline, Feedback, and Settings. Recall continues to function the same way as before with these improvements. FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Desktop Environment > Recall or through in-experience links.

New features gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

New setting to move hardware indicators on your screen

We’re excited to introduce a highly requested setting, the option to move the hardware indicators for brightness, volume, airplane mode, and virtual desktops to different positions on your screen. We’ll support the current bottom position and new top left and top center positions on your screen. [caption id="attachment_178009" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Hardware indicator for volume shown at the top left.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_178010" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Hardware indicator for volume shown at the top center.[/caption] To change the position of your flyouts, go to Settings > System > Notifications and use the dropdown for Position of the onscreen pop-up. [caption id="attachment_178012" align="alignnone" width="661"] Setting to adjust position of hardware indicators highlighted in a red box.[/caption] FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Desktop Environment > MTC controls and audio.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Start menu]

We are adding a Boolean to the Configure Start Pins policy to allow admins to apply Start menu pins once. This means that a user will receive admin pins on day 0 but can then make any changes to their Start pinned layout and have those safeguarded. These changes can be optionally applied through the existing configuration service provider (CSP).

[File Explorer]

We are restarting the roll out of AI actions in File Explorer that began rolling out with Build 26120.4151. Some Insiders may have seen the feature disappear.

[Settings]

In the most recently flights, we have added the country or region selected during device setup under Settings > Time & language > Language & region.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[General]

Fixed an underlying issue in the previous flight which caused input to not work for some Insiders again, including when typing into Search, and with the Chinese pinyin IME candidate window, clipboard history, and the emoji panel.

[Taskbar]

Fixed an underlying issue causing some Insiders using the Italian display language to experience repeated explorer.exe crashes in the previous flight.

[File Explorer]

Fixed an issue which was causing File Explorer Home to only show a single folder (like Desktop) and nothing else for a small number of people.
Fixed an underlying issue which was leading to noticeable performance degradation when navigating File Explorer and opening the context menu the more SharePoint sites were synced to File Explorer. This may have also impacted the performance of launching files in this scenario.

[Settings]

Fixed an issue where the items under Settings > Windows Update > Update History > Uninstall updates might appear sorted randomly rather than sorted by date.

Fixes for everyone in the Beta Channel

[General]

Fixed the issue causing the Windows Vista boot sound to play instead of the Windows 11 boot sound.
Fixed an issue where the option to reset your PC under Settings > System > Recovery wasn't working on the previous build.
Fixed an underlying issue leading to certain KVM virtual machines unexpectedly failing to boot, showing "UNSUPPORTED_PROCESSOR".

Known issues

[General]

[IMPORTANT NOTE]When joining the Beta Channel on Windows 11, version 24H2 – you will be offered Build 26120.4250 After installing Build 26120.4250, you will be offered the most recent update available. This 2-hop experience to get onto the latest flight in the Beta Channel is just temporary.
After you do a PC reset under Settings > System > Recovery, your build version may incorrectly show as Build 26100 instead of Build 26120. This will not prevent you from getting future Beta Channel updates, which will resolve this issue.
Some Windows Insiders may experience a rollback trying to install this update with a 0x80070005 in Windows Update. We’re working on a fix for Windows Insiders impacted.

[Start menu]

The following are known issues for Windows Insiders with the new Start menu:

Using touch to navigate the new Start menu may not work reliably. For example, it currently does not support the swipe-up gesture.
Drag and drop capabilities are limited from “All” to “Pinned.”
In some cases, duplicate entries may appear in folders on the Start menu.

[Xbox Controllers]

Some Insiders are experiencing an issue where using their Xbox Controller via Bluetooth is causing their PC to bugcheck. Here is how to resolve the issue. Open Device Manager by searching for it via the search box on your taskbar. Once Device Manager is open, click on "View" and then "Devices by Driver". Find the driver named "oemXXX.inf (XboxGameControllerDriver.inf)" where the "XXX" will be a specific number on your PC. Right-click on that driver and click "Uninstall".

[Click to Do (Preview)]

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

Windows Insiders on AMD or Intel™-powered Copilot+ PCs may experience long wait times on the first attempt to perform intelligent text actions in Click to Do after a new build or model update.

[File Explorer]

The following are known issues for AI actions in File Explorer:

Narrator scan mode may not work properly in the action result canvas window for the Summarize AI action for Microsoft 365 files when reading bulleted lists. As a workaround, you can use Caps + Right key to navigate.

[Widgets]

Until we complete support for pinning in the new widgets board experience, pinning reverts you back to the previous experience

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel

Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel on Windows 11, version 24H2 will receive updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 via an enablement package (Build 26120.xxxx).
Updates delivered to the Beta Channel are in a format that offers a preview of enhancements to servicing technology on Windows 11, version 24H2. To learn more, see https://aka.ms/CheckpointCumulativeUpdates.
Many features in the Beta Channel are rolled out using Controlled Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Please note that some accessibility features may not work with features like Recall and Click to Do while in preview with Windows Insiders.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5661 (Dev Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Mon, 23 Jun 2025 21:03:46 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5661 (KB5060838) to the Dev Channel. Changes in Dev Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*) and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Dev Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

New Copilot+ PC experiences

Recall Homepage

Recent Snapshots: Your most recent snapshots captured by Recall, helping you quickly pick up where you left off.
Top Apps and Websites: A curated view of the top three applications and websites you have spent the most time on in the past 24 hours.

New features gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

New setting to move hardware indicators on your screen

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[Start menu]

We are adding a Boolean to the Configure Start Pins policy to allow admins to apply Start menu pins once. This means that a user will receive admin pins on day 0 but can then make any changes to their Start pinned layout and have those safeguarded. These changes can be optionally applied through the existing configuration service provider (CSP).

[File Explorer]

We are restarting the roll out of AI actions in File Explorer that began rolling out with Build 26200.5603. Some Insiders may have seen the feature disappear.

[Settings]

In the most recently flights, we have added the country or region selected during device setup under Settings > Time & language > Language & region.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[General]

Fixed an underlying issue in the previous flight which caused input to not work for some Insiders again, including when typing into Search, and with the Chinese pinyin IME candidate window, clipboard history, and the emoji panel.

[Taskbar]

Fixed an underlying issue causing some Insiders using the Italian display language to experience repeated explorer.exe crashes in the previous flight.

[File Explorer]

Fixed an issue which was causing File Explorer Home to only show a single folder (like Desktop) and nothing else for a small number of people.
Fixed an underlying issue which was leading to noticeable performance degradation when navigating File Explorer and opening the context menu the more SharePoint sites were synced to File Explorer. This may have also impacted the performance of launching files in this scenario.

[Settings]

Fixed an issue where the items under Settings > Windows Update > Update History > Uninstall updates might appear sorted randomly rather than sorted by date.

Fixes for everyone in the Dev Channel

[General]

~~Fixed the issue causing the Windows Vista boot sound to play instead of the Windows 11 boot sound.~~ UPDATE 6/24: This fix for this issue unfortunately is not working correctly in this build - it will be fixed in the next flight.
Fixed an issue where the option to reset your PC under Settings > System > Recovery wasn't working on the previous build.
Fixed an underlying issue leading to certain KVM virtual machines unexpectedly failing to boot, showing "UNSUPPORTED_PROCESSOR".
Fixed the issue causing a small number of Insiders to experience repeated bugchecks with KERNEL_SECURITY_CHECK_FAILURE after upgrading to most current Dev Channel builds.

Known issues

[General]

[IMPORTANT NOTE] When joining the Dev Channel on Windows 11, version 24H2 – you will be offered Build 26200.5641 After installing Build 26200.5641, you will be offered the most recent update available. This 2-hop experience to get onto the latest flight in the Dev Channel is just temporary.
After you do a PC reset under Settings > System > Recovery, your build version may incorrectly show as Build 26100 instead of Build 26200. This will not prevent you from getting future Dev Channel updates, which will resolve this issue.
Some Windows Insiders may experience a rollback trying to install this update with a 0x80070005 in Windows Update. We’re working on a fix for Windows Insiders impacted.

[Start menu]

The following are known issues for Windows Insiders with the new Start menu:

Using touch to navigate the new Start menu may not work reliably. For example, it currently does not support the swipe-up gesture.
Drag and drop capabilities are limited from “All” to “Pinned.”
In some cases, duplicate entries may appear in folders on the Start menu.

[File Explorer]

[ADDED 6/26] We're investigating reports that File Explorer is no longer persisting view changes after this flight, including desktop icons.

[Xbox Controllers]

Some Insiders are experiencing an issue where using their Xbox Controller via Bluetooth is causing their PC to bugcheck. Here is how to resolve the issue. Open Device Manager by searching for it via the search box on your taskbar. Once Device Manager is open, click on "View" and then "Devices by Driver". Find the driver named "oemXXX.inf (XboxGameControllerDriver.inf)" where the "XXX" will be a specific number on your PC. Right-click on that driver and click "Uninstall".

[Click to Do (Preview)]

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

Windows Insiders on AMD or Intel™-powered Copilot+ PCs may experience long wait times on the first attempt to perform intelligent text actions in Click to Do after a new build or model update.

[File Explorer]

The following are known issues for AI actions in File Explorer:

Narrator scan mode may not work properly in the action result canvas window for the Summarize AI action for Microsoft 365 files when reading bulleted lists. As a workaround, you can use Caps + Right key to navigate.

[Widgets]

Until we complete support for pinning in the new widgets board experience, pinning reverts you back to the previous experience.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel

Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel receive updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 via an enablement package (Build 26200.xxxx).
Many features in the Dev Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.

Please note that some accessibility features may not work with features like Recall and Click to Do while in preview with Windows Insiders.

Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27881 (Canary Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Thu, 19 Jun 2025 17:04:59 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27881 to the Canary Channel. We are releasing ISOs for this build – they can be downloaded here. We are also not planning to release SDKs for 27xxx series builds for the time being.

What’s new with Build 27881

New profanity filter setting for voice typing

We’re excited to address the top customer feedback for voice typing by starting to roll out a new setting that lets you control the profanity filter. With this setting on, voice typing will continue to filter out profanity, masking it with asterisks, like it already did. With this setting off, it will type out your profanity like any other words. To adjust this setting, open voice typing (Win + H), select the settings icon, and use the Filter profanity toggle in the settings menu. [caption id="attachment_177830" align="alignnone" width="374"] New filter profanity option in voice typing settings highlighted in a red box.[/caption] FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Input and Language > Voice Typing (Windows key plus H).

Introducing speech recap in Narrator

We are always working to make Narrator more intuitive, efficient, and helpful for users who rely on it every day. With that in mind, we are introducing a new feature—speech recap —designed to help you keep track of what Narrator has spoken and access it for quick reference. With speech recap, you can quickly access spoken content, follow along with live transcription, and copy what Narrator last said—all with simple keyboard shortcuts. [caption id="attachment_177752" align="alignnone" width="3840"] The new speech recap window in Narrator.[/caption] You can open the speech recap window with Narrator key + Alt + X and can find the last 500 strings Narrator had spoken. Note that we refresh the text in this window every time Narrator starts. You can use standard reading commands and arrow keys to read the contents in speech recap window and copy text required for reference. Need to save or share something Narrator just said last? You can copy it instantly without opening the speech recap window. Use Narrator key + Control + X to copy the last spoken phrase to your clipboard. Few scenarios where you can use speech recap and related shortcuts include referring to a hint you heard when opening a new window, copying an error code that was spoken or adding Narrator speech to training materials. [caption id="attachment_177753" align="alignnone" width="3840"] Narrator’s speech recap window snapped to the right corner of screen showing real-time transcriptions.[/caption] Live transcription of Narrator speech is useful for Assistive Technology (AT) trainers, teacher of students with visual impairments (TSVI) who support students in class and for professionals who are hard of hearing and want to use Narrator. To see live transcription of Narrator audio, use the same command Narrator key + Alt + X to open the speech recap window and snap it to the portion of the screen you want to view it. As you do tasks, you can see real-time transcriptions of Narrator speech. These keyboard shortcuts follow a simple patten making it easy to learn:

Control + Windows key + Enter = Turn Narrator on/Off
Narrator key + X = Re-hear what Narrator said last
Narrator key + control + X = Copy what Narrator said last
Narrator key + Alt + X = Open Speech recap window for history and live transcriptions

FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Accessibility > Narrator.

Changes and Improvements

[General]

To stay secure and up to date, Insider Preview builds in the Canary Channel are signed with security certificates, which we renew annually. This year, we've made the change early. If you have a PC in the Canary Channel, we encourage you to install the latest build to avoid expiry notifications and to stay secure. Take note the new expiration is now 8/11/2026.

[Taskbar & System Tray]

We have adjusted the needy state pill under apps on the taskbar that need attention to be wider and more visible.

[caption id="attachment_177946" align="alignnone" width="317"] Wider needy state pill UI showing for Microsoft Teams on the taskbar indicating the app needs attention.[/caption]

We are improving Accessibility flyout in quick settings by grouping the assistive technologies by vision, hearing, motor and mobility for easy identification to help you find the right accessibility feature based on your needs. Voice access is now also included in the flyout.

[caption id="attachment_177995" align="alignnone" width="304"] New grouping by vision, hearing, motor and mobility in the Accessibility flyout in quick settings.[/caption]

[Search on the Taskbar]

Improved support for web search providers in Windows Search for the EEA, including with increased discoverability.

[Windows Share]

In the Windows share window, we are adding the ability to quickly edit and enhance images while sharing. This includes in-line image editing capabilities, such as cropping, rotating, and applying filters, as well as the ability to compress images to reduce file size for easier sharing. This ability works only for local images stored on your PC. Supported image formats: .jpg, .jpeg, .dib, .png, .tif, .tiff, and .bmp.

[caption id="attachment_177756" align="alignnone" width="500"] New edit button in the Windows share window when sharing local images.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_177757" align="alignnone" width="550"] The image editing experience from the Windows share window with a picture of the dog Kilo.[/caption]

We are adding the ability to share directly to apps that support sharing in Windows when right-clicking on local files in File Explorer or the desktop.

[caption id="attachment_177359" align="alignnone" width="370"] Share with apps directly through the context menu in File Explorer or on the desktop.[/caption]

[Settings]

We’re making it easy to find answers to common questions about your PC and Windows 11 with a dedicated FAQs section on the Settings > System > About page, providing quick and helpful insights for using your PC all in one place. Whether you’re curious about system configuration, performance, or compatibility, this experience ensures you get the information you need for the frequently asked questions for those topics. We hope these FAQs will help you make informed decisions about your PC with ease.

[caption id="attachment_177996" align="alignnone" width="651"] FAQ section highlighted in a red box on the About settings page.[/caption]

We’ve updated the dialog when renaming your printer under Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Printers & scanners to match the Windows 11 visuals.

[caption id="attachment_177820" align="alignnone" width="512"] Updated dialog for renaming your printer.[/caption]

[Input]

We’re trying out a small change to the design of the touch visual when dragging your finger on the screen, as part of some underlying work on rendering. The new design looks like animating bubbles. If you have a touch PC, we welcome you to try it out and share feedback under Input and Language > Touch Input and Gestures in the Feedback Hub.

[Other]

When running the pnputil /enum-drivers command, we’re adding a new field that enumerates driver package catalog attributes, indicating the driver type and if the driver is attestation-signed.

Fixes

[General]

Fixed an issue for Insiders on the previous build causing some of the text in Windows to not be using the correct characters, causing nonsense to display in places like Task Manager and more. This impacted characters outside of A-Z – including Chinese and accented characters in German and Polish.
Fixed an issue where booting into safe mode wasn’t working, with a message saying “Something happened and your PIN isn't available” for some people.

[File Explorer]

Fixed an issue where File Explorer would crash when tapping the View button with touch.

[Start menu]

Fixed an issue which was causing Start menu to crash on launch for some Insiders in the last few flights.

[Taskbar]

Fixed an underlying issue which was causing keyboard focus to get set to widgets in the taskbar on login, which could make widgets unexpectedly invoke.
Fixed an issue which could cause the media controls in the preview windows for apps in the taskbar (that support it) to flicker.
Fixed an issue where when using Tab and Shift + Tab to move keyboard focus around the taskbar, if you went backwards at least once you could get keyboard focus stuck on the taskbar frame, leading some screen readers to just say “pane”.
Fixed an issue where WIN + CTRL + wasn’t working to cycle between windows of open apps for that position on the taskbar.

[Input]

Fixed an issue where typing Japanese with the touch keyboard might stop working after switching to typing with an English keyboard and back.
Fixed an issue where voice typing wouldn’t start from the touch keyboard when using the Chinese (Simplified) narrow layout.
Fixed an issue where when using the Symbols section of the touch keyboard, pressing the key to change pages might unexpectedly insert a character into password fields.

[Settings]

Fixed an issue where you couldn't switch active hours from manually to automatic in Windows Update.
Adjusted the location of the intensity and color boost sliders under Settings > Accessibility > Color Filters, so the color previews at the top of the page are visible while adjusting the sliders.

[Voice access]

Fixed an issue which was causing voice access crashes when using Spanish.

[Other]

Fixed an issue where if you clean installed Windows using the installation media, it would unexpectedly generate an empty Windows.old folder when you were done.
Made another fix for Insiders unexpectedly seeing an Administrative Templates error message when opening Group Policy Editor.

Known issues

[General]

[IMPORTANT NOTE FOR COPILOT+ PCs] If you are joining the Canary Channel on a new Copilot+ PC from the Dev Channel, Release Preview Channel or retail, you will lose Windows Hello pin and biometrics to sign into your PC with error 0xd0000225 and error message “Something went wrong, and your PIN isn’t available”. You should be able to re-create your PIN by clicking “Set up my PIN”.
We’re working on the fix for an underlying issue where the taskbar is unexpectedly not showing acrylic material after upgrading to the latest Canary builds. This is impacting a few other scenarios, leading to unexpected black or white in some UI.
[NEW] The “Reset this PC” option under Settings > System > Recovery will not work after upgrading to Build 27881. You can still use the “Go back” option to roll back to the previous build or download the ISO for Build 27881 here to reinstall Windows.

[Settings]

[NEW] We’re investigating an issue in this build which may cause Settings to crash when opening microphone properties under Settings > System > Sound.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Canary Channel

The builds we release to the Canary Channel represent the latest platform changes early in the development cycle and should not be seen as matched to any specific release of Windows and features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Many features in the Canary Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
Some features may show up in the Dev and Beta Channels first before showing up in the Canary Channel.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
To get off the Canary Channel, a clean install of Windows 11 will be required. As a reminder - Insiders can’t switch to a channel that is receiving builds with lower build numbers without doing a clean installation of Windows 11 due to technical setup requirements.
The desktop watermark shown at the lower right corner of the desktop is normal for these pre-release builds.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.4441 (Beta Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 13 Jun 2025 17:04:50 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.4441 (KB5060816) to the Beta Channel for Windows Insiders on Windows 11, version 24H2. Changes in Beta Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*) and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Beta Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

New Copilot+ PC experiences

New Recall export experience for Windows Insiders in the EEA

Windows Insiders in the European Economic Area will now have the option to export their Recall snapshots to be shared with third-party apps and websites. When you open Recall for the first time and opt into saving snapshots, you will be shown your unique Recall export code. The Recall export code will be needed if you ever choose to export your Recall snapshots to share with a trusted app or website in the future. Recall and its export experience are protected by a robust set of security and privacy features outlined here. All exported snapshots are encrypted, require Windows Hello authentication to export, and can only be decrypted with your export code. Following industry best practices, we only show the export code once during initial set up to ensure that you and only you have control over exporting your data. Microsoft does not have access to your export code and cannot help you recover it if it is lost. [caption id="attachment_177977" align="alignnone" width="403"] Recall export code screen.[/caption] If you lose your export code or if you suspect someone has unauthorized access to your export code, you should reset Recall. Resetting Recall will delete all your snapshots and reset all your settings for Recall. After you reset, a new code will be generated when you turn on saving snapshots again. After setup, you can start an export from Settings > Privacy & Security > Recall & Snapshots > Advanced Settings at any time. You will need to authenticate with Windows Hello to start an export. There are there are two options for exporting:

Export past snapshots: A single export of all your Recall snapshots from the last 7 days, last 30 days, or all your snapshots.
Export snapshots from now on: Starts a continuous export of your snapshots from the time you turn on this setting until you turn it off or reset Recall.

For more information about how to export snapshots from Recall, see Export Recall snapshots. [caption id="attachment_177978" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Advanced settings page for Recall with option to export.[/caption] Exported snapshots will be encrypted. If you wish to share those snapshots with a third-party app or website, you will need to provide your Recall export code and exported snapshots folder path so that the third-party app or website can access the information. Developer documentation will be coming at a later date. For managed devices, IT admins can configure Recall export using the AllowRecallExport policy or corresponding Group Policy setting. This policy allows organizations to choose if they want to allow users to export their Recall snapshots. For managed devices, exporting is disabled by default. Export of Recall and snapshot information is a user-initiated process and is per user. IT admins or other users can't initiate an export on behalf of end users. Please note that all Windows Insiders in the EEA who already have Recall setup and running on their Copilot+ PCs will see their Recall data reset after installing this build. FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Desktop Environment > Recall or through in-experience links.

New features gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

Bringing back the bigger clock with seconds option in notification center

We’re excited to announce that we’re starting to roll out a highly requested feature from Windows 10, the option to show a bigger clock with seconds above the date and calendar in notification center. [caption id="attachment_177979" align="alignnone" width="501"] Clock showing in notification center with the calendar both collapsed and expanded.[/caption] To turn this option on, go to Settings > Time & language > Date & time and flip the switch for Show time in the Notification Center. [caption id="attachment_177980" align="alignnone" width="640"] The toggle to turn on showing the clock in notification center in Settings highlighted in a red box.[/caption] FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Desktop Environment > Clock and Calendar Flyout.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Recall (Preview)]

The following changes and improvements are rolling out for Recall on Copilot+ PCs:

We are adding the ability to reset Recall and all its data. You will now see an advanced settings page under Settings > Privacy & Security > Recall & Snapshots. Under this new advanced settings page, we have included a reset button that will delete all your snapshots and reset your settings for Recall.

[caption id="attachment_177981" align="alignnone" width="589"] Advanced settings page for Recall with new reset option.[/caption]

On new Copilot+ PCs, the default value for maximum storage duration for Recall snapshots has changed from unlimited to 90 days. The user can update this at any time in settings.
We are now providing teaching tips for Recall features. These tips provide more information and guide you through the Recall experience.

[caption id="attachment_177982" align="alignnone" width="1280"] A teaching tip in Recall highlighting how to search for content.[/caption]

[Click to Do (Preview)]

The following changes and improvements are rolling out for Click to Do on Copilot+ PCs: We are beginning to roll out two new actions in Click to Do!

Ask Microsoft 365 Copilot: Windows Insiders with a Copilot+ PC using Click to Do can now use a new action, Ask Microsoft 365 Copilot, to send text or images to Microsoft 365 Copilot and have it address your queries. The Ask Microsoft 365 Copilot action will require a Microsoft 365 license and respect your organization’s privacy policies.

[caption id="attachment_177984" align="alignnone" width="1356"] Click to Do with context menu open showing new Ask Microsoft 365 action.[/caption]

Send a message with Teams or Schedule a meeting with Teams: Click to Do is adding a new capability that enables you to take actions from an email address. These new actions make light work of connecting with a coworker or friend through Microsoft Teams. Have a question that you need an answer to? With just a couple clicks, you can easily send a Teams message. If you need to really talk something out, you can find time with your contacts and schedule a meeting. These new skills are provided when selecting any email address recognized by Click to Do on your screen, where you can then choose the “Schedule a meeting with Teams” or “Send a message with Teams” action and stay in the flow. Microsoft Teams version 25153.1002.3699.5695 and higher is required.

[caption id="attachment_177985" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Click to Do showing “Schedule a meeting with Teams” or “Send a message with Teams” actions on a PDF document in Microsoft Edge.[/caption]

[File Explorer]

We have added dividers to the top-level icons that show at the top (or bottom) of the File Explorer context menu.

[caption id="attachment_177986" align="alignnone" width="419"] Dividers between top-level icons in the File Explorer context menu.[/caption]

[Voice access]

We are re-introducing Chinese support for voice access and adding Japanese support. You can now use Voice access to navigate, dictate, and interact with Windows using voice commands in Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, and Japanese. Japanese support is still a work-in-progress and may have some issues.

[Windows Share]

When you share a OneDrive cloud file by right-clicking to share on the file – new options for sharing that link through other apps will be provided under “Share using” when the “Copy link” button is clicked. This experience is rolling out to Windows Insiders signed in with their Microsoft accounts not in the EEA.

[caption id="attachment_177987" align="alignnone" width="265"] Ability to share OneDrive cloud file links via other apps via the Windows share window.[/caption]

[Settings]

The search box in Settings will now be located at the top center to deliver a more consistent and better search experience. The improved search experience and agent integration are available only on Copilot+ PCs.
We’ve updated the Windows activation and expiration dialogs match the Windows 11 visuals. These dialogs now appear as notification toasts in Windows, prompting you to take action if action is required. We have also made improvements to the messaging under Settings > System > Activation as well.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Recall (Preview)]

The following fixes are rolling out for Recall on Copilot+ PCs:

Fixed an issue causing Recall to crash for some Insiders in the last couple flights.

[File Explorer]

Fixed an issue when opening folders starting from outside of File Explorer, where File Explorer would open it in a new tab, but the tab wasn’t put in focus.
Fixed a memory leak impacting some people when navigating through File Explorer folders, impacting performance and reliability over time.
We've done some more work to improve the performance of extracting archive files - this will particularly help in the case of copy pasting large numbers of files out of large 7z or .rar archives.

[Start menu]

Fixed an issue for Insiders with the new Start menu, where it was displaying in the wrong direction when using an Arabic or Hebrew display language.
Fixed an issue for Insiders with the updated Start menu, where the Move to front / Move right / Move left options from the context menu for pinned apps weren’t working.

[Settings]

Fixed an underlying issue which was causing some Insiders to see the Settings navigation pane entries in English rather than their preferred language in the last couple flights.

[Other]

Fixed an underlying issue which was causing fonts in certain app menu items to unexpectedly appear corrupted or overlapped for some people. This also impacted typing in Word – where when using Hebrew a period may unexpectedly show as a 3, and in Thai typing space may show a 2.
Fixed an issue where running a script on a remote SMB share might take an unexpectedly long time if the share was an older Windows Server version like Windows Server 2019.

Known issues

[General]

[IMPORTANT NOTE] When joining the Beta Channel on Windows 11, version 24H2 – you will be offered Build 26120.4250 first. After installing Build 26120.4250, you will be offered the most recent update available. This 2-hop experience to get onto the latest flight in the Beta Channel is just temporary.
After you do a PC reset under Settings > System > Recovery, your build version may incorrectly show as Build 26100 instead of Build 26120. This will not prevent you from getting future Beta Channel updates, which will resolve this issue.
The option to reset your PC under Settings > System > Recovery will not work on this build.
Some Windows Insiders may experience a rollback trying to install this update with a 0x80070005 in Windows Update. We’re working on a fix.
[ADDED] This week's flight comes with a delightful blast from the past and will play the Windows Vista boot sound instead of the Windows 11 boot sound. We're working on a fix.
[ADDED 6/17] We're investigating an issue causing some Insiders using the Italian display language to experience repeated explorer.exe crashes, causing the taskbar to reload. If you are impacted by this, then opening a Command Prompt window as admin, and running the following command should hopefully resolve it for you:
- ```
reg add HKCU/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Explorer/Advanced /v ShowClockInNotificationCenterToastSent /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f
```

[Start menu]

The following are known issues for Windows Insiders with the new Start menu:

Using touch to navigate the new Start menu may not work reliably. For example, it currently does not support the swipe-up gesture.
Drag and drop capabilities are limited from “All” to “Pinned.”
In some cases, duplicate entries may appear in folders on the Start menu.

[Xbox Controllers]

Some Insiders are experiencing an issue where using their Xbox Controller via Bluetooth is causing their PC to bugcheck. Here is how to resolve the issue. Open Device Manager by searching for it via the search box on your taskbar. Once Device Manager is open, click on "View" and then "Devices by Driver". Find the driver named "oemXXX.inf (XboxGameControllerDriver.inf)" where the "XXX" will be a specific number on your PC. Right-click on that driver and click "Uninstall".

[Recall (Preview)]

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

Windows Insiders on managed PCs in the EEA (signed in with Entra ID) and trying Recall out in their organization may see a broken experience with exporting their Recall snapshots.

[Click to Do (Preview)]

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

Windows Insiders on AMD or Intel™-powered Copilot+ PCs may experience long wait times on the first attempt to perform intelligent text actions in Click to Do after a new build or model update.

[Improved Windows Search]

[REMINDER] For improved Windows Search on Copilot+ PCs, it is recommended that you plug in your Copilot+ PC for the initial search indexing to get completed. You can check your search indexing status under Settings > Privacy & security > Searching Windows.

[File Explorer]

The following are known issues for AI actions in File Explorer:

Narrator scan mode may not work properly in the action result canvas window for the Summarize AI action for Microsoft 365 files when reading bulleted lists. As a workaround, you can use Caps + Right key to navigate.

[Widgets]

Until we complete support for pinning in the new widgets board experience, pinning reverts you back to the previous experience

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel

Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel on Windows 11, version 24H2 will receive updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 via an enablement package (Build 26120.xxxx).
Updates delivered to the Beta Channel are in a format that offers a preview of enhancements to servicing technology on Windows 11, version 24H2. To learn more, see https://aka.ms/CheckpointCumulativeUpdates.
Many features in the Beta Channel are rolled out using Controlled Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Please note that some accessibility features may not work with features like Recall and Click to Do while in preview with Windows Insiders.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5651 (Dev Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 13 Jun 2025 17:04:46 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5651 (KB5060818) to the Dev Channel. Changes in Dev Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*) and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Dev Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

New Copilot+ PC experiences

Introducing the new agent in Settings

We recently announced a change to Settings designed to help solve one of the most common frustrations we heard: finding and changing settings on your PC. With this update to Settings, you will be able to simply describe what you need help with like, “how to control my PC by voice” or “my mouse pointer is too small” and the agent will recommend the right steps you can take to address the issue. An agent uses AI on your PC to understand your intent and with your permission, automate and execute tasks on your behalf. This experience is rolling out to Windows Insiders on Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PCs with support for AMD- and Intel™-powered PCs coming soon. Please note that this experience works if your primary display language is set to English. [caption id="attachment_177859" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Agent powered search results for my mouse pointer is too small in Settings.[/caption] FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Settings > All other settings.

New Recall export experience for Windows Insiders in the EEA

Export past snapshots: A single export of all your Recall snapshots from the last 7 days, last 30 days, or all your snapshots.
Export snapshots from now on: Starts a continuous export of your snapshots from the time you turn on this setting until you turn it off or reset Recall.

New features gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

Bringing back the bigger clock with seconds option in notification center

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[Recall (Preview)]

The following changes and improvements are rolling out for Recall on Copilot+ PCs:

We are adding the ability to reset Recall and all its data. You will now see an advanced settings page under Settings > Privacy & Security > Recall & Snapshots. Under this new advanced settings page, we have included a reset button that will delete all your snapshots and reset your settings for Recall.

[caption id="attachment_177981" align="alignnone" width="589"] Advanced settings page for Recall with new reset option.[/caption]

On new Copilot+ PCs, the default value for maximum storage duration for Recall snapshots has changed from unlimited to 90 days. The user can update this at any time in settings.
We are now providing teaching tips for Recall features. These tips provide more information and guide you through the Recall experience.

[caption id="attachment_177982" align="alignnone" width="1280"] A teaching tip in Recall highlighting how to search for content.[/caption]

[Click to Do (Preview)]

The following changes and improvements are rolling out for Click to Do on Copilot+ PCs: We are beginning to roll out two new actions in Click to Do!

Ask Microsoft 365 Copilot: Windows Insiders with a Copilot+ PC using Click to Do can now use a new action, Ask Microsoft 365 Copilot, to send text or images to Microsoft 365 Copilot and have it address your queries. The Ask Microsoft 365 Copilot action will require a Microsoft 365 license and respect your organization’s privacy policies.

[caption id="attachment_177984" align="alignnone" width="1356"] Click to Do with context menu open showing new Ask Microsoft 365 action.[/caption]

Send a message with Teams or Schedule a meeting with Teams: Click to Do is adding a new capability that enables you to take actions from an email address. These new actions make light work of connecting with a coworker or friend through Microsoft Teams. Have a question that you need an answer to? With just a couple clicks, you can easily send a Teams message. If you need to really talk something out, you can find time with your contacts and schedule a meeting. These new skills are provided when selecting any email address recognized by Click to Do on your screen, where you can then choose the “Schedule a meeting with Teams” or “Send a message with Teams” action and stay in the flow. Microsoft Teams version 25153.1002.3699.5695 and higher is required.

[File Explorer]

We have added dividers to the top-level icons that show at the top (or bottom) of the File Explorer context menu.

[caption id="attachment_177986" align="alignnone" width="419"] Dividers between top-level icons in the File Explorer context menu.[/caption]

[Voice access]

We are re-introducing Chinese support for voice access and adding Japanese support. You can now use Voice access to navigate, dictate, and interact with Windows using voice commands in Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, and Japanese. Japanese support is still a work-in-progress and may have some issues.

[Windows Share]

When you share a OneDrive cloud file by right-clicking to share on the file – new options for sharing that link through other apps will be provided under “Share using” when the “Copy link” button is clicked. This experience is rolling out to Windows Insiders signed in with their Microsoft accounts not in the EEA.

[caption id="attachment_177987" align="alignnone" width="265"] Ability to share OneDrive cloud file links via other apps via the Windows share window.[/caption]

[Settings]

The search box in Settings will now be located at the top center to deliver a more consistent and better search experience. The improved search experience and agent integration noted above in this blog post are available only on Copilot+ PCs.
We’ve updated the Windows activation and expiration dialogs match the Windows 11 visuals. These dialogs now appear as notification toasts in Windows, prompting you to take action if action is required. We have also made improvements to the messaging under Settings > System > Activation as well.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[Recall (Preview)]

The following fixes are rolling out for Recall on Copilot+ PCs:

Fixed an issue causing Recall to crash for some Insiders in the last couple flights.

[File Explorer]

Fixed an issue when opening folders starting from outside of File Explorer, where File Explorer would open it in a new tab, but the tab wasn’t put in focus.
Fixed a memory leak impacting some people when navigating through File Explorer folders, impacting performance and reliability over time.
We've done some more work to improve the performance of extracting archive files - this will particularly help in the case of copy pasting large numbers of files out of large 7z or .rar archives.

[Start menu]

Fixed an issue for Insiders with the new Start menu, where it was displaying in the wrong direction when using an Arabic or Hebrew display language.
Fixed an issue for Insiders with the updated Start menu, where the Move to front / Move right / Move left options from the context menu for pinned apps weren’t working.

[Settings]

Fixed an underlying issue which was causing some Insiders to see the Settings navigation pane entries in English rather than their preferred language in the last couple flights.

[Other]

Fixed an underlying issue which was causing fonts in certain app menu items to unexpectedly appear corrupted or overlapped for some people. This also impacted typing in Word – where when using Hebrew a period may unexpectedly show as a 3, and in Thai typing space may show a 2.
Fixed an issue where running a script on a remote SMB share might take an unexpectedly long time if the share was an older Windows Server version like Windows Server 2019.

Known issues

[General]

[IMPORTANT NOTE] When joining the Dev Channel on Windows 11, version 24H2 – you will be offered Build 26200.5641 first. After installing Build 26200.5641, you will be offered the most recent update available. This 2-hop experience to get onto the latest flight in the Dev Channel is just temporary.
After you do a PC reset under Settings > System > Recovery, your build version may incorrectly show as Build 26100 instead of Build 26200. This will not prevent you from getting future Dev Channel updates, which will resolve this issue.
The option to reset your PC under Settings > System > Recovery will not work on this build.
We’re investigating an issue causing a small number of Insiders to experience repeated bugchecks with KERNEL_SECURITY_CHECK_FAILURE after upgrading to most current Dev Channel builds.
Some Windows Insiders may experience a rollback trying to install this update with a 0x80070005 in Windows Update. We’re working on a fix.
[ADDED] This week's flight comes with a delightful blast from the past and will play the Windows Vista boot sound instead of the Windows 11 boot sound. We're working on a fix.
[ADDED 6/17] We're investigating an issue causing some Insiders using the Italian display language to experience repeated explorer.exe crashes, causing the taskbar to reload. If you are impacted by this, then opening a Command Prompt window as admin, and running the following command should hopefully resolve it for you:
- ```
reg add HKCU/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Explorer/Advanced /v ShowClockInNotificationCenterToastSent /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f
```

[Start menu]

The following are known issues for Windows Insiders with the new Start menu:

Using touch to navigate the new Start menu may not work reliably. For example, it currently does not support the swipe-up gesture.
Drag and drop capabilities are limited from “All” to “Pinned.”
In some cases, duplicate entries may appear in folders on the Start menu.

[Xbox Controllers]

Some Insiders are experiencing an issue where using their Xbox Controller via Bluetooth is causing their PC to bugcheck. Here is how to resolve the issue. Open Device Manager by searching for it via the search box on your taskbar. Once Device Manager is open, click on "View" and then "Devices by Driver". Find the driver named "oemXXX.inf (XboxGameControllerDriver.inf)" where the "XXX" will be a specific number on your PC. Right-click on that driver and click "Uninstall".

[Recall (Preview)]

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

Windows Insiders on managed PCs in the EEA (signed in with Entra ID) and trying Recall out in their organization may see a broken experience with exporting their Recall snapshots.

[Click to Do (Preview)]

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

Windows Insiders on AMD or Intel™-powered Copilot+ PCs may experience long wait times on the first attempt to perform intelligent text actions in Click to Do after a new build or model update.

[Improved Windows Search]

[REMINDER] For improved Windows Search on Copilot+ PCs, it is recommended that you plug in your Copilot+ PC for the initial search indexing to get completed. You can check your search indexing status under Settings > Privacy & security > Searching Windows.

[File Explorer]

The following are known issues for AI actions in File Explorer:

Narrator scan mode may not work properly in the action result canvas window for the Summarize AI action for Microsoft 365 files when reading bulleted lists. As a workaround, you can use Caps + Right key to navigate.

[Widgets]

Until we complete support for pinning in the new widgets board experience, pinning reverts you back to the previous experience.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel

Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel receive updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 via an enablement package (Build 26200.xxxx).
Many features in the Dev Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.

Please note that some accessibility features may not work with features like Recall and Click to Do while in preview with Windows Insiders.

Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5641 (Dev Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Mon, 09 Jun 2025 21:05:35 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5641 (KB5060824) to the Dev Channel. Changes in Dev Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*) and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Dev Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

New features gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

Introducing the new Start menu for Windows 11

[caption id="attachment_177956" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Updated Start menu shows pinned apps on the top, recommended apps and files in the middle, and installed apps which are grouped by a new category UI on the bottom.[/caption] Easily launch all your apps with scrollable Start menu We’re making it easier for you to launch your apps with our updated, scrollable Start menu. With "All” now on the top-level, apps are easily accessible without having to navigate to a secondary page. In addition, we're introducing two new views to browse and launch your installed apps in the “All” section: category and grid view. The new default Category view automatically groups your apps by category for quick access to your most used categories and apps. So, if your most used apps are Outlook and Solitaire, you can expect those apps to bubble up to the top in their respective categories. Categories are formed when there are at least 3 apps in each respective category. Otherwise, they will remain in the “Other” category. Grid view is ordered alphabetically like List view but allows for better scanning of all your installed apps with more horizontal real estate. With new view options to choose from in the “All” section, we’ll remember your last used view so you can reliably launch your apps with the view you prefer most. [caption id="attachment_177957" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Updated Start menu introduces 2 new ways to view installed apps: by category and grid views.[/caption] Experience a larger Start menu with responsive sections We're making better use of your screen real estate by adapting the size of the Start menu based on your screen size. Have a larger-screen device? You can expect to see a larger Start menu, by default, so you can see more of your apps and files. On larger devices, users can expect to see 8 columns of pinned apps, 6 recommendations, and 4 columns of categories in the Start menu. On smaller devices, you’ll see 6 columns of pinned apps, 4 recommendations, and 3 columns of categories. [caption id="attachment_177959" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Updated Start menu only shows pinned and installed apps to illustrate that sections within Start are now responsive and can collapse such as the Recommended section.[/caption] Sections within Start are also responsive so you can see more or less of your Pinned and Recommended sections. Have only a few pins? The Pinned section will shrink down to a single row and other sections will slide up. If you prefer to always have your pins expanded by default, you can do so via Settings. If you’d prefer to not see recommendations, then turn off the following toggles in Settings > Personalization > Start: “Show recently added apps,” “Show recommended files in Start...,” “Show websites from your browsing history,” and “Show recommendations for tips...” If there aren’t any recommendations available, the section will collapse so you can see more of your installed apps. [caption id="attachment_177960" align="alignnone" width="702"] Toggles in Settings app to turn on/off features in Start.[/caption] Seamless cross-device integration with Phone Link Lastly, we’ve updated Start to continue allowing you to take advantage of powerful cross-device features. Now, you can easily expand and collapse mobile device content using the new mobile device button next to the Search box. This cross-device integration is generally available for connected Android and iOS devices in most markets and will be coming later in 2025 to the European Economic Area. FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Desktop Environment > Start menu.

Choose what Lock screen widgets appear

After rolling this experience out to Windows Insiders in the EEA, we are now beginning to roll out more widget options on the lock screen as well as support for lock screen widget personalization (previously referred to as “Weather and more”) with Insiders in all regions. You can add, remove, and rearrange lock screen widgets such as Weather, Watchlist, Sports, Traffic, and more. Any widget that supports the small sizing option can be added here. To customize your lock screen widgets, navigate to Settings > Personalization > Lock screen. [caption id="attachment_177912" align="alignnone" width="709"] Customization settings for lock screen widgets shown in Settings and highlighted in a red box.[/caption] FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Desktop Environment > Lock screen.

Screen Curtain in Narrator

Turn On Narrator using Ctrl + Win + Enter.
Press Caps + Ctrl + C to enable Screen Curtain.
Try using Narrator, while your Screen Curtain is turned on.
Press Caps + Ctrl + C to disable Screen Curtain.

FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Accessibility > Narrator.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[Windows Search]

Today, we rationalize and organize Windows Search settings under Settings > Privacy & security under a “Search permissions” settings page and a “Searching Windows” settings page. We are beginning to roll out a change that brings those two settings pages together so you can easily access to all the Windows Search settings under a single settings page via Settings > Privacy & security > Search. The page is refreshed with a new modern visual for you to clearly browse the settings and control your experiences inside Windows Search, with the items listed in a better order.

[caption id="attachment_177961" align="alignnone" width="722"] The updated single settings page for Windows Search.[/caption]

[Narrator]

We’re introducing a smoother way to discover and learn about Narrator capabilities right from experience. Whether you're a new user or exploring deeper functionality, Narrator will now guide you through its new features by launching a series of modal windows which contain the details of all the new features and changes in Narrator.

[caption id="attachment_177962" align="alignnone" width="587"] New prompt to highlight new features and improvements in Narrator.[/caption]

[Input]

The Gamepad layout of the Windows touch keyboard has been updated with enhanced controller navigation and improved focus handling for child keys, flyout menus, word suggestions, language switching, settings, and more.

[caption id="attachment_177963" align="alignnone" width="745"] Improvements to the Gamepad layout of the Windows touch keyboard.[/caption]

We have designed a new Gamepad keyboard, optimized for gaming, to support PIN sign-in on the Windows lock screen. It features controller shortcuts for quick PIN entry, along with full controller navigation for users who prefer not to use shortcuts.

[caption id="attachment_177964" align="alignnone" width="745"] The new Gamepad keyboard with support for PIN sign-in on the Windows lock screen.[/caption]

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[General]

This build should fix an underlying issue in the previous flight which was causing input to not work for some Insiders, including when typing into Search, and with the Chinese pinyin IME candidate window, clipboard history, and the emoji panel.

[Recall (Preview)]

The following fixes are rolling out for Recall on Copilot+ PCs:

Fixed an issue causing Recall to crash for some Insiders in the last couple flights.

[Taskbar]

Fixed an issue where in some cases taskbar icons might appear small even though the setting to show smaller taskbar buttons was configured as “never”.

[File Explorer]

Fixed an issue where restoring a File Explorer search result from Recall would open File Explorer but not show your search string.

[Windowing]

Fixed an issue where ALT + Tabbing out of a full screen game could lead to other windows freezing (like Windows Terminal).

[Login and lock]

Fixed an issue causing the lock screen to crash for some Insiders in the previous flight.

[Graphics]

Fixed an issue causing some displays to be unexpectedly green after the latest flights.

[Settings]

Fixed an underlying issue which could lead to the Settings window hanging and no longer responding to input or resizing unless you closed and reopened it.
Fixed an issue in System > Display, where if UAC was set to Always Notify and you tried to click the button to do color calibration for your display and cancelled, it would crash Settings.
Fixed an issue in System > Display, where a chevron might display for Brightness even if there were no additional settings to display.
Fixed an issue where if you changed to a custom mouse cursor in Accessibility > Mouse pointer and touch, it could make Settings crash.

Fixes for everyone in the Dev Channel

[General]

We fixed the issue where you might see severe discoloration when connecting your PC to some older Dolby Vision displays.

Known issues

[General]

After you do a PC reset under Settings > System > Recovery, your build version may incorrectly show as Build 26100 instead of Build 26200. This will not prevent you from getting future Dev Channel updates, which will resolve this issue.
The option to reset your PC under Settings > System > Recovery will not work on this build.
We’re investigating an issue causing a small number of Insiders to experience repeated bugchecks with KERNEL_SECURITY_CHECK_FAILURE after upgrading to most current Dev Channel builds.
[NEW] Some Windows Insiders may experience a rollback trying to install this update with a 0x80070005 in Windows Update. We’re working on a fix for the next flight.

[Start menu]

The following are known issues for Windows Insiders with the new Start menu:

[NEW] Using touch to navigate the new Start menu may not work reliably. For example, it currently does not support the swipe-up gesture.
[NEW] Drag and drop capabilities are limited from “All” to “Pinned.”
[NEW] In some cases, duplicate entries may appear in folders on the Start menu.

[Xbox Controllers]

Some Insiders are experiencing an issue where using their Xbox Controller via Bluetooth is causing their PC to bugcheck. Here is how to resolve the issue. Open Device Manager by searching for it via the search box on your taskbar. Once Device Manager is open, click on "View" and then "Devices by Driver". Find the driver named "oemXXX.inf (XboxGameControllerDriver.inf)" where the "XXX" will be a specific number on your PC. Right-click on that driver and click "Uninstall".

[Click to Do (Preview)]

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

Windows Insiders on AMD or Intel™-powered Copilot+ PCs may experience long wait times on the first attempt to perform intelligent text actions in Click to Do after a new build or model update.

[Improved Windows Search]

[REMINDER] For improved Windows Search on Copilot+ PCs, it is recommended that you plug in your Copilot+ PC for the initial search indexing to get completed. You can check your search indexing status under Settings > Privacy & security > Searching Windows.

[File Explorer]

The following are known issues for AI actions in File Explorer:

Narrator scan mode may not work properly in the action result canvas window for the Summarize AI action for Microsoft 365 files when reading bulleted lists. As a workaround, you can use Caps + Right key to navigate.

[Widgets]

Until we complete support for pinning in the new widgets board experience, pinning reverts you back to the previous experience.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel

Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel receive updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 via an enablement package (Build 26200.xxxx).
Many features in the Dev Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Please note that some accessibility features may not work with features like Recall and Click to Do while in preview with Windows Insiders.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.4250 (Beta Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Mon, 09 Jun 2025 21:05:30 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.4250 (KB5060820) to the Beta Channel for Windows Insiders on Windows 11, version 24H2. Changes in Beta Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*) and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Beta Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

New features gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

Introducing the new Start menu for Windows 11

Screen Curtain in Narrator

Turn On Narrator using Ctrl + Win + Enter.
Press Caps + Ctrl + C to enable Screen Curtain.
Try using Narrator, while your Screen Curtain is turned on.
Press Caps + Ctrl + C to disable Screen Curtain.

FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Accessibility > Narrator.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Lock screen]

The more widget options on the lock screen and support for lock screen widget personalization that began rolling out to all Windows Insiders in Beta Channel flight with Build 26120.4161 is now rolling out again after being temporarily disabled in the last Beta Channel flight.

[caption id="attachment_177912" align="alignnone" width="709"] Customization settings for lock screen widgets shown in Settings and highlighted in a red box.[/caption]

[Windows Search]

Today, we rationalize and organize Windows Search settings under Settings > Privacy & security under a “Search permissions” settings page and a “Searching Windows” settings page. We are beginning to roll out a change that brings those two settings pages together so you can easily access to all the Windows Search settings under a single settings page via Settings > Privacy & security > Search. The page is refreshed with a new modern visual for you to clearly browse the settings and control your experiences inside Windows Search, with the items listed in a better order.

[caption id="attachment_177961" align="alignnone" width="722"] The updated single settings page for Windows Search.[/caption]

[Narrator]

We’re introducing a smoother way to discover and learn about Narrator capabilities right from experience. Whether you're a new user or exploring deeper functionality, Narrator will now guide you through its new features by launching a series of modal windows which contain the details of all the new features and changes in Narrator.

[caption id="attachment_177962" align="alignnone" width="587"] New prompt to highlight new features and improvements in Narrator.[/caption]

[Input]

The Gamepad layout of the Windows touch keyboard has been updated with enhanced controller navigation and improved focus handling for child keys, flyout menus, word suggestions, language switching, settings, and more.

[caption id="attachment_177963" align="alignnone" width="745"] Improvements to the Gamepad layout of the Windows touch keyboard.[/caption]

We have designed a new Gamepad keyboard, optimized for gaming, to support PIN sign-in on the Windows lock screen. It features controller shortcuts for quick PIN entry, along with full controller navigation for users who prefer not to use shortcuts.

[caption id="attachment_177964" align="alignnone" width="745"] The new Gamepad keyboard with support for PIN sign-in on the Windows lock screen.[/caption]

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[General]

This build should fix an underlying issue in the previous flight which was causing input to not work for some Insiders, including when typing into Search, and with the Chinese pinyin IME candidate window, clipboard history, and the emoji panel.

[Recall (Preview)]

The following fixes are rolling out for Recall on Copilot+ PCs:

Fixed an issue causing Recall to crash for some Insiders in the last couple flights.

[Taskbar]

Fixed an issue where in some cases taskbar icons might appear small even though the setting to show smaller taskbar buttons was configured as “never”.

[File Explorer]

Fixed an issue where restoring a File Explorer search result from Recall would open File Explorer but not show your search string.

[Windowing]

Fixed an issue where ALT + Tabbing out of a full screen game could lead to other windows freezing (like Windows Terminal).

[Login and lock]

Fixed an issue causing the lock screen to crash for some Insiders in the previous flight.

[Graphics]

Fixed an issue causing some displays to be unexpectedly green after the latest flights.

[Settings]

Fixed an underlying issue which could lead to the Settings window hanging and no longer responding to input or resizing unless you closed and reopened it.
Fixed an issue in System > Display, where if UAC was set to Always Notify and you tried to click the button to do color calibration for your display and cancelled, it would crash Settings.
Fixed an issue in System > Display, where a chevron might display for Brightness even if there were no additional settings to display.
Fixed an issue where if you changed to a custom mouse cursor in Accessibility > Mouse pointer and touch, it could make Settings crash.

Fixes for everyone in the Beta Channel

[Graphics]

We fixed the issue where you might see severe discoloration when connecting your PC to some older Dolby Vision displays.

Known issues

[General]

After you do a PC reset under Settings > System > Recovery, your build version may incorrectly show as Build 26100 instead of Build 26120. This will not prevent you from getting future Beta Channel updates, which will resolve this issue.
The option to reset your PC under Settings > System > Recovery will not work on this build.
[NEW] Some Windows Insiders may experience a rollback trying to install this update with a 0x80070005 in Windows Update. We’re working on a fix for the next flight.

[Start menu]

The following are known issues for Windows Insiders with the new Start menu:

[NEW] Using touch to navigate the new Start menu may not work reliably. For example, it currently does not support the swipe-up gesture.
[NEW] Drag and drop capabilities are limited from “All” to “Pinned.”
[NEW] In some cases, duplicate entries may appear in folders on the Start menu.

[Xbox Controllers]

Some Insiders are experiencing an issue where using their Xbox Controller via Bluetooth is causing their PC to bugcheck. Here is how to resolve the issue. Open Device Manager by searching for it via the search box on your taskbar. Once Device Manager is open, click on "View" and then "Devices by Driver". Find the driver named "oemXXX.inf (XboxGameControllerDriver.inf)" where the "XXX" will be a specific number on your PC. Right-click on that driver and click "Uninstall".

[Click to Do (Preview)]

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

Windows Insiders on AMD or Intel™-powered Copilot+ PCs may experience long wait times on the first attempt to perform intelligent text actions in Click to Do after a new build or model update.

[Improved Windows Search]

[REMINDER] For improved Windows Search on Copilot+ PCs, it is recommended that you plug in your Copilot+ PC for the initial search indexing to get completed. You can check your search indexing status under Settings > Privacy & security > Searching Windows.

[File Explorer]

The following are known issues for AI actions in File Explorer:

Narrator scan mode may not work properly in the action result canvas window for the Summarize AI action for Microsoft 365 files when reading bulleted lists. As a workaround, you can use Caps + Right key to navigate.

[Widgets]

Until we complete support for pinning in the new widgets board experience, pinning reverts you back to the previous experience

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel

Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel on Windows 11, version 24H2 will receive updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 via an enablement package (Build 26120.xxxx).
Updates delivered to the Beta Channel are in a format that offers a preview of enhancements to servicing technology on Windows 11, version 24H2. To learn more, see https://aka.ms/CheckpointCumulativeUpdates.
Many features in the Beta Channel are rolled out using Controlled Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Please note that some accessibility features may not work with features like Recall and Click to Do while in preview with Windows Insiders.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27871 (Canary Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Wed, 04 Jun 2025 17:04:30 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27871 to the Canary Channel. We are also not planning to release SDKs for 27xxx series builds for the time being.

What’s new with Build 27871

Energy saver now available in Microsoft Intune

We are bringing the ability to manage energy saver in Windows 11 to Microsoft Intune to allow IT administrators to control the energy saver settings on Windows 11 PCs through group policies and Mobile Device Management (MDM) configurations. This feature, when enabled, intelligently balances your battery use, so it can last longer between charges. It extends battery life by managing power usage efficiently. It limits background activity and reduces screen brightness, ensuring that devices consume less power while maintaining optimal performance. By automatically managing system processes and power usage, the energy saver group policy helps reduce overall energy consumption. This not only saves costs but also contributes to environmental sustainability. IT administrators can activate the policy by using either method below:

Local Group Policy Editor in Windows 11
Microsoft Intune Admin Center

[caption id="attachment_177847" align="alignnone" width="693"] New group policy highlighted in a red box in Local Group Policy Editor.[/caption] The path for the new policy configuration can be found at in Local Group Policy Editor by navigating to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > Power Management > Energy Saver Settings and “Enable Energy Saver to Always Be On”.

Changes and Improvements

[Phone Link]

Phone companion for the Start menu is rolling out (again) for Windows Insiders in the Canary Channel along with the following improvements:

Instantly see notifications from your mobile device apps — grouped by app for easy catch-up, right from your Start menu.
Mirror your Android device’s screen with a single click from your Start menu. Simply click on your device’s icon or access the option from the footer menu to quickly launch device screen mirroring.
Your iPhone© memories are now accessible from the Start menu. iCloud for Windows users can see recently synced photos and quickly access their iCloud photos all within the Start menu.

[caption id="attachment_177935" align="alignnone" width="484"] Phone companion for iPhone© and Android devices with latest Phone Link improvements.[/caption] Note: Screen mirroring is only supported on certain Android devices. See Setting up and using phone screen in the Phone Link – Microsoft Support for more details on device support.

[Taskbar & System Tray]

We have adjusted the needy state pill under apps on the taskbar that need attention to be wider and more visible.

[caption id="attachment_177946" align="alignnone" width="317"] Wider needy state pill UI showing for Microsoft Teams on the taskbar indicating the app needs attention.[/caption]

Fixes

[General]

We have mitigated the issue where if Virtualization Based Security is enabled, applications dependent on virtualization, such as VMware Workstation, would lose the ability to run unless the “Windows Hypervisor Platform” Windows optional component is installed on the system.

[File Explorer]

Fixed an issue where if you had disconnected network drives when doing a search from Home it might prevent searches from executing and you’d remain on Home.
Fixed an issue where tapping the View button in File Explorer with touch would crash File Explorer.

[Taskbar]

Fixed an issue where WIN + CTRL + Number wasn’t working anymore for switching windows in the taskbar.
Fixed an underlying issue which was causing keyboard focus to get set to widgets in the taskbar on login, which could make widgets unexpectedly invoke.
Fixed an issue when using Tab and Shift + Tab to move keyboard focus around the taskbar, where if keyboard focus went backwards at least once you could get keyboard focus stuck on the taskbar frame, causing some screen readers to just say “pane”.

[Settings]

Fixed an issue where hovering over the cards at the top of Settings > System > About wasn’t showing the correct corner radius.
Fixed an issue where the storage card in Settings > System > About showed a garbage character instead of the proper disk size.

[Administrator Protection]

Fixed an issue where when using Administrator Protection, some apps might not follow your preference if it was set to dark mode.

[Task Manager]

Fixed the issue causing search and other options such as filtering in Task Manager to not work.

[Audio]

Fixed an issue in the last few Canary flights where audio devices with high sampling (like 192Hz) and multiple channels weren’t producing sound.
Fixed an issue which could cause the startup sound not to play, though it was enabled.

[Input]

Fixed an issue where voice typing wouldn’t start from the touch keyboard when using the Chinese (Simplified) narrow layout.
Fixed an issue where when using the Symbols section of the touch keyboard, pressing the key to change pages might unexpectedly insert a character into password fields.

[Graphics]

Fixed an issue which could cause unexpected scaling and window position changes after sleep/resume for some devices.

[Voice access]

Fixed an issue which could voice access to freeze with error “working on it” when dictating.

[Other]

~~Fixed an issue causing an Administrative Templates error message when opening Group Policy Editor.~~ [UPDATE 6/5] This issue is not completely fixed yet.
Fixed an issue where some of the commands when using xml to setup were unexpectedly not being run.
Fixed an issue when installing Windows from installation media, where if you changed your keyboard layout from the default, it may still use the default when entering the product key.
Fixed an issue when installing Windows from installation media, where certain partitions may show an extremely large erroneous size.

Known issues

[General]

[IMPORTANT NOTE FOR COPILOT+ PCs] If you are joining the Canary Channel on a new Copilot+ PC from the Dev Channel, Release Preview Channel or retail, you will lose Windows Hello pin and biometrics to sign into your PC with error 0xd0000225 and error message “Something went wrong, and your PIN isn’t available”. You should be able to re-create your PIN by clicking “Set up my PIN”.
We’re working on the fix for an underlying issue where the taskbar is unexpectedly not showing acrylic material after upgrading to the latest Canary builds. This is impacting a few other scenarios, leading to unexpected black or white in some UI.
There is an issue causing an Administrative Templates error message to display when opening Group Policy Editor.
[ADDED 6/16] We're investigating an issue causing some of the text in Windows to not be using the correct characters, causing nonsense to display in places like Task Manager and more. This impacts characters outside of A-Z - including Chinese and accented characters in German and Polish.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Canary Channel

The builds we release to the Canary Channel represent the latest platform changes early in the development cycle and should not be seen as matched to any specific release of Windows and features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Many features in the Canary Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
Some features may show up in the Dev and Beta Channels first before showing up in the Canary Channel.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
To get off the Canary Channel, a clean install of Windows 11 will be required. As a reminder - Insiders can’t switch to a channel that is receiving builds with lower build numbers without doing a clean installation of Windows 11 due to technical setup requirements.
The desktop watermark shown at the lower right corner of the desktop is normal for these pre-release builds.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5622 (Dev Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Mon, 02 Jun 2025 21:03:45 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5622 (KB5058512) to the Dev Channel. Changes in Dev Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*) and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Dev Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

New Copilot+ PC experiences

New Microsoft 365 text action in Click to Do

We are beginning to roll out a new text action in Click to Do!

Draft with Copilot in Word: Ever stumble across a great idea and wish you could just start writing? With the “Draft with Copilot in Word” Click to Do action, you can. Whether it’s a sentence in an email or a snippet on your screen, just Win + Click on the recognized text and choose the “Draft with Copilot in Word” action. It’ll help you turn that spark into a full draft, fast. No more blank pages. No more writer’s block. Just momentum.

[caption id="attachment_177910" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Click to Do showing “Draft with Copilot in Word” action on content being shared during a Microsoft Teams call.[/caption] These new Microsoft 365 text actions will begin rolling out over the course of the coming weeks. For “Draft with Copilot in Word” – a Microsoft 365 Copilot subscription is required. You can learn more about using Click to Do here. FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Desktop Environment > Click to Do.

New features gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

Introducing quick machine recovery

Quick machine recovery, a feature introduced as part of the Windows Resiliency Initiative at Ignite 2024 - is now available for Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel. QMR is designed to help Windows 11 devices recover from widespread boot issues by applying remediations through the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE). [caption id="attachment_177933" align="alignnone" width="699"] The quick machine recovery settings page.[/caption] To make this feature even more accessible, we’re also introducing a dedicated settings page in Settings which can be found under System > Recovery > Quick machine recovery. From there, you can easily check whether the feature is enabled, configure it to automatically search for available remediations, set how often those checks occur, and choose when your device should restart to apply any necessary fixes. IT professionals looking to set configuration options for their managed fleets are now also able to leverage the Intune Settings Catalog UI to easily configure quick machine recovery settings as documented as a part of the RemoteRemedationCSP. Windows Insiders can start testing the remediation experience today. When “test mode” is activated, a test remediation payload will be automatically downloaded and installed. You can confirm its application by going to Settings > Windows Update > Update history, where it will appear under Quality updates. P~~lease note that the test remediation package will begin rolling out later this week.~~ [UPDATE 6/5] The test remediation package is now available. The visibility of this update in update history will roll out gradually in the Dev Channel as well. FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Recovery and Uninstall > Quick Machine Recovery.

Multiple dashboards in Widgets

As we continue to evolve the widgets experience, we are also adding support for multiple boards so that you can have more space for your favorite widgets while being able to stay on top of current events with a feed that helps you discover the world around you. With the introduction of the new navigation bar on the left, you can switch between a dedicated widgets dashboard and other integrated dashboards like My feed. Give it a try and let us know what you think using the feedback button at the top of the board. This experience was also previously previewed with Windows Insiders in the EEA. [caption id="attachment_177913" align="alignnone" width="750"] Widgets board with new navigation board on the left for switching between multiple dashboards.[/caption] FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Desktop Environment > Widgets.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[General]

To help you quickly find the right app for opening files, we are trying out showing recommendations from the Microsoft Store app within the “Open with…” dialog. These recommendations are denoted by a Store icon next to apps in the dialog.

[caption id="attachment_177914" align="alignnone" width="367"] “Open with” dialog with Store icon highlighted in a red box denoting a recommendation from the Microsoft Store.[/caption]

[Click to Do (Preview)]

The following changes and improvements are rolling out for Click to Do on Copilot+ PCs:

For Windows Insiders using French or Spanish as their primary language on their PC, we’re beginning to roll out Rewrite and its options, including Refine, again for Click to Do.
Click to Do can now perform intelligent text actions in German, Italian and Portuguese.

[Phone Link]

The following improvements for Phone Link and phone companion with the Start menu are rolling out to Windows Insiders across all channels:

Instantly see notifications from your mobile device apps — grouped by app for easy catch-up, right from your Start menu.
Mirror your Android device’s screen with a single click from your Start menu. Simply click on your device’s icon or access the option from the footer menu to quickly launch device screen mirroring.
Your iPhone© memories are now accessible from the Start menu. iCloud for Windows users can see recently synced photos and quickly access their iCloud photos all within the Start menu.

[caption id="attachment_177935" align="alignnone" width="487"] Phone companion for iPhone© and Android devices with latest Phone Link improvements.[/caption] Note: Screen mirroring is only supported on certain Android devices. See Setting up and using phone screen in the Phone Link - Microsoft Support for more details on device support.

[PC Migration]

We’re beginning the rollout of a new PC-to-PC migration experience in Windows. You’ll start to see the landing and the pairing page in the Windows Backup app, giving you a first look at what’s coming. In the full experience, you will be able to transfer your files and settings from your old PC to the new one during the PC setup process. Support during the PC setup will be available in a future update. We are releasing in phases for a smooth experience and will provide more details soon.

[Settings]

We’ve updated the dialogs for entering your product key, troubleshooting activation, phone activation, and retail demo to match the Windows 11 visuals.
For Windows Insiders on Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PCs with the new agent experience in Settings, we’ve made some improvements to make the search box at the top of Settings more centered.

[caption id="attachment_177936" align="alignnone" width="609"] More centered search box at the top of Settings.[/caption]

We’re rolling out a new Device Card for Settings Home for Windows Insiders signed in with their Microsoft account and in the U.S. It provides a quick snapshot of your PC’s key specs and usage, right where you need it. From the card, you can jump directly to the Settings > About page to see more detailed information about your PC. NOTE: We’ve been previewing the Device Card with Windows Insiders with Settings Home on IT-managed PCs signed in with an Entra ID.

[caption id="attachment_177940" align="alignnone" width="447"] New Device Card for Settings Home.[/caption]

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[Improved Windows Search]

The following fixes are rolling out for improved Windows Search on Copilot+ PCs:

Fixed an underlying crash causing semantic indexing to not work for some Insiders in the last couple flights.

[Start menu]

There have been some underlying improvements which should help address the issue where clicking your profile picture wasn’t opening the Account Manager for some Insiders after the latest flights. If you’re continuing to experience issues, please file feedback.
Fixed an issue causing Start menu to crash on launch for some Insiders in the latest flights.

[File Explorer]

Fixed an issue where if you opened the “…” menu in the File Explorer address bar to show the full list of folders for the current path, the dropdown might be cut off and the bottom of it inaccessible.
Fixed an issue which was causing File Explorer to crash doing various actions in the latest flights, including when deleting files for some Insiders.
Fixed an issue where the recommended section in File Explorer wasn’t expanding when using the right arrow key.
Fixed an issue which could lead to duplicate access keys in the File Explorer context menu.

The following are fixes for AI actions in File Explorer:

Fixed the issue where the action result canvas displayed text from left to right for AI actions for Microsoft 365 files when your Windows display language is configured with a right-to-left language.

[Task Manager]

Fixed an issue where after adding the new CPU Utility column, you might notice that System Idle Process always showed as 0.
Fixed an issue where the CPU graphs in the Performance page were still using the old CPU utility calculations.

[Narrator]

Fixed an issue where the Describe image feature of narrator wasn’t working.

[Voice Access]

Fixed an issue where support for more descriptive and flexible language on Copilot+ PCs wasn’t working as expected.

[Settings]

Fixed an underlying issue related to Bluetooth which could cause Settings or Quick Settings to crash on launch for some people.
Fixed an issue with Quick Settings where if you clicked the top third of the buttons in the top row, it wouldn’t work.

[Other]

Fixed an issue with msftedit.dll which was causing apps like Sticky Notes and Dxdiag to crash in certain cases for people using Hebrew or Arabic display languages.

Fixes for everyone in the Dev Channel

[General]

We have mitigated the issue where if Virtualization Based Security is enabled, applications dependent on virtualization, such as VMware Workstation, would lose the ability to run unless the “Windows Hypervisor Platform” Windows optional component is installed on the system.

Known issues

[General]

After you do a PC reset under Settings > System > Recovery, your build version may incorrectly show as Build 26100 instead of Build 26200. This will not prevent you from getting future Dev Channel updates, which will resolve this issue.
The option to reset your PC under Settings > System > Recovery will not work on this build.
[ADDED 6/4] We're investigating an issue causing a small number of Insiders to experience repeated bugchecks with KERNEL_SECURITY_CHECK_FAILURE after upgrading to Build 26200.5622.

[Xbox Controllers]

Some Insiders are experiencing an issue where using their Xbox Controller via Bluetooth is causing their PC to bugcheck. Here is how to resolve the issue. Open Device Manager by searching for it via the search box on your taskbar. Once Device Manager is open, click on "View" and then "Devices by Driver". Find the driver named "oemXXX.inf (XboxGameControllerDriver.inf)" where the "XXX" will be a specific number on your PC. Right-click on that driver and click "Uninstall".

[Click to Do (Preview)]

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

Windows Insiders on AMD or Intel™-powered Copilot+ PCs may experience long wait times on the first attempt to perform intelligent text actions in Click to Do after a new build or model update.

[Improved Windows Search]

[REMINDER] For improved Windows Search on Copilot+ PCs, it is recommended that you plug in your Copilot+ PC for the initial search indexing to get completed. You can check your search indexing status under Settings > Privacy & security > Searching Windows.

[Taskbar & System Tray]

[NEW] In some cases, taskbar icons may appear small even though the setting to show smaller taskbar buttons is configured as “never”.

[File Explorer]

The following are known issues for AI actions in File Explorer:

Narrator scan mode may not work properly in the action result canvas window for the Summarize AI action for Microsoft 365 files when reading bulleted lists. As a workaround, you can use Caps + Right key to navigate.

[Widgets]

Until we complete support for pinning in the new widgets board experience, pinning reverts you back to the previous experience.

[Graphics]

[NEW] When connecting your PC to some older Dolby Vision displays, in some cases you might see severe discoloration. You can navigate to Settings > System > Display > HDR turn off "Use Dolby Vision mode" as a workaround to resolve the issue or disconnect the display.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel

Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel receive updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 via an enablement package (Build 26200.xxxx).
Many features in the Dev Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Please note that some accessibility features may not work with features like Recall and Click to Do while in preview with Windows Insiders.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.4230 (Beta Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Mon, 02 Jun 2025 21:03:41 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.4230 (KB5058506) to the Beta Channel for Windows Insiders on Windows 11, version 24H2. Changes in Beta Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*) and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Beta Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

New features gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

Quick machine recovery in Settings

We're excited to introduce a new dedicated settings page for quick machine recovery which can be found under System > Recovery > Quick machine recovery. This update makes it easier for you to manage recovery options directly from Settings, streamlining access to important features that help keep your device running smoothly. Quick machine recovery is designed to help your device recover from widespread boot issues by applying remediations delivered directly from Microsoft. [caption id="attachment_177933" align="alignnone" width="699"] The quick machine recovery settings page.[/caption] With the new settings page, you can easily check whether the feature is enabled, configure it to automatically search for available remediations, set how often those checks occur, and choose when your device should restart to apply any necessary fixes. IT professionals looking to set configuration options for their managed fleets are now also able to leverage the Intune Settings Catalog UI to easily configure quick machine recovery settings as documented as a part of the RemoteRemedationCSP. FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Recovery and Uninstall > Quick Machine Recovery.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Click to Do (Preview)]

The following changes and improvements are rolling out for Click to Do on Copilot+ PCs:

For Windows Insiders using French or Spanish as their primary language on their PC, we’re beginning to roll out Rewrite and its options, including Refine, again for Click to Do.
Click to Do can now perform intelligent text actions in German, Italian and Portuguese.

[Phone Link]

The following improvements for Phone Link and phone companion with the Start menu are rolling out to Windows Insiders across all channels:

Instantly see notifications from your mobile device apps — grouped by app for easy catch-up, right from your Start menu.
Mirror your Android device’s screen with a single click from your Start menu. Simply click on your device’s icon or access the option from the footer menu to quickly launch device screen mirroring.
Your iPhone© memories are now accessible from the Start menu. iCloud for Windows users can see recently synced photos and quickly access their iCloud photos all within the Start menu.

[Lock screen]

We have temporarily disabled more widget options on the lock screen and support for lock screen widget personalization that began rolling out to all Windows Insiders in the previous Beta Channel flight to address some issues. We are planning to begin rolling this experience out again very shortly.

[Settings]

For Windows Insiders on Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PCs with the new agent experience in Settings, we’ve made some improvements to make the search box at the top of Settings more centered.

[caption id="attachment_177936" align="alignnone" width="609"] More centered search box at the top of Settings.[/caption]

We’re rolling out a new Device Card for Settings Home for Windows Insiders signed in with their Microsoft account and in the U.S. It provides a quick snapshot of your PC’s key specs and usage, right where you need it. From the card, you can jump directly to the Settings > About page to see more detailed information about your PC. NOTE: We’ve been previewing the Device Card with Windows Insiders with Settings Home on IT-managed PCs signed in with an Entra ID.

[caption id="attachment_177940" align="alignnone" width="447"] New Device Card for Settings Home.[/caption]

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Improved Windows Search]

The following fixes are rolling out for improved Windows Search on Copilot+ PCs:

Fixed an underlying crash causing semantic indexing to not work for some Insiders in the last couple flights.

[Start menu]

Fixed an issue causing Start menu to crash on launch for some Insiders in the latest flights.

[File Explorer]

Fixed an issue where if you opened the “…” menu in the File Explorer address bar to show the full list of folders for the current path, the dropdown might be cut off and the bottom of it inaccessible.
Fixed an issue which was causing File Explorer to crash doing various actions in the latest flights, including when deleting files for some Insiders.
Fixed an issue where the recommended section in File Explorer wasn’t expanding when using the right arrow key.
Fixed an issue which could lead to duplicate access keys in the File Explorer context menu.

The following are fixes for AI actions in File Explorer:

Fixed the issue where the action result canvas displayed text from left to right for AI actions for Microsoft 365 files when your Windows display language is configured with a right-to-left language.

[Settings]

Fixed an underlying issue related to Bluetooth which could cause Settings or Quick Settings to crash on launch for some people.
Fixed an issue with Quick Settings where if you clicked the top third of the buttons in the top row, it wouldn’t work.

[Other]

Fixed an issue with msftedit.dll which was causing apps like Sticky Notes and Dxdiag to crash in certain cases for people using Hebrew or Arabic display languages.

Fixes for everyone in the Beta Channel

[General]

We have mitigated the issue where if Virtualization Based Security is enabled, applications dependent on virtualization, such as VMware Workstation, would lose the ability to run unless the “Windows Hypervisor Platform” Windows optional component is installed on the system.

Known issues

[General]

After you do a PC reset under Settings > System > Recovery, your build version may incorrectly show as Build 26100 instead of Build 26120. This will not prevent you from getting future Beta Channel updates, which will resolve this issue.
The option to reset your PC under Settings > System > Recovery will not work on this build.

[Xbox Controllers]

Some Insiders are experiencing an issue where using their Xbox Controller via Bluetooth is causing their PC to bugcheck. Here is how to resolve the issue. Open Device Manager by searching for it via the search box on your taskbar. Once Device Manager is open, click on "View" and then "Devices by Driver". Find the driver named "oemXXX.inf (XboxGameControllerDriver.inf)" where the "XXX" will be a specific number on your PC. Right-click on that driver and click "Uninstall".

[Click to Do (Preview)]

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

Windows Insiders on AMD or Intel™-powered Copilot+ PCs may experience long wait times on the first attempt to perform intelligent text actions in Click to Do after a new build or model update.

[Improved Windows Search]

[REMINDER] For improved Windows Search on Copilot+ PCs, it is recommended that you plug in your Copilot+ PC for the initial search indexing to get completed. You can check your search indexing status under Settings > Privacy & security > Searching Windows.

[Taskbar & System Tray]

In some cases, taskbar icons may appear small even though the setting to show smaller taskbar buttons is configured as “never”.

[File Explorer]

The following are known issues for AI actions in File Explorer:

Narrator scan mode may not work properly in the action result canvas window for the Summarize AI action for Microsoft 365 files when reading bulleted lists. As a workaround, you can use Caps + Right key to navigate.

[Widgets]

Until we complete support for pinning in the new widgets board experience, pinning reverts you back to the previous experience

[Graphics]

[NEW] When connecting your PC to some older Dolby Vision displays, in some cases you might see severe discoloration. You can navigate to Settings > System > Display > HDR turn off "Use Dolby Vision mode" as a workaround to resolve the issue or disconnect the display.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel

Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel on Windows 11, version 24H2 will receive updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 via an enablement package (Build 26120.xxxx).
Updates delivered to the Beta Channel are in a format that offers a preview of enhancements to servicing technology on Windows 11, version 24H2. To learn more, see https://aka.ms/CheckpointCumulativeUpdates.
Many features in the Beta Channel are rolled out using Controlled Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Please note that some accessibility features may not work with features like Recall and Click to Do while in preview with Windows Insiders.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27863 (Canary Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 23 May 2025 17:04:10 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27863 to the Canary Channel. We are also not planning to release SDKs for 27xxx series builds for the time being.

Changes and Improvements

[Post-Quantum Cryptography]

As announced this week at the Build conference, we are adding support for post-quantum signature algorithm ML-DSA in NCrypt and BCrypt cryptography API surfaces, as well as Crypt32 certificate APIs. Three variants are supported, ML-DSA 44, 65, and 87. In Build 27858 and higher, we encourage you to try out using and validating ML-DSA certificates with these changes.

Fixes

[Windows Sandbox]

Fixed an issue causing Windows Sandbox to not work and show error 0xc0370106 on launch in the previous flight.

[Other]

Fixed an issue where core Windows surfaces were not able to load in safe mode (File Explorer, Start menu, and others) after the previous flight.
Fixed an issue with msftedit.dll which was causing apps like Sticky Notes and Dxdiag to crash in certain cases for people using Hebrew or Arabic display languages.

Known issues

[General]

[IMPORTANT NOTE FOR COPILOT+ PCs] If you are joining the Canary Channel on a new Copilot+ PC from the Dev Channel, Release Preview Channel or retail, you will lose Windows Hello pin and biometrics to sign into your PC with error 0xd0000225 and error message “Something went wrong, and your PIN isn’t available”. You should be able to re-create your PIN by clicking “Set up my PIN”.
You may see an Administrative Templates error message when opening Group Policy Editor. If you click OK you should be able to proceed as normal. One of the causes of this is fixed with this flight – there’s a second fix we’re working on which will be included in an upcoming flight.
We’re investigating an issue where the taskbar is unexpectedly not showing acrylic material after upgrading to this build.
We’re working on the fix for an issue where audio devices with high sampling (like 192Hz) and multiple channels aren’t producing sound after upgrading to this build. Thanks Insiders that provided detailed information in your feedback!

[Input]

Pen input may be non-responsive on some PCs that support pen for inking.

[Task Manager]

Search and other options such as filtering in Task Manager does not work.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Canary Channel

The builds we release to the Canary Channel represent the latest platform changes early in the development cycle and should not be seen as matched to any specific release of Windows and features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Many features in the Canary Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
Some features may show up in the Dev and Beta Channels first before showing up in the Canary Channel.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
To get off the Canary Channel, a clean install of Windows 11 will be required. As a reminder - Insiders can’t switch to a channel that is receiving builds with lower build numbers without doing a clean installation of Windows 11 due to technical setup requirements.
The desktop watermark shown at the lower right corner of the desktop is normal for these pre-release builds.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.4161 (Beta Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 23 May 2025 17:03:39 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.4161 (KB5058515) to the Beta Channel for Windows Insiders on Windows 11, version 24H2. Changes in Beta Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*) and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Beta Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

New Copilot+ PC experiences

New Microsoft 365 text action in Click to Do

We are beginning to roll out a new text action in Click to Do!

Draft with Copilot in Word: Ever stumble across a great idea and wish you could just start writing? With the “Draft with Copilot in Word” Click to Do action, you can. Whether it’s a sentence in an email or a snippet on your screen, just Win + Click on the recognized text and choose the “Draft with Copilot in Word” action. It’ll help you turn that spark into a full draft, fast. No more blank pages. No more writer’s block. Just momentum.

New features gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

Choose what Lock screen widgets appear

After rolling this experience out to Windows Insiders in the EEA, we are now beginning to roll out more widget options on the lock screen as well as support for lock screen widget personalization (previously referred to as “Weather and more”) with Insiders in all regions. You can add, remove, and rearrange lock screen widgets such as Weather, Watchlist, Sports, Traffic, and more. Any widget that supports the small sizing option can be added here. To customize your lock screen widgets, navigate to Settings > Personalization > Lock screen. [caption id="attachment_177912" align="alignnone" width="561"] Customization settings for lock screen widgets shown in Settings and highlighted in a red box.[/caption] FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Desktop Environment > Lock screen.

Multiple dashboards in Widgets

As we continue to evolve the widgets experience, we are also adding support for multiple boards so that you can have more space for your favorite widgets while being able to stay on top of current events with a feed that helps you discover the world around you. With the introduction of the new navigation bar on the left, you can switch between a dedicated widgets dashboard and other integrated dashboards like My feed. Give it a try and let us know what you think using the feedback button at the top of the board. This experience was also previously previewed with Windows Insiders in the EEA. [caption id="attachment_177913" align="alignnone" width="1430"] Widgets board with new navigation board on the left for switching between multiple dashboards.[/caption] FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Desktop Environment > Widgets.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[General]

To help you quickly find the right app for opening files, we are trying out showing recommendations from the Microsoft Store app within the "Open with..." dialog. These recommendations are denoted by a Store icon next to apps in the dialog.

[caption id="attachment_177914" align="alignnone" width="293"] “Open with” dialog with Store icon highlighted in a red box denoting a recommendation from the Microsoft Store.[/caption]

[PC Migration]

We’re beginning the rollout of a new PC-to-PC migration experience in Windows. You'll start to see the landing and the pairing page in the Windows Backup app, giving you a first look at what’s coming. In the full experience, you will be able to transfer your files and settings from your old PC to the new one during the PC setup process. Support during the PC setup will be available in a future update. We are releasing in phases for a smooth experience and will provide more details soon.

[Settings]

We’ve updated the dialogs for entering your product key, troubleshooting activation, phone activation, and retail demo to match the Windows 11 visuals.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Start menu]

There have been some underlying improvements which should help address the issue where clicking your profile picture wasn’t opening the Account Manager for some Insiders after the latest flights. If you’re continuing to experience issues, please file feedback.

[Task Manager]

Fixed an issue where after adding the new CPU Utility column, you might notice that System Idle Process always showed as 0.
Fixed an issue where the CPU graphs in the Performance page were still using the old CPU utility calculations.

[Narrator]

Fixed an issue where the Describe image feature of narrator wasn’t working.

[Voice Access]

Fixed an issue where support for more descriptive and flexible language on Copilot+ PCs wasn’t working as expected.

Known issues

[General]

After you do a PC reset under Settings > System > Recovery, your build version may incorrectly show as Build 26100 instead of Build 26120. This will not prevent you from getting future Beta Channel updates, which will resolve this issue.
The option to reset your PC under Settings > System > Recovery will not work on this build.
[NEW] Starting in the last flight, when Virtualization Based Security is enabled, applications dependent on virtualization, such as VMware Workstation, lose the ability to run unless the “Windows Hypervisor Platform” Windows optional component is installed on the system. Previously, installing the optional component was not required.

[Xbox Controllers]

Some Insiders are experiencing an issue where using their Xbox Controller via Bluetooth is causing their PC to bugcheck. Here is how to resolve the issue. Open Device Manager by searching for it via the search box on your taskbar. Once Device Manager is open, click on "View" and then "Devices by Driver". Find the driver named "oemXXX.inf (XboxGameControllerDriver.inf)" where the "XXX" will be a specific number on your PC. Right-click on that driver and click "Uninstall".

[Click to Do (Preview)]

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

Windows Insiders on AMD or Intel™-powered Copilot+ PCs may experience long wait times on the first attempt to perform intelligent text actions in Click to Do after a new build or model update.

[Improved Windows Search]

[REMINDER] For improved Windows Search on Copilot+ PCs, it is recommended that you plug in your Copilot+ PC for the initial search indexing to get completed. You can check your search indexing status under Settings > Privacy & security > Searching Windows.

[Taskbar & System Tray]

[NEW] In some cases, taskbar icons may appear small even though the setting to show smaller taskbar buttons is configured as “never”.

[File Explorer]

The following are known issues for AI actions in File Explorer:

Narrator scan mode may not work properly in the action result canvas window for the Summarize AI action for Microsoft 365 files when reading bulleted lists. As a workaround, you can use Caps + Right key to navigate.
When your Windows display language is configured with a right-to-left language, the action result canvas displays text from left to right for AI actions for Microsoft 365 files.

[Widgets]

Until we complete support for pinning in the new widgets board experience, pinning reverts you back to the previous experience

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel

Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel on Windows 11, version 24H2 will receive updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 via an enablement package (Build 26120.xxxx).
Updates delivered to the Beta Channel are in a format that offers a preview of enhancements to servicing technology on Windows 11, version 24H2. To learn more, see https://aka.ms/CheckpointCumulativeUpdates.
Many features in the Beta Channel are rolled out using Controlled Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Please note that some accessibility features may not work with features like Recall and Click to Do while in preview with Windows Insiders.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.
Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5603 (Dev Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Mon, 19 May 2025 21:04:02 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5603 (KB5058488) to the Dev Channel. Changes in Dev Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*) and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Dev Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

New features gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

Introducing AI actions in File Explorer

With AI actions in File Explorer, you can interact more deeply with your files by right-clicking to quickly take actions like editing images or summarizing documents. Like with Click to Do, AI actions in File Explorer allow you to stay in your flow while leveraging the power of AI to take advantage of editing tools in apps or Copilot functionality without having to open your file. AI actions in File Explorer are easily accessible - to try out AI actions in File Explorer, just right-click on a file and you will see a new AI actions entry on the content menu that allows you to choose from available options for your file. [caption id="attachment_177881" align="alignnone" width="1166"] File Explorer with context menu expanded on a file showing new AI actions highlighted in a red box.[/caption] Today, you can try one of four image actions for seamless editing or web searches with images:

Bing Visual Search: Allows you to search the web using an image instead of text. Find similar images and products, get details about sites using the image, and identify landmarks, plants, and famous faces. From searching what you see on your screen, to shopping your preferred style, getting help with that homework problem, or translating text, getting answers is more intuitive than ever.
Blur Background: Opens the Photos app which automatically finds the background in the photo, and with a single click, instantly highlights your subject and blurs out the background. You can also customize the effect by adjusting the Blur Intensity or use the Brush Tool to modify the areas being blurred.
Erase Objects: With Photos by selecting or highlighting an unwanted element in your photo and Generative Erase makes it disappear. It allows you to fix and remove distractions from your photos.
Remove Background: With Paint allows you to alter any image automatically in just one click leaving a smooth cutout of the subject. Background removal can detect the subject from the entire canvas or using the selection tool.

These four image actions currently support these file types: .jpg, .jpeg, and .png. Over the course of the coming weeks, we will begin to roll out new AI actions for Microsoft 365 files: [caption id="attachment_177883" align="alignnone" width="1050"] A summary of a document in File Explorer via the Summarize Microsoft 365 action.[/caption]

Summarize: With Copilot you can generate summaries of various document types stored on OneDrive and SharePoint without the need to open them individually. Find the information you need quickly! Supported file types: .docx, .doc, .pptx, .ppt, .xlsx, .xls, .pdf, .rtf, .txt, .loop.
Create an FAQ: Copilot can help you turn your OneDrive files into a neatly formatted, AI-generated Q&A list. Whether you’re building internal knowledge bases, prepping for meetings, or crafting quick-start guides, “Create an FAQ” distills complex information into clear, shareable FAQs in seconds. Supported file types: xlsx, .ppt, .pptx, .doc, .docx, .pdf, .txt, .rtf, .aspx, .htm, and .html.

To see AI actions for Microsoft 365 files, you must be:

For Summarize, you need to be Microsoft 365 subscriber with a Copilot subscription (Microsoft account and Microsoft Entra ID supported).
For Create an FAQ, you need to be a commercial Microsoft 365 subscriber with a Copilot subscription (Microsoft Entra ID supported). Consumer support with a Microsoft account is coming later.
Enrolled in the Microsoft 365 Insider Program. Your PC will need to be part of the Beta Channel update channel. Use these instructions to get setup today: Become a Microsoft 365 Insider on Windows.

Let us know what you think of these new AI actions in File Explorer!

Introducing Advanced Settings

Advanced settings are now available via Settings > System > Advanced with some new features. The Advanced page is a redesign of the For Developers page, intending to make its settings easier to find for a broader audience. With the redesign of this page, we’ve added additional settings: Enable long paths, Virtual workspaces, and File Explorer + version control. Enable long paths allows you to remove MAX_PATH limitations from common Win32 file and directory functions. Virtual workspaces allow you to enable/disable virtual environments such as Hyper-V, Windows Sandbox, and more. File Explorer + version control provides the ability to display Git information directly inside File Explorer. Simply select your repository folder and File Explorer will display information such as your branch, diff count, last commit message, and more. [caption id="attachment_177884" align="alignnone" width="2496"] Advanced settings page for File Explorer.[/caption]

Windows Advanced settings is here! We restructured the For Developers page and added new features such as File Explorer with version control 🚀
Easily view your Git information directly in columns within File Explorer! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/QukvK76Bw1 — Kayla Cinnamon ☕ @ #MSBuild (@cinnamon_msft) May 19, 2025

FEEDBACK: Please file feedback on GitHub at microsoft/WindowsAdvancedSettings.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[Taskbar & System Tray]

In addition to the new grouping of the Accessibility flyout in quick settings, we are adding text descriptions for the assistive technologies like Narrator, Voice access, etc. for easy identification and learning by the users.

[caption id="attachment_177885" align="alignnone" width="434"] Accessibility flyout via quick setting showing text descriptions for assistive technologies like Narrator, Voice access, etc.[/caption]

[Search on the Taskbar]

We are beginning to roll out some improvements for the Windows search box on your taskbar:

When showing search results, we will provide a notice that your search results may be incomplete if Windows is still indexing your PC with a link to check your indexing status. You can dismiss this notice.
We are also providing a status for files and folders on your PC so you can easily see if a file or folder is available when online (cloud) or available on your device.

[caption id="attachment_177886" align="alignnone" width="578"] Windows search box improvements for search results highlighted in red boxes.[/caption]

[Voice access]

We have temporarily disabled Chinese support in voice access to address some issues. We plan to begin rolling this change out again in a future flight soon.

[Widgets]

We’re trying out a new visual experience for the widgets board, with a more organized, personalized, and engaging feed. In addition, we are introducing Copilot-curated stories into the feed. These make it easy to get a multifaceted view on a single topic, connecting summaries, videos, and images from trusted MSN premium publishers. Some features, such as pinning and hiding, are still under development. Explore this experience and please share your feedback as we'll continue to evolve the experience. [caption id="attachment_177887" align="alignnone" width="595"] The new visual experience for the widgets board.[/caption] You can choose to return to the previous widgets board experience, by changing the ‘Copilot Discover (Preview)’ toggle in the Personalize MSN settings dialog (shown below). [caption id="attachment_177888" align="alignnone" width="520"] Toggle for Copilot Discover (Preview) in a red box.[/caption]

[Power & Battery]

We're introducing User Interaction-Aware CPU Power Management, an OS-level enhancement that helps reduce power consumption and extend your battery life. After a period of inactivity on your PC, Windows now conserve power by automatically applying efficient power management policies. This happens seamlessly to save energy while you're inactive, with full performance instantly restored the moment you get back to it. It's another way we're working to make your Windows experience both responsive and energy-efficient!
- Please note: Actual savings depend on device segment, power mode and whether you’re plugged in or running on battery, according to manufacturer-defined Processor Power Management (PPM) settings.

[Windows Share]

In the Windows share window, as part of the ability to quickly edit and enhance images while sharing, we have adjusted the UI so that now you can now select their compression scale from High, Medium, or Low Quality, instead of choosing from an entire scale ranging from 0-100.

[caption id="attachment_177889" align="alignnone" width="318"] New drop-down menu for compression scale of high, medium, or low when sharing images in the Windows share window.[/caption]

[Windows Backup]

We're trying out different variations of the landing page when you launch the Windows Backup app.

[Snipping Tool]

[ADDED] Last month, we announced Snipping Tool's new text extractor feature -- designed to minimize the number of steps it takes to copy text to your clipboard without having to take a screenshot of your screen. With this Windows update, we're making it easier to jump directly into text extractor via Win + Shift + T. You can learn more about using text extractor here. You should be on Snipping Tool version 11.2503.29.0 or higher as well.

[Settings]

We are rolling out some small changes for your setting your browser defaults in Windows 11 via Settings > Apps > Default apps:

For Add new link/file types of 'Set Default' button, we have added additional types for the "Set Default" button. You can now set more types.
For one-click button of PDF for browser sets, we have added a new button for making your default browser also the default app for PDF files.

[caption id="attachment_177890" align="alignnone" width="968"] Browser default settings page showing new set default button for PDF files.[/caption]

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[General]

Fixed an issue where core Windows surfaces were not able to load in safe mode (File Explorer, Start menu, and others) after latest flights.

[Start menu]

Fixed an issue causing Start menu to be blank for some Insiders in the previous flight.

[File Explorer]

Fixed an issue where if File Explorer was maximized and you clicked the new tab button it would unmaximize the window.

[Settings]

Fixed an issue related to loading Bluetooth information which could lead to Settings and Quick Settings crashes.
Fixed an issue where you couldn't switch active hours from manually to automatic in Settings > Windows Update.
Fixed an issue which was causing Settings > Personalization > Lock screen to crash for some Insiders.

Known issues

[General]

After you do a PC reset under Settings > System > Recovery, your build version may incorrectly show as Build 26100 instead of Build 26200. This will not prevent you from getting future Beta Channel updates, which will resolve this issue.
The option to reset your PC under Settings > System > Recovery will not work on this build.
[ADDED 5/23] When Virtualization Based Security is enabled, applications dependent on virtualization, such as VMware Workstation, lose the ability to run unless the “Windows Hypervisor Platform” Windows optional component is installed on the system. Previously, installing the optional component was not required.

[Xbox Controllers]

Some Insiders are experiencing an issue where using their Xbox Controller via Bluetooth is causing their PC to bugcheck. Here is how to resolve the issue. Open Device Manager by searching for it via the search box on your taskbar. Once Device Manager is open, click on "View" and then "Devices by Driver". Find the driver named "oemXXX.inf (XboxGameControllerDriver.inf)" where the "XXX" will be a specific number on your PC. Right-click on that driver and click "Uninstall".

[Click to Do (Preview)]

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

Windows Insiders on AMD or Intel™-powered Copilot+ PCs may experience long wait times on the first attempt to perform intelligent text actions in Click to Do after a new build or model update.

[Improved Windows Search]

[REMINDER] For improved Windows Search on Copilot+ PCs, it is recommended that you plug in your Copilot+ PC for the initial search indexing to get completed. You can check your search indexing status under Settings > Privacy & security > Searching Windows.

[Start menu]

We’re investigating reports that clicking your profile picture isn’t opening the Account Manager for some Insiders after the last couple of flights.

[File Explorer]

The following are known issues for AI actions in File Explorer:

[NEW] Narrator scan mode may not work properly in the action result canvas window for the Summarize AI action for Microsoft 365 files when reading bulleted lists. As a workaround, you can use Caps + Right key to navigate.
[NEW] When your Windows display language is configured with a right-to-left language, the action result canvas displays text from left to right for AI actions for Microsoft 365 files.

[Task Manager]

After adding the new CPU Utility column, you may notice that System Idle Process always shows as 0.
The CPU graphs in the Performance page are still using the old CPU utility calculations.

[Narrator]

We are investigating an issue where the richer image descriptions on your Copilot+ PC with Narrator do not work.

[Voice Access]

We are investigating an issue where support for more descriptive and flexible language on Copilot+ PCs does not work as expected.

[Widgets]

[NEW] Until we complete support for pinning in the new widgets board experience, pinning reverts you back to the previous experience.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel

Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel receive updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 via an enablement package (Build 26200.xxxx).
Many features in the Dev Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Please note that some accessibility features may not work with features like Recall and Click to Do while in preview with Windows Insiders.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.4151 (Beta Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Mon, 19 May 2025 21:03:55 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.4151 (KB5058486) to the Beta Channel for Windows Insiders on Windows 11, version 24H2. IMPORTANT NOTE: Build 22635.5305 was the last update released to the Beta Channel based on Windows 11, version 23H2. All Insiders in the Beta Channel will now be upgraded automatically to Windows 11, version 24H2 with today’s flight of Build 26120.4151. Changes in Beta Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*) and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Beta Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

New features gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

Introducing AI actions in File Explorer

With AI actions in File Explorer, you can interact more deeply with your files by right-clicking to quickly take actions like editing images or summarizing documents. Like with Click to Do, AI actions in File Explorer allow you to stay in your flow while leveraging the power of AI to take advantage of editing tools in apps or Copilot functionality without having to open your file. AI actions in File Explorer are easily accessible - to try out AI actions in File Explorer, just right-click on a file and you will see a new AI actions entry on the content menu that allows you to choose from available options for your file. [caption id="attachment_177881" align="alignnone" width="1166"] File Explorer with context menu expanded on a file showing new AI actions highlighted in a red box.[/caption] Today, you can try one of four image actions for seamless editing or web searches with images:

Bing Visual Search: Allows you to search the web using an image instead of text. Find similar images and products, get details about sites using the image, and identify landmarks, plants, and famous faces. From searching what you see on your screen, to shopping your preferred style, getting help with that homework problem, or translating text, getting answers is more intuitive than ever.
Blur Background: Opens the Photos app which automatically finds the background in the photo, and with a single click, instantly highlights your subject and blurs out the background. You can also customize the effect by adjusting the Blur Intensity or use the Brush Tool to modify the areas being blurred.
Erase Objects: With Photos by selecting or highlighting an unwanted element in your photo and Generative Erase makes it disappear. It allows you to fix and remove distractions from your photos.
Remove Background: With Paint allows you to alter any image automatically in just one click leaving a smooth cutout of the subject. Background removal can detect the subject from the entire canvas or using the selection tool.

Summarize: With Copilot you can generate summaries of various document types stored on OneDrive and SharePoint without the need to open them individually. Find the information you need quickly! Supported file types: .docx, .doc, .pptx, .ppt, .xlsx, .xls, .pdf, .rtf, .txt, .loop.
Create an FAQ: Copilot can help you turn your OneDrive files into a neatly formatted, AI-generated Q&A list. Whether you’re building internal knowledge bases, prepping for meetings, or crafting quick-start guides, “Create an FAQ” distills complex information into clear, shareable FAQs in seconds. Supported file types: xlsx, .ppt, .pptx, .doc, .docx, .pdf, .txt, .rtf, .aspx, .htm, and .html.

To see AI actions for Microsoft 365 files, you must be:

For Summarize, you need to be Microsoft 365 subscriber with a Copilot subscription (Microsoft account and Microsoft Entra ID supported).
For Create an FAQ, you need to be a commercial Microsoft 365 subscriber with a Copilot subscription (Microsoft Entra ID supported). Consumer support with a Microsoft account is coming later.
Enrolled in the Microsoft 365 Insider Program. Your PC will need to be part of the Beta Channel update channel. Use these instructions to get setup today: Become a Microsoft 365 Insider on Windows.

Let us know what you think of these new AI actions in File Explorer!

Introducing Advanced Settings

Advanced settings are now available via Settings > System > Advanced with some new features. The Advanced page is a redesign of the For Developers page, intending to make its settings easier to find for a broader audience. With the redesign of this page, we’ve added additional settings: Enable long paths, Virtual workspaces, and File Explorer + version control. Enable long paths allows you to remove MAX_PATH limitations from common Win32 file and directory functions. Virtual workspaces allow you to enable/disable virtual environments such as Hyper-V, Windows Sandbox, and more. File Explorer + version control provides the ability to display Git information directly inside File Explorer. Simply select your repository folder and File Explorer will display information such as your branch, diff count, last commit message, and more. [caption id="attachment_177884" align="alignnone" width="2496"] Advanced settings page for File Explorer.[/caption]

Windows Advanced settings is here! We restructured the For Developers page and added new features such as File Explorer with version control 🚀
Easily view your Git information directly in columns within File Explorer! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/QukvK76Bw1 — Kayla Cinnamon ☕ @ #MSBuild (@cinnamon_msft) May 19, 2025

FEEDBACK: Please file feedback on GitHub at microsoft/WindowsAdvancedSettings.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Taskbar & System Tray]

In addition to the new grouping of the Accessibility flyout in quick settings, we are adding text descriptions for the assistive technologies like Narrator, Voice access, etc. for easy identification and learning by the users.

[caption id="attachment_177885" align="alignnone" width="434"] Accessibility flyout via quick setting showing text descriptions for assistive technologies like Narrator, Voice access, etc.[/caption]

[Search on the Taskbar]

We are beginning to roll out some improvements for the Windows search box on your taskbar:

When showing search results, we will provide a notice that your search results may be incomplete if Windows is still indexing your PC with a link to check your indexing status. You can dismiss this notice.
We are also providing a status for files and folders on your PC so you can easily see if a file or folder is available when online (cloud) or available on your device.

[caption id="attachment_177886" align="alignnone" width="578"] Windows search box improvements for search results highlighted in red boxes.[/caption]

[Voice access]

We have temporarily disabled Chinese support in voice access to address some issues. We plan to begin rolling this change out again in a future flight soon.

[Widgets]

[Power & Battery]

We're introducing User Interaction-Aware CPU Power Management, an OS-level enhancement that helps reduce power consumption and extend your battery life. After a period of inactivity on your PC, Windows now conserve power by automatically applying efficient power management policies. This happens seamlessly to save energy while you're inactive, with full performance instantly restored the moment you get back to it. It's another way we're working to make your Windows experience both responsive and energy-efficient!
- Please note: Actual savings depend on device segment, power mode and whether you’re plugged in or running on battery, according to manufacturer-defined Processor Power Management (PPM) settings.

[Windows Share]

In the Windows share window, as part of the ability to quickly edit and enhance images while sharing, we have adjusted the UI so that now you can now select their compression scale from High, Medium, or Low Quality, instead of choosing from an entire scale ranging from 0-100.

[caption id="attachment_177889" align="alignnone" width="318"] New drop-down menu for compression scale of high, medium, or low when sharing images in the Windows share window.[/caption]

[Windows Backup]

We're trying out different variations of the landing page when you launch the Windows Backup app.

[Snipping Tool]

[ADDED] Last month, we announced Snipping Tool's new text extractor feature -- designed to minimize the number of steps it takes to copy text to your clipboard without having to take a screenshot of your screen. With this Windows update, we're making it easier to jump directly into text extractor via Win + Shift + T. You can learn more about using text extractor here. You should be on Snipping Tool version 11.2503.29.0 or higher as well.

[Settings]

We are rolling out some small changes in the EEA region for default browsers via Settings > Apps > Default apps:

Additional file and link types will be set for the new default browser, if it registers for them.
There is now a separate one-click button for browsers to make it easy to also change your .pdf default, if the browser registers for the .pdf file type.

[caption id="attachment_177890" align="alignnone" width="968"] Browser default settings page showing new set default button for PDF files.[/caption]

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[General]

Fixed an issue where core Windows surfaces were not able to load in safe mode (File Explorer, Start menu, and others) after latest flights.

[File Explorer]

Fixed an issue where if File Explorer was maximized and you clicked the new tab button it would unmaximize the window.

[Settings]

Fixed an issue related to loading Bluetooth information which could lead to Settings and Quick Settings crashes.
Fixed an issue where you couldn't switch active hours from manually to automatic in Settings > Windows Update.
Fixed an issue which was causing Settings > Personalization > Lock screen to crash for some Insiders.

Known issues

[General]

After you do a PC reset under Settings > System > Recovery, your build version may incorrectly show as Build 26100 instead of Build 26120. This will not prevent you from getting future Beta Channel updates, which will resolve this issue.
The option to reset your PC under Settings > System > Recovery will not work on this build.

[Xbox Controllers]

Some Insiders are experiencing an issue where using their Xbox Controller via Bluetooth is causing their PC to bugcheck. Here is how to resolve the issue. Open Device Manager by searching for it via the search box on your taskbar. Once Device Manager is open, click on "View" and then "Devices by Driver". Find the driver named "oemXXX.inf (XboxGameControllerDriver.inf)" where the "XXX" will be a specific number on your PC. Right-click on that driver and click "Uninstall".

[Click to Do (Preview)]

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

Windows Insiders on AMD or Intel™-powered Copilot+ PCs may experience long wait times on the first attempt to perform intelligent text actions in Click to Do after a new build or model update.

[Improved Windows Search]

[REMINDER] For improved Windows Search on Copilot+ PCs, it is recommended that you plug in your Copilot+ PC for the initial search indexing to get completed. You can check your search indexing status under Settings > Privacy & security > Searching Windows.

[Start menu]

We’re investigating reports that clicking your profile picture isn’t opening the Account Manager for some Insiders after the last couple of flights.

[File Explorer]

The following are known issues for AI actions in File Explorer:

[NEW] Narrator scan mode may not work properly in the action result canvas window for the Summarize AI action for Microsoft 365 files when reading bulleted lists. As a workaround, you can use Caps + Right key to navigate.
[NEW] When your Windows display language is configured with a right-to-left language, the action result canvas displays text from left to right for AI actions for Microsoft 365 files.

[Task Manager]

After adding the new CPU Utility column, you may notice that System Idle Process always shows as 0.
The CPU graphs in the Performance page are still using the old CPU utility calculations.

[Narrator]

We are investigating an issue where Describe image feature of narrator does not work.

[Voice Access]

We are investigating an issue where support for more descriptive and flexible language on Copilot+ PCs does not work as expected.

[Widgets]

[NEW] Until we complete support for pinning in the new widgets board experience, pinning reverts you back to the previous experience.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel

Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel on Windows 11, version 24H2 will receive updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 via an enablement package (Build 26120.xxxx).
Updates delivered to the Beta Channel are in a format that offers a preview of enhancements to servicing technology on Windows 11, version 24H2. To learn more, see https://aka.ms/CheckpointCumulativeUpdates.
Many features in the Beta Channel are rolled out using Controlled Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Please note that some accessibility features may not work with features like Recall and Click to Do while in preview with Windows Insiders.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27858 (Canary Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 16 May 2025 17:05:31 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27858 to the Canary Channel. We are also not planning to release SDKs for 27xxx series builds for the time being.

Changes and Improvements

[Input]

We are trying out a new experience to improve the discoverability of the emoji and more panel in Windows 11 with the introduction of a new system tray icon on the taskbar. With this new system tray icon, you can easily express yourself by using emojis, GIFs, Kaomoji etc. across all apps and surfaces in Windows in addition to using the WIN + . keyboard shortcut which is also now shown on the emoji and more panel. This new system tray icon for the emoji and more panel shows can be changed by right-clicking on the icon to go to taskbar settings page.

[caption id="attachment_177656" align="alignnone" width="469"] The new system tray icon for the emoji and more panel highlighted with a red box.[/caption]

Fixes

[General]

Fixed an issue which was causing some Insiders to see a black screen when upgrading to the previous flight.
Fixed an issue causing text to disappear in places across the system after the previous flight.

[File Explorer]

As part of our ongoing commitment to improving File Explorer accessibility, this release includes increased support for the text scaling (via Settings > Accessibility > Text size) across File Explorer, File Open/Save dialogs and the copy dialogs.

[Desktop icons]

Updated the logic for apps pinned to the desktop, so that packaged apps no longer show an accent colored backplate (for example, if you were to drag and drop Snipping Tool from the apps list in Start to the desktop). In doing this, the icons should be bigger and easier to see now. Please note, you may need to create new shortcuts for this to take effect, if you already have something on your desktop.

[Input]

Fixed an issue where voice typing wouldn’t start from the touch keyboard when using the Chinese (Simplified) narrow layout.
Fixed a high hitting ctmon.exe crash, which could impact the ability to type.

[Windowing]

Fixed an explorer.exe crash related to snap layouts which could happen when dragging a window or hovering over the maximize button in a window.

[Taskbar]

Fixed an issue where the taskbar icons weren’t increasing in size as they should when using your PC in a tablet posture.
Fixed an issue where when using Hebrew or Arabic as your display language, if you pressed WIN + T then arrow keys, focus through the taskbar icons would move in the opposite direction.

[Graphics]

Fixed an issue causing night light to not work for some Insiders after the latest flights.
Fixed an issue which was causing unexpected FPS caps for some Insiders in the previous flight.

[Network]

Mitigated an issue believed to be the cause of reports that wi-fi stopped working for some Insiders after the previous flight.

[Audio]

Fixed an underlying issue which could lead to MIDI devices not being recognized in recent Canary flights.

[Other]

Fixed an issue causing some Insiders to see a bugcheck with KERNEL_SECURITY_CHECK_FAILURE after the previous flight.
Fixed an issue causing some Insiders to see a bugcheck with SYSTEM_THREAD_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED after the previous flight.
Fixed an issue where setting your desktop background to a JXR HDR wallpaper wasn’t working for extra wide format (21x9).

Known issues

[General]

[IMPORTANT NOTE FOR COPILOT+ PCs] If you are joining the Canary Channel on a new Copilot+ PC from the Dev Channel, Release Preview Channel or retail, you will lose Windows Hello pin and biometrics to sign into your PC with error 0xd0000225 and error message “Something went wrong, and your PIN isn’t available”. You should be able to re-create your PIN by clicking “Set up my PIN”.
[NEW] You may see an Administrative Templates error message when opening Group Policy Editor. If you click OK, you should be able to proceed as normal.
[ADDED 5/19] We’re investigating an issue where the taskbar is unexpectedly not showing acrylic material after upgrading to this build.
[ADDED 5/19] We’re working on the fix for an issue where audio devices with high sampling (like 192Hz) and multiple channels aren’t producing sound after upgrading to this build. Thanks Insiders that provided detailed information in your feedback!

[Input]

[NEW] Pen input may be non-responsive on some PCs that support pen for inking.

[Task Manager]

[ADDED] Search and other options such as filtering in Task Manager does not work.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Canary Channel

The builds we release to the Canary Channel represent the latest platform changes early in the development cycle and should not be seen as matched to any specific release of Windows and features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Many features in the Canary Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
Some features may show up in the Dev and Beta Channels first before showing up in the Canary Channel.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
To get off the Canary Channel, a clean install of Windows 11 will be required. As a reminder - Insiders can’t switch to a channel that is receiving builds with lower build numbers without doing a clean installation of Windows 11 due to technical setup requirements.
The desktop watermark shown at the lower right corner of the desktop is normal for these pre-release builds.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5600 (Dev Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Mon, 12 May 2025 21:04:03 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5600 (KB5058493) to the Dev Channel. Changes in Dev Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*) and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Dev Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

New Copilot+ PC experiences

Intelligent text actions in Click to Do for AMD and Intel™-powered Copilot+ PCs

We’re introducing more intelligent text actions to enhance your Click to Do experience even further on AMD and Intel™-powered Copilot+ PCs. Use WIN key + mouse-click or WIN + Q to select a text block and then drag to select the text that you want. You’ll see options to Summarize, Create a bulleted list, or to help you Rewrite your text, so it sounds more causal, more formal, or more polished. [caption id="attachment_177861" align="alignnone" width="1920"] More intelligent text actions in Click to Do with options to Summarize, Create a bulleted list, or Rewrite.[/caption] Click to Do leverages the capabilities of Phi Silica, the on-device Small Language Model (SLM) that is built right into Windows. Results from our local model will show directly inline and if you’re happy with the rewrites you can copy them directly to your clipboard for use anywhere. The intelligent text actions are available when your default language is set to English, at least 10 words are selected, and you’re signed in with either a Microsoft account or Microsoft Entra account. You can learn more about using Click to Do here. FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Desktop Environment > Click to Do.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[Click to Do (Preview)]

⁠For Windows Insiders using French or Spanish as their primary language on their PC, Click to Do will temporarily only provide Summarize, Create a bulleted list, Refine as intelligent text actions. Rewrite and its options, including Refine, will return in a future update.

[Dynamic Lighting]

Dynamic Lighting compatible devices can now be safely removed using the "Safely Remove Hardware and Eject Media" taskbar icon.

[Settings]

The new agent in Settings experience is currently beginning to roll out to Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel first and once the right ML models are set up for the Dev Channel, we will begin rolling this experience out in the Dev Channel with a future flight.
We’re making it easy to find answers to common questions about your PC and Windows 11 with a dedicated FAQs section on the Settings > System > About page, providing quick and helpful insights for using your PC all in one place. Whether you’re curious about system configuration, performance, or compatibility, this experience ensures you get the information you need for the frequently asked questions for those topics. We hope these FAQs will help you make informed decisions about your PC with ease.

[caption id="attachment_177765" align="alignnone" width="650"] FAQ section highlighted in a red box on the About settings page.[/caption]

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[Start menu]

Fixed a few crashes impacting Start menu reliability for Insiders in recent flights.

[File Explorer]

Fixed a deadlock which could occur when loading File Explorer Home, causing it to hang.
Fixed an issue where Shared by and Activity information was missing in the tooltip when hovering over recent documents in File Explorer Home.
Fixed an issue which could cause explorer.exe to crash when closing File Explorer.

[Voice Access]

Fixed an issue which was causing voice access crashes when using Spanish.

[Taskbar]

Fixed an issue where when using Tab and Shift + Tab to move keyboard focus around the taskbar, if you went backwards at least once you could get keyboard focus stuck on the taskbar frame, which would potentially lead screen readers to just say “pane”.
Fixed an issue which could cause the media controls in the preview windows for apps in the taskbar (that support it) to flicker.

[Windows Spotlight]

Fixed an issue where the Windows Spotlight flyout for “learn more about this picture” (when using it as your desktop background) might get stuck above other app windows.

[Live captions]

Fixed an issue causing live captions to crash in the previous build.

[Other]

Improved the colors used in MMC when items are selected, both generally, and when contrast modes are enabled.
Fixed an underlying issue which could make some apps like Word hang when trying to print.

Known issues

[General]

After you do a PC reset under Settings > System > Recovery, your build version may incorrectly show as Build 26100 instead of Build 26200. This will not prevent you from getting future Beta Channel updates, which will resolve this issue.
[NEW] The option to reset your PC under Settings > System > Recovery will not work on this build.

[Xbox Controllers]

Some Insiders are experiencing an issue where using their Xbox Controller via Bluetooth is causing their PC to bugcheck. Here is how to resolve the issue. Open Device Manager by searching for it via the search box on your taskbar. Once Device Manager is open, click on "View" and then "Devices by Driver". Find the driver named "oemXXX.inf (XboxGameControllerDriver.inf)" where the "XXX" will be a specific number on your PC. Right-click on that driver and click "Uninstall".

[Recall (Preview)]

[REMINDER] You are always in control and can always choose to remove Recall anytime via “Turn Windows features on or off”. Removing Recall will delete entry points and binaries. Like any feature, Windows sometimes keeps temporary copies of binaries for serviceability. These Recall binaries are not executable and are eventually removed over time.
[REMINDER] Make sure you update Microsoft 365 apps to the latest version so you can jump back into specific documents.

[Click to Do (Preview)]

[REMINDER] The intelligent text actions are now locally moderated to ensure the safety of prompts and responses and has replaced the cloud endpoint. Now that these intelligent text actions are fully local, they are also available in Click to Do in Recall.
[REMINDER] If any of your actions on image entities are no longer appearing, please ensure you have the latest updates for the Photos and Paint app from the Microsoft Store.

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

[NEW] Image actions may not show up in Click to Do.
[NEW] Windows Insiders on AMD or Intel™-powered Copilot+ PCs may experience long wait times on the first attempt to perform intelligent text actions in Click to Do after a new build or model update.
[NEW] For Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel, Click to Do's intelligent text actions may not offer support for Spanish or French.

[Improved Windows Search]

[REMINDER] For improved Windows Search on Copilot+ PCs, it is recommended that you plug in your Copilot+ PC for the initial search indexing to get completed. You can check your search indexing status under Settings > Privacy & security > Searching Windows.

[Start menu]

We’re investigating reports that clicking your profile picture isn’t opening the Account Manager for some Insiders after the last flight.

[Task Manager]

After adding the new CPU Utility column, you may notice that System Idle Process always shows as 0.
The CPU graphs in the Performance page are still using the old CPU utility calculations.

[Narrator]

[NEW] We are investigating an issue where the richer image descriptions on your Copilot+ PC with Narrator do not work.

[Voice Access]

[NEW] We are investigating an issue where support for more descriptive and flexible language on Copilot+ PCs does not work as expected.

Entra ID support for AI features in Paint and Notepad

We are rolling out Entra ID support for AI features in Paint (version 11.2503.381.0 and higher) and Notepad (version 11.2503.16.0 and higher) to Windows Insiders on IT-managed PCs in the Canary, Dev, and Beta Channels. This update enables commercial customers to access AI features that were previously limited to consumers. In Paint, Entra ID unlocks access to Cocreator, which generates images by combining a sketch and text prompt and Generative Fill, which adds new elements to selected areas of a canvas based on descriptive input. These tools help teams explore ideas visually and speed up creative workflows. In Notepad, Entra ID unlocks the ability to quickly summarize or rewrite text content.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel

Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel receive updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 via an enablement package (Build 26200.xxxx).
Updates delivered to the Dev Channel are in a format that offers a preview of enhancements to servicing technology on Windows 11, version 24H2. To learn more, see https://aka.ms/CheckpointCumulativeUpdates.
Many features in the Dev Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.

Please note that some accessibility features may not work with features like Recall and Click to Do while in preview with Windows Insiders.

Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.3964 (Beta Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Mon, 12 May 2025 21:03:56 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.3964 (KB5058496) to the Beta Channel for Windows Insiders on Windows 11, version 24H2. REMINDER: Build 22635.5305 was the last update released to the Beta Channel based on Windows 11, version 23H2. All Insiders in the Beta Channel will be getting upgraded to Windows 11, version 24H2 soon. Until that happens, Insiders on Windows 11, version 23H2 in the Beta Channel can choose to upgrade to Windows 11, version 24H2 and this build today if they want. Changes in Beta Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*) and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Beta Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

New Copilot+ PC experiences

Introducing the new agent in Settings

Last week, we announced a change to Settings designed to help solve one of the most common frustrations we heard: finding and changing settings on your PC. With this update to Settings, you will be able to simply describe what you need help with like, “how to control my PC by voice” or “my mouse pointer is too small” and the agent will recommend the right steps you can take to address the issue. An agent uses AI on your PC to understand your intent and with your permission, automate and execute tasks on your behalf. This experience is rolling out to Windows Insiders on Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PCs with support for AMD- and Intel™-powered PCs coming soon. Please note that this experience works if your primary display language is set to English. [caption id="attachment_177859" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Agent powered search results for my mouse pointer is too small in Settings.[/caption] FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Settings > All other settings.

Intelligent text actions in Click to Do for AMD and Intel™-powered Copilot+ PCs

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Click to Do (Preview)]

⁠For Windows Insiders using French or Spanish as their primary language on their PC, Click to Do will temporarily only provide Summarize, Create a bulleted list, Refine as intelligent text actions. Rewrite and its options, including Refine, will return in a future update.

[Dynamic Lighting]

Dynamic Lighting compatible devices can now be safely removed using the "Safely Remove Hardware and Eject Media" taskbar icon.

[Settings]

We’re making it easy to find answers to common questions about your PC and Windows 11 with a dedicated FAQs section on the Settings > System > About page, providing quick and helpful insights for using your PC all in one place. Whether you’re curious about system configuration, performance, or compatibility, this experience ensures you get the information you need for the frequently asked questions for those topics. We hope these FAQs will help you make informed decisions about your PC with ease.

[caption id="attachment_177765" align="alignnone" width="650"] FAQ section highlighted in a red box on the About settings page.[/caption]

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Start menu]

Fixed a few crashes impacting Start menu reliability for Insiders in recent flights.

[File Explorer]

Fixed a deadlock which could occur when loading File Explorer Home, causing it to hang.
Fixed an issue where Shared by and Activity information was missing in the tooltip when hovering over recent documents in File Explorer Home.
Fixed an issue which could cause explorer.exe to crash when closing File Explorer.

[Voice Access]

Fixed an issue which was causing voice access crashes when using Spanish.

[Taskbar]

Fixed an issue where when using Tab and Shift + Tab to move keyboard focus around the taskbar, if you went backwards at least once you could get keyboard focus stuck on the taskbar frame, which would potentially lead screen readers to just say “pane”.
Fixed an issue which could cause the media controls in the preview windows for apps in the taskbar (that support it) to flicker.

[Windows Spotlight]

Fixed an issue where the Windows Spotlight flyout for “learn more about this picture” (when using it as your desktop background) might get stuck above other app windows.

[Live captions]

Fixed an issue causing live captions to crash in the previous build.

[Other]

Improved the colors used in MMC when items are selected, both generally, and when contrast modes are enabled.
Fixed an underlying issue which could make some apps like Word hang when trying to print.

Known issues

[General]

After you do a PC reset under Settings > System > Recovery, your build version may incorrectly show as Build 26100 instead of Build 26120. This will not prevent you from getting future Beta Channel updates, which will resolve this issue.
We’re working on the fix for an issue where core Windows surfaces are not able to load in safe mode (File Explorer, Start menu, and others) after the previous flight.
[NEW] The option to reset your PC under Settings > System > Recovery will not work on this build.

[Xbox Controllers]

Some Insiders are experiencing an issue where using their Xbox Controller via Bluetooth is causing their PC to bugcheck. Here is how to resolve the issue. Open Device Manager by searching for it via the search box on your taskbar. Once Device Manager is open, click on "View" and then "Devices by Driver". Find the driver named "oemXXX.inf (XboxGameControllerDriver.inf)" where the "XXX" will be a specific number on your PC. Right-click on that driver and click "Uninstall".

[Recall (Preview)]

[REMINDER] You are always in control and can always choose to remove Recall anytime via “Turn Windows features on or off”. Removing Recall will delete entry points and binaries. Like any feature, Windows sometimes keeps temporary copies of binaries for serviceability. These Recall binaries are not executable and are eventually removed over time.
[REMINDER] Make sure you update Microsoft 365 apps to the latest version so you can jump back into specific documents.

[Click to Do (Preview)]

[REMINDER] The intelligent text actions are now locally moderated to ensure the safety of prompts and responses and has replaced the cloud endpoint. Now that these intelligent text actions are fully local, they are also available in Click to Do in Recall.
[REMINDER] If any of your actions on image entities are no longer appearing, please ensure you have the latest updates for the Photos and Paint app from the Microsoft Store.

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

[NEW] Image actions may not show up in Click to Do.
[NEW] Windows Insiders on AMD or Intel™-powered Copilot+ PCs may experience long wait times on the first attempt to perform intelligent text actions in Click to Do after a new build or model update.

[Improved Windows Search]

[REMINDER] For improved Windows Search on Copilot+ PCs, it is recommended that you plug in your Copilot+ PC for the initial search indexing to get completed. You can check your search indexing status under Settings > Privacy & security > Searching Windows.

[Start menu]

We’re investigating reports that clicking your profile picture isn’t opening the Account Manager for some Insiders after the last flight.

[Task Manager]

After adding the new CPU Utility column, you may notice that System Idle Process always shows as 0.
The CPU graphs in the Performance page are still using the old CPU utility calculations.

[Narrator]

[NEW] We are investigating an issue where the richer image descriptions on your Copilot+ PC with Narrator do not work.

[Voice Access]

[NEW] We are investigating an issue where support for more descriptive and flexible language on Copilot+ PCs does not work as expected.

Entra ID support for AI features in Paint and Notepad

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel

Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel on Windows 11, version 24H2 will receive updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 via an enablement package (Build 26120.xxxx).
Updates delivered to the Beta Channel are in a format that offers a preview of enhancements to servicing technology on Windows 11, version 24H2. To learn more, see https://aka.ms/CheckpointCumulativeUpdates.
Many features in the Beta Channel are rolled out using Controlled Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.

Please note that some accessibility features may not work with features like Recall and Click to Do while in preview with Windows Insiders.

Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5581 (Dev Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Mon, 05 May 2025 21:01:39 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5581 (KB5055651) to the Dev Channel. Changes in Dev Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*) and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Dev Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

New features gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

Energy saver now available in Microsoft Intune

Local Group Policy Editor in Windows 11
Microsoft Intune Admin Center

[caption id="attachment_177847" align="alignnone" width="639"] New group policy highlighted in a red box in Local Group Policy Editor.[/caption] The path for the new policy configuration can be found at in Local Group Policy Editor by navigating to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > Power Management > Energy Saver Settings and “Enable Energy Saver to Always Be On”.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[Recall (Preview)]

We're trying out different treatments of the UI in Recall including trying out different locations for snapshot actions and the timeline.

[Taskbar & System Tray]

We have adjusted the needy state pill under apps on the taskbar that need attention to be wider and more visible.

[caption id="attachment_177848" align="alignnone" width="505"] Wider needy state pill UI showing for Microsoft Teams on the taskbar indicating the app needs attention.[/caption]

Admins can now allow users to unpin specific pinned apps, ensuring they are not pinned again during the next policy refresh cycle. To enable this feature, use the new PinGeneration option. Learn more about configuring pinned apps on the taskbar.

[Graphics]

We’re introducing some improvements for managing HDR capabilities of your PC via under Settings > System > Display > HDR: [caption id="attachment_177851" align="alignnone" width="639"] New HDR management settings highlighted in a red box.[/caption]

We have changed the wording for “Use HDR” inside display capabilities to improve clarity on supported media types.

On PCs with HDR displays, we have added the option to allow HDR video streaming even when HDR is off in settings.

On PCs with Dolby Vision displays, we have added the option to toggle Dolby Vision mode independently from HDR. You can now enjoy HDR with Dolby Vision either on or off based on your preference.

Learn more about HDR settings in Windows.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[Taskbar]

Fixed an underlying issue which was causing keyboard focus to get set to widgets in the taskbar on login, which could make widgets unexpectedly invoke.
Fixed an issue where WIN + CTRL + wasn’t working to cycle between windows of open apps for that position on the taskbar.

[Audio]

Fixed an issue which could cause the startup sound not to play, though it was enabled.

[Graphics]

Fixed an issue which could cause unexpected scaling and window position changes after sleep/resume for some devices.

[Windows Update]

Fixed an issue where after resetting your PC, taking subsequent cumulative updates may fail with error 0x800f081f.

Known issues

[General]

When joining the Dev Channel on Windows 11, version 24H2 – you will no longer be offered Build 26200.5518 first and will be offered the most current available update in the Dev Channel.
After you do a PC reset under Settings > System > Recovery, your build version may incorrectly show as Build 26100 instead of Build 26200. This will not prevent you from getting future Beta Channel updates, which will resolve this issue.
We’re investigating an issue where core Windows surfaces are not able to load in safe mode (File Explorer, Start menu, and others) after the previous flight.

[Xbox Controllers]

Some Insiders are experiencing an issue where using their Xbox Controller via Bluetooth is causing their PC to bugcheck. Here is how to resolve the issue. Open Device Manager by searching for it via the search box on your taskbar. Once Device Manager is open, click on "View" and then "Devices by Driver". Find the driver named "oemXXX.inf (XboxGameControllerDriver.inf)" where the "XXX" will be a specific number on your PC. Right-click on that driver and click "Uninstall".

[Live Captions]

[NEW] We’re investigating an issue where live captions is crashing on this build.

[Recall (Preview)]

[REMINDER] You are always in control and can always choose to remove Recall anytime via “Turn Windows features on or off”. Removing Recall will delete entry points and binaries. Like any feature, Windows sometimes keeps temporary copies of binaries for serviceability. These Recall binaries are not executable and are eventually removed over time.
[REMINDER] Make sure you update Microsoft 365 apps to the latest version so you can jump back into specific documents.

[Click to Do (Preview)]

[REMINDER] The intelligent text actions are now locally moderated to ensure the safety of prompts and responses and has replaced the cloud endpoint. Now that these intelligent text actions are fully local, they are also available in Click to Do in Recall.
[REMINDER] If any of your actions on image entities are no longer appearing, please ensure you have the latest updates for the Photos and Paint app from the Microsoft Store.

[Improved Windows Search]

[REMINDER] For improved Windows Search on Copilot+ PCs, it is recommended that you plug in your Copilot+ PC for the initial search indexing to get completed. You can check your search indexing status under Settings > Privacy & security > Searching Windows.

[Start menu]

We’re investigating reports that clicking your profile picture isn’t opening the Account Manager for some Insiders after the last flight.

[Task Manager]

After adding the new CPU Utility column, you may notice that System Idle Process always shows as 0.
The CPU graphs in the Performance page are still using the old CPU utility calculations.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel

Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel receive updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 via an enablement package (Build 26200.xxxx).
Updates delivered to the Dev Channel are in a format that offers a preview of enhancements to servicing technology on Windows 11, version 24H2. To learn more, see https://aka.ms/CheckpointCumulativeUpdates.
Many features in the Dev Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.

Please note that some accessibility features may not work with features like Recall and Click to Do while in preview with Windows Insiders.

Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.3950 (Beta Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Mon, 05 May 2025 21:01:31 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.3950 (KB5055653) to the Beta Channel for Windows Insiders on Windows 11, version 24H2. REMINDER: Build 22635.5305 was the last update released to the Beta Channel based on Windows 11, version 23H2. All Insiders in the Beta Channel will be getting upgraded to Windows 11, version 24H2 soon. Until that happens, Insiders on Windows 11, version 23H2 in the Beta Channel can choose to upgrade to Windows 11, version 24H2 and this build today if they want. Changes in Beta Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*) and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Beta Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

New features gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

Energy saver now available in Microsoft Intune

Local Group Policy Editor in Windows 11
Microsoft Intune Admin Center

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Recall (Preview)]

We're trying out different treatments of the UI in Recall including trying out different locations for snapshot actions and the timeline.

[Taskbar & System Tray]

We have adjusted the needy state pill under apps on the taskbar that need attention to be wider and more visible.

[caption id="attachment_177848" align="alignnone" width="505"] Wider needy state pill UI showing for Microsoft Teams on the taskbar indicating the app needs attention.[/caption]

Admins can now allow users to unpin specific pinned apps, ensuring they are not pinned again during the next policy refresh cycle. To enable this feature, use the new PinGeneration option. Learn more about configuring pinned apps on the taskbar.

[Graphics]

We’re introducing some improvements for managing HDR capabilities of your PC via under Settings > System > Display > HDR: [caption id="attachment_177851" align="alignnone" width="629"] New HDR management settings highlighted in a red box.[/caption]

We have changed the wording for “Use HDR” inside display capabilities to improve clarity on supported media types.

On PCs with HDR displays, we have added the option to allow HDR video streaming even when HDR is off in settings.

On PCs with Dolby Vision displays, we have added the option to toggle Dolby Vision mode independently from HDR. You can now enjoy HDR with Dolby Vision either on or off based on your preference.

Learn more about HDR settings in Windows.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Taskbar]

Fixed an underlying issue which was causing keyboard focus to get set to widgets in the taskbar on login, which could make widgets unexpectedly invoke.
Fixed an issue where WIN + CTRL + wasn’t working to cycle between windows of open apps for that position on the taskbar.

[Audio]

Fixed an issue which could cause the startup sound not to play, though it was enabled.

[Graphics]

Fixed an issue which could cause unexpected scaling and window position changes after sleep/resume for some devices.

[Windows Update]

Fixed an issue where after resetting your PC, taking subsequent cumulative updates may fail with error 0x800f081f.

Known issues

[General]

When joining the Beta Channel on Windows 11, version 24H2 – you will be no longer be offered Build 26120.3360 first and will be offered the most current available update in the Beta Channel.
After you do a PC reset under Settings > System > Recovery, your build version may incorrectly show as Build 26100 instead of Build 26120. This will not prevent you from getting future Beta Channel updates, which will resolve this issue.
We’re investigating an issue where core Windows surfaces are not able to load in safe mode (File Explorer, Start menu, and others) after the previous flight.

[Xbox Controllers]

Some Insiders are experiencing an issue where using their Xbox Controller via Bluetooth is causing their PC to bugcheck. Here is how to resolve the issue. Open Device Manager by searching for it via the search box on your taskbar. Once Device Manager is open, click on "View" and then "Devices by Driver". Find the driver named "oemXXX.inf (XboxGameControllerDriver.inf)" where the "XXX" will be a specific number on your PC. Right-click on that driver and click "Uninstall".

[Live Captions]

[NEW] We’re investigating an issue where live captions is crashing on this build.

[Recall (Preview)]

[REMINDER] You are always in control and can always choose to remove Recall anytime via “Turn Windows features on or off”. Removing Recall will delete entry points and binaries. Like any feature, Windows sometimes keeps temporary copies of binaries for serviceability. These Recall binaries are not executable and are eventually removed over time.
[REMINDER] Make sure you update Microsoft 365 apps to the latest version so you can jump back into specific documents.

[Click to Do (Preview)]

[REMINDER] The intelligent text actions are now locally moderated to ensure the safety of prompts and responses and has replaced the cloud endpoint. Now that these intelligent text actions are fully local, they are also available in Click to Do in Recall.
[REMINDER] If any of your actions on image entities are no longer appearing, please ensure you have the latest updates for the Photos and Paint app from the Microsoft Store.

[Improved Windows Search]

[REMINDER] For improved Windows Search on Copilot+ PCs, it is recommended that you plug in your Copilot+ PC for the initial search indexing to get completed. You can check your search indexing status under Settings > Privacy & security > Searching Windows.

[Start menu]

We’re investigating reports that clicking your profile picture isn’t opening the Account Manager for some Insiders after the last flight.

[Task Manager]

After adding the new CPU Utility column, you may notice that System Idle Process always shows as 0.
The CPU graphs in the Performance page are still using the old CPU utility calculations.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel

Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel on Windows 11, version 24H2 will receive updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 via an enablement package (Build 26120.xxxx).
Updates delivered to the Beta Channel are in a format that offers a preview of enhancements to servicing technology on Windows 11, version 24H2. To learn more, see https://aka.ms/CheckpointCumulativeUpdates.
Many features in the Beta Channel are rolled out using Controlled Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.

Please note that some accessibility features may not work with features like Recall and Click to Do while in preview with Windows Insiders.

Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.3941 (Beta Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 25 Apr 2025 17:04:36 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.3941 (KB5055634) to the Beta Channel for Windows Insiders on Windows 11, version 24H2. Changes in Beta Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*) and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Beta Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

New features gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

New profanity filter setting for voice typing

We’re excited to address the top customer feedback for voice typing by starting to roll out a new setting that lets you control the profanity filter. With this setting on, voice typing will continue to filter out profanity, masking it with asterisks, like it already did. With the setting off, it will type out your profanity like any other words. To adjust this setting, open voice typing (Win + H), select the settings icon, and use the Filter profanity toggle in the settings menu. [caption id="attachment_177830" align="alignnone" width="453"] New filter profanity option in voice typing settings highlighted in a red box.[/caption] FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Input and Language > Voice Typing (Windows key plus H).

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Click to Do (Preview)]

Click to Do is currently available in preview for Windows Insiders on Windows 11, version 24H2 in the Dev and Beta Channels on Copilot+ PCs.

If your PC supports pen and inking, you can configure the shortcut button (usually at the tail of your pen) to open Click to Do with a single-click, with a double-click, or by press and hold. You can configure this via Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Pen & Windows Ink.

[caption id="attachment_177834" align="alignnone" width="650"] Pen & Windows Ink settings page with option to point pen shortcut to Click to Do highlighted in a red box.[/caption]

Click to Do can also be added as 1 of the 4 apps you can launch via the pen menu when using a pen with your PC. If all 4 of the slots for the pen menu are configured with apps, you may need to swap out one of those apps with Click to Do via the pen menu settings.

[caption id="attachment_177835" align="alignnone" width="450"] Click to Do shown in the pen menu.[/caption]

[Improved Windows Search

Improved Windows Search is currently available in preview for Windows Insiders on Windows 11, version 24H2 in the Dev and Beta Channels on Copilot+ PCs.

If you are signed into OneDrive with a work or school account (Entra ID), you will only see matches for keywords you are searching for within the text of your cloud files in the results shown in the Windows search box on the taskbar – not photos.

[Taskbar & System Tray]

We are improving Accessibility flyout in quick settings by grouping the assistive technologies by vision, hearing, motor and mobility for easy identification to help you find the right accessibility feature based on your needs.

[caption id="attachment_177836" align="alignnone" width="450"] New grouping by vision, hearing, motor and mobility in the Accessibility flyout in quick settings.[/caption]

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[General]

Fixed an underlying issue causing apps to appear blank after installing the latest flights.

[Click to Do (Preview)]

The following fixes are rolling out for Click to Do on Copilot+ PCs:

Fixed the issue causing images that are used with Click to Do image actions to be stuck in your temp folder on your PC.

[Login and Lock]

Fixed an issue causing Windows Hello facial recognition to not work for login for some Insiders after the last two flights.

[Input]

Fixed an issue where when using the Symbols section of the touch keyboard, pressing the key to change pages may unexpectedly insert a character into password fields.
Fixed an issue where toggling back and forth to the Japanese touch keyboard could block input on it.

[Settings]

Fixed an issue where hovering over the cards at the top of System > About wasn’t showing the correct corner radius.

[Other]

Fixed an issue which was causing Quick Assist to not work for non-administrator users (showing error 1002).
Fixed an underlying issue which was causing certain apps to fail to open with an error saying, “The application was unable to load a required virtual machine component”.
Fixed an underlying issue which could lead to certain USB devices becoming disconnected after sleep, until you rebooted your PC.

Fixes for everyone in the Beta Channel

[General]

We fixed the issue that caused Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) to not work and the option “Fix problems using Windows Update” option under Settings > Recovery to also not work. If you experience any issues with these experiences, please file feedback in Feedback Hub.

Known issues

[General]

[REMINDER] When joining the Beta Channels on Windows 11, version 24H2 – you will be offered Build 26120.3360 After installing that update, you will be offered the most recent update available. This 2-hop experience to get onto the latest 24H2-based flight in the Beta Channel is just temporary.
After you do a PC reset under Settings > System > Recovery, your build version may incorrectly show as Build 26100 instead of Build 26120. This will not prevent you from getting future Beta Channel updates, which will resolve this issue.
Windows Sandbox may fail to launch with a 0x800705b4 error. If you hit this, you can try reinstalling Sandbox by unchecking Sandbox under "Turn Windows features on or off" to uninstall it then reboot, go back to "Turn Windows features on or off" and check Sandbox to reinstall it and reboot again.
[NEW] We’re investigating an issue where core Windows surfaces are not able to load in safe mode (File Explorer, Start menu, and others) after the previous flight.

[Xbox Controllers]

[NEW] Some Insiders are experiencing an issue where using their Xbox Controller via Bluetooth is causing their PC to bugcheck. Here is how to resolve the issue. Open Device Manager by searching for it via the search box on your taskbar. Once Device Manager is open, click on "View" and then "Devices by Driver". Find the driver named "oemXXX.inf (XboxGameControllerDriver.inf)" where the "XXX" will be a specific number on your PC. Right-click on that driver and click "Uninstall".

[Recall (Preview)]

[REMINDER] You are always in control and can always choose to remove Recall anytime via “Turn Windows features on or off”. Removing Recall will delete entry points and binaries. Like any feature, Windows sometimes keeps temporary copies of binaries for serviceability. These Recall binaries are not executable and are eventually removed over time.
[REMINDER] Make sure you update Microsoft 365 apps to the latest version so you can jump back into specific documents.

[Click to Do (Preview)]

[REMINDER] The intelligent text actions are now locally moderated to ensure the safety of prompts and responses and has replaced the cloud endpoint. Now that these intelligent text actions are fully local, they are also available in Click to Do in Recall.
[REMINDER] If any of your actions on image entities are no longer appearing, please ensure you have the latest updates for the Photos and Paint app from the Microsoft Store.

[Improved Windows Search]

[REMINDER] For improved Windows Search on Copilot+ PCs, it is recommended that you plug in your Copilot+ PC for the initial search indexing to get completed. You can check your search indexing status under Settings > Privacy & security > Searching Windows.

[Start menu]

[NEW] We’re investigating reports that clicking your profile picture isn’t opening the Account Manager for some Insiders after the last flight.

[Task Manager]

After adding the new CPU Utility column, you may notice that System Idle Process always shows as 0.
The CPU graphs in the Performance page are still using the old CPU utility calculations.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel

Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel on Windows 11, version 24H2 will receive updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 via an enablement package (Build 26120.xxxx).
Updates delivered to the Beta Channel are in a format that offers a preview of enhancements to servicing technology on Windows 11, version 24H2. To learn more, see https://aka.ms/CheckpointCumulativeUpdates.
Many features in the Beta Channel are rolled out using Controlled Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Please note that some accessibility features may not work with features like Recall and Click to Do while in preview with Windows Insiders.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.5305 (Beta Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 25 Apr 2025 17:04:32 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.5305 (KB5055636) to the Beta Channel for Windows Insiders on Windows 11, version 23H2. IMPORTANT NOTE: This will be the last update released to the Beta Channel based on Windows 11, version 23H2. All Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel will be getting upgraded to Windows 11, version 24H2 soon. Going forward – updates released to the Beta Channel will now be based on Windows 11, version 24H2. Windows 11, version 24H2 is currently available as an optional upgrade for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel today. Changes in Beta Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*) and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Beta Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

New features gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

New profanity filter setting for voice typing

We’re excited to address the top customer feedback for voice typing by starting to roll out a new setting that lets you control the profanity filter. With this setting on, voice typing will continue to filter out profanity, masking it with asterisks, like it already did. With the setting off, it will type out your profanity like any other words. To adjust this setting, open voice typing (Win + H), select the settings icon, and use the Filter profanity toggle in the settings menu. [caption id="attachment_177830" align="alignnone" width="453"] New filter profanity option in voice typing settings highlighted in a red box.[/caption] ALT-TEXT: New filter profanity option in voice typing settings highlighted in a red box. FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Input and Language > Voice Typing (Windows key plus H).

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Taskbar & System Tray]

Admins can now allow users to unpin specific pinned apps, ensuring they are not pinned again during the next policy refresh cycle. To enable this feature, use the new PinGeneration option. Learn more about configuring pinned apps on the taskbar.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[File Explorer]

Fixed an issue where if you tapped the View button in File Explorer with touch, File Explorer would crash.

[Windows Spotlight]

Fixed an issue where the Windows Spotlight flyout for “learn more about this picture” (when using it as your desktop background) might get stuck above other app windows.

[Input]

Fixed an issue where when using the Symbols section of the touch keyboard, pressing the key to change pages may unexpectedly insert a character into password fields.

[Settings]

Fixed an issue where hovering over the cards at the top of System > About wasn’t showing the correct corner radius.

Known issues

[Xbox Controllers]

[NEW] Some Insiders are experiencing an issue where using their Xbox Controller via Bluetooth is causing their PC to bugcheck. Here is how to resolve the issue. Open Device Manager by searching for it via the search box on your taskbar. Once Device Manager is open, click on "View" and then "Devices by Driver". Find the driver named "oemXXX.inf (XboxGameControllerDriver.inf)" where the "XXX" will be a specific number on your PC. Right-click on that driver and click "Uninstall".

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel

Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel on Windows 11, version 23H2 will receive updates based on Windows 11, version 23H2 via an enablement package (Build 22635.xxxx).
Many features in the Beta Channel are rolled out using Controlled Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5570 (Dev Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 25 Apr 2025 17:03:49 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5570 (KB5055632) to the Dev Channel. Changes in Dev Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*) and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Dev Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

New features gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

New profanity filter setting for voice typing

We’re excited to address the top customer feedback for voice typing by starting to roll out a new setting that lets you control the profanity filter. With this setting on, voice typing will continue to filter out profanity, masking it with asterisks, like it already did. With the setting off, it will type out your profanity like any other words. To adjust this setting, open voice typing (Win + H), select the settings icon, and use the Filter profanity toggle in the settings menu. [caption id="attachment_177830" align="alignnone" width="453"] New filter profanity option in voice typing settings highlighted in a red box.[/caption] FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Input and Language > Voice Typing (Windows key plus H).

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[Click to Do (Preview)]

Click to Do is currently available in preview for Windows Insiders on Windows 11, version 24H2 in the Dev and Beta Channels on Copilot+ PCs.

If your PC supports pen and inking, you can configure the shortcut button (usually at the tail of your pen) to open Click to Do with a single-click, with a double-click, or by press and hold. You can configure this via Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Pen & Windows Ink.

[caption id="attachment_177834" align="alignnone" width="650"] Pen & Windows Ink settings page with option to point pen shortcut to Click to Do highlighted in a red box.[/caption]

Click to Do can also be added as 1 of the 4 apps you can launch via the pen menu when using a pen with your PC. If all 4 of the slots for the pen menu are configured with apps, you may need to swap out one of those apps with Click to Do via the pen menu settings.

[caption id="attachment_177835" align="alignnone" width="450"] Click to Do shown in the pen menu.[/caption]

[Improved Windows Search

Improved Windows Search is currently available in preview for Windows Insiders on Windows 11, version 24H2 in the Dev and Beta Channels on Copilot+ PCs.

If you are signed into OneDrive with a work or school account (Entra ID), you will only see matches for keywords you are searching for within the text of your cloud files in the results shown in the Windows search box on the taskbar – not photos.

[Taskbar & System Tray]

We are improving Accessibility flyout in quick settings by grouping the assistive technologies by vision, hearing, motor and mobility for easy identification to help you find the right accessibility feature based on your needs.

[caption id="attachment_177836" align="alignnone" width="450"] New grouping by vision, hearing, motor and mobility in the Accessibility flyout in quick settings.[/caption]

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[General]

Fixed an underlying issue causing apps to appear blank after installing the latest flights.

[Click to Do (Preview)]

The following fixes are rolling out for Click to Do on Copilot+ PCs:

Fixed the issue causing images that are used with Click to Do image actions to be stuck in your temp folder on your PC.

[Login and Lock]

Fixed an issue causing Windows Hello facial recognition to not work for login for some Insiders after the last two flights.

[Input]

Fixed an issue where when using the Symbols section of the touch keyboard, pressing the key to change pages may unexpectedly insert a character into password fields.
Fixed an issue where toggling back and forth to the Japanese touch keyboard could block input on it.

[Settings]

Fixed an issue where hovering over the cards at the top of System > About wasn’t showing the correct corner radius.

[Other]

Fixed an issue which was causing Quick Assist to not work for non-administrator users (showing error 1002).
Fixed an underlying issue which was causing certain apps to fail to open with an error saying, “The application was unable to load a required virtual machine component”.
Fixed an underlying issue which could lead to certain USB devices becoming disconnected after sleep, until you rebooted your PC.

Fixes for everyone in the Dev Channel

[General]

We fixed the issue that caused Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) to not work and the option “Fix problems using Windows Update” option under Settings > Recovery to also not work. If you experience any issues with these experiences, please file feedback in Feedback Hub.

Known issues

[General]

[IMPORTANT]When joining the Dev Channel on Windows 11, version 24H2 – you will be offered Build 26200.5518 After installing that update, you will be offered the most recent update available. This 2-hop experience to get onto the latest 24H2-based flight in the Dev Channel is just temporary.
After you do a PC reset under Settings > System > Recovery, your build version may incorrectly show as Build 26100 instead of Build 26200. This will not prevent you from getting future Beta Channel updates, which will resolve this issue.
Windows Sandbox may fail to launch with a 0x800705b4 error. If you hit this, you can try reinstalling Sandbox by unchecking Sandbox under "Turn Windows features on or off" to uninstall it then reboot, go back to "Turn Windows features on or off" and check Sandbox to reinstall it and reboot again.
[NEW] We’re investigating an issue where core Windows surfaces are not able to load in safe mode (File Explorer, Start menu, and others) after the previous flight.

[Xbox Controllers]

[NEW] Some Insiders are experiencing an issue where using their Xbox Controller via Bluetooth is causing their PC to bugcheck. Here is how to resolve the issue. Open Device Manager by searching for it via the search box on your taskbar. Once Device Manager is open, click on "View" and then "Devices by Driver". Find the driver named "oemXXX.inf (XboxGameControllerDriver.inf)" where the "XXX" will be a specific number on your PC. Right-click on that driver and click "Uninstall".

[Recall (Preview)]

[REMINDER] You are always in control and can always choose to remove Recall anytime via “Turn Windows features on or off”. Removing Recall will delete entry points and binaries. Like any feature, Windows sometimes keeps temporary copies of binaries for serviceability. These Recall binaries are not executable and are eventually removed over time.
[REMINDER] Make sure you update Microsoft 365 apps to the latest version so you can jump back into specific documents.

[Click to Do (Preview)]

[REMINDER] The intelligent text actions are now locally moderated to ensure the safety of prompts and responses and has replaced the cloud endpoint. Now that these intelligent text actions are fully local, they are also available in Click to Do in Recall.
[REMINDER] If any of your actions on image entities are no longer appearing, please ensure you have the latest updates for the Photos and Paint app from the Microsoft Store.

[Improved Windows Search]

[REMINDER] For improved Windows Search on Copilot+ PCs, it is recommended that you plug in your Copilot+ PC for the initial search indexing to get completed. You can check your search indexing status under Settings > Privacy & security > Searching Windows.

[Start menu]

[NEW] We’re investigating reports that clicking your profile picture isn’t opening the Account Manager for some Insiders after the last flight.

[Task Manager]

After adding the new CPU Utility column, you may notice that System Idle Process always shows as 0.
The CPU graphs in the Performance page are still using the old CPU utility calculations.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel

Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel receive updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 via an enablement package (Build 26200.xxxx).
Updates delivered to the Dev Channel are in a format that offers a preview of enhancements to servicing technology on Windows 11, version 24H2. To learn more, see https://aka.ms/CheckpointCumulativeUpdates.
Many features in the Dev Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.

Please note that some accessibility features may not work with features like Recall and Click to Do while in preview with Windows Insiders.

Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27842 (Canary Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Wed, 23 Apr 2025 17:05:33 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27842 to the Canary Channel. [UPDATE 4/25] We have released the ISOs for Build 27842 - download them here. We are also not planning to release SDKs for 27xxx series builds for the time being.

Changes and Improvements

[General]

The improved battery iconography in Windows 11 may disappear for Windows Insiders in the current flights. We’re beginning to re-roll this change out to Windows Insiders.
We’re previewing a new, more streamlined UI for unexpected restarts which better aligns with Windows 11 design principles and supports our goal of getting users back into productivity as fast as possible. We’ve simplified your experience while preserving the technical information on the screen. As a reminder, for Windows Insiders this appears as a “green screen”. This is currently rolling out to Windows Insiders on Windows 11, version 24H2 and higher in the Beta, Dev, and Canary Channels.

[caption id="attachment_177754" align="alignnone" width="759"] The updated UI for unexpected restarts for Windows Insiders on preview builds.[/caption]

[Windows Security]

We are beginning to roll out (again) a change in the Windows Security app where will show more details such as manufacturer and manufacturer version for Pluton TPM chips if your PC has one under Device security > Security processor details.

[Input]

[ADDED] As part of our ongoing work to improve our settings experiences, we’re starting to make more mouse related settings available directly under Settings > Accessibility > Mouse and Settings > Accessibility > Mouse pointer and touch without needing to go into Control Panel. This includes the settings for mouse indicator, mouse pointer trails, and further mouse behavior and pointer customization. As part of this work, we have also added the ability to adjust the amount of time needed to hover over a window to activate it, if you have activated on hover enabled. Finally, we updated the icon used for Mouse pointer speed in Bluetooth & Devices > Mouse and added an icon to the Enhance mouse pointer precision option.
[ADDED] We’re updating the Bluetooth & Devices > Pen and Windows Ink, and Bluetooth & Devices > Touch pages in Settings to have options if you want press and hold for pen or touch to perform a right click action.

[Other]

Support for the Visual Studio Graphics Analyzer's shader debugging feature is being removed. In this build, attempting to use it may crash Visual Studio or the analysis session. It is recommended that customers use alternative graphics debuggers such as PIX for D3D12 or RenderDoc.
We’re removing the bypassnro.cmd script from the build to enhance security and user experience of Windows 11. This change ensures that all users exit setup with internet connectivity and a Microsoft Account.

Fixes

[General]

Fixed the issue causing the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update to not render correctly and automatically turn off by itself.
Fixed an issue in the latest builds causing some Insiders to see a bugcheck with WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR doing various actions on their PC.

[Taskbar & System Tray]

Fixed an issue impacting explorer.exe reliability in the latest builds.
Fixed an issue where when using Hebrew or Arabic as your display language, if you pressed WIN + T then arrow keys, focus through the taskbar icons would move in the opposite direction.

[Administrator Protection]

Fixed an issue which could cause lsass.exe to unexpectedly use a lot of CPU impacting performance after enabling Administrator Protection.

[Input]

Fixed a high hitting ctfmon.exe crash, which could impact the ability to type.
Fixed an issue in the latest builds causing DWM to crash when inking (which could lead to you seeing a black screen flash).

[Login and Lock]

Updated the web sign-in icon slightly to better align with the other icons when selecting a sign in option on the login screen.

[Windows Security]

Fixed an issue where the Smart App Control icon wasn’t displaying correctly in the Windows Security app.

[Display and Graphics]

Fixed an issue where external graphics cards connected over Thunderbolt were unexpectedly not discoverable in some cases.
Fixed an issue where some JPG images weren’t displaying, although they could display correctly on older builds.
Fixed an issue where you might need to press the Windows key plus P twice in order to switch topologies.

[Other]

Fixed an issue where the IP Helper Service was failing to start in the latest builds. This may have caused issues with some apps.
Fixed an issue causing midisrv.exe crashes in the latest builds.
Fixed an issue which was causing the Run dialog to not show an autocomplete dropdown if you started typing a file path.

Known issues

[General]

[IMPORTANT NOTE FOR COPILOT+ PCs] If you are joining the Canary Channel on a new Copilot+ PC from the Dev Channel, Release Preview Channel or retail, you will lose Windows Hello pin and biometrics to sign into your PC with error 0xd0000225 and error message “Something went wrong, and your PIN isn’t available”. You should be able to re-create your PIN by clicking “Set up my PIN”.
[NEW] We’re working on the fix for an issue causing night light to not work for some Insiders after the latest flight.

[Xbox Controllers]

[NEW] Some Insiders are experiencing an issue where using their Xbox Controller via Bluetooth is causing their PC to bugcheck. Here is how to resolve the issue. Open Device Manager by searching for it via the search box on your taskbar. Once Device Manager is open, click on "View" and then "Devices by Driver". Find the driver named "oemXXX.inf (XboxGameControllerDriver.inf)" where the "XXX" will be a specific number on your PC. Right-click on that driver and click "Uninstall".

[Taskbar]

We’re working on the fix for an issue where the taskbar icons aren’t increasing in size as they should when using your PC in a tablet posture.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Canary Channel

The builds we release to the Canary Channel represent the latest platform changes early in the development cycle and should not be seen as matched to any specific release of Windows and features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.

Many features in the Canary Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
Some features may show up in the Dev and Beta Channels first before showing up in the Canary Channel.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
To get off the Canary Channel, a clean install of Windows 11 will be required. As a reminder - Insiders can’t switch to a channel that is receiving builds with lower build numbers without doing a clean installation of Windows 11 due to technical setup requirements.

The desktop watermark shown at the lower right corner of the desktop is normal for these pre-release builds.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.3872 (Beta Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Mon, 21 Apr 2025 21:04:04 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.3872 (KB5055640) to the Beta Channel for Windows Insiders on Windows 11, version 24H2. Changes in Beta Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*) and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Beta Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

New Copilot+ PC experiences

New text actions in Click to Do

We are beginning to roll out two new text actions in Click to Do! [caption id="attachment_177815" align="alignnone" width="2880"] New reading text actions in Click to Do highlighted in a red box.[/caption] Practice in Reading Coach: Improve your reading fluency and pronunciation with the "Practice in Reading Coach" Click to Do action. Simply select the text recognized by Click to Do on your screen, choose the Practice in Reading Coach action, and read the text out loud. The Reading Coach provides feedback and guides you on where to make improvements. To use this feature, install the free Microsoft Reading Coach application from the Microsoft Store. Read with Immersive Reader: Enhance your reading experience with the "Read with Immersive Reader" Click to Do action. This feature displays recognized text in a distraction-free environment, allowing you to focus on reading. Originally designed to meet the needs of readers with dyslexia and dysgraphia, Immersive Reader helps readers of all ages and abilities improve their reading and writing skills using proven techniques. Customize the text by changing its size, spacing, font, or background theme. You can also have the text read out loud, use syllable break to split words, and highlight nouns, verbs, and adjectives to aid grammar learning. The picture dictionary option provides visual representations of unfamiliar words for instant understanding. Install the free Microsoft Reading Coach application from the Microsoft Store to access this feature Text actions in Click to Do are rolling out to Windows Insiders on Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PCs, with support for AMD and Intel-powered Copilot+ PCs coming soon. You can learn more about using Click to Do here. FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Desktop Environment > Click to Do.

Finding photos saved in the cloud via the Windows search box, now available for Windows Insiders in the EEA

Windows Insiders in the European Economic Area can now find photos saved in the cloud with improved Windows Search to the Windows search box on the taskbar. Just use your own words to find photos stored and saved in the cloud by describing what they are about like “European castles” or “summer picnics” in the search box on your taskbar. In addition to photos stored locally on your Copilot+ PC, photos from the cloud will now show up in the search results together. In addition to searching for photos, exact matches for your keywords within the text of your cloud files will show in the search results. [caption id="attachment_177644" align="alignnone" width="2880"] Results including dog on beach photos from the cloud in the Windows search box on the taskbar with improved Windows Search.[/caption] Improved Windows Search experiences in the Windows search box on the taskbar continue to gradually roll out to Windows Insiders on Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PCs, including finding photos saved in the cloud, so you may not see these experiences right away. Support for AMD and Intel-powered Copilot+ PCs is coming soon. See here for more details. You can learn more about semantic search on Copilot + PCs here. FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Desktop Environment > Search.

New features gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

Improvements for voice access

We’re beginning to roll out several improvements for voice access in this build. Add custom words to the dictionary: We are introducing the ability for you to add your own words to the dictionary in voice access. Adding your own words, including difficult to pronounce words, to the dictionary in voice access will help improve dictation accuracy. It increases the probability of recognizing these words more accurately by creating a bias that helps voice access become more context aware and proactively understanding your specific vocabulary. The feature will be available in all the currently supported voice access languages i.e. English, French, German, Spanish and Chinese. You can add your own words to the dictionary in voice access in a few ways:

After spelling a word using “Spell that” command or making a correction using “Correct that”
Anywhere when you want to manually add a word by using “Add to Vocabulary” command.

[caption id="attachment_177816" align="alignnone" width="2880"] Voice access vocabulary builder dialog for adding your own words to the dictionary.[/caption]

Directly through the settings menu in voice access.

[caption id="attachment_177817" align="alignnone" width="2879"] Add to vocabulary option in voice access settings menu highlighted in a red box.[/caption] Discoverability voice access features: Voice access will now support an immersive in-product experience to announce new features and improvements. It will help you quickly discover and learn more about new features in voice access to try out. You can launch or dismiss this new experience from the settings menu. [caption id="attachment_177818" align="alignnone" width="2880"] New voice access in-product experience for highlighting new features and improvements in voice access.[/caption] And we are also including voice access under the Accessibility flyout via quick settings in the system tray of the taskbar. [caption id="attachment_177819" align="alignnone" width="364"] Voice access as an option under the Accessibility flyout via quick settings highlighted in a red box.[/caption] FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Accessibility > Voice access.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Improved Windows Search

Improved Windows Search is currently available in preview for Windows Insiders on Windows 11, version 24H2 in the Dev and Beta Channels on Copilot+ PCs.

You can now turn off searching for content saved in the cloud on your Copilot+ PC via Settings > Privacy and Security > Search permissions to access this setting. Please note this currently works only for the Windows search box on the taskbar. However, in a future update this setting will also apply to search in File Explorer.

[File Explorer]

We’re starting to roll out the change so that when you launch File Explorer folders from outside of File Explorer (for example, from an app or from the desktop), by default they will now open in a new tab if you have an existing File Explorer window. If you’d prefer that they continue opening in a new window, you can change this in File Explorer folder options, under General > Browse Folders.

[Widgets]

We are trying out improvements to the notification settings page in widgets on Windows 11 by introducing the ability to control the notifications per feed or dashboard. This change is currently rolling out to Windows Insiders in the European Economic Area (EEA).

[Windows Security]

We are beginning to roll out a change in the Windows Security app where will show more details such as manufacturer and manufacturer version for Pluton TPM chips if your PC has one under Device security > Security processor details.

[Settings]

We’ve updated the dialog when renaming your printer under Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Printers & scanners to match the Windows 11 visuals.

[caption id="attachment_177820" align="alignnone" width="466"] Updated dialog for renaming your printer.[/caption]

[Other]

When running the pnputil /enum-drivers command, we're adding a new field that enumerates driver package catalog attributes, indicating the driver type and if the driver is attestation-signed.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Start menu]

Fixed an issue which was causing Start menu to crash when creating folders recently for some Insiders.
Mitigated an issue after the last flight, where if you press the Windows key to open Start and start typing to search, focus was not transferred to search and so your search wouldn’t work.

[Windowing]

Fixed an issue where the colors used for the snap layouts at the top of the screen weren’t displayed correctly for some Insiders, making some text unreadable.

[Search on the Taskbar]

Mitigated an issue causing search to load very slowly, sitting at a blank screen for 15 – 20 seconds, for some people recently.

[Input]

Fixed an issue where voice typing wouldn’t start from the touch keyboard when using the Chinese (Simplified) narrow layout.

[Task Manager]

Fixed an issue causing search and other options such as filtering in Task Manager to not work in the previous flight.

[Voice Access]

Fixed an issue which could voice access to freeze with error “working on it” when dictating.

[Other]

Mitigated an underlying issue which was leading to third party screen readers not working in certain scenarios (such as navigating browsers) for some Insiders after the last flight.
We did some work to improve the performance of loading early boot UI including the BitLocker PIN, BitLocker Recovery key, and boot menu screens.

Fixes for everyone in the Beta Channel

[General]

We have mitigated the issue causing some apps like Spotify to not install from the Microsoft Store with an 0x80070032 error.

Known issues

[General]

[REMINDER] When joining the Beta Channels on Windows 11, version 24H2 – you will be offered Build 26120.3360 After installing that update, you will be offered the most recent update available. This 2-hop experience to get onto the latest 24H2-based flight in the Beta Channel is just temporary.
After you do a PC reset under Settings > System > Recovery, your build version may incorrectly show as Build 26100 instead of Build 26120. This will not prevent you from getting future Beta Channel updates, which will resolve this issue.
Quick Assist will not work for non-administrator users.
After installing this update, Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) may not work, and you may not be able to use the “Fix problems using Windows Update” option under Settings > Recovery. These issues will be fixed in another update soon.
Some apps may appear blank after installing this update. Closing and re-launching the app may correct the issue.
[NEW] Windows Sandbox may fail to launch with a 0x800705b4 error. If you hit this, you can try reinstalling Sandbox by unchecking Sandbox under "Turn Windows features on or off" to uninstall it then reboot, go back to "Turn Windows features on or off" and check Sandbox to reinstall it and reboot again.

[Login and Lock]

[NEW] We’re working on the fix for an issue causing Windows Hello facial recognition to not work for login for some Insiders after the previous flight.

[Recall (Preview)]

[REMINDER] You are always in control and can always choose to remove Recall anytime via “Turn Windows features on or off”. Removing Recall will delete entry points and binaries. Like any feature, Windows sometimes keeps temporary copies of binaries for serviceability. These Recall binaries are not executable and are eventually removed over time.
[REMINDER] Make sure you update Microsoft 365 apps to the latest version so you can jump back into specific documents.

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

Some Insiders may experience an issue where Recall is unable to automatically save snapshots, and the setting can’t be turned on in Settings. We’re working on a fix for this issue.

[Click to Do (Preview)]

[REMINDER] The intelligent text actions are now locally moderated to ensure the safety of prompts and responses and has replaced the cloud endpoint. Now that these intelligent text actions are fully local, they are also available in Click to Do in Recall.
[REMINDER] If any of your actions on image entities are no longer appearing, please ensure you have the latest updates for the Photos and Paint app from the Microsoft Store.

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

In small cases, Click to Do may fail to launch. Trying again should get Click to Do to launch.
There is an issue where images that are used with Click to Do image actions are stuck in your temp folder on your PC. This issue will be fixed in the next flight. You can manually clear your temp folder under C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Temp.
We’re investigating reports that the Click to Do icon is incorrectly showing up on non-Copilot+ PCs. If you happen to see this on your non-Copilot+ PC, please file feedback in Feedback Hub and let us know.

[Improved Windows Search]

[REMINDER] For improved Windows Search on Copilot+ PCs, it is recommended that you plug in your Copilot+ PC for the initial search indexing to get completed. You can check your search indexing status under Settings > Privacy & security > Searching Windows.

[Start menu]

[NEW] We’re investigating reports that clicking your profile picture isn’t opening the Account Manager for some Insiders after the last flight.

[Task Manager]

After adding the new CPU Utility column, you may notice that System Idle Process always shows as 0.
The CPU graphs in the Performance page are still using the old CPU utility calculations.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel

Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel on Windows 11, version 24H2 will receive updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 via an enablement package (Build 26120.xxxx).
Updates delivered to the Beta Channel are in a format that offers a preview of enhancements to servicing technology on Windows 11, version 24H2. To learn more, see https://aka.ms/CheckpointCumulativeUpdates.
Many features in the Beta Channel are rolled out using Controlled Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Please note that some accessibility features may not work with features like Recall and Click to Do while in preview with Windows Insiders.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5562 (Dev Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Mon, 21 Apr 2025 21:04:00 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5562 (KB5055642) to the Dev Channel. Changes in Dev Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*) and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Dev Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

New Copilot+ PC experiences

New text actions in Click to Do

Finding photos saved in the cloud via the Windows search box, now available for Windows Insiders in the EEA

New features gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

Improvements for voice access

After spelling a word using “Spell that” command or making a correction using “Correct that”

Anywhere when you want to manually add a word by using “Add to Vocabulary” command.

[caption id="attachment_177816" align="alignnone" width="2880"] Voice access vocabulary builder dialog for adding your own words to the dictionary.[/caption]

Directly through the settings menu in voice access.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[Improved Windows Search

Improved Windows Search is currently available in preview for Windows Insiders on Windows 11, version 24H2 in the Dev and Beta Channels on Copilot+ PCs.

You can now turn off searching for content saved in the cloud on your Copilot+ PC via Settings > Privacy and Security > Search permissions to access this setting. Please note this currently works only for the Windows search box on the taskbar. However, in a future update this setting will also apply to search in File Explorer.

[File Explorer]

We’re starting to roll out the change so that when you launch File Explorer folders from outside of File Explorer (for example, from an app or from the desktop), by default they will now open in a new tab if you have an existing File Explorer window. If you’d prefer that they continue opening in a new window, you can change this in File Explorer folder options, under General > Browse Folders.

[Widgets]

We are trying out improvements to the notification settings page in widgets on Windows 11 by introducing the ability to control the notifications per feed or dashboard. This change is currently rolling out to Windows Insiders in the European Economic Area (EEA).

[Windows Security]

We are beginning to roll out a change in the Windows Security app where will show more details such as manufacturer and manufacturer version for Pluton TPM chips if your PC has one under Device security > Security processor details.

[Settings]

We’ve updated the dialog when renaming your printer under Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Printers & scanners to match the Windows 11 visuals.

[caption id="attachment_177820" align="alignnone" width="466"] Updated dialog for renaming your printer.[/caption]

[Other]

When running the pnputil /enum-drivers command, we're adding a new field that enumerates driver package catalog attributes, indicating the driver type and if the driver is attestation-signed.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[Start menu]

Fixed an issue which was causing Start menu to crash when creating folders recently for some Insiders.
Mitigated an issue after the last flight, where if you press the Windows key to open Start and start typing to search, focus was not transferred to search and so your search wouldn’t work.

[Windowing]

Fixed an issue where the colors used for the snap layouts at the top of the screen weren’t displayed correctly for some Insiders, making some text unreadable.

[Search on the Taskbar]

Mitigated an issue causing search to load very slowly, sitting at a blank screen for 15 – 20 seconds, for some people recently.

[Input]

Fixed an issue where voice typing wouldn’t start from the touch keyboard when using the Chinese (Simplified) narrow layout.

[Task Manager]

Fixed an issue causing search and other options such as filtering in Task Manager to not work in the previous flight.

[Voice Access]

Fixed an issue which could voice access to freeze with error “working on it” when dictating.

[Other]

Mitigated an underlying issue which was leading to third party screen readers not working in certain scenarios (such as navigating browsers) for some Insiders after the last flight.
We did some work to improve the performance of loading early boot UI including the BitLocker PIN, BitLocker Recovery key, and boot menu screens.

Fixes for everyone in the Dev Channel

[General]

We have mitigated the issue causing some apps like Spotify to not install from the Microsoft Store with an 0x80070032 error.
Fixed an issue causing the previous flight in the Dev Channel to fail to install with error 0x80070306 for some Insiders.

Known issues

[General]

[IMPORTANT] When joining the Dev Channel on Windows 11, version 24H2 – you will be offered Build 26200.5518 After installing that update, you will be offered the most recent update available. This 2-hop experience to get onto the latest 24H2-based flight in the Dev Channel is just temporary.
After you do a PC reset under Settings > System > Recovery, your build version may incorrectly show as Build 26100 instead of Build 26200. This will not prevent you from getting future Beta Channel updates, which will resolve this issue.
Quick Assist will not work for non-administrator users.
After installing this update, Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) may not work, and you may not be able to use the “Fix problems using Windows Update” option under Settings > Recovery. These issues will be fixed in another update soon.
Some apps may appear blank after installing this update. Closing and re-launching the app may correct the issue.
[NEW] Windows Sandbox may fail to launch with a 0x800705b4 error. If you hit this, you can try reinstalling Sandbox by unchecking Sandbox under "Turn Windows features on or off" to uninstall it then reboot, go back to "Turn Windows features on or off" and check Sandbox to reinstall it and reboot again.

[Recall (Preview)]

[REMINDER] You are always in control and can always choose to remove Recall anytime via “Turn Windows features on or off”. Removing Recall will delete entry points and binaries. Like any feature, Windows sometimes keeps temporary copies of binaries for serviceability. These Recall binaries are not executable and are eventually removed over time.
[REMINDER] Make sure you update Microsoft 365 apps to the latest version so you can jump back into specific documents.

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

Some Insiders may experience an issue where Recall is unable to automatically save snapshots, and the setting can’t be turned on in Settings. We’re working on a fix for this issue.

[Click to Do (Preview)]

[REMINDER] The intelligent text actions are now locally moderated to ensure the safety of prompts and responses and has replaced the cloud endpoint. Now that these intelligent text actions are fully local, they are also available in Click to Do in Recall.
[REMINDER] If any of your actions on image entities are no longer appearing, please ensure you have the latest updates for the Photos and Paint app from the Microsoft Store.

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

In small cases, Click to Do may fail to launch. Trying again should get Click to Do to launch.
There is an issue where images that are used with Click to Do image actions are stuck in your temp folder on your PC. This issue will be fixed in the next flight. You can manually clear your temp folder under C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Temp.
We’re investigating reports that the Click to Do icon is incorrectly showing up on non-Copilot+ PCs. If you happen to see this on your non-Copilot+ PC, please file feedback in Feedback Hub and let us know.

[Improved Windows Search]

[REMINDER] For improved Windows Search on Copilot+ PCs, it is recommended that you plug in your Copilot+ PC for the initial search indexing to get completed. You can check your search indexing status under Settings > Privacy & security > Searching Windows.

[Start menu]

[NEW] We’re investigating reports that clicking your profile picture isn’t opening the Account Manager for some Insiders after the last flight.

[Task Manager]

After adding the new CPU Utility column, you may notice that System Idle Process always shows as 0.
The CPU graphs in the Performance page are still using the old CPU utility calculations.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel

Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel receive updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 via an enablement package (Build 26200.xxxx).
Updates delivered to the Dev Channel are in a format that offers a preview of enhancements to servicing technology on Windows 11, version 24H2. To learn more, see https://aka.ms/CheckpointCumulativeUpdates.
Many features in the Dev Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Please note that some accessibility features may not work with features like Recall and Click to Do while in preview with Windows Insiders.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.5240 (Beta Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 18 Apr 2025 17:03:36 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.5240 (KB5055645) to the Beta Channel for Windows Insiders on Windows 11, version 23H2. Note: Windows 11, version 24H2 is available as an optional upgrade for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel. Changes in Beta Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*) and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Beta Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[General]

This update includes a small set of general improvements and fixes that improve the overall experience for Insiders running this build on their PCs.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[File Explorer]

Fixed an issue where the Organize and New Folder options might not be visible in the Save Dialog when using dark mode.

[Settings]

Fixed an issue where the total storage size shown in System > About may not be displayed correctly.

[Voice Access]

Fixed an issue which could voice access to freeze with error “working on it” when dictating.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel

Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel on Windows 11, version 23H2 will receive updates based on Windows 11, version 23H2 via an enablement package (Build 22635.xxxx).
Many features in the Beta Channel are rolled out using Controlled Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.5235 (Beta Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Mon, 14 Apr 2025 21:05:54 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.5235 (KB5055615) to the Beta Channel for Windows Insiders on Windows 11, version 23H2. Note: Windows 11, version 24H2 is available as an optional upgrade for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel. Changes in Beta Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*) and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Beta Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[General]

This update includes a small set of general improvements and fixes that improve the overall experience for Insiders running this build on their PCs.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[File Explorer]

Made some slight adjustments to improve visibility of keyboard focus of elements in the Open and Save dialog navigation buttons. The border is darker now.

[Settings]

Fixed an issue which could cause Settings to hang when adjusting "If you've been away, when should Window require you to sign in again?" under Accounts > Sign-in Options.

Known issues

[Start menu]

The following are known issues for Windows Insiders with the new grid and category views on the All” page in the Start menu:

When right-clicking on an app, the "Start settings" context menu flashes before the app's context menu appears.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel

Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel on Windows 11, version 23H2 will receive updates based on Windows 11, version 23H2 via an enablement package (Build 22635.xxxx).
Many features in the Beta Channel are rolled out using Controlled Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5551 (Dev Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 11 Apr 2025 17:04:08 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5551 (KB5055617) to the Dev Channel. REMINDER: Starting with Build 26200.5510 releases on March 24th, the Dev Channel has jumped ahead to receive 26200 series builds. This means that the window to switch from the Dev Channel to the Beta Channel is closed. These 26200 series builds are based on Windows 11, version 24H2 and will contain many of the same features and improvements as the 26120 series builds that will continue to be released in the Beta Channel. Over time, we be making behind-the-scenes platform changes in these builds and these builds may have different known issues as a result of those changes than what we’re flighting to the Beta Channel.

New Copilot+ PC experiences

Find the settings you want more easily with the Windows search box

As part of improving Windows Search on Copilot+ PCs, we’re beginning to roll out the ability to type a setting you’re looking for in the Windows search box on your taskbar without needing to remember the exact setting name. For example, you can use your own words to find settings like “change my theme” or “about my PC”. You no longer need to remember the exact setting name you are looking for. Thanks to the power of the 40+ TOPS NPU onboard Copilot+ PCs, these search improvements work even when you’re not connected to the internet. You can learn more about semantic search on Copilot + PCs here. [caption id="attachment_177791" align="alignnone" width="3840"] Windows search box on the taskbar showing a semantic settings search.[/caption] FEEDBACK for Windows Taskbar Search: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Desktop Environment > Search.

Making visual content more accessible with image descriptions in Narrator

We are enhancing digital accessibility with the ability to get rich, detailed descriptions of images, charts, graphs in Narrator by using the power of AI on Copilot+ PCs. In today’s digital world, images are everywhere—on websites, apps, and documents. But for blind and low-vision users, many of these visuals remain inaccessible due to missing or inadequate alt text. With this new feature that is beginning to roll out, Narrator will now generate more richer image descriptions on your Copilot+ PC. Simply press Narrator key + Ctrl + D and Narrator will read out a contextual description of the image describing people, objects, colours, text, and numbers from the image. On non-Copilot+ PCs, this experience will continue to give you very basic image descriptions. For example, for an image about stock performance, users will get the following detailed description. The image is a graph showing the stock prices of Microsoft Corporation, with the S&P 500 and NASDAQ Computer indexes. The graph shows a steady increase in Microsoft's stock price over the period from June 18th to June 23rd. [caption id="attachment_177792" align="alignnone" width="3840"] Screenshot of Edge browser containing an image of “stock performance graph” with “Describe image” window open next to it showing the description of the image.[/caption] The window also contains regenerate, like, dislike and copy button at the bottom. [caption id="attachment_177794" align="alignnone" width="3840"] Screenshot of Edge browser with Narrator’s focus on an image of graph. There’s an info bar on top of the screen which says, “We are setting up image description feature. Keep your PC connected to internet and check back soon.” along with a “Check status” button.[/caption] This feature is currently available on Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PCs, with support for AMD and Intel-powered Copilot+ PCs coming soon. To turn Narrator on, you can press “Ctrl + Windows key + Enter” on your PC or search for “Narrator” in Windows search box. When you try the image descriptions feature for the first time using Narrator Key + Ctrl + D, we download the models required for getting image descriptions. You can check the download status via Settings > Windows update. If you are new to Narrator, you can find more information and learn about using Narrator from the complete guide to Narrator. Also check out frequently asked questions about rich image descriptions in Narrator here. FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Accessibility > Narrator.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[Widgets]

We are trying out the ability to read content such as full articles, slideshows, and videos directly within your MSN feed in the widgets board in Windows 11. Try it out and let us know what you think by using the feedback button at the top of your widgets board. As a reminder, you can manage whether your MSN feed is shown in the widgets board or not directly within the widget settings. We are beginning to roll this change out to Windows Insiders across all channels.

[caption id="attachment_177795" align="alignnone" width="2881"] Full article shown directly in the MSN feed in the widgets board.[/caption] The following improvements are for Windows Insiders in the European Economic Area (EEA) with the new lock screen widgets experience (previously referred to as “Weather and more”):

There are some new updates to the new Widgets on Lock experience. In addition to accessibility and craftsmanship improvements, the Lock screen weather widget now supports customization. To configure your weather widget, go to Settings > Personalization > Lock screen and click the "Customize widget" option from the weather widget more options menu. More widgets will be customizable in the future.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[Recall (Preview)]

The following fixes are rolling out for Recall on Copilot+ PCs:

Fixed an issue which could cause Settings to crash when adding an app to filter on under Privacy & Security > Recall & Snapshots.

[File Explorer]

Fixed an issue causing File Explorer Home to crash for some Insiders after the latest flights.
Fixed an issue where the Organize and New Folder options might not be visible in the Save Dialog when using dark mode.

[Taskbar]

Fixed an issue which was causing app icons in the taskbar to become unexpectedly oversized in recent flights after disconnecting from an external display and some other cases.

[Desktop icons]

Updated the logic for apps pinned to the desktop, so that packaged apps no longer show an accent colored backplate (for example, if you were to drag and drop Snipping Tool from the apps list in Start to the desktop). In doing this, the icons should be bigger and easier to see now. Please note, you may need to create new shortcuts for this to take effect, if you already have something on your desktop.

[Input]

If your touchpad wasn’t working with the previous flight, that should be resolved now.

[Graphics]

Fixed an issue where when using CopyPixels the pixels may be unexpectedly inverted in certain cases.
Fixed an issue where some JPG images weren’t displaying, although they could display correctly on older builds.

Fixes for everyone in the Dev Channel

[General]

We fixed the issue causing Windows Sandbox to not work in the last flight.

Known issues

[General]

[IMPORTANT] When joining the Dev Channel on Windows 11, version 24H2 – you will be offered Build 26200.5518 After installing that update, you will be offered the most recent update available. This 2-hop experience to get onto the latest 24H2-based flight in the Dev Channel is just temporary.
After you do a PC reset under Settings > System > Recovery, your build version may incorrectly show as Build 26100 instead of Build 26200. This will not prevent you from getting future Beta Channel updates, which will resolve this issue.
Quick Assist will not work for non-administrator users.
[NEW] After installing this update, Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) may not work, and you may not be able to use the “Fix problems using Windows Update” option under Settings > Recovery. These issues will be fixed in another update soon.
[NEW] Some apps may appear blank after installing this update. Closing and re-launching the app may correct the issue.
[NEW] Some apps like Spotify may fail to launch after installing this update. If you uninstall the update, these apps should launch again. We're working on a fix. Be sure to file feedback if you hit this before uninstalling the update!
[ADDED] Some apps like Spotify may not install from the Microsoft Store with an 0x80070032 error.

[Recall (Preview)]

[REMINDER] You are always in control and can always choose to remove Recall anytime via “Turn Windows features on or off”. Removing Recall will delete entry points and binaries. Like any feature, Windows sometimes keeps temporary copies of binaries for serviceability. These Recall binaries are not executable and are eventually removed over time.
[REMINDER] Make sure you update Microsoft 365 apps to the latest version so you can jump back into specific documents.

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

Some Insiders may experience an issue where Recall is unable to automatically save snapshots, and the setting can’t be turned on in Settings. We’re working on a fix for this issue.

[Click to Do (Preview)]

[REMINDER] The intelligent text actions are now locally moderated to ensure the safety of prompts and responses and has replaced the cloud endpoint. Now that these intelligent text actions are fully local, they are also available in Click to Do in Recall.
[REMINDER] If any of your actions on image entities are no longer appearing, please ensure you have the latest updates for the Photos and Paint app from the Microsoft Store.

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

In small cases, Click to Do may fail to launch. Trying again should get Click to Do to launch.
There is an issue where images that are used with Click to Do image actions are stuck in your temp folder on your PC. This issue will be fixed in the next flight. You can manually clear your temp folder under C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Temp.
We’re investigating reports that the Click to Do icon is incorrectly showing up on non-Copilot+ PCs. If you happen to see this on your non-Copilot+ PC, please file feedback in Feedback Hub and let us know.

[Improved Windows Search]

[REMINDER] For improved Windows Search on Copilot+ PCs, it is recommended that you plug in your Copilot+ PC for the initial search indexing to get completed. You can check your search indexing status under Settings > Privacy & security > Searching Windows.

[Task Manager]

[NEW] Search and other options such as filtering in Task Manager does not work.
After adding the new CPU Utility column, you may notice that System Idle Process always shows as 0.
The CPU graphs in the Performance page are still using the old CPU utility calculations.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel

Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel receive updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 via an enablement package (Build 26200.xxxx).
Updates delivered to the Dev Channel are in a format that offers a preview of enhancements to servicing technology on Windows 11, version 24H2. To learn more, see https://aka.ms/CheckpointCumulativeUpdates.
Many features in the Dev Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.

Please note that some accessibility features may not work with features like Recall and Click to Do while in preview with Windows Insiders.

Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.3863 (Beta Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 11 Apr 2025 17:04:03 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.3863 (KB5055613) to the Beta Channel for Windows Insiders on Windows 11, version 24H2. Changes in Beta Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*) and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Beta Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

New Copilot+ PC experiences

Find the settings you want more easily with the Windows search box

Making visual content more accessible with image descriptions in Narrator

We are enhancing digital accessibility with the ability to get rich, detailed descriptions of images, charts, graphs in Narrator by using the power of AI on Copilot+ PCs. In today’s digital world, images are everywhere—on websites, apps, and documents. But for blind and low-vision users, many of these visuals remain inaccessible due to missing or inadequate alt text. With this new feature that is beginning to roll out, Narrator will now generate more richer image descriptions on your Copilot+ PC. Simply press Narrator key + Ctrl + D and Narrator will read out a contextual description of the image describing people, objects, colours, text, and numbers from the image. On non-Copilot+ PCs, this experience will continue to give you very basic image descriptions. For example, for an image about stock performance, users will get the following detailed description. The image is a graph showing the stock prices of Microsoft Corporation, with the S&P 500 and NASDAQ Computer indexes. The graph shows a steady increase in Microsoft's stock price over the period from June 18th to June 23rd. [caption id="attachment_177792" align="alignnone" width="3840"] Screenshot of Edge browser containing an image of “stock performance graph” with “Describe image” window open next to it showing the description of the image.[/caption] The window also contains regenerate, like, dislike and copy button at the bottom. [caption id="attachment_177794" align="alignnone" width="3840"] Screenshot of Edge browser with Narrator’s focus on an image of graph. There’s an info bar on top of the screen which says, “We are setting up image description feature. Keep your PC connected to internet and check back soon.” along with a “Check status” button.[/caption] This feature is currently available on Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PCs, with support for AMD and Intel-powered Copilot+ PCs coming soon. To turn Narrator on, you can press “Ctrl + Windows key + Enter” on your PC or search for “Narrator” in Windows search box. When you try the image descriptions feature for the first time using Narrator Key + Ctrl + D, we download the models required for getting image descriptions. You can check the download status via Settings > Windows update. If you are new to Narrator, you can find more information and learn about using Narrator from the complete guide to Narrator. Also check out frequently asked questions about rich image descriptions in Narrator here. FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Accessibility > Narrator.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Widgets]

We are trying out the ability to read content such as full articles, slideshows, and videos directly within your MSN feed in the widgets board in Windows 11. Try it out and let us know what you think by using the feedback button at the top of your widgets board. As a reminder, you can manage whether your MSN feed is shown in the widgets board or not directly within the widget settings. We are beginning to roll this change out to Windows Insiders across all channels.

There are some new updates to the new Widgets on Lock experience. In addition to accessibility and craftsmanship improvements, the Lock screen weather widget now supports customization. To configure your weather widget, go to Settings > Personalization > Lock screen and click the "Customize widget" option from the weather widget more options menu. More widgets will be customizable in the future.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Recall (Preview)]

The following fixes are rolling out for Recall on Copilot+ PCs:

Fixed an issue which could cause Settings to crash when adding an app to filter on under Privacy & Security > Recall & Snapshots.

[File Explorer]

Fixed an issue causing File Explorer Home to crash for some Insiders after the latest flights.
Fixed an issue where the Organize and New Folder options might not be visible in the Save Dialog when using dark mode.

[Taskbar]

Fixed an issue which was causing app icons in the taskbar to become unexpectedly oversized in recent flights after disconnecting from an external display and some other cases.

[Desktop icons]

Updated the logic for apps pinned to the desktop, so that packaged apps no longer show an accent colored backplate (for example, if you were to drag and drop Snipping Tool from the apps list in Start to the desktop). In doing this, the icons should be bigger and easier to see now. Please note, you may need to create new shortcuts for this to take effect, if you already have something on your desktop.

[Input]

If your touchpad wasn’t working with the previous flight, that should be resolved now.

[Graphics]

Fixed an issue where when using CopyPixels the pixels may be unexpectedly inverted in certain cases.
Fixed an issue where some JPG images weren’t displaying, although they could display correctly on older builds.

Fixes for everyone in the Beta Channel

[General]

We fixed the issue causing Windows Sandbox to not work in the last flight.

Known issues

[General]

[REMINDER] When joining the Beta Channels on Windows 11, version 24H2 – you will be offered Build 26120.3360 After installing that update, you will be offered the most recent update available. This 2-hop experience to get onto the latest 24H2-based flight in the Beta Channel is just temporary.
After you do a PC reset under Settings > System > Recovery, your build version may incorrectly show as Build 26100 instead of Build 26120. This will not prevent you from getting future Beta Channel updates, which will resolve this issue.
Quick Assist will not work for non-administrator users.
[NEW] After installing this update, Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) may not work, and you may not be able to use the “Fix problems using Windows Update” option under Settings > Recovery. These issues will be fixed in another update soon.
[NEW] Some apps may appear blank after installing this update. Closing and re-launching the app may correct the issue.
[NEW] Some apps like Spotify may fail to launch after installing this update. If you uninstall the update, these apps should launch again. We're working on a fix. Be sure to file feedback if you hit this before uninstalling the update!
[ADDED] Some apps like Spotify may not install from the Microsoft Store with an 0x80070032 error.

[Recall (Preview)]

[REMINDER] You are always in control and can always choose to remove Recall anytime via “Turn Windows features on or off”. Removing Recall will delete entry points and binaries. Like any feature, Windows sometimes keeps temporary copies of binaries for serviceability. These Recall binaries are not executable and are eventually removed over time.
[REMINDER] Make sure you update Microsoft 365 apps to the latest version so you can jump back into specific documents.

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

Some Insiders may experience an issue where Recall is unable to automatically save snapshots, and the setting can’t be turned on in Settings. We’re working on a fix for this issue.

[Click to Do (Preview)]

[REMINDER] The intelligent text actions are now locally moderated to ensure the safety of prompts and responses and has replaced the cloud endpoint. Now that these intelligent text actions are fully local, they are also available in Click to Do in Recall.
[REMINDER] If any of your actions on image entities are no longer appearing, please ensure you have the latest updates for the Photos and Paint app from the Microsoft Store.

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

In small cases, Click to Do may fail to launch. Trying again should get Click to Do to launch.
There is an issue where images that are used with Click to Do image actions are stuck in your temp folder on your PC. This issue will be fixed in the next flight. You can manually clear your temp folder under C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Temp.
We’re investigating reports that the Click to Do icon is incorrectly showing up on non-Copilot+ PCs. If you happen to see this on your non-Copilot+ PC, please file feedback in Feedback Hub and let us know.

[Improved Windows Search]

[REMINDER] For improved Windows Search on Copilot+ PCs, it is recommended that you plug in your Copilot+ PC for the initial search indexing to get completed. You can check your search indexing status under Settings > Privacy & security > Searching Windows.

[Task Manager]

[NEW] Search and other options such as filtering in Task Manager does not work.
After adding the new CPU Utility column, you may notice that System Idle Process always shows as 0.
The CPU graphs in the Performance page are still using the old CPU utility calculations.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel

Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel on Windows 11, version 24H2 will receive updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 via an enablement package (Build 26120.xxxx).
Updates delivered to the Beta Channel are in a format that offers a preview of enhancements to servicing technology on Windows 11, version 24H2. To learn more, see https://aka.ms/CheckpointCumulativeUpdates.
Many features in the Beta Channel are rolled out using Controlled Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.

Please note that some accessibility features may not work with features like Recall and Click to Do while in preview with Windows Insiders.

Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.5170 (Beta Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Mon, 07 Apr 2025 21:04:40 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.5170 (KB5055623) to the Beta Channel for Windows Insiders on Windows 11, version 23H2. Note: Windows 11, version 24H2 is available as an optional upgrade for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel. Changes in Beta Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*) and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Beta Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[General]

This update includes a small set of general improvements and fixes that improve the overall experience for Insiders running this build on their PCs.

[File Explorer]

We’re starting to roll out the change again so that when you launch File Explorer folders from outside of File Explorer (for example, from an app or from the desktop), by default they will now open in a new tab if you have an existing File Explorer window open (which we temporarily disabled to address some issues). As a reminder - if you’d prefer that they continue opening in a new window, you can change this in File Explorer folder options, under General > Browse Folders.
The change that introduced labels on unlabeled actions such as cut, copy, paste, rename, share, and delete in the File Explorer context menu that began rolling out in Build 22635.4660 has been disabled. Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel can upgrade to Windows 11, version 24H2 flights to get this change back.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Start menu]

Fixed an issue where when using increased text size, the sign out and more options buttons may not be visible in the Start menu account manager.

[File Explorer]

Fixed an issue where was causing File Explorer to crash in some cases when copying or renaming files in recent builds.

[Input]

Fixed an issue where if you typed in some apps, they might stop working after disconnecting from a remote desktop session.

Known issues

[Start menu]

The following are known issues for Windows Insiders with the new grid and category views on the All” page in the Start menu:

When right-clicking on an app, the "Start settings" context menu flashes before the app's context menu appears.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel

Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel on Windows 11, version 23H2 will receive updates based on Windows 11, version 23H2 via an enablement package (Build 22635.xxxx).
Many features in the Beta Channel are rolled out using Controlled Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5518 (Dev Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Thu, 03 Apr 2025 17:04:12 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5518 (KB5055625) to the Dev Channel. REMINDER: Starting with Build 26200.5510 releases on March 24th, the Dev Channel has jumped ahead to receive 26200 series builds. This means that the window to switch from the Dev Channel to the Beta Channel is closed. These 26200 series builds are based on Windows 11, version 24H2 and will contain many of the same features and improvements as the 26120 series builds that will continue to be released in the Beta Channel. Over time, we be making behind-the-scenes platform changes in these builds and these builds may have different known issues as a result of those changes than what we’re flighting to the Beta Channel.

New features gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

Taskbar icon scaling

We are starting to roll out taskbar icon scaling to Windows Insiders – an improvement to the Windows taskbar that ensures that you have quick access to more of your favorite apps, even when your taskbar is full. With taskbar icon scaling, when your taskbar starts to get crowded with pinned or open apps, the icons will automatically scale down to a smaller size. This means you can keep more apps visible and accessible without the need to dive into a secondary menu. It's all about making your workflow smoother and more efficient. [caption id="attachment_177768" align="alignnone" width="2879"] The taskbar with small taskbar icons with setting highlighted in a red box.[/caption] We understand that everyone has their own preferences, so we’ve included settings to tailor this feature to your liking. You can choose when Windows will show smaller taskbar buttons:

When taskbar is full: By default, taskbar icons will automatically turn smaller when the taskbar is full. This helps you maintain access to more apps without any extra effort.
Never: For users who prefer their icons to remain the same size as before, regardless of how many apps are open, there’s an option to prevent the icons from scaling down.
Always: If you love the look of smaller icons and want them to stay that way all the time, you can set your taskbar icons to always be small.

Making sharing files in Windows easier

Sharing files in Windows is getting a lot easier and quicker with our new drag tray feature. When you start dragging a local file with mouse (or touch) from File Explorer or your desktop, a handy tray appears at the very top of your screen allowing you to drop the file into one of the displayed apps or choose “More…” to open the Windows share window. New drag tray UI that appears at the top of your screen when dragging a local file from File Explorer or your desktop. FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Files, Folders, and Online Storage > File sharing.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[General]

The improved battery iconography in Windows 11 may disappear for Windows Insiders in the current flights. We’re beginning to re-roll this change out to Windows Insiders.

[Recall (Preview)]

Recall is currently available in preview for Windows Insiders on Windows 11, version 24H2 in the Dev and Beta Channels on Copilot+ PCs.

We are trying out a basic search history feature in Recall.

[Click to Do (Preview)]

Click to Do is currently available in preview for Windows Insiders on Windows 11, version 24H2 in the Dev and Beta Channels on Copilot+ PCs.

Ask Copilot is a new action within Click to Do. When you highlight either text or image with Click to Do, you’re given an option to Ask Copilot. Microsoft Copilot opens with your content in the prompt box. You can send selected text or image within Click to Do Directly to Copilot app. The selected text or image is handed off to the Copilot app where you can complete your prompt. This feature is not available in the European Economic Area (EEA). You can learn more about this Click to Do here..

[caption id="attachment_177770" align="alignnone" width="723"] Click to Do with Microsoft Edge showing Ask Copilot option in the Click to Do menu.[/caption]

You can now swipe using touch from the right of your screen to invoke Click to Do on your Copilot+ PC. You can adjust this experience back to notifications if you want via Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Touch.

[Studio Effects]

[ADDED] For Windows Insiders on PCs that support Studio Effects, if you have not used Studio Effects before, we are automatically enabling the automatic framing filter, and a notification toast will pop up letting you know about this when you first use the video camera. You can easily turn it off via Studio Effects in quick settings (Win + A) on your taskbar.

[Input]

As part of our ongoing work to improve our settings experiences, we’re starting to make more mouse related settings available directly under Settings > Accessibility > Mouse and Settings > Accessibility > Mouse pointer and touch without needing to go into Control Panel. This includes the settings for mouse indicator, mouse pointer trails, and further mouse behavior and pointer customization. As part of this work, we have also added the ability to adjust the amount of time needed to hover over a window to activate it, if you have activated on hover enabled. Finally, we updated the icon used for Mouse pointer speed in Bluetooth & Devices > Mouse and added an icon to the Enhance mouse pointer precision option.
We’re updating the Bluetooth & Devices > Pen and Windows Ink, and Bluetooth & Devices > Touch pages in Settings to have options if you want press and hold for pen or touch to perform a right click action.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[Improved Windows Search]

The following fixes are rolling out for improved Windows Search on Copilot+ PCs:

Fixed an issue which was causing semantic search to stop working for some Insiders (until you reboot your PC).

[Graphics]

Fixed an issue where external graphics cards connected over Thunderbolt were unexpectedly not discoverable in some cases.

[Hyper-V]

Fixed an issue where Hyper-V Manager may erroneously report 0% CPU usage for VMs in some scenarios.

Known issues

[General]

After you do a PC reset under Settings > System > Recovery, your build version may incorrectly show as Build 26100 instead of Build 26200. This will not prevent you from getting future Beta Channel updates, which will resolve this issue.
[NEW] Quick Assist will not work for non-administrator users.
[NEW] Windows Sandbox will not work in this build or is available to be installed. This is fixed in the next flight.

[Recall (Preview)]

[REMINDER] Make sure you update Microsoft 365 apps to the latest version so you can jump back into specific documents.

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

Some Insiders may experience an issue where Recall is unable to automatically save snapshots, and the setting can’t be turned on in Settings. We’re working on a fix for this issue.
Recall can be enabled or disabled from “Turn Windows features on or off”. We are caching the Recall binaries on disk while we test add/remove. In a future update we will completely remove the binaries.

[Click to Do (Preview)]

[REMINDER] The intelligent text actions are now locally moderated to ensure the safety of prompts and responses and has replaced the cloud endpoint. Now that these intelligent text actions are fully local, they are also available in Click to Do in Recall.
[REMINDER] If any of your actions on image entities are no longer appearing, please ensure you have the latest updates for the Photos and Paint app from the Microsoft Store.

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

[NEW] In small cases, Click to Do may fail to launch. Trying again should get Click to Do to launch.
[NEW] There is an issue where images that are used with Click to Do image actions are stuck in your temp folder on your PC. This issue will be fixed in the next flight. You can manually clear your temp folder under C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Temp.
[ADDED 4/4] We’re investigating reports that the Click to Do icon is incorrectly showing up on non-Copilot+ PCs. If you happen to see this on your non-Copilot+ PC, please file feedback in Feedback Hub and let us know.

[Improved Windows Search]

[REMINDER] For improved Windows Search on Copilot+ PCs, it is recommended that you plug in your Copilot+ PC for the initial search indexing to get completed. You can check your search indexing status under Settings > Privacy & security > Searching Windows.

[File Explorer]

We’re working on the fix for an issue causing File Explorer Home to crash for some Insiders. If you launch File Explorer to a different folder (for example, using search or the Run dialog), you should be able to navigate your folders.

[Task Manager]

After adding the new CPU Utility column, you may notice that System Idle Process always shows as 0.
The CPU graphs in the Performance page are still using the old CPU utility calculations.

[Widgets]

Windows Insiders in the European Economic Area (EEA) with the new Lock screen widgets experience may see the weather widget temporarily unavailable.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel

Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel receive updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 via an enablement package (Build 26200.xxxx).
Updates delivered to the Dev Channel are in a format that offers a preview of enhancements to servicing technology on Windows 11, version 24H2. To learn more, see https://aka.ms/CheckpointCumulativeUpdates.
Many features in the Dev Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.

Please note that some accessibility features may not work with features like Recall and Click to Do while in preview with Windows Insiders.

Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.3671 (Beta Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Thu, 03 Apr 2025 17:04:07 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.3671 (KB5055622) to the Beta Channel for Windows Insiders on Windows 11, version 24H2. Changes in Beta Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*) and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Beta Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

New features gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

Taskbar icon scaling

When taskbar is full: By default, taskbar icons will automatically turn smaller when the taskbar is full. This helps you maintain access to more apps without any extra effort.
Never: For users who prefer their icons to remain the same size as before, regardless of how many apps are open, there’s an option to prevent the icons from scaling down.
Always: If you love the look of smaller icons and want them to stay that way all the time, you can set your taskbar icons to always be small.

Making sharing files in Windows easier

Announcing the availability of the test remediation package for quick machine recovery (QMR)

As a follow up to last week’s announcement of quick machine recovery, we are thrilled to announce that the test remediation package is now available for Windows Insiders to experience the full capabilities of QMR in action. We encourage Windows Insiders to test it today. The remediation package “Quick machine recovery update for Windows 11” will be automatically installed by QMR when “test mode” is activated. To verify the quick machine recovery remediation is installed, go to Settings > Windows Update > Update history. The remediation should be listed under Quality updates. Please note that the ability to see the remediation package in your Windows Update history is gradually rolling out in the Beta Channel so not everyone will see this listed there right away. To provide feedback, simply open the Feedback Hub app on your Windows device, navigate to Recovery and Uninstall > Quick Machine Recovery, and share your insights. Stay tuned for further updates and enhancements as we continue to improve the resilience and reliability of Windows.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[General]

The improved battery iconography in Windows 11 may disappear for Windows Insiders in the current flights. We’re beginning to re-roll this change out to Windows Insiders.

[Recall (Preview)]

Recall is currently available in preview for Windows Insiders on Windows 11, version 24H2 in the Dev and Beta Channels on Copilot+ PCs.

We are trying out a basic search history feature in Recall.

[Click to Do (Preview)]

Click to Do is currently available in preview for Windows Insiders on Windows 11, version 24H2 in the Dev and Beta Channels on Copilot+ PCs.

Ask Copilot is a new action within Click to Do. When you highlight either text or image with Click to Do, you’re given an option to Ask Copilot. Microsoft Copilot opens with your content in the prompt box. You can send selected text or image within Click to Do Directly to Copilot app. The selected text or image is handed off to the Copilot app where you can complete your prompt. This feature is not available in the European Economic Area (EEA). You can learn more about this Click to Do here..

[caption id="attachment_177770" align="alignnone" width="723"] Click to Do with Microsoft Edge showing Ask Copilot option in the Click to Do menu.[/caption]

You can now swipe using touch from the right of your screen to invoke Click to Do on your Copilot+ PC. You can adjust this experience back to notifications if you want via Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Touch.

[Studio Effects]

[ADDED] For Windows Insiders on PCs that support Studio Effects, if you have not used Studio Effects before, we are automatically enabling the automatic framing filter, and a notification toast will pop up letting you know about this when you first use the video camera. You can easily turn it off via Studio Effects in quick settings (Win + A) on your taskbar.

[Input]

As part of our ongoing work to improve our settings experiences, we’re starting to make more mouse related settings available directly under Settings > Accessibility > Mouse and Settings > Accessibility > Mouse pointer and touch without needing to go into Control Panel. This includes the settings for mouse indicator, mouse pointer trails, and further mouse behavior and pointer customization. As part of this work, we have also added the ability to adjust the amount of time needed to hover over a window to activate it, if you have activated on hover enabled. Finally, we updated the icon used for Mouse pointer speed in Bluetooth & Devices > Mouse and added an icon to the Enhance mouse pointer precision option.
We’re updating the Bluetooth & Devices > Pen and Windows Ink, and Bluetooth & Devices > Touch pages in Settings to have options if you want press and hold for pen or touch to perform a right click action.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Improved Windows Search]

The following fixes are rolling out for improved Windows Search on Copilot+ PCs:

Fixed an issue which was causing semantic search to stop working for some Insiders (until you reboot your PC).

[Graphics]

Fixed an issue where external graphics cards connected over Thunderbolt were unexpectedly not discoverable in some cases.

[Hyper-V]

Fixed an issue where Hyper-V Manager may erroneously report 0% CPU usage for VMs in some scenarios.

Known issues

[General]

[REMINDER] When joining the Beta Channels on Windows 11, version 24H2 – you will be offered Build 26120.3360 After installing that update, you will be offered the most recent update available. This 2-hop experience to get onto the latest 24H2-based flight in the Beta Channel is just temporary.
After you do a PC reset under Settings > System > Recovery, your build version may incorrectly show as Build 26100 instead of Build 26120. This will not prevent you from getting future Beta Channel updates, which will resolve this issue.
[NEW] Quick Assist will not work for non-administrator users.
[NEW] Windows Sandbox will not work in this build or is available to be installed. This is fixed in the next flight.

[Recall (Preview)]

[REMINDER] Make sure you update Microsoft 365 apps to the latest version so you can jump back into specific documents.

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

Some Insiders may experience an issue where Recall is unable to automatically save snapshots, and the setting can’t be turned on in Settings. We’re working on a fix for this issue.
Recall can be enabled or disabled from “Turn Windows features on or off”. We are caching the Recall binaries on disk while we test add/remove. In a future update we will completely remove the binaries.

[Click to Do (Preview)]

[REMINDER] The intelligent text actions are now locally moderated to ensure the safety of prompts and responses and has replaced the cloud endpoint. Now that these intelligent text actions are fully local, they are also available in Click to Do in Recall.
[REMINDER] If any of your actions on image entities are no longer appearing, please ensure you have the latest updates for the Photos and Paint app from the Microsoft Store.

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

[NEW] In small cases, Click to Do may fail to launch. Trying again should get Click to Do to launch.
[NEW] There is an issue where images that are used with Click to Do image actions are stuck in your temp folder on your PC. This issue will be fixed in the next flight. You can manually clear your temp folder under C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Temp.
[ADDED 4/4] We’re investigating reports that the Click to Do icon is incorrectly showing up on non-Copilot+ PCs. If you happen to see this on your non-Copilot+ PC, please file feedback in Feedback Hub and let us know.

[Improved Windows Search]

[REMINDER] For improved Windows Search on Copilot+ PCs, it is recommended that you plug in your Copilot+ PC for the initial search indexing to get completed. You can check your search indexing status under Settings > Privacy & security > Searching Windows.

[File Explorer]

We’re working on the fix for an issue causing File Explorer Home to crash for some Insiders. If you launch File Explorer to a different folder (for example, using search or the Run dialog), you should be able to navigate your folders.

[Task Manager]

After adding the new CPU Utility column, you may notice that System Idle Process always shows as 0.
The CPU graphs in the Performance page are still using the old CPU utility calculations.

[Widgets]

Windows Insiders in the European Economic Area (EEA) with the new Lock screen widgets experience may see the weather widget temporarily unavailable.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel

Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel on Windows 11, version 24H2 will receive updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 via an enablement package (Build 26120.xxxx).
Updates delivered to the Beta Channel are in a format that offers a preview of enhancements to servicing technology on Windows 11, version 24H2. To learn more, see https://aka.ms/CheckpointCumulativeUpdates.
Many features in the Beta Channel are rolled out using Controlled Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.

Please note that some accessibility features may not work with features like Recall and Click to Do while in preview with Windows Insiders.

Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.5160 (Beta Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Mon, 31 Mar 2025 21:05:14 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.5160 (KB5053654) to the Beta Channel for Windows Insiders on Windows 11, version 23H2. Note: Windows 11, version 24H2 is available as an optional upgrade for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel. Changes in Beta Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*) and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Beta Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

New features gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

Introducing speech recap in Narrator

We are always working to make Narrator more intuitive, efficient, and helpful for users who rely on it every day. With that in mind, we are introducing a new feature—speech recap —designed to help you keep track of what Narrator has spoken and access it for quick reference. With speech recap, you can quickly access spoken content, follow along with live transcription, and copy what Narrator last said—all with simple keyboard shortcuts. Speech recap also provides a history of spoken content without having to redo the task just to follow what Narrator said. [caption id="attachment_177752" align="alignnone" width="660"] The new speech recap window in Narrator.[/caption] You can open the speech recap window with Narrator key + Alt + X and can find the last 500 strings Narrator had spoken. Note that we refresh the text in this window every time Narrator starts. You can use standard reading commands and arrow keys to read the contents in speech recap window and copy text required for reference. Need to save or share something Narrator just said last? You can copy it instantly without opening the speech recap window. Use Narrator key + Control + X to copy the last spoken phrase to your clipboard. Few scenarios where you can use speech recap and related shortcuts include referring to a hint you heard when opening a new window, copying an error code that was spoken or adding Narrator speech to training materials. [caption id="attachment_177753" align="alignnone" width="660"] Narrator’s speech recap window snapped to the right corner of screen showing real-time transcriptions.[/caption] Live transcription of Narrator speech is useful for Assistive Technology (AT) trainers, teachers of visually impaired (TVIs) who support students in class or for professionals who are hard of hearing and want to use Narrator. To see live transcription of Narrator audio, use the same command Narrator key + Alt + X to open the speech recap window and snap it to the portion of the screen you want to view it. As you do tasks with Narrator, you can follow along and see the text in this window update. These keyboard shortcuts follow a simple patten making it easy to learn:

Control + Windows key + Enter = Turn Narrator on/Off
Narrator key + X = Re-hear what Narrator said last
Narrator key + control + X = Copy what Narrator said last
Narrator key + Alt + X = Open Speech recap window for history and live transcriptions

FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Accessibility > Narrator.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Copilot on Windows]

You can now launch Copilot on Windows with Win + C. You can personalize your Copilot key and Win + C experience at any time with the existing "Customize Copilot key on keyboard" under Settings > Personalization > Text input.
To access the press to talk feature and start a conversation with Copilot on Windows, press and hold the Copilot key for 2 seconds. For PCs without the Copilot key, press and hold Win + C for 2 seconds. To end your conversation, press the Esc key. If there is no speaking for several seconds, Copilot will automatically end the conversation. When the conversation is over, the microphone on the screen will disappear. As announced previously, you can also press and hold Alt + Spacebar to talk with Copilot on Windows. Press to talk allows you to interact with Copilot using your voice, providing instant responses while staying in your current workflow and continuing tasks without interruption. Press to talk is supported in the latest Copilot app update (version 1.25033.139.0 and higher). This update is beginning to roll out across Insider Channels via the Microsoft Store.
Developers can get the same trigger for press to talk for their apps that support the Copilot key by using Handle Microsoft Copilot hardware key state changes. Note, the enterprise-focused Microsoft 365 Copilot app does not have this support today.
Win + C and press to talk are gradually rolling out so not all Insiders will get the update right away. We are excited to be previewing improvements with our Insiders to ensure all our customers have a great Copilot experience for Windows.

[Windows Share]

In the Windows share window, we are adding the ability to quickly edit and enhance images while sharing. This includes in-line image editing capabilities, such as cropping, rotating, and applying filters, as well as the ability to compress images to reduce file size for easier sharing. This ability works only for local images stored on your PC. Supported image formats: .jpg, .jpeg, .dib, .png, .tif, .tiff, and .bmp.

[caption id="attachment_177756" align="alignnone" width="515"] New edit button in the Windows share window when sharing local images.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_177757" align="alignnone" width="544"] The image editing experience from the Windows share window with a picture of the dog Kilo.[/caption]

[Settings]

We’re making it easy to find answers to common questions about your PC and Windows 11 with a dedicated FAQs section on the Settings > System > About page, providing quick and helpful insights for using your PC all in one place. Whether you’re curious about system configuration, performance, or compatibility, this experience ensures you get the information you need for the frequently asked questions for those topics. We hope these FAQs will help you make informed decisions about your PC with ease.

[caption id="attachment_177765" align="alignnone" width="623"] FAQ section highlighted in a red box on the About settings page.[/caption]

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Start menu]

Fixed a delay in app icons showing sometimes in grid and category views after installing an app.

[Desktop icons]

Updated the logic for apps pinned to the desktop, so that packaged apps no longer show an accent colored backplate (for example, if you were to drag and drop Snipping Tool from the apps list in Start to the desktop). In doing this, the icons should be bigger and easier to see now. Please note, you may need to create new shortcuts for this to take effect, if you already have something on your desktop.

Known issues

[Start menu]

The following are known issues for Windows Insiders with the new grid and category views on the All” page in the Start menu:

When right-clicking on an app, the "Start settings" context menu flashes before the app's context menu appears.

[Widgets]

[NEW] Windows Insiders in the European Economic Area (EEA) with the new Lock screen widgets experience may see the weather widget temporarily unavailable.

[Narrator]

[NEW] If you use Narrator and experience an issue where Narrator crashes on launch, please restart your PC to get Narrator working again. If that does not resolve your issue, you can use a secondary screen reader to help you file feedback in Feedback Hub or have someone assist you in filing feedback.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel

Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel on Windows 11, version 23H2 will receive updates based on Windows 11, version 23H2 via an enablement package (Build 22635.xxxx).
Many features in the Beta Channel are rolled out using Controlled Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.3653 (Beta Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 28 Mar 2025 17:04:30 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.3653 (KB5053658) to the Beta Channel for Windows Insiders on Windows 11, version 24H2. Changes in Beta Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*) and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Beta Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

New features gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

Introducing quick machine recovery

Quick machine recovery (QMR), part of the Windows Resiliency Initiative announced at Ignite 2024 is now available in the latest Windows Insider Preview build. This feature, when enabled, addresses widespread boot issues on Windows 11 devices by automatically detecting and applying fixes directly from the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) thereby reducing the system downtime and manual intervention. When a critical boot failure occurs, the device enters WinRE, connects to the network, and sends diagnostic data to Microsoft, which can then deploy targeted remediations via Windows Update. IT admins are encouraged to enable, customize, or test this feature, which is enabled by default for home users. Windows Insiders can start testing it today and provide feedback via Feedback Hub to refine the feature further. In the Feedback Hub app on your Windows device, select Recovery and Uninstall > Quick Machine Recovery. Keep an eye out for a test remediation package coming your way in the next few days, allowing you to experience the quick machine recovery in action.

Introducing speech recap in Narrator

We are always working to make Narrator more intuitive, efficient, and helpful for users who rely on it every day. With that in mind, we are introducing a new feature—speech recap —designed to help you keep track of what Narrator has spoken and access it for quick reference. With speech recap, you can quickly access spoken content, follow along with live transcription, and copy what Narrator last said—all with simple keyboard shortcuts. [caption id="attachment_177752" align="alignnone" width="668"] The new speech recap window in Narrator.[/caption] You can open the speech recap window with Narrator key + Alt + X and can find the last 500 strings Narrator had spoken. Note that we refresh the text in this window every time Narrator starts. You can use standard reading commands and arrow keys to read the contents in speech recap window and copy text required for reference. Need to save or share something Narrator just said last? You can copy it instantly without opening the speech recap window. Use Narrator key + Control + X to copy the last spoken phrase to your clipboard. Few scenarios where you can use speech recap and related shortcuts include referring to a hint you heard when opening a new window, copying an error code that was spoken or adding Narrator speech to training materials. [caption id="attachment_177753" align="alignnone" width="660"] Narrator’s speech recap window snapped to the right corner of screen showing real-time transcriptions.[/caption] Live transcription of Narrator speech is useful for Assistive Technology (AT) trainers, teacher of students with visual impairments (TSVI) who support students in class and for professionals who are hard of hearing and want to use Narrator. To see live transcription of Narrator audio, use the same command Narrator key + Alt + X to open the speech recap window and snap it to the portion of the screen you want to view it. As you do tasks, you can see real-time transcriptions of Narrator speech. These keyboard shortcuts follow a simple patten making it easy to learn:

Control + Windows key + Enter = Turn Narrator on/Off
Narrator key + X = Re-hear what Narrator said last
Narrator key + control + X = Copy what Narrator said last
Narrator key + Alt + X = Open Speech recap window for history and live transcriptions

FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Accessibility > Narrator.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[General]

We're previewing a new, more streamlined UI for unexpected restarts which better aligns with Windows 11 design principles and supports our goal of getting users back into productivity as fast as possible. We’ve simplified your experience while preserving the technical information on the screen. As a reminder, for Windows Insiders this appears as a “green screen”. This is beginning to roll out to Windows Insiders on Windows 11, version 24H2 and higher in the Beta, Dev, and Canary Channels.

[caption id="attachment_177754" align="alignnone" width="711"] The updated UI for unexpected restarts for Windows Insiders on preview builds.[/caption]

[Copilot on Windows]

You can now launch Copilot on Windows with Win + C. You can personalize your Copilot key and Win + C experience at any time with the existing "Customize Copilot key on keyboard" under Settings > Personalization > Text input.
To access the press to talk feature and start a conversation with Copilot on Windows, press and hold the Copilot key for 2 seconds. For PCs without the Copilot key, press and hold Win + C for 2 seconds. To end your conversation, press the Esc key. If there is no speaking for several seconds, Copilot will automatically end the conversation. When the conversation is over, the microphone on the screen will disappear. As announced previously, you can also press and hold Alt + Spacebar to talk with Copilot on Windows. Press to talk allows you to interact with Copilot using your voice, providing instant responses while staying in your current workflow and continuing tasks without interruption. Press to talk is supported in the latest Copilot app update (version 1.25033.139.0 and higher). This update is beginning to roll out across Insider Channels via the Microsoft Store.
Developers can get the same trigger for press to talk for their apps that support the Copilot key by using Handle Microsoft Copilot hardware key state changes. Note, the enterprise-focused Microsoft 365 Copilot app does not have this support today.
Win + C and press to talk are gradually rolling out so not all Insiders will get the update right away. We are excited to be previewing improvements with our Insiders to ensure all our customers have a great Copilot experience for Windows.

[Click to Do (Preview)]

Click to Do is currently available in preview for Windows Insiders on Windows 11, version 24H2 in the Dev and Beta Channels on Copilot+ PCs.

On your Copilot+ PCs, you can now access Click to Do from the Start menu including the ability to pin it to Start and your taskbar.

[caption id="attachment_177755" align="alignnone" width="485"] Click to Do on the Start menu All list highlighted in a red box.[/caption]

Click to Do can now perform intelligent text actions in Spanish and French in addition to English. We will continue to roll out support for additional languages in future updates. Text actions are currently available on Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PCs and coming soon for AMD and Intel®-powered Copilot+ PCs.
Click to Do has a text action to create a bulleted list. Currently available in English, Spanish, and French and on Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PCs and coming soon for AMD and Intel®-powered Copilot+ PCs.
We are providing policies for managing Click to Do in a commercial environment. IT admins can learn more here.

[Windows Share]

When you share links or web content using the Windows share window, you will see a visual preview for that content.

[caption id="attachment_177485" align="alignnone" width="569"] Visual preview of links and web content in the Windows share window.[/caption]

In the Windows share window, we are adding the ability to quickly edit and enhance images while sharing. This includes in-line image editing capabilities, such as cropping, rotating, and applying filters, as well as the ability to compress images to reduce file size for easier sharing. This ability works only for local images stored on your PC. Supported image formats: .jpg, .jpeg, .dib, .png, .tif, .tiff, and .bmp.

[caption id="attachment_177756" align="alignnone" width="568"] New edit button in the Windows share window when sharing local images.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_177757" align="alignnone" width="592"] The image editing experience from the Windows share window with a picture of the dog Kilo.[/caption]

[Other]

We're removing the bypassnro.cmd script from the build to enhance security and user experience of Windows 11. This change ensures that all users exit setup with internet connectivity and a Microsoft Account.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Taskbar]

Fixed an issue where the taskbar icons weren’t increasing in size as they should when using your PC in a tablet posture.

[File Explorer]

Fixed an issue where if the search indexer was hung, it could lead to File Explorer also hanging.
Fixed an issue where the date for files and folders in Home may be unexpectedly blank.
Fixed an issue which was impacting File Explorer launch reliability.
Fixed an issue where if you had disconnected network drives when doing a search from Home it might prevent searches from executing and you’d remain on Home.
Fixed an issue causing File Explorer to crash when moving or renaming certain files.

[Windowing]

Fixed an explorer.exe crash related to snap layouts which could happen when dragging a window or hovering over the maximize button in a window.

[Windows Update]

Fixed an issue which could result in you seeing a message asking for you to reboot to install a cumulative update that was already installed.
Fixed an issue where an installed cumulative update may unexpectedly not show in Settings> Windows Update > Update History.

[Settings]

Fixed an issue causing Settings to crash for some Insiders when going to System > Power & Battery in the latest flights.
Fixed an issue where text in the Advanced Camera Options in Bluetooth & devices > Cameras might not load correctly.

Known issues

[General]

[REMINDER] When joining the Beta Channels on Windows 11, version 24H2 – you will be offered Build 26120.3360 After installing that update, you will be offered the most recent update available. This 2-hop experience to get onto the latest 24H2-based flight in the Beta Channel is just temporary.
After you do a PC reset under Settings > System > Recovery, your build version may incorrectly show as Build 26100 instead of Build 26120. This will not prevent you from getting future Beta Channel updates which will resolve this issue.

[Recall (Preview)]

[REMINDER] Make sure you update Microsoft 365 apps to the latest version so you can jump back into specific documents.

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

Some Insiders may experience an issue where Recall is unable to automatically save snapshots, and the setting can’t be turned on in Settings. We’re working on a fix for this issue.
Recall can be enabled or disabled from “Turn Windows features on or off”. We are caching the Recall binaries on disk while we test add/remove. In a future update we will completely remove the binaries.

[Click to Do (Preview)]

[REMINDER] The intelligent text actions are now locally moderated to ensure the safety of prompts and responses and has replaced the cloud endpoint. Now that these intelligent text actions are fully local, they are also available in Click to Do in Recall.
[REMINDER] If any of your actions on image entities are no longer appearing, please ensure you have the latest updates for the Photos and Paint app from the Microsoft Store.

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

Sometimes additional context is given when using more intelligent text actions powered by Phi Silica.

[Improved Windows Search]

[REMINDER] For improved Windows Search on Copilot+ PCs, it is recommended that you plug in your Copilot+ PC for the initial search indexing to get completed. You can check your search indexing status under Settings > Privacy & security > Searching Windows.

[File Explorer]

We’re working on the fix for an issue causing File Explorer Home to crash for some Insiders. If you launch File Explorer to a different folder (for example, using search or the Run dialog), you should be able to navigate your folders.

[Task Manager]

After adding the new CPU Utility column, you may notice that System Idle Process always shows as 0.
The CPU graphs in the Performance page are still using the old CPU utility calculations.

[Widgets]

[NEW] Windows Insiders in the European Economic Area (EEA) with the new Lock screen widgets experience may see the weather widget temporarily unavailable.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel

Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel on Windows 11, version 24H2 will receive updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 via an enablement package (Build 26120.xxxx).
Many features in the Beta Channel are rolled out using Controlled Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.

Please note that some accessibility features may not work with features like Recall and Click to Do while in preview with Windows Insiders.

Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5516 (Dev Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 28 Mar 2025 17:04:21 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5516 (KB5054687) to the Dev Channel. REMINDER: Starting with Build 26200.5510 releases on March 24th, the Dev Channel has jumped ahead to receive 26200 series builds. This means that the window to switch from the Dev Channel to the Beta Channel is closed. These 26200 series builds are based on Windows 11, version 24H2 and will contain many of the same features and improvements as the 26120 series builds that will continue to be released in the Beta Channel. Over time, we be making behind-the-scenes platform changes in these builds and these builds may have different known issues as a result of those changes than what we’re flighting to the Beta Channel.

Improved Windows Search for AMD and Intel®-powered Copilot+ PCs

Local Semantic Search

We are making finding your documents, photos, and settings across Windows 11 easier on AMD and Intel®-powered Copilot+ PCs by introducing semantic indexing along with traditional indexing. Whether it’s searching in File Explorer, in the Windows search box on your taskbar, or in Settings – just type what’s on your mind to find it on your Copilot+ PC. You no longer need to remember file names, exact words in file content, or settings names. For example, you can use your own words to find images by typing “bridge at sunset”, documents by describing what they are about like “Europe trip budget”, or settings like “change my theme”. Thanks to the power of the 40+ TOPS NPU onboard Copilot+ PCs, these search improvements work even when you’re not connected to the internet. [caption id="attachment_177534" align="alignnone" width="478"] Use your own words to search for documents and images in File Explorer.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_177536" align="alignnone" width="640"] Use your own words to search for documents and images from your taskbar.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_177537" align="alignnone" width="435"] Use your own words to change settings on your Copilot+ PC in Settings.[/caption] You can go to Settings > Privacy & security > Searching Windows to adjust which locations are indexed on your PC or turn on “Enhanced” to index your entire PC. Searching for settings like “change my theme” will work within the Settings app for now. In a future flight, you will be able to do this within the Windows search box on the taskbar. These experiences are supported in select languages (Chinese, English, French, German, Japanese, and Spanish) and document formats. Supported file formats include .txt, .pdf, .docx, .doc, .rtf, .pptx, .ppt, .xls, .xlsx for documents and .jpg/.jpeg, .png, .gif, .bmp, .ico for images. See here for more details. You can learn more about semantic search on Copilot + PCs here.

Find photos saved in the cloud with improved Windows Search

We are also announcing support for also finding photos saved in the cloud with improved Windows Search for AMD and Intel®-powered Copilot+ PCs. Just use your own words to find photos stored and saved in the cloud by describing what they are about like “European castles” or “summer picnics” in the search box at the top right corner of File Explorer or also in the Windows search box. In addition to photos stored locally on your Copilot+ PC, photos from the cloud will now show up in the search results together. In addition to searching for photos, exact matches for your keywords within the text of your cloud files will show in the search results. [caption id="attachment_177578" align="alignnone" width="608"] Results including mountain bike photos one from the cloud in File Explorer with improved Windows Search.[/caption] You can try this experience out today with your personal OneDrive when signed in with your Microsoft account and connected to the internet. If you are signed into OneDrive with a work or school account (Entra ID), you will only see matches for keywords you are searching for within the text of your cloud files in the search results – not photos. Third-party cloud providers will be able to support this experience with their services as well with documentation coming soon. We’re excited to introduce a new way to find your cloud content in Windows and will continue improving search results and capabilities over time. These improved Windows Search experiences continue to gradually roll out to Windows Insiders on Copilot+ PCs, including finding photos saved in the cloud, so you may not see these experiences right away. You can learn more about semantic search on Copilot + PCs here. FEEDBACK for File Explorer Search: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Files Folders and Online Storage > File Explorer Search. FEEDBACK for Windows Taskbar Search: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Desktop Environment > Search. FEEDBACK for Settings Search: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Settings > Search Settings.

New features gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

Introducing speech recap in Narrator

We are always working to make Narrator more intuitive, efficient, and helpful for users who rely on it every day. With that in mind, we are introducing a new feature—speech recap —designed to help you keep track of what Narrator has spoken and access it for quick reference. With speech recap, you can quickly access spoken content, follow along with live transcription, and copy what Narrator last said—all with simple keyboard shortcuts. [caption id="attachment_177752" align="alignnone" width="660"] The new speech recap window in Narrator.[/caption] You can open the speech recap window with Narrator key + Alt + X and can find the last 500 strings Narrator had spoken. Note that we refresh the text in this window every time Narrator starts. You can use standard reading commands and arrow keys to read the contents in speech recap window and copy text required for reference. Need to save or share something Narrator just said last? You can copy it instantly without opening the speech recap window. Use Narrator key + Control + X to copy the last spoken phrase to your clipboard. Few scenarios where you can use speech recap and related shortcuts include referring to a hint you heard when opening a new window, copying an error code that was spoken or adding Narrator speech to training materials. [caption id="attachment_177753" align="alignnone" width="660"] Narrator’s speech recap window snapped to the right corner of screen showing real-time transcriptions.[/caption] Live transcription of Narrator speech is useful for Assistive Technology (AT) trainers, teacher of students with visual impairments (TSVI) who support students in class and for professionals who are hard of hearing and want to use Narrator. To see live transcription of Narrator audio, use the same command Narrator key + Alt + X to open the speech recap window and snap it to the portion of the screen you want to view it. As you do tasks, you can see real-time transcriptions of Narrator speech. These keyboard shortcuts follow a simple patten making it easy to learn:

Control + Windows key + Enter = Turn Narrator on/Off
Narrator key + X = Re-hear what Narrator said last
Narrator key + control + X = Copy what Narrator said last
Narrator key + Alt + X = Open Speech recap window for history and live transcriptions

FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Accessibility > Narrator.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[General]

We're previewing a new, more streamlined UI for unexpected restarts which better aligns with Windows 11 design principles and supports our goal of getting users back into productivity as fast as possible. We’ve simplified your experience while preserving the technical information on the screen. As a reminder, for Windows Insiders this appears as a “green screen”. This is beginning to roll out to Windows Insiders on Windows 11, version 24H2 and higher in the Beta, Dev, and Canary Channels.

[caption id="attachment_177754" align="alignnone" width="711"] The updated UI for unexpected restarts for Windows Insiders on preview builds.[/caption]

[Copilot on Windows]

You can now launch Copilot on Windows with Win + C. You can personalize your Copilot key and Win + C experience at any time with the existing "Customize Copilot key on keyboard" under Settings > Personalization > Text input.
To access the press to talk feature and start a conversation with Copilot on Windows, press and hold the Copilot key for 2 seconds. For PCs without the Copilot key, press and hold Win + C for 2 seconds. To end your conversation, press the Esc key. If there is no speaking for several seconds, Copilot will automatically end the conversation. When the conversation is over, the microphone on the screen will disappear. As announced previously, you can also press and hold Alt + Spacebar to talk with Copilot on Windows. Press to talk allows you to interact with Copilot using your voice, providing instant responses while staying in your current workflow and continuing tasks without interruption. Press to talk is supported in the latest Copilot app update (version 1.25033.139.0 and higher). This update is beginning to roll out across Insider Channels via the Microsoft Store.
Developers can get the same trigger for press to talk for their apps that support the Copilot key by using Handle Microsoft Copilot hardware key state changes. Note, the enterprise-focused Microsoft 365 Copilot app does not have this support today.
Win + C and press to talk are gradually rolling out so not all Insiders will get the update right away. We are excited to be previewing improvements with our Insiders to ensure all our customers have a great Copilot experience for Windows.

[Click to Do (Preview)]

Click to Do is currently available in preview for Windows Insiders on Windows 11, version 24H2 in the Dev and Beta Channels on Copilot+ PCs.

On your Copilot+ PCs, you can now access Click to Do from the Start menu including the ability to pin it to Start and your taskbar.

[caption id="attachment_177755" align="alignnone" width="486"] Click to Do on the Start menu All list highlighted in a red box.[/caption]

Click to Do can now perform intelligent text actions in Spanish and French in addition to English. We will continue to roll out support for additional languages in future updates. Text actions are currently available on Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PCs and coming soon for AMD and Intel®-powered Copilot+ PCs.
Click to Do has a text action to create a bulleted list. Currently available in English, Spanish, and French and on Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PCs and coming soon for AMD and Intel®-powered Copilot+ PCs.
We are providing policies for managing Click to Do in a commercial environment. IT admins can learn more here.

[Windows Share]

When you share links or web content using the Windows share window, you will see a visual preview for that content.

[caption id="attachment_177485" align="alignnone" width="569"] Visual preview of links and web content in the Windows share window.[/caption]

In the Windows share window, we are adding the ability to quickly edit and enhance images while sharing. This includes in-line image editing capabilities, such as cropping, rotating, and applying filters, as well as the ability to compress images to reduce file size for easier sharing. This ability works only for local images stored on your PC. Supported image formats: .jpg, .jpeg, .dib, .png, .tif, .tiff, and .bmp.

[Other]

We're removing the bypassnro.cmd script from the build to enhance security and user experience of Windows 11. This change ensures that all users exit setup with internet connectivity and a Microsoft Account.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[Taskbar]

Fixed an issue where the taskbar icons weren’t increasing in size as they should when using your PC in a tablet posture.

[File Explorer]

Did some more work to improve the performance of extracting zipped files in File Explorer, particularly in the case where you’re unzipping a large number of small files.
Fixed an issue causing File Explorer to be very slow to close for some Insiders when closing using the X button. This may also have impacted the other title bar buttons.
Fixed an issue where if the search indexer was hung, it could lead to File Explorer also hanging.
Fixed an issue where the date for files and folders in Home may be unexpectedly blank.
Fixed an issue which was impacting File Explorer launch reliability.
Fixed an issue where if you had disconnected network drives when doing a search from Home it might prevent searches from executing and you’d remain on Home.
Fixed an issue causing File Explorer to crash when moving or renaming certain files.

[Login and Lock]

Updated the web sign-in icon slightly to better align with the other icons when selecting a sign in option on the login screen.

[Windowing]

Fixed an explorer.exe crash related to snap layouts which could happen when dragging a window or hovering over the maximize button in a window.

[Windows Update]

Fixed an issue which could result in you seeing a message asking for you to reboot to install a cumulative update that was already installed.

[Settings]

Fixed an issue causing the navigation pane entries to not be aligned correctly in the previous flight.
Fixed an issue causing Settings to crash for some Insiders when going to System > Power & Battery in the latest flights.
Fixed an issue where text in the Advanced Camera Options in Bluetooth & devices > Cameras might not load correctly.

Fixes for everyone in the Dev Channel

[General]

Fixed the issue causing the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update to not render correctly and is automatically turned off by itself.

Known issues

[General]

After you do a PC reset under Settings > System > Recovery, your build version may incorrectly show as Build 26100 instead of Build 26200. This will not prevent you from getting future Dev Channel updates which will resolve this issue.

[Recall]

[REMINDER] Make sure you update Microsoft 365 apps to the latest version so you can jump back into specific documents.

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

Some Insiders may experience an issue where Recall is unable to automatically save snapshots, and the setting can’t be turned on in Settings. We’re working on a fix for this issue.
Recall can be enabled or disabled from “Turn Windows features on or off”. We are caching the Recall binaries on disk while we test add/remove. In a future update we will completely remove the binaries.

[Click to Do]

[REMINDER] If any of your actions on image entities are no longer appearing, please ensure you have the latest updates for the Photos and Paint app from the Microsoft Store.
[REMINDER] The intelligent text actions leverage the power of Microsoft’s secure cloud to improve your text results by ensuring prompts and responses are safe and appropriate. This data is automatically deleted. Local moderation to ensure the safety of prompts and responses will be added in the future, replacing this cloud endpoint.

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

Sometimes additional context is given when using more intelligent text actions powered by Phi Silica.

[Improved Windows Search]

[REMINDER] For improved Windows Search on Copilot+ PCs, it is recommended that you plug in your Copilot+ PC for the initial search indexing to get completed. You can check your search indexing status under Settings > Privacy & security > Searching Windows.

[File Explorer]

We’re working on the fix for an issue causing File Explorer Home to crash for some Insiders. If you launch File Explorer to a different folder (for example, using search or the Run dialog), you should be able to navigate your folders.

[Task Manager]

After adding the new CPU Utility column, you may notice that System Idle Process always shows as 0.
The CPU graphs in the Performance page are still using the old CPU utility calculations.

[Widgets]

[NEW] Windows Insiders in the European Economic Area (EEA) with the new Lock screen widgets experience may see the weather widget temporarily unavailable.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel

Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel receive updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 via an enablement package (Build 26200.xxxx).
Many features in the Dev Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.

Please note that some accessibility features may not work with features like Recall and Click to Do while in preview with Windows Insiders.

Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27823 (Canary Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Wed, 26 Mar 2025 17:05:15 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27823 to the Canary Channel. We are also not planning to release SDKs for 27xxx series builds for the time being.

Changes and Improvements

[General]

This update includes a small set of general improvements and fixes that improve the overall experience for Insiders running this build on their PCs.

[Settings]

[ADDED] We are rolling out “top cards” under Settings > System > About. These top cards provide an easy way to view your PC’s key specifications—processor, RAM, storage, and GPU—helping you understand your PC’s capabilities at a glance. This is designed to simplify decision-making by highlighting potential areas for hardware improvements while giving you a clear snapshot of your PC. Top Cards won’t appear yet on managed commercial PCs. Note this change appears only on specific PC form-factors such as desktops.

[caption id="attachment_177527" align="alignnone" width="572"] New top cards at the top of the About settings page displaying your PC’s processor, RAM, storage, and GPU specifications.[/caption]

Fixes

[File Explorer]

Fixed an issue where File Explorer might be blank and not render if you ALT + Tab to it from a minimized state in the latest Canary builds.
Fixed an issue where the see more menu “…” in the command bar was drawing in the wrong direction at some resolutions.
As part of our ongoing commitment to improving File Explorer accessibility, this release includes increased support for the text scaling (via Settings > Accessibility > Text size) across File Explorer, File Open/Save dialogs and the copy dialogs.

[Input]

Fixed an issue which could cause a ctfmon.exe crash when copying content from certain apps.
Fixed an issue where GetRawInputData was unexpectedly failing to read data in some cases, with lastWin32Errror invalid handle error.

[Login and Lock]

Fixed an issue where clicking Sign in Options was crashing for some Insiders.

[Settings]

Fixed an issue which could cause Settings to crash when interacting with Bluetooth & Devices > Cameras.
Fixed an issue causing some unexpected space at the top of System > Sound, and some other Settings pages.

[Printing]

Fixed an issue where non-admin users couldn’t uninstall printers that they’d added.
Fixed an issue which was causing some Insiders to unexpectedly see a message saying a Send to OneNote driver for printing wasn’t working.

[Other]

Fixed an issue which was causing certain apps to fail to install in Builds 27813+.
Fixed an underlying issue which was causing some Insiders to unexpectedly get bugchecks with UNSUPPORTED_PROCESSOR when upgrading or clean installing the latest builds.
Fixed an issue where when using CopyPixels the pixels may be unexpectedly inverted in certain cases.
Fixed an issue in the latest Canary builds where traffic routing might not work correctly when network adapters were connected.

Known issues

[General]

[IMPORTANT NOTE FOR COPILOT+ PCs] If you are joining the Canary Channel on a new Copilot+ PC from the Dev Channel, Release Preview Channel or retail, you will lose Windows Hello pin and biometrics to sign into your PC with error 0xd0000225 and error message “Something went wrong, and your PIN isn’t available”. You should be able to re-create your PIN by clicking “Set up my PIN”.
[NEW] The toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update is not rendering correctly and gets turned off by itself. This is just a visual issue and will be fixed in a future flight soon.

[Taskbar]

We’re working on the fix for an issue where the taskbar icons aren’t increasing in size as they should when using your PC in a tablet posture.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Canary Channel

The builds we release to the Canary Channel represent the latest platform changes early in the development cycle and should not be seen as matched to any specific release of Windows and features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Many features in the Canary Channel are rolled out using Controlled Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
Some features may show up in the Dev and Beta Channels first before showing up in the Canary Channel.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
To get off the Canary Channel, a clean install of Windows 11 will be required. As a reminder - Insiders can’t switch to a channel that is receiving builds with lower build numbers without doing a clean installation of Windows 11 due to technical setup requirements.
The desktop watermark shown at the lower right corner of the desktop is normal for these pre-release builds.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.3585 (Beta Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Mon, 24 Mar 2025 23:04:16 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.3585 (KB5053644) to the Beta Channel for Windows Insiders on Windows 11, version 24H2. Changes in Beta Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*) and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Beta Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

Improved Windows Search for AMD and Intel®-powered Copilot+ PCs

Local Semantic Search

We are making finding your documents, photos, and settings across Windows 11 easier on AMD and Intel®-powered Copilot+ PCs by introducing semantic indexing along with traditional indexing. Whether it’s searching in File Explorer, in the Windows search box on your taskbar, or in Settings – just type what’s on your mind to find it on your Copilot+ PC. You no longer need to remember file names, exact words in file content, or settings names. For example, you can use your own words to find images by typing “bridge at sunset”, documents by describing what they are about like “Europe trip budget”, or settings like “change my theme”. Thanks to the power of the 40+ TOPS NPU onboard Copilot+ PCs, these search improvements work even when you’re not connected to the internet. [caption id="attachment_177534" align="alignnone" width="462"] Use your own words to search for documents and images in File Explorer.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_177536" align="alignnone" width="676"] Use your own words to search for documents and images from your taskbar.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_177537" align="alignnone" width="410"] Use your own words to change settings on your Copilot+ PC in Settings.[/caption] You can go to Settings > Privacy & security > Searching Windows to adjust which locations are indexed on your PC or turn on “Enhanced” to index your entire PC. Searching for settings like “change my theme” will work within the Settings app for now. In a future flight, you will be able to do this within the Windows search box on the taskbar. These experiences are supported in select languages (Chinese, English, French, German, Japanese, and Spanish) and document formats. Supported file formats include .txt, .pdf, .docx, .doc, .rtf, .pptx, .ppt, .xls, .xlsx for documents and .jpg/.jpeg, .png, .gif, .bmp, .ico for images. See here for more details. You can learn more about semantic search on Copilot + PCs here.

Find photos saved in the cloud with improved Windows Search

We are also announcing support for finding photos saved in the cloud with improved Windows Search for AMD and Intel®-powered Copilot+ PCs. Just use your own words to find photos stored and saved in the cloud by describing what they are about like “European castles” or “summer picnics” in the search box at the top right corner of File Explorer or also in the Windows search box. In addition to photos stored locally on your Copilot+ PC, photos from the cloud will now show up in the search results together. In addition to searching for photos, exact matches for your keywords within the text of your cloud files will show in the search results. [caption id="attachment_177578" align="alignnone" width="618"] Results including mountain bike photos one from the cloud in File Explorer with improved Windows Search.[/caption] You can try this experience out today with your personal OneDrive when signed in with your Microsoft account and connected to the internet. If you are signed into OneDrive with a work or school account (Entra ID), you will only see matches for keywords you are searching for within the text of your cloud files in the search results – not photos. Third-party cloud providers will be able to support this experience with their services as well with documentation coming soon. We’re excited to introduce a new way to find your cloud content in Windows and will continue improving search results and capabilities over time. These improved Windows Search experiences continue to gradually roll out to Windows Insiders on Copilot+ PCs, including finding photos saved in the cloud, so you may not see these experiences right away. IMPORTANT NOTE: You may need to reboot 1-2 times to trigger getting these improved Windows Search experiences. You can learn more about semantic search on Copilot + PCs here. FEEDBACK for File Explorer Search: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Files Folders and Online Storage > File Explorer Search. FEEDBACK for Windows Taskbar Search: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Desktop Environment > Search. FEEDBACK for Settings Search: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Settings > Search Settings.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[File Explorer]

Did some more work to improve the performance of extracting zipped files in File Explorer, particularly in the case where you’re unzipping a large number of small files.
Fixed an issue causing File Explorer to be very slow to close for some Insiders when closing using the X button. This may also have impacted the other title bar buttons.

[Login and Lock]

Updated the web sign-in icon slightly to better align with the other icons when selecting a sign in option on the login screen.

[Settings]

Fixed an issue causing the navigation pane entries to not be aligned correctly in the previous flight.

Fixes for everyone in the Beta Channel

[General]

Fixed the issue causing a 0x80070005 error attempting to reinstall this build using the option to “Fix problems using Windows Update” under Settings > System > Recovery.
Fixed the issue causing the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update to not render correctly and is automatically turned off by itself.

Known issues

[General]

[REMINDER] When joining the Beta Channel on Windows 11, version 24H2 – you will be offered Build 26120.3360 After installing that update, you will be offered the most recent update available. This 2-hop experience to get onto the latest flight in the Beta Channel is just temporary.
After you do a PC reset under Settings > System > Recovery, your build version may incorrectly show as Build 26100 instead of Build 26120. This will not prevent you from getting future Beta Channel updates, which will resolve this issue.

[Recall]

[REMINDER] Make sure you update Microsoft 365 apps to the latest version so you can jump back into specific documents.

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

Some Insiders may experience an issue where Recall is unable to automatically save snapshots, and the setting can’t be turned on in Settings. We’re working on a fix for this issue.
Recall can be enabled or disabled from “Turn Windows features on or off”. We are caching the Recall binaries on disk while we test add/remove. In a future update we will completely remove the binaries.

[Click to Do]

[REMINDER] The intelligent text actions are now locally moderated to ensure the safety of prompts and responses and has replaced the cloud endpoint. Now that these intelligent text actions are fully local, they are also available in Click to Do in Recall.
[REMINDER] If any of your actions on image entities are no longer appearing, please ensure you have the latest updates for the Photos and Paint app from the Microsoft Store.

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

Sometimes additional context is given when using more intelligent text actions powered by Phi Silica.

[Improved Windows Search]

[REMINDER] For improved Windows Search on Copilot+ PCs, it is recommended that you plug in your Copilot+ PC for the initial search indexing to get completed. You can check your search indexing status under Settings > Privacy & security > Searching Windows.

[Settings]

[NEW] We’re working on the fix for an issue causing Settings to crash for some Insiders when going to System > Power & Battery.
[NEW] Text in the Advanced Camera Options in Bluetooth & devices > Cameras may not load correctly in this build.

[File Explorer]

We’re working on the fix for an issue causing File Explorer Home to crash for some Insiders. If you launch File Explorer to a different folder (for example, using search or the Run dialog), you should be able to navigate your folders.
We’re working on the fix for an issue causing File Explorer to crash when moving or renaming certain files.

[Taskbar]

We’re working on the fix for an issue where the taskbar icons aren’t increasing in size as they should when using your PC in a tablet posture.

[Task Manager]

After adding the new CPU Utility column, you may notice that System Idle Process always shows as 0.
The CPU graphs in the Performance page are still using the old CPU utility calculations.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel

Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel on Windows 11, version 24H2 will receive updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 via an enablement package (Build 26120.xxxx).
Updates delivered to the Beta Channel are in a format that offers a preview of enhancements to servicing technology on Windows 11, version 24H2. To learn more, see https://aka.ms/CheckpointCumulativeUpdates.
Many features in the Beta Channel are rolled out using Controlled Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Please note that some accessibility features may not work with features like Recall and Click to Do while in preview with Windows Insiders.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5510 (Dev Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Mon, 24 Mar 2025 23:04:12 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5510 (KB5054148) to the Dev Channel. Starting today, the Dev Channel is jumping ahead to receive 26200 series builds. This means that the window to switch from the Dev Channel to the Beta Channel is closed and once Build 26200.5510 is installed. If you are in the Dev Channel today and still want to switch to the Beta Channel at the last minute, when Build 26200.5510 is offered you can pause updates in Windows Update and switch your channel to the Beta Channel and un-pause updates. These 26200 series builds are based on Windows 11, version 24H2 and will contain many of the same features and improvements as the 26120 series builds that will continue to be released in the Beta Channel. Over time, we will be making behind-the-scenes platform changes in these builds and these builds may have different known issues because of those changes than what we’re flighting to the Beta Channel. In the case of Build 26200.5510 today – this build contains the same features and improvements as Build 26120.3576 released previously. As always, if you experience any issues while you use your PC on these builds we release to the Dev Channel, please file feedback in Feedback Hub. IMPORTANT NOTE for Insiders on Copilot+ PCs: Please note that when you update from Build 26120.3576 to Build 26200.5510 on your Copilot+ PC, you will see your snapshots in Recall and Recall settings get deleted and reset.

Known issues

[General]

After you do a PC reset under Settings > System > Recovery, your build version may incorrectly show as Build 26100 instead of Build 26200. This will not prevent you from getting future Dev Channel updates which will resolve this issue.
The toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update is not rendering correctly and gets turned off by itself. This is just a visual issue and will be fixed in a future flight soon.

[Recall]

[REMINDER] Make sure you update Microsoft 365 apps to the latest version so you can jump back into specific documents.

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

Some people may experience Recall being no longer able to save new snapshots or modify settings. This will be fixed in a future flight.
Some Insiders may experience an issue where Recall is unable to automatically save snapshots, and the setting can’t be turned on in Settings. We’re working on a fix for this issue.
Recall can be enabled or disabled from “Turn Windows features on or off”. We are caching the Recall binaries on disk while we test add/remove. In a future update we will completely remove the binaries.

[Click to Do]

[REMINDER] The intelligent text actions are now locally moderated to ensure the safety of prompts and responses and has replaced the cloud endpoint. Now that these intelligent text actions are fully local, they are also available in Click to Do in Recall.
[REMINDER] If any of your actions on image entities are no longer appearing, please ensure you have the latest updates for the Photos and Paint app from the Microsoft Store.

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

Sometimes additional context is given when using more intelligent text actions powered by Phi Silica.

[Improved Windows Search]

[REMINDER] For improved Windows Search on Copilot+ PCs, it is recommended that you plug in your Copilot+ PC for the initial search indexing to get completed. You can check your search indexing status under Settings > Privacy & security > Searching Windows.

[File Explorer]

We’re working on the fix for an issue causing File Explorer to be very slow to close for some Insiders when closing using the X button. This may also have an impact on the other title bar buttons.
We’re working on the fix for an issue causing File Explorer Home to crash for some Insiders. If you launch File Explorer to a different folder (for example, using search or the Run dialog), you should be able to navigate your folders.

[Taskbar]

We’re working on the fix for an issue where the taskbar icons aren’t increasing in size as they should when using your PC in a tablet posture.

[Task Manager]

After adding the new CPU Utility column, you may notice that System Idle Process always shows as 0.
The CPU graphs in the Performance page are still using the old CPU utility calculations.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel

Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel receive updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 via an enablement package (Build 26200.xxxx).
Many features in the Dev Channel are rolled out using Controlled Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Please note that some accessibility features may not work with features like Recall and Click to Do while in preview with Windows Insiders.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.5097 (Beta Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 21 Mar 2025 17:03:41 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.5097 (KB5053648) to the Beta Channel. Please note this build will only be provided to Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who did not upgrade to receiving updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2. Changes in Beta Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*) and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Beta Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[General]

This update includes a small set of general improvements and fixes that improve the overall experience for Insiders running this build on their PCs.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[File Explorer]

Continuing our work to improve File Explorer accessibility, this release expands support for text scaling across different warning and error message dialogs, via ‘Settings > Accessibility > Text size. If you see areas in File Explorer which are still not responding after the improvements in the latest updates, please file feedback Files Folders and Online Storage > File Explorer.
Fixed an issue where if the search indexer was hung, it could lead to File Explorer also hanging.
Fixed an issue where the date for files and folders in Home may be unexpectedly blank.
Fixed an issue which was impacting File Explorer launch reliability.

[Taskbar]

Fixed an issue where when using Hebrew or Arabic as your display language, if you pressed WIN + T then arrow keys, focus through the taskbar icons would move in the opposite direction.

[Input]

Fixed an issue where voice typing wouldn’t start from the touch keyboard when using the Chinese (Simplified) narrow layout.

[Login and Lock]

Updated the web sign-in icon slightly to better align with the other icons when selecting a sign in option on the login screen.

[Windows Sandbox]

Fixed an issue which was causing Windows Sandbox to fail to launch in recent Beta builds for some Insiders, with error 0x80072746.

Known issues

[Start menu]

The following are known issues for Windows Insiders with the new grid and category views on the All” page in the Start menu:

There's sometimes a delay in app icons showing in grid and category views after installing an app.
When right-clicking on an app, the "Start settings" context menu flashes before the app's context menu appears.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel

Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel on Windows 11, version 23H2 will receive updates based on Windows 11, version 23H2 via an enablement package (Build 22635.xxxx).
Many features in the Beta Channel are rolled out using Controlled Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27818 (Canary Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Wed, 19 Mar 2025 17:04:04 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27818 to the Canary Channel. We are also not planning to release SDKs for 27xxx series builds for the time being.

Changes and Improvements

[General]

This update includes a small set of general improvements and fixes that improve the overall experience for Insiders running this build on their PCs.

[Windows Security]

We are beginning to roll out a change in the Windows Security app where will show more details such as manufacturer and manufacturer version for Pluton TPM chips if your PC has one under Device security > Security processor details.

[Other]

Suggested actions that appear when you copy a phone number or future date in Windows 11 are now deprecated. We are disabling this feature.

Fixes

[General]

Fixed a d3d9.dll crash which was causing multiple apps to fail to launch starting with Build 27802 for some Insiders.

[File Explorer]

Did some more work to improve the performance of extracting zipped files in File Explorer, particularly where you’re unzipping a large number of small files.
Fixed an issue where File Explorer Home might not load correctly and just show random floating text saying “Name”.

[Taskbar & System Tray]

Fixed an issue with the taskbar app window previews, where the corners of the flyout weren’t drawn with the correct radius in certain cases.
Fixed an issue where the underlines under app icons in the taskbar may get stuck showing even if the app had been closed.

[Input]

Fixed a high hitting ctmon.exe crash, which could impact the ability to type.

[Settings]

Fixed an underlying issue which could result in Settings failing to launch with "The instruction at 0x00007FFEDEBDC003 referenced memory at 0x0000000000000010. The memory could not be read”. If impacted, you might also see a similar error message with RuntimeBroker.exe.
Fixed an issue for Japanese users, where the name displayed at the top of Settings > Accounts showed First Name Last Name instead of Last Name First Name.

[Graphics]

Fixed an issue which could cause sluggish video when using multiple monitors after changing from Second Screen Only to Duplicate display mode in the latest Canary builds.
Made a couple of fixes to address issues which could cause Settings > System > Display > Graphics to crash.
"Fixed an underlying issue which could lead to certain games failing to launch after an upgrade, saying DirectX function CreateComputePipelineState failed with E_INVALIDARG or StorePipeline failed with E_UNEXPECTED.

[Admin Protection]

Fixed an issue which could cause Visual Studio Code to not be able to be installed when Admin Protection was enabled.

[Remote Desktop]

Fixed an issue which could lead to Remote Desktop freezing when connecting.

[Other]

Fixed an underlying issue which was causing certain apps to fail to open with an error saying "The application was unable to load a required virtual machine component".

Known issues

[General]

[IMPORTANT NOTE FOR COPILOT+ PCs] If you are joining the Canary Channel on a new Copilot+ PC from the Dev Channel, Release Preview Channel or retail, you will lose Windows Hello pin and biometrics to sign into your PC with error 0xd0000225 and error message “Something went wrong, and your PIN isn’t available”. You should be able to re-create your PIN by clicking “Set up my PIN”.

[Taskbar]

[NEW] We’re working on the fix for an issue where the taskbar icons aren’t increasing in size as they should when using your PC in a tablet posture.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Canary Channel

The builds we release to the Canary Channel represent the latest platform changes early in the development cycle and should not be seen as matched to any specific release of Windows and features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Many features in the Canary Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
Some features may show up in the Dev and Beta Channels first before showing up in the Canary Channel.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
To get off the Canary Channel, a clean install of Windows 11 will be required. As a reminder - Insiders can’t switch to a channel that is receiving builds with lower build numbers without doing a clean installation of Windows 11 due to technical setup requirements.
The desktop watermark shown at the lower right corner of the desktop is normal for these pre-release builds.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.5090 (Beta Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Mon, 17 Mar 2025 21:04:38 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.5090 (KB5053649) to the Beta Channel. Please note this build will only be provided to Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who did not upgrade to receiving updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2. Changes in Beta Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*) and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Beta Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[General]

This update includes a small set of general improvements and fixes that improve the overall experience for Insiders running this build on their PCs.

[Voice access]

We are introducing Chinese support for voice access. You can now use Voice access to navigate, dictate, and interact with Windows using voice commands in Simplified Chinese (zh-cn) and Traditional Chinese (zh-tw).

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Start menu]

The following are fixes for Windows Insiders with the new grid and category views on the All” page in the Start menu:

We fixed the issue causing Windows Tools related apps to be broken out into folders instead of being in one single app.

[Windows Update]

Fixed an issue which could result in a quality update unexpectedly being missing from Settings > Windows Update > Update History, although it was installed.

[Login and Lock]

Fixed an issue which could cause the login screen to crash if you clicked the sign in options link.

Known issues

[Start menu]

The following are known issues for Windows Insiders with the new grid and category views on the All” page in the Start menu:

There's sometimes a delay in app icons showing in grid and category views after installing an app.
When right-clicking on an app, the "Start settings" context menu flashes before the app's context menu appears.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel

Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel on Windows 11, version 23H2 will receive updates based on Windows 11, version 23H2 via an enablement package (Build 22635.xxxx).
Many features in the Beta Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.3576 (Dev and Beta Channels)

Brandon LeBlanc — Mon, 17 Mar 2025 21:04:33 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.3576 (KB5053650) to the Dev and Beta Channels. As a reminder – we’re also offering the same Dev Channel updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 to Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel. These updates will be optional at first, so if you are in the Beta Channel today, you can upgrade when you are ready to do so. We plan to make these updates recommended later this year, which means you will eventually get upgraded to 24H2-based updates automatically in the Beta Channel. If you are an Insider in the Dev Channel, the window is open to switch from the Dev Channel to the Beta Channel if you would like. This window will only be open for as long as we’re releasing the same 24H2-based updates (same build numbers) across both the Dev and Beta Channels. When the Dev Channel jumps ahead (higher build numbers), the window to switch will close. Please note that switching from the Dev Channel to the Beta Channel may result in the loss of some features temporarily. IMPORTANT: This window is closing soon, so we highly encourage you to evaluate which channel you would like to be in during this time in which the window to switch is still open.

New features gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

Voice access commanding made more intuitive and user-friendly

On Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PCs, we’re introducing the ability for you to speak more flexibly while giving existing commands in voice access. Traditionally, voice commands in voice access would require you to follow a fixed syntax, making interactions rigid and sometimes frustrating. For example, if you said “Can you Open Edge application” instead of “Open Edge” which is the actual command, it wouldn’t work. With this improvement to voice access, you can now say "Can you open Edge application", or "Switch to Microsoft Edge", or "Please open the Edge browser". Voice access understands your intent and executes the right action for the voice command you speak. This means that you no longer need to pause and remember the exact phrasing of a command, just say what feels most intuitive. Just in case something doesn’t get picked up correctly, voice access will also show you real-time command suggestions based on your last utterance to help you recollect the right commands. [caption id="attachment_177708" align="alignnone" width="1421"] Real-time command suggestions in voice access to help you remember the right commands.[/caption] We’re making voice access more flexible, intelligent, and easy to use on your Copilot+ PC. Let us know what you think! FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Accessibility > Voice access.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[Voice access]

We are introducing Chinese support for voice access. You can now use Voice access to navigate, dictate, and interact with Windows using voice commands in Simplified Chinese (zh-cn) and Traditional Chinese (zh-tw).

[Settings]

[ADDED 3/20] We're beginning to introduce a new settings page under Settings > Apps > Actions for managing which apps Windows can recommend actions from on Copilot+ PCs. For example, turning off the Photos app on this settings page will turn off the available actions from the Photos app in Click to Do on Copilot+ PCs.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[File Explorer]

Fixed an issue causing the see more “…” menu in the command bar to open in the wrong direction for some resolutions.

[Login and Lock screen]

Fixed an issue which could cause the login screen to crash if you clicked the sign in options link.

[Recall (Preview)]

The following fixes are rolling out for Recall on Copilot+ PCs:

We fixed the issue where if you were trying out Recall on a PC managed by an IT administrator in your organization (signed in with a Microsoft Entra ID), you would see your Recall snapshots get deleted after installing Build 26120.3380 and after each reboot on that build.

[Settings]

Fixed an issue causing an unexpected amount of extra space at the top of Settings > System > Sound, and a couple other pages.

[Printing]

Fixed an issue which was causing some Insiders to unexpectedly see a message saying a Send to OneNote driver for printing wasn’t working.
Fixed an issue where non-admin users couldn't uninstall printers that they'd added.

Known issues

[General]

[NEW] When joining the Dev or Beta Channels on Windows 11, version 24H2 – you will be offered Build 26120.3360 After installing Build 26120.3360, you will be offered the most recent update available. This 2-hop experience to get onto the latest flight in the Dev or Beta Channels is just temporary.
[NEW] If you use the option “Fix problems using Windows Update” under Settings > System > Recovery, you will experience a 0x80070005 error attempting to reinstall this build.
[NEW] The toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update is not rendering correctly and gets turned off by itself. This is just a visual issue and will be fixed in a future flight soon.
After you do a PC reset under Settings > System > Recovery, your build version may incorrectly show as Build 26100 instead of Build 26120. This will not prevent you from getting future Dev Channel updates which will resolve this issue.

[Recall]

[REMINDER] Make sure you update Microsoft 365 apps to the latest version so you can jump back into specific documents.

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

[NEW] Some people may experience Recall being no longer able to save new snapshots or modify settings. This will be fixed in a future flight.
[NEW] Some Insiders may experience an issue where Recall is unable to automatically save snapshots, and the setting can’t be turned on in Settings. We’re working on a fix for this issue.
Recall can be enabled or disabled from “Turn Windows features on or off”. We are caching the Recall binaries on disk while we test add/remove. In a future update we will completely remove the binaries.

[Click to Do]

[UPDATED 3/17] The intelligent text actions are now locally moderated to ensure the safety of prompts and responses and has replaced the cloud endpoint. Now that these intelligent text actions are fully local, they are also available in Click to Do in Recall.
[REMINDER] If any of your actions on image entities are no longer appearing, please ensure you have the latest updates for the Photos and Paint app from the Microsoft Store.

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

Sometimes additional context is given when using more intelligent text actions powered by Phi Silica.

[Improved Windows Search]

[REMINDER] For improved Windows Search on Copilot+ PCs, it is recommended that you plug in your Copilot+ PC for the initial search indexing to get completed. You can check your search indexing status under Settings > Privacy & security > Searching Windows.

[File Explorer]

We’re working on the fix for an issue causing File Explorer to be very slow to close for some Insiders when closing using the X button. This may also have an impact on the other title bar buttons.
[NEW] We’re working on the fix for an issue causing File Explorer Home to crash for some Insiders. If you launch File Explorer to a different folder (for example, using search or the Run dialog), you should be able to navigate your folders.

[Taskbar]

[NEW] We’re working on the fix for an issue where the taskbar icons aren’t increasing in size as they should when using your PC in a tablet posture.

[Task Manager]

After adding the new CPU Utility column, you may notice that System Idle Process always shows as 0.
The CPU graphs in the Performance page are still using the old CPU utility calculations.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel

Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel on Windows 11, version 24H2 will receive updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 via an enablement package (Build 26120.xxxx).
Updates delivered to the Dev Channel are in a format that offers a preview of enhancements to servicing technology on Windows 11, version 24H2. To learn more, see https://aka.ms/CheckpointCumulativeUpdates.
Many features in the Dev Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Please note that some accessibility features may not work with features like Recall and Click to Do while in preview with Windows Insiders.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27813 (Canary Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Wed, 12 Mar 2025 17:04:38 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27813 to the Canary Channel. We are also not planning to release SDKs for 27xxx series builds for the time being.

Changes and Improvements

[General]

This update includes a small set of general improvements and fixes that improve the overall experience for Insiders running this build on their PCs.

[Other]

We are removing the Location History feature, an API used by Cortana to access 24 hours of device history when location was enabled. With the removal of the Location History feature, location data will no longer be saved locally, and the corresponding settings are also being removed from Settings > Privacy & security > Location page.

Fixes

[Audio]

Fixed an issue with the WDMAud system driver which was leading to some app crashes after the recent MIDI work.

[Settings]

Fixed an issue where in Settings > System > Display > Color Management, it might not display the expected color profile list for the selected monitor.

Known issues

[General]

[IMPORTANT NOTE FOR COPILOT+ PCs] If you are joining the Canary Channel on a new Copilot+ PC from the Dev Channel, Release Preview Channel or retail, you will lose Windows Hello pin and biometrics to sign into your PC with error 0xd0000225 and error message “Something went wrong, and your PIN isn’t available”. You should be able to re-create your PIN by clicking “Set up my PIN”.
We are working on the fix for a d3d9.dll crash which is causing multiple apps to fail to launch starting with Build 27802 for some Insiders.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Canary Channel

The builds we release to the Canary Channel represent the latest platform changes early in the development cycle and should not be seen as matched to any specific release of Windows and features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Many features in the Canary Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
Some features may show up in the Dev and Beta Channels first before showing up in the Canary Channel.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
To get off the Canary Channel, a clean install of Windows 11 will be required. As a reminder - Insiders can’t switch to a channel that is receiving builds with lower build numbers without doing a clean installation of Windows 11 due to technical setup requirements.
The desktop watermark shown at the lower right corner of the desktop is normal for these pre-release builds.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.3380 (Dev and Beta Channels)

Brandon LeBlanc — Mon, 10 Mar 2025 21:03:57 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.3380 (KB5053660) to the Dev and Beta Channels. As a reminder – we’re also offering the same Dev Channel updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 to Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel. These updates will be optional at first, so if you are in the Beta Channel today, you can upgrade when you are ready to do so. We plan to make these updates recommended later this year, which means you will eventually get upgraded to 24H2-based updates automatically in the Beta Channel. If you are an Insider in the Dev Channel, the window is open to switch from the Dev Channel to the Beta Channel if you would like. This window will only be open for as long as we’re releasing the same 24H2-based updates (same build numbers) across both the Dev and Beta Channels. When the Dev Channel jumps ahead (higher build numbers), the window to switch will close. Please note that switching from the Dev Channel to the Beta Channel may result in the loss of some features temporarily. IMPORTANT: This window is closing soon, so we highly encourage you to evaluate which channel you would like to be in during this time in which the window to switch is still open.

New features gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

Recommended files in File Explorer

Recommended files in File Explorer Home are now available to all Windows Insiders who are signed in with their personal Microsoft account (and local accounts). These files will provide you quick access to relevant files based on your activity in the Recommended section which is displayed as a carousel with thumbnail previews. This includes content such as files you frequently use, have recently downloaded, or added to your File Explorer Gallery. Users with a work/school account (Entra ID) will have additional types of recommendations available with this update. This change is not yet rolling out in the EEA (European Economic Area). Quick access folders will continue to be available in the navigation pane for easy access to pinned folders. [caption id="attachment_177672" align="alignnone" width="605"] File Explorer Home showing Recommended files.[/caption] FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Files Folders and Online Storage > File Explorer.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[Live captions]

On AMD and Intel®-powered Copilot+ PCs, we’re beginning to roll out the ability to do real-time translation to Chinese (Simplified). Supported languages include Arabic, Bulgarian, Czech Danish, German, Greek English Spanish, English, Estonian, Finnish, France, Hindi, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Lithuanian, Norwegian, Dutch, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Slovak, Slovene, and Swedish.

[Start menu]

We are trying out a new change where we will recommend a snap group in the Recommended section of the Start menu based on two apps that are most likely to be snapped together. Let us know what you think if you see this!

[caption id="attachment_177673" align="alignnone" width="500"] Example of recommended apps to snap together on the Recommended section of the Start menu.[/caption]

[Search on the Taskbar]

Improved support for web search providers in Windows Search for the EEA, including with increased discoverability.

[Notifications]

To ensure you never lose access to your Microsoft account, we are introducing a new toast notification that will prompt you to add a secondary email or recovery phone number to your account. This will only appear if you’re signed in to your PC with your Microsoft account and this information is missing from your profile. Adding these account proofs will help you recover your Microsoft account if you ever forget your password or get locked out for any reason.

[Widgets]

In this flight, we’re introducing the ability for web developers to easily utilize their existing web content to build dynamic and interactive widgets that can be added to the widgets surfaces in Windows 11. For more information, click here.

[Input]

We are trying out a new experience to improve the discoverability of the emoji and more panel in Windows 11 with the introduction of a new system tray icon on the taskbar. With this new system tray icon, you can easily express yourself by using emojis, GIFs, Kaomoji etc. across all apps and surfaces in Windows in addition to using the WIN + . keyboard shortcut which is also now shown on the emoji and more panel. This new system tray icon for the emoji and more panel shows can be changed by right-clicking on the icon to go to taskbar settings page.

[caption id="attachment_177656" align="alignnone" width="427"] The new system tray icon for the emoji and more panel highlighted with a red box.[/caption]

[Settings]

We are rolling out “top cards” under Settings > System > About. These top cards provide an easy way to view your PC’s key specifications—processor, RAM, storage, and GPU—helping you understand your PC’s capabilities at a glance. This is designed to simplify decision-making by highlighting potential areas for hardware improvements while giving you a clear snapshot of your PC. Top Cards won’t appear yet on managed commercial PCs. Note this change appears only on specific PC form-factors such as desktops.

[caption id="attachment_177527" align="alignnone" width="613"] New top cards at the top of the About settings page displaying your PC’s processor, RAM, storage, and GPU specifications.[/caption]

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[File Explorer]

As part of our ongoing commitment to improving File Explorer accessibility, this release includes increased support for the text scaling (via Settings > Text size) across File Open/Save dialogs and Wizard dialogs.

[Windowing]

Fixed an issue where the Snap Bar at the top of the screen was unexpectedly showing corners on the side closest to the screen.

[Input]

Fixed a high hitting ctfmon.exe crash, which could impact the ability to type.

[Settings]

Fixed an underlying issue which could lead to Settings crashing when adding a color profile in Settings > System > Display.
Fixed an issue where Settings might crash after using Settings to sign into an MSA.
Fixed an issue for Japanese users, where the name displayed at the top of Settings > Accounts showed First Name Last Name instead of Last Name First Name.

[Other]

Fixed an issue which could lead to a bugcheck with PDC_WATCHDOG_TIMEOUT when resuming from sleep.
Fixed an issue with windows.storage.dll in the last few flights, where trying to open files from an app could lead to the app crashing.

Known issues

[General]

After you do a PC reset under Settings > System > Recovery, your build version may incorrectly show as Build 26100 instead of Build 26120. This will not prevent you from getting future Dev Channel updates which will resolve this issue.

[Recall]

[REMINDER] Make sure you update Microsoft 365 apps to the latest version so you can jump back into specific documents.

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

[ADDED 3/13] After installing this update, you may be notified to turn snapshots back on in Recall via Recall's system tray icon. If you see this, please file feedback.
[NEW] If you are trying out Recall on a PC managed by an IT administrator in your organization (signed in with a Microsoft Entra ID), you will see your Recall snapshots get deleted after installing this build and then continue to get deleted each time you reboot. As a temporary work around until we fix this issue, you can follow these steps before installing this update to prevent your snapshots from being deleted (you may need to do these steps prior to each reboot as well after installing this update):
- Type gpedit.msc in the search box on your taskbar to open Group Policy Editor.
- Navigate down to the following: Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows AI.
- AI-generated content may be incorrect.
- Set “Allow Recall to be enabled” to Enabled.
- Set “Turn off saving snapshots for use with Recall” to Disabled.
Some Insiders may experience an issue where Recall is unable to automatically save snapshots, and the setting can’t be turned on in Settings. We’re working on a fix for this issue.
Recall can be enabled or disabled from “Turn Windows features on or off”. We are caching the Recall binaries on disk while we test add/remove. In a future update we will completely remove the binaries.

[Click to Do]

[REMINDER] If any of your actions on image entities are no longer appearing, please ensure you have the latest updates for the Photos and Paint app from the Microsoft Store.
[REMINDER] The intelligent text actions leverage the power of Microsoft’s secure cloud to improve your text results by ensuring prompts and responses are safe and appropriate. This data is automatically deleted. Local moderation to ensure the safety of prompts and responses will be added in the future, replacing this cloud endpoint.

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

Sometimes additional context is given when using more intelligent text actions powered by Phi Silica.

[Improved Windows Search]

[REMINDER] For improved Windows Search on Copilot+ PCs, it is recommended that you plug in your Copilot+ PC for the initial search indexing to get completed. You can check your search indexing status under Settings > Privacy & security > Searching Windows.

[File Explorer]

We’re working on the fix for an issue causing File Explorer to be very slow to close for some Insiders when closing using the X button. This may also have an impact on the other title bar buttons.

[Task Manager]

After adding the new CPU Utility column, you may notice that System Idle Process always shows as 0.
The CPU graphs in the Performance page are still using the old CPU utility calculations.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel

Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel on Windows 11, version 24H2 will receive updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 via an enablement package (Build 26120.xxxx).
Updates delivered to the Dev Channel are in a format that offers a preview of enhancements to servicing technology on Windows 11, version 24H2. To learn more, see https://aka.ms/CheckpointCumulativeUpdates.
Many features in the Dev Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.

Please note that some accessibility features may not work with features like Recall and Click to Do while in preview with Windows Insiders.

Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27808 (Canary Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 07 Mar 2025 18:05:36 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27808 to the Canary Channel. We are also not planning to release SDKs for 27xxx series builds for the time being.

Changes and Improvements

[Task Manager]

We are beginning to roll out a change to the way Task Manager calculates CPU utilization for the Processes, Performance, and Users pages. Task Manager will now use the standard metrics to display CPU workload consistently across all pages and aligning with industry standards and third-party tools. For backward compatibility, a new optional column called CPU Utility is available (hidden by default) on the Details tab showing the previous CPU value used on the Processes page.

[caption id="attachment_177652" align="alignnone" width="328"] New CPU utility column option for Details page in Task Manager.[/caption]

Fixes

[Gaming]

Fixed an issue leading to some popular games like Roblox potentially having a bugcheck (green screen) on launch on Build 27802.

[Printing]

Fixed an issue where printing from some apps might cause a bugcheck (green screen) on Build 27802.

[Search]

Fixed an issue causing the search window to be blank for some Insiders recently when searching from the taskbar, due to a background crash.

[Graphics]

Fixed an underlying issue which could lead to Settings crashing when adding a color profile in Settings > System > Display.
Fixed an issue which could cause color profiles to not load correctly after waking your PC from sleep.

[Power and Battery]

Fixed an issue where the colors in the new battery icon weren’t displayed correctly when you have your mode in Personalization > Colors set to certain options with Custom.

[BitLocker]

We did some work to improve the performance of loading early boot UI including the BitLocker PIN, BitLocker Recovery key, and boot menu screens.
Fixed an issue for a small number of Insiders which was causing a BitLocker loop in Build 27802.
Fixed an issue in recent flights where if you tried to run Get-BitLockerVolume, it unexpectedly showed an error.

[Other]

We believe one of the underlying changes in the previous flight addressed the issue causing reports that Hyper-V, and other features which rely on Hyper-V (such as WSL) weren’t working properly. If you continue having issues, please don’t hesitate to file a new piece of feedback in the Feedback Hub.

Known issues

[General]

[IMPORTANT NOTE FOR COPILOT+ PCs] If you are joining the Canary Channel on a new Copilot+ PC from the Dev Channel, Release Preview Channel or retail, you will lose Windows Hello pin and biometrics to sign into your PC with error 0xd0000225 and error message “Something went wrong, and your PIN isn’t available”. You should be able to re-create your PIN by clicking “Set up my PIN”.
[NEW] We are investigating a d3d9.dll crash which is causing multiple apps to fail to launch starting with Build 27802 for some Insiders.

Microsoft Store Update

Windows Insiders in the Canary and Dev Channels running version 22402.x and higher of the Microsoft Store and higher will see the following improvement rolling out: New Spotlight Design: We are trying out a new design for the “spotlight” on the department pages that show off more products at a glance for users to explore. [caption id="attachment_177665" align="alignnone" width="1024"] New spotlight design in the Store.[/caption] Updates to the Downloads Page: We’re continuing to improve the Downloads page with new sections to display updates for Microsoft-managed apps, which will be automatically applied, and updates for publisher-managed apps where you can update each independently. This ensures you can more easily view and manage updates for your apps and games. [caption id="attachment_177667" align="alignnone" width="1024"] New sections to display updates for Microsoft-managed apps in the Store highlighted in green boxes.[/caption] FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Microsoft Store.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Canary Channel

The builds we release to the Canary Channel represent the latest platform changes early in the development cycle and should not be seen as matched to any specific release of Windows and features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.

Many features in the Canary Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
Some features may show up in the Dev and Beta Channels first before showing up in the Canary Channel.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
To get off the Canary Channel, a clean install of Windows 11 will be required. As a reminder - Insiders can’t switch to a channel that is receiving builds with lower build numbers without doing a clean installation of Windows 11 due to technical setup requirements.

The desktop watermark shown at the lower right corner of the desktop is normal for these pre-release builds.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.5025 (Beta Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 07 Mar 2025 18:05:28 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.5025 (KB5053661) to the Beta Channel. Please note this build will only be provided to Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who did not upgrade to receiving updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2. Changes in Beta Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*) and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Beta Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

New features gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

Recommended files in File Explorer

Recommended files in File Explorer Home are now available to all Windows Insiders who are signed in with their personal Microsoft account (and local accounts). These files will provide you quick access to relevant files based on your activity in the Recommended section which is displayed as a carousel with thumbnail previews. This includes content such as files you frequently use, have recently downloaded, or added to your File Explorer Gallery. Users with a work/school account (Entra ID) will have additional types of recommendations available with this update. This change is not yet rolling out in the EEA (European Economic Area). Quick access folders will continue to be available in the navigation pane for easy access to pinned folders. [caption id="attachment_177672" align="alignnone" width="1717"] File Explorer Home showing Recommended files.[/caption] FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Files Folders and Online Storage > File Explorer.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Start menu]

We are trying out a new change where we will recommend a snap group in the Recommended section of the Start menu based on two apps that are most likely to be snapped together. Let us know what you think if you see this!

[caption id="attachment_177673" align="alignnone" width="538"] Example of recommended apps to snap together on the Recommended section of the Start menu.[/caption]

[Search on the Taskbar]

Improved support for web search providers in Windows Search for the EEA, including with increased discoverability.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[File Explorer]

Fixed an issue causing File Explorer to be very slow to close for some Insiders when closing using the X button. This may have also impacted the other title bar buttons.

Known issues

[Start menu]

The following are known issues for Windows Insiders with the new grid and category views on the All” page in the Start menu:

There's sometimes a delay in app icons showing in grid and category views after installing an app.
When right-clicking on an app, the "Start settings" context menu flashes before the app's context menu appears.
Windows Tools related apps are broken out into folders instead of being in one single app.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel

Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel on Windows 11, version 23H2 will receive updates based on Windows 11, version 23H2 via an enablement package (Build 22635.xxxx).
Many features in the Beta Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.5015 (Beta Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 28 Feb 2025 18:04:59 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.5015 (KB5052089) to the Beta Channel. Please note this build will only be provided to Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who did not upgrade to receiving updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2. Changes in Beta Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*) and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Beta Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Input]

We are trying out a new experience to improve the discoverability of the emoji and more panel in Windows 11 with the introduction of a new system tray icon on the taskbar. With this new system tray icon, you can easily express yourself by using emojis, GIFs, Kaomoji etc. across all apps and surfaces in Windows in addition to using the WIN + . keyboard shortcut which is also now shown on the emoji and more panel. This new system tray icon for the emoji and more panel shows can be changed by right-clicking on the icon to go to taskbar settings page.

[caption id="attachment_177656" align="alignnone" width="442"] The new system tray icon for the emoji and more panel highlighted with a red box.[/caption]

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[File Explorer]

Building on our commitment to improve File Explorer accessibility, this release adds more text scaling support in various warning and error message dialogs for text scaling (via Settings > Accessibility > Text size).
Fixed an issue which was causing File Explorer Home to crash for some Insiders in the previous flight.

[Windowing]

Fixed an issue where the Snap Bar at the top of the screen was unexpectedly showing corners on the side closest to the screen.

[Settings]

Fixed an issue where the storage count in Settings > System > About wasn’t correct in some cases.

[Other]

Fixed an issue for Insiders using the ability to resume OneDrive files, which could result in your mouse frequently showing a spinning icon.

Known issues

[Start menu]

The following are known issues for Windows Insiders with the new grid and category views on the All” page in the Start menu:

There's sometimes a delay in app icons showing in grid and category views after installing an app.
When right-clicking on an app, the "Start settings" context menu flashes before the app's context menu appears.
Windows Tools related apps are broken out into folders instead of being in one single app.

[File Explorer]

We’re working on the fix for an issue causing File Explorer to be very slow to close for some Insiders when closing using the X button. This may also impact the other title bar buttons.

Snipping Tool Update (version 11.2501.7.0)

We are rolling out an update for Snipping Tool to Windows Insiders in the Beta and Release Preview Channels (in addition to the Canary and Dev Channels already) that introduces trim! With trim, you can adjust the start and end times of your screen recordings to cut out any unnecessary video snippets from your video. [caption id="attachment_177646" align="alignnone" width="675"] New trim capability for screen recordings in Snipping Tool.[/caption] To get started, record a new screen recording with Snipping Tool. Open the recording in the app and select the new Trim button at the top of the window to enter the trim feature. Use the grabbers to move and select new timepoints for the start and end times of your screen recording. Press the Apply or Cancel button to save or discard your changes. You can also re-enter trim to undo or adjust any trimmed portions. FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Apps > Snipping Tool.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel

Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel on Windows 11, version 23H2 will receive updates based on Windows 11, version 23H2 via an enablement package (Build 22635.xxxx).
Many features in the Beta Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.3360 (Dev and Beta Channels)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 28 Feb 2025 18:04:52 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.3360 (KB5052090) to the Dev and Beta Channels. As a reminder – we’re also offering the same Dev Channel updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 to Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel. These updates will be optional at first, so if you are in the Beta Channel today, you can upgrade when you are ready to do so. We plan to make these updates recommended later this year, which means you will eventually get upgraded to 24H2-based updates automatically in the Beta Channel. If you are an Insider in the Dev Channel, the window is open to switch from the Dev Channel to the Beta Channel if you would like. This window will only be open for as long as we’re releasing the same 24H2-based updates (same build numbers) across both the Dev and Beta Channels. When the Dev Channel jumps ahead (higher build numbers), the window to switch will close. Please note that switching from the Dev Channel to the Beta Channel may result in the loss of some features temporarily. IMPORTANT: This window is closing soon, so we highly encourage you to evaluate which channel you would like to be in during this time in which the window to switch is still open.

New features gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

Choose what Lock screen widgets appear

We’re beginning to roll out support for lock screen widgets (previously referred to as “Weather and more”) to Windows Insiders in the European Economic Area (EEA). You can add, remove, and rearrange lock screen widgets such as Weather, Watchlist, Sports, Traffic, and more. Any widget that supports the small sizing option can be added here. To customize your lock screen widgets, navigate to Settings > Personalization > Lock screen. We are starting this rollout first with Insiders in the EEA and plan to expand to Insiders in other regions in the future. Insiders outside the EEA will continue to see the “Weather and more” experience. [caption id="attachment_177608" align="alignnone" width="625"] Customization settings for lock screen widgets shown in Settings.[/caption] As part of this, we’re also adding support for a new group policy called “Disable Widgets On Lock Screen” that will allow IT administrators to disable lock screen widgets without disabling widgets elsewhere on PCs they manage. To edit this policy, please launch the Local Group Policy Editor app and navigate to Computer Configurations > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Widgets. This policy is only supported in EEA regions at this time but will expand to include other regions in the future as well. FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Desktop Environment > Lock screen.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[Task Manager]

We are beginning to roll out a change to the way Task Manager calculates CPU utilization for the Processes, Performance, and Users pages. Task Manager will now use the standard metrics to display CPU workload consistently across all pages and aligning with industry standards and third-party tools. For backward compatibility, a new optional column called CPU Utility is available (hidden by default) on the Details tab showing the previous CPU value used on the Processes page.

[caption id="attachment_177652" align="alignnone" width="357"] New CPU utility column option for Details page in Task Manager.[/caption]

[Windows Share]

We are adding the ability to share directly to apps that support sharing in Windows when right-clicking on local files in File Explorer or the desktop.

[caption id="attachment_177359" align="alignnone" width="468"] Share with apps directly through the context menu in File Explorer or on the desktop.[/caption]

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[File Explorer]

Fixed an issue where File Explorer Home might not load correctly and just show random floating text saying “Name”.

[Taskbar]

Fixed an issue where the underlines under app icons in the taskbar may get stuck showing even if the app had been closed.

[Remote Desktop]

Fixed an issue which was leading to some people experiencing Remote Desktop freezes on login, or frequent disconnects.

[Settings]

Fixed an issue where an underlying crash was causing Settings to show an error message on launch ("The instruction at 0x00007FFEDEBDC003 referenced memory at 0x0000000000000010. The memory could not be read,"). If impacted, you might also have seen a similar error message with RuntimeBroker.exe.

[Other]

Fixed an issue where if you were upgrading to a higher build number and it failed and rolled back, it could potentially result in a duplicate Windows entry in the boot menu.
Fixed an issue for Insiders using the ability to resume OneDrive files, which could result in your mouse frequently showing a spinning icon.

Known issues

[General]

After you do a PC reset under Settings > System > Recovery, your build version may incorrectly show as Build 26100 instead of Build 26120. This will not prevent you from getting future Dev Channel updates which will resolve this issue.

[Recall]

[REMINDER] Make sure you update Microsoft 365 apps to the latest version so you can jump back into specific documents.

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

Some Insiders may experience an issue where Recall is unable to automatically save snapshots, and the setting can’t be turned on in Settings. We’re working on a fix for this issue.
Recall can be enabled or disabled from “Turn Windows features on or off”. We are caching the Recall binaries on disk while we test add/remove. In a future update we will completely remove the binaries.

[Click to Do]

[REMINDER] If any of your actions on image entities are no longer appearing, please ensure you have the latest updates for the Photos and Paint app from the Microsoft Store.
[REMINDER] The intelligent text actions leverage the power of Microsoft’s secure cloud to improve your text results by ensuring prompts and responses are safe and appropriate. This data is automatically deleted. Local moderation to ensure the safety of prompts and responses will be added in the future, replacing this cloud endpoint.

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

Sometimes additional context is given when using more intelligent text actions powered by Phi Silica.

[Improved Windows Search]

[REMINDER] For improved Windows Search on Copilot+ PCs, it is recommended that you plug in your Copilot+ PC for the initial search indexing to get completed. You can check your search indexing status under Settings > Privacy & security > Searching Windows.

[File Explorer]

We’re working on the fix for an issue causing File Explorer to be very slow to close for some Insiders when closing using the X button. This may also have an impact on the other title bar buttons.

[Task Manager]

[NEW] After adding the new CPU Utility column, you may notice that System Idle Process always shows as 0.
[NEW] The CPU graphs in the Performance page are still using the old CPU utility calculations.

Snipping Tool Update (version 11.2501.7.0)

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel

Windows Insiders in the Dev and Beta Channels on Windows 11, version 24H2 will receive updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 via an enablement package (Build 26120.xxxx).
Updates delivered to the Dev Channel are in a format that offers a preview of enhancements to servicing technology on Windows 11, version 24H2. To learn more, see https://aka.ms/CheckpointCumulativeUpdates.
Many features in the Dev Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.

Please note that some accessibility features may not work with features like Recall and Click to Do while in preview with Windows Insiders.

Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27802 (Canary Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 28 Feb 2025 18:04:46 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27802 to the Canary Channel. We are also not planning to release SDKs for 27xxx series builds for the time being.

What’s new with Build 27802

Improving the battery iconography in Windows 11

Introducing new and improved battery icons in Windows 11! These icons have been designed to communicate the battery status of your PC with just a quick glance. Key changes include colored icons to indicate charging states, simplified overlays that don’t block the progress bar, and an option to turn on battery percentage. [caption id="attachment_177547" align="alignnone" width="338"] Battery shown in black, yellow, and green to indicate different charging states.[/caption] When your battery icon is green, this shows that your PC is charging and in a good state. A yellow battery icon will let you know that your PC using battery in energy saving mode – this automatically happens when your battery is less than or equal to 20% to preserve power. When the battery icon is red, you have a critically low battery and should plug in your PC as soon as possible. You will see these new battery icons on the taskbar in the system tray, in the quick settings flyout, and in Settings. The new battery icons will begin showing on the Lock screen in a future flight. As always, your PC’s battery status and more will also be available to you when you hover over the battery icon in the system tray and under Settings > System > Power & battery where you can also adjust the battery level percentage in which energy saver mode kicks on for your PC. [caption id="attachment_177548" align="alignnone" width="633"] The toggle to turn on showing battery percentage in Settings highlighted in a red box.[/caption] Along with the updates to the battery icon, we are also introducing the ability to show your battery percentage next to the battery icon in the system tray – a highly requested feature by Insiders and customers. To enable this, go to Settings > Power & battery and toggle on the “Battery Percentage” setting. FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Desktop Environment > System Tray.

Changes and Improvements

[Taskbar & System Tray]

We are rolling out the ability to share files directly from the jump lists on the taskbar, which appears when you right-click on an app with a jump list like Notepad the taskbar.

[caption id="attachment_177429" align="alignnone" width="265"] Share icon appearing on a txt file on the jump list for Notepad.[/caption]

[Spotlight on the desktop]

We’re beginning to roll out some changes to the Desktop Spotlight icon interaction model for Windows Insiders. You can now quickly and easily discover more information about your background image by simply hovering over or clicking on the “Learn about this picture” icon on your desktop.

Fixes

[General]

We fixed the issue causing Insiders to see an error trying to install Build 27788 (0x8007000d) along with a failed .NET update (0x80073712). This issue should not occur with Build 27802.

[File Explorer]

Fixed an issue where if you opened a File Explorer window and minimized it, it might not be rendered correctly when you restore it.

[Taskbar & System Tray]

Fixed an issue when using multiple monitors, where the distance between the date and time and edge of the screen wasn’t consistent.

[Input]

Fixed an issue where if you were using a non-default mouse color (enabled in Settings > Accessibility > Mouse pointer and touch), it may unexpectedly revert back to white when you encountered a UAC dialog.

[Lock Screen]

Fixed an issue which was causing the login screen to crash when clicking the “sign-in options” link for some Insiders.

[Administrator Protection]

Fixed a rare issue when Administrator Protection was enabled, which could cause you to see a resource loader cache error loading the MUI file on sign in.
Removed extraneous space between Dynamic Lock and Administrator Protection under Account Protection in Windows Security.
Fixed an issue where Administrator Protection wasn’t showing in the results if you searched from the taskbar.

[Audio]

Fixed an issue causing a small percentage of Insiders to not be able to hear audio in the last couple builds due to a background audio crash.

[Remote Desktop]

Fixed an issue in the last two Canary Channel builds where if you used remote desktop to connect to your PC and then tried to sign into the computer locally, it would sit at a black screen.

[Other]

Fixed an underlying issue causing some Insiders to see a bugcheck with WIN32K_CRITICAL_FAILURE in recent builds.
Fixed an underlying issue causing some Insiders to see a bugcheck with KERNEL_SECURITY_CHECK_FAILURE in recent builds.
Fixed an issue where SFC /scannow is showing errors every time it was run.

Known issues

[General]

[IMPORTANT NOTE FOR COPILOT+ PCs] If you are joining the Canary Channel on a new Copilot+ PC from the Dev Channel, Release Preview Channel or retail, you will lose Windows Hello pin and biometrics to sign into your PC with error 0xd0000225 and error message “Something went wrong, and your PIN isn’t available”. You should be able to re-create your PIN by clicking “Set up my PIN”.

[Gaming]

[NEW] Some popular games like Roblox may cause a bugcheck (green screen) on this build. We're working on a fix for the next Canary Channel flight. You can pause updates and skip taking this build until we release a new build with the fix.

[Printing]

[NEW] Printing from some apps may cause a bugcheck (green screen).

[Power and Battery]

[NEW] The colors in the new battery icon aren’t displayed correctly when you have your mode in Personalization > Colors set to certain options with Custom.

[Search]

[NEW] We’re working on the fix for an issue causing the search window to be blank for some Insiders recently when searching from the taskbar, due to a background crash.

[Hyper-V]

We’re investigating reports where Hyper-V, and other features which rely on Hyper-V (such as WSL) don’t work properly.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Canary Channel

The builds we release to the Canary Channel represent the latest platform changes early in the development cycle and should not be seen as matched to any specific release of Windows and features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.

Many features in the Canary Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
Some features may show up in the Dev and Beta Channels first before showing up in the Canary Channel.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
To get off the Canary Channel, a clean install of Windows 11 will be required. As a reminder - Insiders can’t switch to a channel that is receiving builds with lower build numbers without doing a clean installation of Windows 11 due to technical setup requirements.

The desktop watermark shown at the lower right corner of the desktop is normal for these pre-release builds.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4950 (Beta Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:04:44 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4950 (KB5052078) to the Beta Channel. Please note this build will only be provided to Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who did not upgrade to receiving updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2. Changes in Beta Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*) and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Beta Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

New features gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

Making sharing files in Windows easier

Sharing files in Windows is getting a lot easier and quicker with our new drag tray feature. When you start dragging a local file with mouse (or touch) from File Explorer or your desktop, a handy tray appears at the very top of your screen allowing you to drop the file into one of the displayed apps or choose “More…” to open the Windows share window. [caption id="attachment_177640" align="alignnone" width="1200"] New drag tray UI that appears at the top of your screen when dragging a local file from File Explorer or your desktop.[/caption] FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Files, Folders, and Online Storage > File sharing.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Start menu]

We’re introducing two new views to the “All” page in the Start menu: grid and category view. Grid and list view shows your apps in alphabetical order and category view groups all your apps into categories, ordered by usage. This change is gradually rolling out so you may not see it right away. We plan to begin rolling this out to Windows Insiders who are receiving updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 in the Dev and Beta Channels soon.

[caption id="attachment_177642" align="alignnone" width="630"] The All page in the Start menu with the new grid view.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_177643" align="alignnone" width="630"] The All page in the Start menu with the new category view.[/caption]

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[File Explorer]

As part of our ongoing commitment to improving File Explorer accessibility, this update includes increased support for the text scaling (via Settings > Accessibility > Text size) across File Open/Save dialogs and Wizard dialogs.
Fixed an issue where File Explorer Home might not load correctly and just show random floating text saying “Name”.

[Taskbar]

Fixed an issue with the taskbar app window previews, where the corners of the flyout weren’t drawn with the correct radius in certain cases.

[Settings]

Fixed an issue for Japanese users, where the name displayed at the top of Settings > Accounts showed First Name Last Name instead of the expected Last Name First Name format.

Known issues

[Start menu]

The following are known issues for Windows Insiders with the new grid and category views on the All” page in the Start menu:

[NEW] There's sometimes a delay in app icons showing in grid and category views after installing an app.
[NEW] When right-clicking on an app, the "Start settings" context menu flashes before the app's context menu appears.
[NEW] Windows Tools related apps are broken out into folders instead of being in one single app.

[File Explorer]

We’re working on the fix for an issue causing File Explorer to be very slow to close for some Insiders when closing using the X button. This may also impact the other title bar buttons.

[Settings]

There is a known issue where the two new enterprise-specific device info and accessibility preferences cards are showing up on non-managed PCs signed in with Microsoft accounts.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel

Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel will receive updates based on Windows 11, version 23H2 via an enablement package (Build 22635.xxxx).
Many features in the Beta Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.3291 (Dev and Beta Channels)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:04:31 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.3291 (KB5052080) to the Dev and Beta Channels. The update includes two improvements for Windows Insiders on Copilot+ PCs:

We are previewing the ability to use improved Windows Search to find files saved in the cloud directly from the Windows search box on the taskbar with Windows Insiders with Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PCs.
This update improves your Recall (Preview) experience and as a result, your previous snapshots were deleted. After installing this build, Recall will continue to save new snapshots normally going forward only if you have the option to save snapshots turned on in Settings.

As a reminder – we’re also offering the same Dev Channel updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 to Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel. These updates will be optional at first, so if you are in the Beta Channel today, you can upgrade when you are ready to do so. We plan to make these updates recommended later this year, which means you will eventually get upgraded to 24H2-based updates automatically in the Beta Channel. If you are an Insider in the Dev Channel, the window is open to switch from the Dev Channel to the Beta Channel if you would like. This window will only be open for as long as we’re releasing the same 24H2-based updates (same build numbers) across both the Dev and Beta Channels. When the Dev Channel jumps ahead (higher build numbers), the window to switch will close. IMPORTANT: This window is closing soon, so we highly encourage you to evaluate which channel you would like to be in during this time in which the window to switch is still open.

New Copilot+ PC experiences

Find photos saved in the cloud via the Windows search box with improved Windows Search

We are excited to extend support for finding photos saved in the cloud with improved Windows Search to the Windows search box on the taskbar. Just use your own words to find photos stored and saved in the cloud by describing what they are about like “European castles” or “summer picnics” in the search box on your taskbar. In addition to photos stored locally on your Copilot+ PC, photos from the cloud will now show up in the search results together. In addition to searching for photos, exact matches for your keywords within the text of your cloud files will show in the search results. [caption id="attachment_177644" align="alignnone" width="675"] Results including dog on beach photos from the cloud in the Windows search box on the taskbar with improved Windows Search.[/caption] You can try this experience out today with your personal OneDrive when signed in with your Microsoft account and connected to the internet. If you are signed into OneDrive with a work or school account (Entra ID), you will only see matches for keywords you are searching for within the text of your cloud files in the search results – not photos. Third-party cloud providers will be able to support this experience with their services as well, with documentation coming soon. We’re excited to introduce a new way to find your cloud content in Windows and will continue improving search results and capabilities over time. The improved Windows Search experiences continue to gradually roll out to Windows Insiders on Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PCs, including finding photos saved in the cloud, so you may not see these experiences right away. Some of these improved Windows Search experiences are not yet available in all regions, with expanded availability coming over time. Support for AMD and Intel-powered Copilot+ PCs is coming soon. See here for more details. NOTE: For improved Windows Search on Copilot+ PCs, it is recommended that you plug in your Copilot+ PC for the initial search indexing to get completed. You can check your search indexing status under Settings > Privacy & security > Searching Windows. You can learn more about semantic search on Copilot + PCs here. FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Desktop Environment > Search.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[Recall (Preview)]

Recall is currently available in preview for Windows Insiders on Windows 11, version 24H2 in the Dev and Beta Channels on Copilot+ PCs.

[IMPORTANT] As mentioned last week, this update improves your Recall experience and as a result, your previous snapshots were deleted. After installing this build, Recall will continue to save new snapshots normally going forward only if you have the option to save snapshots turned on in Settings.

[Other]

As part of the deprecation and removal of Microsoft Support Diagnostic Tool (MSDT), this build includes several changes that direct MSDT troubleshooter links in Control Panel to Settings > System > Troubleshoot.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[Live captions & real-time translation]

The following fixes are rolling out for live captions and real-time translation on Copilot+ PCs:

Fixed the issue where you might see a crash on first launch of live captions.
Fixed the issue where if audio is playing or the microphone is enabled, switching languages will crash live captions.

[File Explorer]

Fixed a few issues impacting File Explorer reliability for Insiders.
Fixed an issue where opening File Explorer from the command line may result in the address bar being empty and not displaying the current path.
Fixed an issue where you couldn't select multiple files in the Recommended section of Home by holding Shift and clicking the files.

[Power & Battery]

[Graphics]

Fixed an issue which could cause color profiles to not load correctly after waking your PC from sleep.

[Remote Desktop]

Fixed an issue where Remote Desktop wouldn’t use UDP, only TCP.

Known issues

[General]

After you do a PC reset under Settings > System > Recovery, your build version may incorrectly show as Build 26100 instead of Build 26120. This will not prevent you from getting future Dev Channel updates which will resolve this issue.

[Recall]

[REMINDER] Make sure you update Microsoft 365 apps to the latest version so you can jump back into specific documents.

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

Some Insiders may experience an issue where Recall is unable to automatically save snapshots, and the setting can’t be turned on in Settings. We’re working on a fix for this issue.
Recall can be enabled or disabled from “Turn Windows features on or off”. We are caching the Recall binaries on disk while we test add/remove. In a future update we will completely remove the binaries.
Some users may see a message to “Make sure Recall is saving snapshots”, while the Settings page for Recall shows saving snapshots is enabled. Reboot your device to resolve this issue.

[Click to Do]

[REMINDER] If any of your actions on image entities are no longer appearing, please ensure you have the latest updates for the Photos and Paint app from the Microsoft Store.
[REMINDER] The intelligent text actions leverage the power of Microsoft’s secure cloud to improve your text results by ensuring prompts and responses are safe and appropriate. This data is automatically deleted. Local moderation to ensure the safety of prompts and responses will be added in the future, replacing this cloud endpoint.

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

Sometimes additional context is given when using more intelligent text actions powered by Phi Silica.

[Improved Windows Search]

[REMINDER] For improved Windows Search on Copilot+ PCs, it is recommended that you plug in your Copilot+ PC for the initial search indexing to get completed. You can check your search indexing status under Settings > Privacy & security > Searching Windows.

[File Explorer]

We’re working on the fix for an issue causing File Explorer to be very slow to close for some Insiders when closing using the X button. This may also have an impact on the other title bar buttons.

Snipping Tool (version 11.2501.7.0)

We are rolling out an update for Snipping Tool to Windows Insiders in the Canary and Dev Channels that introduces trim! With trim, you can adjust the start and end times of your screen recordings to cut out any unnecessary video snippets from your video. [caption id="attachment_177646" align="alignnone" width="630"] New trim capability for screen recordings in Snipping Tool.[/caption] To get started, record a new screen recording with Snipping Tool. Open the recording in the app and select the new Trim button at the top of the window to enter the trim feature. Use the grabbers to move and select new timepoints for the start and end times of your screen recording. Press the Apply or Cancel button to save or discard your changes. You can also re-enter trim to undo or adjust any trimmed portions. FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Apps > Snipping Tool.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel

Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel receive updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 via an enablement package (Build 26120.xxxx). UPDATE: If you are in the Beta Channel, these updates are currently offered to you as an optional upgrade, and you can upgrade when you are ready to do so. We plan to make these updates recommended in the Beta Channel later this year, which means you will eventually get upgraded to 24H2-based updates automatically.
Updates delivered to the Dev Channel are in a format that offers a preview of enhancements to servicing technology on Windows 11, version 24H2. To learn more, see https://aka.ms/CheckpointCumulativeUpdates.
Many features in the Dev Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.

Please note that some accessibility features may not work with features like Recall and Click to Do while in preview with Windows Insiders.

Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4945 (Beta Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 14 Feb 2025 18:03:58 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4945 (KB5052084) to the Beta Channel. Please note this build will only be provided to Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who did not upgrade to receiving updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2. Changes in Beta Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*) and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Beta Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[General]

This update includes a small set of general improvements and fixes that improve the overall experience for Insiders running this build on their PCs.

[Spotlight on the desktop]

We’re beginning to roll out some additional changes to the Desktop Spotlight icon for Windows Insiders to help with discoverability including changes to the icon color/backplate and moving the icon to the bottom right position on your desktop.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[File Explorer]

Did some more work to improve the performance of extracting zipped files in File Explorer, particularly when you’re unzipping a large number of small files.
Fixed a few issues impacting File Explorer reliability for Insiders.
Fixed an issue where opening File Explorer from the command line may result in the address bar being empty and not displaying the current path.
Fixed an issue where you couldn't select multiple files in the Recommended section of Home by holding Shift and clicking the files
Fixed an issue causing the see more “…” menu in the command bar to open in the wrong direction for some resolutions.

[Input]

Fixed an issue which could cause explorer.exe to crash when opening the input flyout sometimes.
Fixed an issue where when using the touch keyboard on the login screen to sign in to your PC, you may unexpectedly see two touch keyboards launch.

[Lock screen]

Fixed an issue in recent flights where if you tried to reset your password from the login screen, it wouldn’t work due to an underlying crash.

Known issues

[File Explorer]

We’re investigating an issue causing File Explorer to be very slow to close for some Insiders when closing using the X button. This may also impact the other title bar buttons.

[Settings]

There is a known issue where the two new enterprise-specific device info and accessibility preferences cards are showing up on non-managed PCs signed in with Microsoft accounts.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel

Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel will receive updates based on Windows 11, version 23H2 via an enablement package (Build 22635.xxxx).
Many features in the Beta Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.3281 (Dev and Beta Channels)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 14 Feb 2025 18:03:52 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.3281 (KB5052086) to the Dev and Beta Channels. As a reminder – we’re also offering this same the same Dev Channel updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 to Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel. These updates will be optional at first, so if you are in the Beta Channel today, you can upgrade when you are ready to do so. We plan to make these updates recommended later this year, which means you will eventually get upgraded to 24H2-based updates automatically in the Beta Channel. If you are an Insider in the Dev Channel, the window is open to switch from the Dev Channel to the Beta Channel if you would like. This window will only be open for as long as we’re releasing the same 24H2-based updates (same build numbers) across both the Dev and Beta Channels. When the Dev Channel jumps ahead (higher build numbers), the window to switch will close. This window is closing soon, so we highly encourage you to evaluate which channel you would like to be in during the time in which the window to switch is open.

New features gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

Ability to seamlessly resume OneDrive files in 1-click from your phone to PC

We are gradually rolling out the ability to seamlessly resume working on OneDrive files from your phone (iOS and Android) on your Windows 11 PC with a single click. With this feature, you will get a notification asking you if you want to pick up where you left off editing a OneDrive file like a Word doc that you last viewed or edited on your phone within a 5-minute time window preceding unlocking your PC. [caption id="attachment_177446" align="alignnone" width="377"] A cross-device resume notification indicating that you can continue working across devices seamlessly.[/caption] Upon clicking on this notification, the same file that you were viewing or editing previously on your phone will open in your default browser on your PC. Here are some important details about how this feature works:

This feature works only when signing into OneDrive with a Microsoft account. Work and school accounts are not supported. And you need to be using the same Microsoft account signing into OneDrive on your phone and signing into your Windows 11 PC.

This feature supports Word docs, Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations, OneNote notebooks/pages, and PDFs.

The OneDrive file must be opened on your phone when your PC is locked. If you then unlock your PC within 5 minutes of accessing the file on your phone, you will receive the resume notification as noted above.

For the best experience using this feature, you should be logged into OneDrive in your default browser on your PC.

This feature can be managed and turned off via Settings > Apps > Resume. FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Devices and Drivers -> Linked Phone.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[Recall (Preview)]

Recall is currently available in preview for Windows Insiders on Windows 11, version 24H2 in the Dev and Beta Channels on Copilot+ PCs.

We're improving Recall on the next update. This important update will improve your experience. As part of this upcoming update, your existing snapshots will be deleted.
Recall filtering options are now easily accessible via the Recall system tray flyout instead of having to set filtering directly in Settings.

[caption id="attachment_177628" align="alignnone" width="284"] New filtering options in the Recall system tray flyout highlighted in a red box.[/caption]

[Taskbar & System Tray]

We are rolling out the ability to share files directly from the jump lists on the taskbar, which appears when you right-click on an app with a jump list like Notepad the taskbar.

[caption id="attachment_177429" align="alignnone" width="262"] Share icon appearing on a txt file on the jump list for Notepad.[/caption]

[Snap]

We are introducing an improvement to Snap in Windows 11 aimed at driving contextual learning and discovery of the feature. Inline messaging will now appear when you accidentally invoke the Snap Bar when dragging an app to the top middle of your desktop or Snap Flyout when hovering over the Minimize or Maximize button of an app. This messaging is designed to provide guidance on snapping app windows and educating users on the keyboard shortcuts for quickly snapping app windows in the future. We are trying several variants of this experience out.

[caption id="attachment_177551" align="alignnone" width="324"] Inline messaging as seen at the top of the Snap Flyout.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_177553" align="alignnone" width="539"] Inline messaging as seen at the top of the Snap Bar.[/caption]

[File Explorer]

When “Restore previous folder windows at logon” is enabled in File Explorer, we will also now restore all the extra tabs which you previously had open in each File Explorer window. As part of this work, we have also updated the logic for the “Automatically save my restartable apps and restart them when I sign back in” setting via Settings > Accounts > Sign in options, so that when you enable this, we will automatically enable the File Explorer specific setting for you too.
We’re adding a new option to snooze or turn off the “Start backup” reminder in the File Explorer address bar, for those that aren’t already backing up their Documents, Pictures, or Desktop folders. This option is available when you right-click “Start backup”.
We are disabling account-based content in File Explorer under Recent, Favorites, Details Pane, and Recommended for Entra IDs in the European Economic Area (EEA).

[Spotlight on the lock screen]

We’re trying out a few different treatments for the top right hotspot (“Like the image that you see”) on the lock screen. You can now learn more about the spotlight image on your lock screen by clicking on the “Like icon” that takes you to the Spotlight landing page.

[Spotlight on the desktop]

We’re beginning to roll out some changes to the Desktop Spotlight icon interaction model for Windows Insiders. You can now quickly and easily discover more information about your background image by simply hovering over or clicking on the “Learn about this picture” icon on your desktop.
We’re beginning to roll out some additional changes to the Desktop Spotlight icon for Windows Insiders to help with discoverability including changes to the icon color/backplate and moving the icon to the bottom right position on your desktop.

[Settings]

Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass subscribers coming to Settings homepage will begin to see a new card for referring a PC Game Pass subscription to their friends to try PC Game Pass for free. This new card will only appear on the Settings homepage if you’re signed into your PC with your Microsoft account and meet the required eligibility criteria.

[caption id="attachment_177554" align="alignnone" width="429"] New Settings homepage card for referring PC Game Pass to friends.[/caption]

We are temporarily disabling the Settings homepage for commercial customers on PCs managed by an IT administrator which began rolling out with Build 26120.3073. We plan to address some issues and roll it out again in a future flight.

[Other]

We are removing the Location History feature, an API used by Cortana to access 24 hours of device history when location was enabled. With the removal of the Location History feature, location data will no longer be saved locally, and the corresponding settings are also being removed from Settings > Privacy & security > Location page.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[General]

Fixed the issue causing unexpectedly high DCOM CPU usage for some Insiders after opening the Performance section of Task Manager

[Lock screen]

Fixed an issue in recent flights where if you tried to reset your password from the login screen, it wouldn’t work due to an underlying crash.

[File Explorer]

As part of our ongoing commitment to improving File Explorer accessibility, this release includes increased support for the text scaling (via Settings > Accessibility > Text size) across File Explorer, File Open/Save dialogs and the copy dialogs.
Fixed an issue causing the see more “…” menu in the command bar to open in the wrong direction for some resolutions.

[Taskbar & System Tray]

Fixed an issue when using multiple monitors, where the distance between the date and time and edge of the screen wasn’t consistent.

[Improved Windows Search]

The following fixes are rolling out for improved Windows Search on Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PCs:

Fixed the issue where the AI sparkle and underline animation in the File Explorer search box was not present.
The search box on the taskbar now has the AI sparkle and underline animation just like the File Explorer search box has.

[caption id="attachment_177629" align="alignnone" width="471"] AI sparkle and underline animation in the search box on the taskbar.[/caption]

Fixed the issue where In some rare cases, improved Windows search experiences may not be available and may require a reboot to start working.
Fixed the issue where in some rare cases, File explorer search might be unresponsive and may require a reboot to start working.
Fixed the issue where the tip about the new search improvements would appear whenever you set focus to the search box in File Explorer, rather than only once.

[Input]

Fixed an issue where if you were using a non-default mouse color (enabled in Settings > Accessibility > Mouse pointer and touch), it may unexpectedly revert back to white when you encountered a UAC dialog.

[Settings]

Fixed an issue causing Settings to crash on launch for some Insiders.

[Other]

Fixed an issue for Shared PC users, where when signing in with a Guest account using Shared PC, the sign in may fail. This happened if DeviceLock password policies were configured.

Known issues

[General]

After you do a PC reset under Settings > System > Recovery, your build version may incorrectly show as Build 26100 instead of Build 26120. This will not prevent you from getting future Dev Channel updates which will resolve this issue.

[Recall]

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

[NEW] Some Insiders may experience an issue where Recall is unable to automatically save snapshots, and the setting can’t be turned on in Settings. We’re working on a fix for this issue.
[REMINDER] Make sure you update Microsoft 365 apps to the latest version so you can jump back into specific documents.
Recall can be enabled or disabled from “Turn Windows features on or off”. We are caching the Recall binaries on disk while we test add/remove. In a future update we will completely remove the binaries.
Some users may see a message to “Make sure Recall is saving snapshots”, while the Settings page for Recall shows saving snapshots is enabled. Reboot your device to resolve this issue.

[Click to Do]

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

[REMINDER] If any of your actions on image entities are no longer appearing, please ensure you have the latest updates for the Photos and Paint app from the Microsoft Store.
Sometimes additional context is given when using more intelligent text actions powered by Phi Silica.
The intelligent text actions leverage the power of Microsoft’s secure cloud to improve your text results by ensuring prompts and responses are safe and appropriate. This data is automatically deleted. Local moderation to ensure the safety of prompts and responses will be added in the future, replacing this cloud endpoint.

[Live captions & real-time translation]

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

Some Insiders may see a crash on first launch of live captions. Restart live captions if you encounter this issue and you will not see it again.
If audio is playing or the microphone is enabled, switching languages will crash live captions. Stop audio when changing languages to resume captions or translations.

[File Explorer]

We’re investigating an issue causing File Explorer to be very slow to close for some Insiders when closing using the X button. This may also have an impact on the other title bar buttons.

[Power and Battery]

The colors in the new battery icon aren’t displayed correctly when you have your mode in Personalization > Colors set to certain options with Custom.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel

Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel receive updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 via an enablement package (Build 26120.xxxx). UPDATE: If you are in the Beta Channel, these updates are currently offered to you as an optional upgrade, and you can upgrade when you are ready to do so. We plan to make these updates recommended in the Beta Channel later this year, which means you will eventually get upgraded to 24H2-based updates automatically.
Updates delivered to the Dev Channel are in a format that offers a preview of enhancements to servicing technology on Windows 11, version 24H2. To learn more, see https://aka.ms/CheckpointCumulativeUpdates.
Many features in the Dev Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.

Please note that some accessibility features may not work with features like Recall and Click to Do while in preview with Windows Insiders.

Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4880 (Beta Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 07 Feb 2025 18:04:19 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4880 (KB5052100) to the Beta Channel. Please note this build will only be provided to Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who did not upgrade to receiving updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2. Changes in Beta Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*) and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Beta Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[General]

This update includes a small set of general improvements and fixes that improve the overall experience for Insiders running this build on their PCs.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Settings]

Fixed the issue causing the Home page of Settings to crash for some Insiders.

Known issues

[File Explorer]

We’re investigating an issue causing File Explorer to be very slow to close for some Insiders when closing using the X button. This may also impact the other title bar buttons.

[Settings]

There is a known issue where the two new enterprise-specific device info and accessibility preferences cards are showing up on non-managed PCs signed in with Microsoft accounts.

Paint Update

We are rolling out an update for Paint (version 11.2412.271.0 and higher) to Windows Insiders in the Beta and Release Preview Channels. In this update, we are introducing the Copilot menu to Paint where you can access all the intelligent features which help you complete your image generation and editing tasks faster. Clicking on the Copilot icon from the toolbar will expand into a drop-down menu where you can easily access the features Cocreator, Image Creator, Generative erase, and Remove background. Note that Cocreator is only available on Copilot+ PCs. Within the dropdown, each feature will also include a short description to help you choose the right tool. [caption id="attachment_177577" align="alignnone" width="634"] Paint Copilot menu opened.[/caption] FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Apps > Paint.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel

Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel will receive updates based on Windows 11, version 23H2 via an enablement package (Build 22635.xxxx).
Many features in the Beta Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27788 (Canary Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Wed, 05 Feb 2025 18:04:41 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27788 to the Canary Channel. We are also not planning to release SDKs for 27xxx series builds for the time being.

What’s new with Build 27788

Windows MIDI Services Public Preview

We’re excited to release the first in-box public preview of Windows MIDI Services, our complete rewrite of MIDI on Windows with a focus on a great experience for musicians and a strong foundation for future expansion and enhancement. MIDI is the standard, first released in 1983, that is used to synchronize synthesizers and drum machines in almost all modern electronic music. It’s used to record and play back note information, control stage lights and effects, keep mixers in a large venue in sync, and so much more. Although it is not itself audio, the MIDI protocol is essential to making music and was heavily used in the rise of hip-hop and other genres. MIDI 2.0 is the first major update to the core MIDI protocol since 1983, offering everything that modern musicians need today, like increased speed and fidelity, better control of instruments, modern bi-directional conversations and negotiation between instruments, discovery, better USB timing, and more. Windows MIDI Services is our new MIDI stack which handles not only MIDI 2.0 but also brings our MIDI 1.0 implementation up to modern expectations. It works on 64-bit operating systems on all supported processors, including Arm64. Windows MIDI Services offers the following benefits:

Full support of the MIDI 2.0 Standard, including high-speed data transmission, higher-fidelity messages, increased resolution for controller values, and full in-service MIDI 2.0 endpoint discovery and protocol negotiation.
Faster transports, leading to better timing and reduced jitter.
Faster USB MIDI driver with full support for both MIDI 1.0 and MIDI 2.0.
Every endpoint is now multi-client, meaning multiple apps can use a device at the same time.
Better endpoint and port
In-service scheduling of outgoing timestamped messages, and timestamped incoming messages, for apps using the new Windows MIDI Services App SDK.
Built-in loopback and app-to-app MIDI
Automatic translation between MIDI 1.0 and MIDI 2.0 based on API, application, and device needs.
Much more device metadata available to applications.
Better device add/update/remove notifications.
Backwards compatibility with our WinMM (MME) MIDI 1.0 API (and WinRT MIDI 1.0 in the future) enabling applications to light up with new features without any changes, and even access MIDI 2.0 devices at a MIDI 1.0 feature level.
Open source. The MIDI Service, all its transports, all the tools, the tests, and the SDK are all MIT-licensed open source, and have been developed in concert with hardware and software partners around the world.

New USB MIDI 2.0 Class Driver: The new USB MIDI 2.0 Class Driver, graciously provided to Microsoft by AMEI (Association of Musical Electronics Industry of Japan) and written by AmeNote, is a high-speed USB MIDI driver which works with both the new USB MIDI 2.0 devices, as well as with class-compliant USB MIDI 1.0 devices. By default, for compatibility, this is enabled only for USB MIDI 2.0 devices and a handful of USB MIDI 1.0 devices. However, you may manually assign this driver to any class-compliant USB MIDI 1.0 device yourself to gain the better transfer mechanisms. We also have several built-in transports for things that were not previously available without third-party drivers. Learn more about the built-in transports here. Windows MIDI Services App SDK and Tools: Applications using Windows MIDI Services do so through the Windows MIDI Services App SDK, shipped out-of-band. Current preview releases are available on our GitHub repo releases page. Please note that these are unsigned releases and so will give you a warning when you download and install. In addition to installing the required runtime components, the SDK runtime installer includes these tools:

Windows MIDI Services Console (midi.exe): The all-around console tool for sending messages, checking the state of MIDI, monitoring incoming messages, sending System Exclusive, and much more.
MIDI Diagnostics (mididiag.exe): A tech support tool which provides information about the state of MIDI on the PC.
MIDI Kernel Streaming Endpoint Info (midiksinfo.exe): A hardware developer-focused tool which provides information about the KS (Kernel Streaming) endpoints.
MIDI multicast dynamic DNS Info (midimdnsinfo.exe): A tool to support the upcoming Network MIDI 2.0 transport.

The Windows MIDI Services App SDK also includes the MIDI Settings app – a desktop application for managing endpoints, renaming endpoints and ports, creating loopback devices, managing your network MIDI 2.0 connections, and more. In addition, we’re currently working on our Network MIDI 2.0 transport, recently demonstrated at the NAMM Show in California, the virtual patch-bay to enable routing between endpoints, and a rewrite of our BLE MIDI 1.0 transport. This will all ship in a future version of Windows MIDI Services. We look forward to having Windows Insiders who dabble in music creation try out the Windows MIDI Services Public Preview and MIDI 2.0. Try out using existing applications that use the WinMM MIDI 1.0 function with the new Windows MIDI Services installed. Additionally, any MIDI 1.0 devices with specific IHV drivers. You can also join the discussion here on Discord if you have questions or are looking to help! You will find a list of known issues documented here.

Ability to seamlessly resume OneDrive files in 1-click from your phone to PC

We are gradually rolling out the ability to seamlessly resume working on OneDrive files from your phone (iOS and Android) on your Windows 11 PC with a single click. With this feature, you will get a notification asking you if you want to pick up where you left off editing a OneDrive file like a Word doc that you last viewed or edited on your phone within a 5-minute time window preceding unlocking your PC. [caption id="attachment_177446" align="alignnone" width="400"] A cross-device resume notification indicating that you can continue working across devices seamlessly.[/caption] Upon clicking on this notification, the same file that you were viewing or editing previously on your phone will open in your default browser on your PC. Here are some important details about how this feature works:

This feature works only when signing into OneDrive with a Microsoft account. Work and school accounts are not supported. And you need to be using the same Microsoft account signing into OneDrive on your phone and signing into your Windows 11 PC.

This feature supports Word docs, Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations, OneNote notebooks/pages, and PDFs.

The OneDrive file must be opened on your phone when your PC is locked. If you then unlock your PC within 5 minutes of accessing the file on your phone, you will receive the resume notification as noted above.

For the best experience using this feature, you should be logged into OneDrive in your default browser on your PC.

This feature can be managed and turned off via Settings > Apps > Resume. FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Devices and Drivers -> Linked Phone.

Changes and Improvements

[File Explorer]

When “Restore previous folder windows at logon” is enabled in File Explorer, we will also now restore all the extra tabs which you previously had open in each File Explorer window. As part of this work, we have also updated the logic for the “Automatically save my restartable apps and restart them when I sign back in” setting via Settings > Accounts > Sign in options, so that when you enable this, we will automatically enable the File Explorer specific setting for you too.
We’re adding a new option to snooze or turn off the “Start backup” reminder in the File Explorer address bar, for those that aren’t already backing up their Documents, Pictures, or Desktop folders. This option is available when you right-click “Start backup”.

[Settings]

We are starting to roll out the Settings homepage for commercial customers on PCs managed by an IT administrator. The feature will show some existing cards relevant to enterprise-managed PCs like “Recommended settings” and “Bluetooth devices” as well as two new enterprise-specific device info and accessibility preferences cards. For commercial customers who also use their Microsoft account on their managed PC, there will also be a new accounts card indicating the presence of both work and school and Microsoft account types. We are starting the rollout of this gradually with managed commercial PCs who have both work and school, and Microsoft accounts presently seeing this experience first. [UPDATE 2/13] We are temporarily disabling the Settings homepage for commercial customers on PCs managed by an IT administrator. We plan to address some issues and roll it out again in a future flight.

[caption id="attachment_177526" align="alignnone" width="621"] The Settings homepage for a commercial customer on a managed PC.[/caption]

Fixes

[General]

Fixed an issue in Build 27783 which was causing multiple surfaces (including the taskbar, search, Settings, and lock screen) to cyclically crash for a small number of Insiders.

[Other]

Fixed an issue which was causing some Insiders to have a SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION bugcheck in Build 27783.
Fixed an issue where the description for virtual NICs wasn’t displayed correctly in ncpa.cpl, it showed garbled characters.
Fixed an underlying issue which could cause scanning apps to not detect a scanner, although one was connected.
Improved the colors used in MMC when items are selected, both generally, and when contrast modes are enabled.

Known issues

[General]

[IMPORTANT NOTE FOR COPILOT+ PCs] If you are joining the Canary Channel on a new Copilot+ PC from the Dev Channel, Release Preview Channel or retail, you will lose Windows Hello pin and biometrics to sign into your PC with error 0xd0000225 and error message “Something went wrong, and your PIN isn’t available”. You should be able to re-create your PIN by clicking “Set up my PIN”.
We’re working on the fix for an issue where SFC /scannow is showing errors every time it’s run.
[ADDED] If you see an error trying to install Build 27788 (0x8007000d) along with a failed .NET update (0x80073712), click retry on Build 27788 and not the .NET update and the build should install.

[File Explorer]

If you open a File Explorer window and minimize it in this build, it may not be rendered correctly when you restore it.

[Settings]

[NEW] The Home page of Settings may crash. If you are impacted by this, you should still be able to open specific Settings pages directly by searching for them from the taskbar.

[Hyper-V]

We’re investigating reports where Hyper-V, and other features which rely on Hyper-V (such as WSL) don’t work properly.

Microsoft Store Update

Windows Insiders in the Canary and Dev Channels running version 22501.1401.xx and higher of the Microsoft Store and higher will see the following improvement rolling out: Improving installation options for games: We’re adding a new capability that lets you install individual components for some games. For instance, Call of Duty and Halo can let you install (or not install) high-resolution textures or the campaign. This gives you greater control of your gaming experience and the install size of your games. [caption id="attachment_177615" align="alignnone" width="615"] Example of game components that can be individually installed in the Microsoft Store for some games.[/caption] Once your game is installed, you can return to its product page, click the new Manage button, and modify what components are installed. [caption id="attachment_177616" align="alignnone" width="612"] New Manage button on some game product pages showing components.[/caption] Give it a try and let us know what you think! FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Microsoft Store.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Canary Channel

The builds we release to the Canary Channel represent the latest platform changes early in the development cycle and should not be seen as matched to any specific release of Windows and features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Many features in the Canary Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
Some features may show up in the Dev and Beta Channels first before showing up in the Canary Channel.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
To get off the Canary Channel, a clean install of Windows 11 will be required. As a reminder - Insiders can’t switch to a channel that is receiving builds with lower build numbers without doing a clean installation of Windows 11 due to technical setup requirements.
The desktop watermark shown at the lower right corner of the desktop is normal for these pre-release builds.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4870 (Beta Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Mon, 03 Feb 2025 22:02:25 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4870 (KB5050087) to the Beta Channel. Please note this build will only be provided to Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who did not upgrade to receiving updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2. Changes in Beta Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*) and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Beta Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

New features gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

Choose what Lock screen widgets appear

We’re beginning to roll out support for lock screen widgets (previously referred to as “Weather and more”) to Windows Insiders in the European Economic Area (EEA). You can add, remove, and rearrange lock screen widgets such as Weather, Watchlist, Sports, Traffic, and more. Any widget that supports the small sizing option can be added here. To customize your lock screen widgets, navigate to Settings > Personalization > Lock screen. We are starting this rollout first with Insiders in the EEA and plan to expand to Insiders in other regions in the future. Insiders outside the EEA will continue to see the “Weather and more” experience. [caption id="attachment_177608" align="alignnone" width="600"] Customization settings for lock screen widgets shown in Settings.[/caption] As part of this, we’re also adding support for a new group policy called “Disable Widgets On Lock Screen” that will allow IT administrators to disable lock screen widgets without disabling widgets elsewhere on PCs they manage. To edit this policy, please launch the Local Group Policy Editor app and navigate to Computer Configurations > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Widgets. This policy is only supported in EEA regions at this time but will expand to include other regions in the future as well. FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Desktop Environment > Lock screen.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[File Explorer]

For Windows Insiders signed in with a work or school account (Entra ID), File Explorer will begin showing people icons under the “Activity” column on File Explorer Home and on “Recommended” at the top of File Explorer Home. When you hover or click over a people icon, it will display the Live Persona Card for that person from Microsoft 365.

[caption id="attachment_177609" align="alignnone" width="437"] Activity column under File Explorer Home showing people icons highlighted in a red box.[/caption]

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Start menu]

Fixed an issue causing Start menu to crash for some Insiders when interacting with the letters in the apps list.
Fixed an issue where the colors were not correct when opening the account manager flyout on the when using a mixed dark and light custom mode in Settings > Personalization > Colors.

[File Explorer]

Fixed an issue where if you opened a File Explorer window and minimized it, it might not be rendered correctly when you restored it.
Fixed an issue which was impacting File Explorer reliability for some Insiders.
Fixed an issue which was causing explorer.exe to crash when dropping files into File Explorer sometimes in the latest flights.

[Other]

Fixed a high hitting background sihost.exe crash in the latest flights.

Fixes for everyone in the Beta Channel

[Other]

This update includes fixes for the following issues:

[USB cameras] Fixed: Your device does not recognize the camera is on. This issue occurs after you install the January 2025 security update.
[USB audio device drivers] Fixed: The code 10 error message, “This device cannot start” appears. This occurs when you connect to certain external audio management devices.

Known issues

[File Explorer]

We’re investigating an issue causing File Explorer to be very slow to close for some Insiders when closing using the X button. This may also impact the other title bar buttons.

[Settings]

The Home page of Settings may crash. If you are impacted by this, you should still be able to open specific Settings pages directly by searching for them from the taskbar.
There is a known issue where the two new enterprise-specific device info and accessibility preferences cards are showing up on non-managed PCs signed in with Microsoft accounts.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel

Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel will receive updates based on Windows 11, version 23H2 via an enablement package (Build 22635.xxxx).
Many features in the Beta Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.3073 (Dev and Beta Channels)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 31 Jan 2025 18:04:00 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.3073 (KB5050090) to the Dev Channel. With this update, we are previewing the ability to use improved Windows Search to find files saved in your OneDrive with Windows Insiders with Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PCs. We also have a small Paint update rolling out (see below). Starting today, we are beginning to offer the same Dev Channel updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 to Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel. These updates will be optional at first, so if you are in the Beta Channel today, you can upgrade when you are ready to do so. [caption id="attachment_177574" align="alignnone" width="711"] Optional Windows 11, version 24H2 update offers in Windows Update for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel highlighted in a red box.[/caption] We plan to make these updates recommended later this year, which means you will eventually get upgraded to 24H2-based updates automatically if you are in the Beta Channel. Until that happens, the Beta Channel will continue to receive both updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 AND Windows 11, version 23H2 (but sometimes not at the same time). Please note that if you choose to upgrade to receiving updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 in the Beta Channel, you may lose some feature rollouts. If you are an Insider in the Dev Channel, you now have a window to switch from the Dev Channel to the Beta Channel if you would like. This window will only be open for as long as we’re releasing the same 24H2-based updates across both the Dev and Beta Channels. By the end of February, the Dev Channel will jump ahead to receiving updates with higher build numbers and once this happens, the opportunity to switch between these channels will close. When the Dev Channel jumps ahead, things might not be as stable as the Dev Channel is today, so we highly encourage you to evaluate which channel you would like to be in during the time in which the window to switch is open.

New Copilot+ PC experiences

Find photos saved in the cloud with improved Windows Search

A few weeks ago, we began previewing improved Windows Search with Windows Insiders on Copilot+ PCs. In that first preview, we introduced semantic indexing along with traditional lexical indexing for finding files saved locally in indexed locations on Copilot+ PCs with 40+ TOPS NPU onboard. Today, we are excited to announce support for also finding photos saved in the cloud with improved Windows Search. Just use your own words to find photos stored and saved in the cloud by describing what they are about like “European castles” or “summer picnics” in the search box at the top right corner of File Explorer. In addition to photos stored locally on your Copilot+ PC, photos from the cloud will now show up in the search results together. In addition to searching for photos, exact matches for your keywords within the text of your cloud files will show in the search results. [caption id="attachment_177578" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Results including mountain bike photos from the cloud in File Explorer with improved Windows Search.[/caption] Finding photos saved in the cloud currently works when searching within File Explorer directly. This will also work directly from the Windows search box on the taskbar in a future flight. You can try this experience out today with your personal OneDrive when signed in with your Microsoft account and connected to the internet. If you are signed into OneDrive with a work or school account (Entra ID), you will only see matches for keywords you are searching for within the text of your cloud files in the search results – not photos. Third-party cloud providers will be able to support this experience with their services as well with documentation coming soon. We're excited to introduce a new way to find your cloud content in Windows and will continue improving search results and capabilities over time. These improved Windows Search experiences continue to gradually roll out to Windows Insiders on Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PCs, including finding photos saved in the cloud, so you may not see these experiences right away. Support for AMD and Intel-powered Copilot+ PCs is coming soon. See here for more details. You can learn more about semantic search on Copilot + PCs here. FEEDBACK for File Explorer Search: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Files Folders and Online Storage > File Explorer Search.

Other changes that are included in this Dev and Beta Channel update

This update (Build 26120.3073) includes other changes and improvements available to Windows Insiders across all Windows 11 PCs in addition to the features noted above that are exclusive to Copilot+ PCs. These changes are documented below in two buckets:

New features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*).
New features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Dev Channel.

For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[Settings]

We are starting to roll out the Settings homepage for commercial customers on PCs managed by an IT administrator. The feature will show some existing cards relevant to enterprise-managed PCs like “Recommended settings” and “Bluetooth devices” as well as two new enterprise-specific device info and accessibility preferences cards. For commercial customers who also use their Microsoft account on their managed PC, there will also be a new accounts card indicating the presence of both work and school and Microsoft account types. We are starting the rollout of this gradually with managed commercial PCs who have both work and school, and Microsoft accounts presently seeing this experience first.

[caption id="attachment_177526" align="alignnone" width="649"] The Settings homepage for a commercial customer on a managed PC.[/caption]

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[Taskbar & System Tray]

Fixed an issue which was causing the taskbar preview windows to not display sometimes when hovering over open apps in the taskbar.

[File Explorer]

We did some work to help address an issue where File Explorer might hang when browsing a folder with lots of media in it.
Fixed an issue where if you opened a File Explorer window and minimized it in, it might not be rendered correctly when you restored it.

[Improved Windows Search]

Fixed the issue where in some rare cases, searching on Outlook while offline might result in some results not being found.

[Live Captions]

Fixed an issue where live captions might show an icon in the taskbar, but the window wouldn’t display on the screen, after disconnecting a second monitor.

[Remote Desktop]

Fixed an issue which was causing Remote Desktop to show significant display / rendering issues when connecting to certain other computers.

[Settings]

Fixed an issue which was causing Settings to crash when interacting with the Bluetooth & Devices page sometimes.

[Other]

Fixed an issue where when using GDI+ to shrink an image, the colors may be wrong afterwards..
Fixed an issue which could cause shutdown to be noticeably slower on certain devices when a controller was connected.
Fixed an underlying issue causing the Windows Security pop up when signing into certain Wi-Fi networks to not be interactable. This may have also impacted interacting with this pop up for certain other options in Settings.
Fixed an issue where the description for virtual NICs wasn’t displayed correctly in ncpa.cpl, it showed garbled characters.

Fixes for everyone in the Dev Channel

[General]

We fixed the issue causing a 0xc0e90001 error to occur when booting into Windows Recovery (WinRE) on Arm64 PCs.

[Other]

[Memory leak] Fixed: Leaks occur when predictive input ideas show.
[High dynamic range (HDR)] Fixed: The display of some games appears oversaturated. This occurs when you use Auto HDR.
[Remote Desktop Gateway] Fixed: You get errors or cannot sign when you connect to Windows 11 workstations. This occurs when you enforce device redirection.
[USB audio device drivers] Fixed: The code 10 error message, “This device cannot start” appears. This occurs when you connect to certain external audio management devices.

Known issues

[General]

After you do a PC reset under Settings > System > Recovery, your build version may incorrectly show as Build 26100 instead of Build 26120. This will not prevent you from getting future Dev Channel updates which will resolve this issue.
[NEW] We're investigating an issue causing unexpectedly high DCOM CPU usage for some Insiders after opening the Performance section of Task Manager

[Recall]

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

Recall can be enabled or disabled from “Turn Windows features on or off”. We are caching the Recall binaries on disk while we test add/remove. In a future update we will completely remove the binaries.
Some users may see a message to “Make sure Recall is saving snapshots”, while the Settings page for Recall shows saving snapshots is enabled. Reboot your device to resolve this issue.
Make sure you update Microsoft 365 apps to the latest version so you can jump back into specific documents.

[Click to Do]

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

Sometimes additional context is given when using more intelligent text actions powered by Phi Silica.
The intelligent text actions leverage the power of Microsoft’s secure cloud to improve your text results by ensuring prompts and responses are safe and appropriate. This data is automatically deleted. Local moderation to ensure the safety of prompts and responses will be added in the future, replacing this cloud endpoint.
If any of your actions on image entities are no longer appearing, please ensure you have the latest updates for the Photos and Paint app from the Microsoft Store.

[Live captions & real-time translation]

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

Some Insiders may see a crash on first launch of live captions. Restart live captions if you encounter this issue and you will not see it again.
If audio is playing or the microphone is enabled, switching languages will crash live captions. Stop audio when changing languages to resume captions or translations.

[Improved Windows Search]

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

[NEW] The AI sparkle and underline animation in the File Explorer search box is not present in this build even when improved Windows Search is in use on your Copilot+ PC. If your search results are powered by improved Windows Search, you will see a notice at the bottom of File Explorer stating, “Search uses AI to find results” and directing you to file feedback if something doesn’t look right.
In this build, the search box on the taskbar does not yet have the same underline and sparkles icon UI that the File Explorer search box has. This is coming in a future flight.
In some rare cases, improved Windows search experiences may not be available and may require a reboot to start working.
In some rare cases, File explorer search might be unresponsive and may require a reboot to start working.
The tip about the new search improvements appears whenever you set focus to the search box in File Explorer, rather than only once.

[File Explorer]

We’re investigating an issue causing File Explorer to be very slow to close for some Insiders when closing using the X button. This may also have an impact on the other title bar buttons.

[Power and Battery]

[NEW] The colors in the new battery icon aren’t displaying correctly when you have your mode in Personalization > Colors set to certain options with Custom.

[Settings]

[NEW] The Home page of Settings may crash. If you are impacted by this, you should still be able to open specific Settings pages directly by searching for them from the taskbar.

Paint Update

We are rolling out an update for Paint (version 11.2412.271.0 and higher) to Windows Insiders in the Canary and Dev Channels. In this update, we are introducing the Copilot menu to Paint where you can access all the intelligent features which help you complete your image generation and editing tasks faster. Clicking on the Copilot icon from the toolbar will expand into a drop-down menu where you can easily access the features Cocreator, Image Creator, Generative erase, and Remove background. Note that Cocreator is only available on Copilot+ PCs. Within the dropdown, each feature will also include a short description to help you choose the right tool. [caption id="attachment_177577" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Paint Copilot menu opened.[/caption] FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Apps > Paint.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel

Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel receive updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 via an enablement package (Build 26120.xxxx).
Updates delivered to the Dev Channel are in a format that offers a preview of enhancements to servicing technology on Windows 11, version 24H2. To learn more, see https://aka.ms/CheckpointCumulativeUpdates.
Many features in the Dev Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Please note that some accessibility features may not work with features like Recall and Click to Do while in preview with Windows Insiders.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27783 (Canary Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Wed, 29 Jan 2025 18:05:03 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27783 to the Canary Channel. We are also not planning to release SDKs for 27xxx series builds for the time being.

What’s new with Build 27783

Shared Content in File Explorer Home

File Explorer will now provide you with quick access to files that have been shared with you. If you are signed into Windows with your Microsoft account, you will be able to view files that have been shared with your account, such as email, Teams chat, etc. If you are a commercial customer who is signed-in with your Microsoft Entra ID account, you will additionally be able to view files that they have shared with others. You can access this feature by launching File Explorer Home and clicking on the ‘Shared’ tab item. You will also be able to view a broader set of file types in their Recent, Favorites, and Shared sections on the homepage. For example, if you’ve recently opened/edited files in Designer, Loop, Power BI, Forms, etc. these files will now be available in your Recent list. [caption id="attachment_177176" align="alignnone" width="712"] File Explorer Home with new tabs for Recent, Favorites, and Shared.[/caption] FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Files Folders and Online Storage > File Explorer.

Changes and Improvements

[General]

This update includes a small set of general improvements and fixes that improve the overall experience for Insiders running this build on their PCs.

[Magnifier]

We’re adding a new keyboard shortcut CTRL + ALT + Minus for Magnifier users to quickly toggle between the current zoom and 1X zoom.
In addition to the keyboard shortcut CTRL + ALT + Minus to quickly toggle between the current zoom and 1X zoom, we have also added buttons in Magnifier to reset zoom to fit to screen and reset zoom to your last/preferred magnification.

[caption id="attachment_177513" align="alignnone" width="536"] New buttons in Magnifier to reset zoom to fit to screen and reset zoom to your last or preferred magnification highlighted in a red box.[/caption]

Fixes

[Taskbar & System Tray]

Fixed an issue which was causing the taskbar preview windows to not display sometimes when hovering over open apps in the taskbar.

[Input]

Fixed an issue for Pinyin IME users, where switching between windows (like with ALT + Tab) may unexpectedly switch the IME from Chinese to English.

[Windowing]

Fixed an underlying issue which could lead to unexpected app window freezes for some people when using ALT + Tab between certain types of apps.

[Graphics]

Fixed an issue causing Settings to crash when going to Settings > System > Display > Graphics for some people.

[Remote Desktop]

Fixed an issue causing MTSC.exe for Remote Desktop to fail on the previous build with error 0x80080005.
Fixed an issue which was causing Remote Desktop to show significant display / rendering issues when connecting to certain other computers.

[Other]

Fixed an underlying issue which was causing an explorer.exe memory leak in recent Canary Channel builds, leading to performance issues over time.
Fixed an issue where the shutdown /r/ /fw command wasn’t working sometimes.

Known issues

[General]

[IMPORTANT NOTE FOR COPILOT+ PCs] If you are joining the Canary Channel on a new Copilot+ PC from the Dev Channel, Release Preview Channel or retail, you will lose Windows Hello pin and biometrics to sign into your PC with error 0xd0000225 and error message “Something went wrong, and your PIN isn’t available”. You should be able to re-create your PIN by clicking “Set up my PIN”.
We’re working on the fix for an issue where SFC /scannow is showing errors every time it’s run.

[File Explorer]

If you open a File Explorer window and minimize it in this build, it may not render correctly when you restore it.

[Hyper-V]

[NEW] We’re investigating reports that Hyper-V, and other features which rely on Hyper-V (such as WSL) don’t work properly after the last flight.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Canary Channel

The builds we release to the Canary Channel represent the latest platform changes early in the development cycle and should not be seen as matched to any specific release of Windows and features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.

Many features in the Canary Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
Some features may show up in the Dev and Beta Channels first before showing up in the Canary Channel.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
To get off the Canary Channel, a clean install of Windows 11 will be required. As a reminder - Insiders can’t switch to a channel that is receiving builds with lower build numbers without doing a clean installation of Windows 11 due to technical setup requirements.

The desktop watermark shown at the lower right corner of the desktop is normal for these pre-release builds.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4805 (Beta Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 24 Jan 2025 18:04:14 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4805 (KB5050105) to the Beta Channel. Changes in Beta Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*) and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Beta Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Snap]

We are introducing an improvement to Snap in Windows 11 aimed at driving contextual learning and discovery of the feature. Inline messaging will now appear when you accidentally invoke the Snap Bar when dragging an app to the top middle of your desktop or Snap Flyout when hovering over the Minimize or Maximize button of an app. This messaging is designed to provide guidance on snapping app windows and educating users on the keyboard shortcuts for quickly snapping app windows in the future. We are trying several variants of this experience out.

[caption id="attachment_177551" align="alignnone" width="340"] Inline messaging as seen at the top of the Snap Flyout.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_177553" align="alignnone" width="578"] Inline messaging as seen at the top of the Snap Bar.[/caption]

[Input]

After being temporarily disabled to address some issues with Build 22635.4400, we are beginning to roll out a new Gamepad keyboard layout for the touch keyboard in Windows 11 again. This change introduces the ability to use your Xbox controller to navigate and type. This includes button accelerators (example: X button for backspace, Y button for spacebar) additionally the keyboard keys have been vertically aligned for better controller navigation patterns.

[caption id="attachment_177283" align="alignnone" width="691"] New Gamepad keyboard layout for the touch keyboard in Windows 11 that supports the ability to use your Xbox controller to navigate and type.[/caption]

[Narrator]

We have added new functionalities to Narrator scan mode. Jump to list item (I’) allows you to quickly access and jump to a list item on a page or a document. Beginning and end of element (Comma (,) and Period (.)) allow you to quickly jump to the beginning or end of large tables, lists or landmarks. This is most helpful when navigating through long emails, news articles, and wiki pages. To try these new features, you need to turn on Narrator first (Win key + Ctrl + Enter), then turn scan mode ON by pressing Caps Lock + Spacebar and finally use the new shortcuts – ‘I’, ‘,’ and ‘.’. Please note that scan mode is ‘ON’ by default on most web pages (like news articles, wiki pages, etc.).

[Settings]

Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass subscribers coming to Settings homepage will begin to see a new card for referring a PC Game Pass subscription to their friends to try PC Game Pass for free. This new card will only appear on the Settings homepage if you're signed into your PC with your Microsoft account and meet the required eligibility criteria.

[caption id="attachment_177554" align="alignnone" width="487"] New Settings homepage card for referring PC Game Pass to friends.[/caption]

Known issues

[Start menu]

[NEW] We’re working on the fix for an issue causing Start menu to crash for some Insiders when interacting with the letters in the apps list.

[File Explorer]

If you open a File Explorer window and minimize it in this build, it may not render correctly when you restore it.
[NEW] We’re investigating an issue causing File Explorer to be very slow to close for some Insiders when closing using the X button. This may also impact the other title bar buttons.

[Settings]

The Home page of Settings may crash. If you are impacted by this, you should still be able to open specific Settings pages directly by searching for them from the taskbar.
There is a known issue where the two new enterprise-specific device info and accessibility preferences cards are showing up on non-managed PCs signed in with Microsoft accounts.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel

Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel will receive updates based on Windows 11, version 23H2 via an enablement package (Build 22635.xxxx).
Many features in the Beta Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.3000 (Dev Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 24 Jan 2025 18:04:07 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.3000 (KB5050103) to the Dev Channel. Changes in Dev Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*) and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Dev Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

New features gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

Improving the battery iconography in Windows 11

Introducing new and improved battery icons in Windows 11! These icons have been designed to communicate battery status of your PC with just a quick glance. Key changes include colored icons to indicate charging states, simplified overlays that don’t block the progress bar, and an option to turn on battery percentage. [caption id="attachment_177547" align="alignnone" width="395"] Battery shown in black, yellow, and green to indicate different charging states.[/caption] When your battery icon is green, this shows that your PC is charging and in a good state. A yellow battery icon will let you know that your PC using battery in energy saving mode – this automatically happens when your battery is less than or equal to 20% to preserve power. When the battery icon is red, you have a critically low battery and should plug in your PC as soon as possible. You will see these new battery icons on the taskbar in the system tray, in the quick settings flyout, and in Settings. The new battery icons will begin showing on the Lock screen in a future flight. As always, your PC’s battery status and more will also be available to you when you hover over the battery icon in the system tray and under Settings > System > Power & battery where you can also adjust the battery level percentage in which energy saver mode kicks on for your PC. [caption id="attachment_177548" align="alignnone" width="700"] The toggle to turn on showing battery percentage in Settings highlighted in a red box.[/caption] Along with the updates to the battery icon, we are also introducing the ability to show your battery percentage next to the battery icon in the system tray – a highly requested feature by Insiders and customers. To enable this, go to Settings > Power & battery and toggle on the "Battery Percentage" setting. [We are beginning to roll this out to Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel, so the experience isn’t available to all Insiders just yet as we plan to monitor feedback before pushing it out to everyone.] FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Desktop Environment > System Tray.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[Input]

After being temporarily disabled to address some issues with Build 26120.2213, we are beginning to roll out a new Gamepad keyboard layout for the touch keyboard in Windows 11 again. This change introduces the ability to use your Xbox controller to navigate and type. This includes button accelerators (example: X button for backspace, Y button for spacebar) additionally the keyboard keys have been vertically aligned for better controller navigation patterns.

[Narrator]

We have added new functionalities to Narrator scan mode. Jump to list item (I’) allows you to quickly access and jump to a list item on a page or a document. Beginning and end of element (Comma (,) and Period (.)) allow you to quickly jump to the beginning or end of large tables, lists or landmarks. This is most helpful when navigating through long emails, news articles, and wiki pages. To try these new features, you need to turn on Narrator first (Win key + Ctrl + Enter), then turn scan mode ON by pressing Caps Lock + Spacebar and finally use the new shortcuts – ‘I’, ‘,’ and ‘.’. Please note that scan mode is ‘ON’ by default on most web pages (like news articles, wiki pages, etc.).

[Search on the Taskbar]

Improved support for web search providers in Windows Search for the EEA, including clearer provider attribution in tabs.

[Other]

Suggested actions that appear when you copy a phone number or future date in Windows 11 are now deprecated. With this build, we’re beginning to disable the feature.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[General]

Fixed an underlying issue which was causing significant performance degradation for a small population of Insiders in the previous flight due to repeated background crashes.

[File Explorer]

Fixed an issue where sometimes you would be unable to navigate by entering a path in the address bar.
Fixed an issue where the File Explorer address bar unexpectedly overlapped with content while in full screen (F11) view.
Improved performance of context menu launches for people when right-clicking on cloud files.
Made a change to help ensure thumbnails for cloud files are displayed more consistently in search results within File Explorer.
Fixed an issue where searching might lose keyboard focus on the text box while you were typing.

[Other]

Fixed an underlying issue which could lead to scanners not being detected by scanning apps, although the scanner was connected.
Fixed an underlying issue which could result in 2 in 1 PCs unexpectedly changing screen orientation when coming out of sleep.

Known issues

[General]

After you do a PC reset under Settings > System > Recovery, your build version may incorrectly show as Build 26100 instead of Build 26120. This will not prevent you from getting future Dev Channel updates which will resolve this issue.

A 0xc0e90001 error will occur when booting into Windows Recovery (WinRE) on Arm64 PCs. This will be fixed in the next Dev Channel flight. For recovery options on your PC, visit Settings > System > Recovery.

[Recall]

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

Recall can be enabled or disabled from “Turn Windows features on or off”. We are caching the Recall binaries on disk while we test add/remove. In a future update we will completely remove the binaries.
Some users may see a message to “Make sure Recall is saving snapshots”, while the Settings page for Recall shows saving snapshots is enabled. Reboot your device to resolve this issue.
Make sure you update Microsoft 365 apps to the latest version so you can jump back into specific documents.

[Click to Do]

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

Sometimes additional context is given when using more intelligent text actions powered by Phi Silica.
The intelligent text actions leverage the power of Microsoft’s secure cloud to improve your text results by ensuring prompts and responses are safe and appropriate. This data is automatically deleted. Local moderation to ensure the safety of prompts and responses will be added in the future, replacing this cloud endpoint.
If any of your actions on image entities are no longer appearing, please ensure you have the latest updates for the Photos and Paint app from the Microsoft Store.

[Live captions & real-time translation]

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

Some Insiders may see a crash on first launch of live captions. Restart live captions if you encounter this issue and you will not see it again.
If audio is playing or the microphone is enabled, switching languages will crash live captions. Stop audio when changing languages to resume captions or translations.

[File Explorer]

If you open a File Explorer window and minimize it in this build, it may not render correctly when you restore it.
[NEW] We’re investigating an issue causing File Explorer to be very slow to close for some Insiders when closing using the X button. This may also impact the other title bar buttons.

[Improved Windows Search]

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

In this build, the search box on the taskbar does not yet have the same underline and sparkles icon UI that the File Explorer search box has. This is coming in a future flight.
In some rare cases, improved Windows search experiences may not be available and may require a reboot to start working.
In some rare cases, File explorer search might be unresponsive and may require a reboot to start working.
In some rare cases, searching on Outlook while offline might result in some results not being found.
The underline animation in the File Explorer search box sometimes does not stop pulsing.
The tip about the new search improvements appears whenever you set focus to the search box in File Explorer, rather than only once.

[Voice Access]

[NEW] Voice access may not work in this build.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel

Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel receive updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 via an enablement package (Build 26120.xxxx).
Updates delivered to the Dev Channel are in a format that offers a preview of enhancements to servicing technology on Windows 11, version 24H2. To learn more, see https://aka.ms/CheckpointCumulativeUpdates.
Many features in the Dev Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.

Please note that some accessibility features may not work with features like Recall and Click to Do while in preview with Windows Insiders.

Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Previewing Improved Windows Search on Copilot+ PCs with Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 17 Jan 2025 20:04:02 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.2992 (KB5050083) to the Dev Channel. With this update, we are previewing improved Windows Search with Windows Insiders with Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PCs.

New Copilot+ PC experiences

Improved Windows Search

We are making finding your documents, photos, and settings across Windows 11 easier on Copilot+ PCs by introducing semantic indexing along with traditional indexing. Whether it’s searching in File Explorer, in the Windows search box on your taskbar, or in Settings – just type what’s on your mind to find it on your Copilot+ PC. You no longer need to remember file names, exact words in file content, or settings names. For example, you can use your own words to find images by typing "bridge at sunset", documents by describing what they are about like "Europe trip budget", or settings like "change my theme”. Thanks to the power of the 40+ TOPS NPU onboard Copilot+ PCs, these search improvements work even when you’re not connected to the internet. [caption id="attachment_177534" align="alignnone" width="476"] Use your own words to search for documents and images in File Explorer.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_177536" align="alignnone" width="770"] Use your own words to search for documents and images from your taskbar.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_177537" align="alignnone" width="366"] Use your own words to change settings on your Copilot+ PC in Settings.[/caption] Today, searching for files on your Copilot+ PC with improved Windows Search will only work for files saved locally in indexed locations on your PC. You can go to Settings > Privacy & security > Searching Windows to adjust which locations are indexed on your PC or turn on “Enhanced” to index your entire PC. In a future flight, we will support searching for documents and photos stored in cloud storage providers such as OneDrive. Searching for settings like "change my theme” will work within the Settings app for now. In a future flight, you will be able to do this within the Windows search box on the taskbar. These improved Windows Search experiences will gradually roll out to Windows Insiders on Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PCs, with support for AMD and Intel-powered Copilot+ PCs coming soon. These experiences are supported in select languages (Chinese, English, French, German, Japanese, and Spanish) and document formats. Supported file formats include .txt, .pdf, .docx, .doc, .rtf, .pptx, .ppt, .xls, .xlsx for documents and .jpg/.jpeg, .png, .gif, .bmp, .ico for images. See here for more details. You can learn more about semantic search on Copilot + PCs here. FEEDBACK for File Explorer Search: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Files Folders and Online Storage > File Explorer Search. FEEDBACK for Windows Taskbar Search: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Desktop Environment > Search. FEEDBACK for Settings Search: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Settings > Search Settings.

New text action for Click to Do (Preview)

You’ll see a new text action for Click to Do available on Copilot+ PCs called Refine. To try this out, press Win + Click directly on a block of text or press Win + Q and then navigate to the text you’d like to proofread and refine. When you open the menu, the new action will be under Rewrite > Refine. [caption id="attachment_177538" align="alignnone" width="773"] New Refine text action in Click to Do.[/caption] All the other actions you’ve seen in Click to Do are still here. If anything looks missing, please check the Microsoft Store for the latest Photos and Paint apps installed. You can learn more about using Click to Do here. FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Desktop Environment > Click to Do.

Other changes included in this Dev Channel update

This update (Build 26120.2992) includes other changes and improvements available to Windows Insiders across all Windows 11 PCs in addition to the features noted above that are exclusive to Copilot+ PCs. These changes are documented below in two buckets:

New features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*).
New features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Dev Channel.

For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[File Explorer]

We’ve added a New Folder option in the context menu when right-clicking locations in the navigation pane.

[Magnifier]

We’re adding a new keyboard shortcut CTRL + ALT + Minus for Magnifier users to quickly toggle between the current zoom and 1X zoom.

In addition to the keyboard shortcut CTRL + ALT + Minus to quickly toggle between the current zoom and 1X zoom, we have also added buttons in Magnifier to reset zoom to fit to screen and reset zoom to your last/preferred magnification.

[caption id="attachment_177513" align="alignnone" width="571"] New buttons in Magnifier to reset zoom to fit to screen and reset zoom to your last or preferred magnification highlighted in a red box.[/caption]

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[File Explorer]

Fixed an issue where the date/time properties of files were unexpectedly updated in some cases after copying them.
Fixed an issue where File Explorer may sometimes lose focus on the search box while typing.
Fixed an issue where when you did a search it may unexpectedly trigger the search happening repeatedly.
Fixed an issue where the Details Pane icons weren’t responding correctly to theme changes, making it hard to see if you switched from dark to light or vice versa.
Fixed a black flash in File Explorer that appeared when duplicating a tab.

[Task Manager]

Fixed an issue where Task manager wrongly identified an HDD as an SSD.

[Click to Do]

We fixed the issue where Click to Do would sometimes not highlight any info on screen if there is no content on a connected external monitor in extended mode.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to everyone in the Dev Channel

[Windows Backup]

[UPDATED 1/21] You will now have a standard Windows 11 taskbar after restoring from a backup via the Windows Setup experience (OOBE) on a new Windows PC. You can still find your apps in the Start menu and Search and pin apps you want to your taskbar. This change is not yet rolling out in the EEA (European Economic Area).

Fixes for everyone in the Dev Channel

[Other]

[Windows Kernel Vulnerable Driver Blocklist file (DriverSiPolicy.p7b)] This update adds to the list of drivers that are at risk for Bring Your Own Vulnerable Driver (BYOVD) attacks.

Known issues

[General]

After you do a PC reset under Settings > System > Recovery, your build version may incorrectly show as Build 26100 instead of Build 26120. This will not prevent you from getting future Dev Channel updates which will resolve this issue.

[NEW] A 0xc0e90001 error will occur when booting into Windows Recovery (WinRE) on Arm64 PCs. This will be fixed in the next Dev Channel flight. For recovery options on your PC, visit Settings > System > Recovery.

[Recall]

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

Recall can be enabled or disabled from “Turn Windows features on or off”. We are caching the Recall binaries on disk while we test add/remove. In a future update we will completely remove the binaries.
Some users may see a message to “Make sure Recall is saving snapshots”, while the Settings page for Recall shows saving snapshots is enabled. Reboot your device to resolve this issue.
Make sure you update Microsoft 365 apps to the latest version so you can jump back into specific documents.

[Click to Do]

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

Sometimes additional context is given when using more intelligent text actions powered by Phi Silica.
The intelligent text actions leverage the power of Microsoft’s secure cloud to improve your text results by ensuring prompts and responses are safe and appropriate. This data is automatically deleted. Local moderation to ensure the safety of prompts and responses will be added in the future, replacing this cloud endpoint.
[NEW] If any of your actions on image entities are no longer appearing, please ensure you have the latest updates for the Photos and Paint app from the Microsoft Store.

[Live captions & real-time translation]

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

Some Insiders may see a crash on first launch of live captions. Restart live captions if you encounter this issue and you will not see it again.
If audio is playing or the microphone is enabled, switching languages will crash live captions. Stop audio when changing languages to resume captions or translations.

[File Explorer]

[NEW] If you open a File Explorer window and minimize it in this build, it may not render correctly when you restore it.

[Improved Windows Search]

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

[NEW] In this build, the search box on the taskbar does not yet have the same underline and sparkles icon UI that the File Explorer search box has. This is coming in a future flight.
[NEW] In some rare cases, improved Windows search experiences may not be available and may require a reboot to start working.
[NEW] In some rare cases, File explorer search might be unresponsive and may require a reboot to start working.
[NEW] In some rare cases, searching on Outlook while offline might result in some results not being found.
[NEW] The underline animation in the File Explorer search box sometimes does not stop pulsing.
[NEW] The tip about the new search improvements appears whenever you set focus to the search box in File Explorer, rather than only once.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel

Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel receive updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 via an enablement package (Build 26120.xxxx).
Updates delivered to the Dev Channel are in a format that offers a preview of enhancements to servicing technology on Windows 11, version 24H2. To learn more, see https://aka.ms/CheckpointCumulativeUpdates.
Many features in the Dev Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4800 (Beta Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 17 Jan 2025 18:03:19 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4800 (KB5050085) to the Beta Channel. Changes in Beta Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*) and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Beta Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Widgets]

In this flight, we're introducing the ability for web developers to easily utilize their existing web content to build dynamic and interactive widgets that can be added to the widgets surfaces in Windows 11. For more information, click here.

[File Explorer]

We are temporarily disabling the change that began rolling out with Build 22635.4580 where File Explorer opens in a new tab by default if you have an existing File Explorer window open when launching File Explorer from outside of File Explorer (for example, from an app or from the desktop) to address some issues.

[Windows Backup]

[UPDATED 1/21] You will now have a standard Windows 11 taskbar after restoring from a backup via the Windows Setup experience (OOBE) on a new Windows PC. You can still find your apps in the Start menu and Search and pin apps you want to your taskbar. This change is not yet rolling out in the EEA (European Economic Area).

[Search on the Taskbar]

Improved support for web search providers in Windows Search for the EEA, including clearer provider attribution in tabs.

[Settings]

We are rolling out “top cards” under Settings > System > About. These top cards provide an easy way to view your PC’s key specifications—processor, RAM, storage, and GPU—helping you understand your PC’s capabilities at a glance. This is designed to simplify decision-making by highlighting potential areas for hardware improvements while giving you a clear snapshot of your PC. Top Cards won’t appear yet on managed commercial PCs.

[caption id="attachment_177527" align="alignnone" width="657"] New top cards at the top of the About settings page displaying your PC’s processor, RAM, storage, and GPU specifications.[/caption]

We are starting to roll out the Settings homepage for commercial customers on PCs managed by an IT administrator. The feature will show some existing cards relevant to enterprise-managed PCs like “Recommended settings” and “Bluetooth devices” as well as two new enterprise-specific device info and accessibility preferences cards. For commercial customers who also use their Microsoft account on their managed PC, there will also be a new accounts card indicating the presence of both work and school and Microsoft account types. We are starting the rollout of this gradually with managed commercial PCs who have both work and school and Microsoft accounts presently seeing this experience first.

[caption id="attachment_177526" align="alignnone" width="638"] The Settings homepage for a commercial customer on a managed PC.[/caption]

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[File Explorer]

As part of our ongoing commitment to improving File Explorer accessibility, this updates includes increased support for the text scaling (via Settings > Accessibility > Text size) across File Explorer, File Open/Save dialogs and the copy dialogs.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to everyone in the Beta Channel

[Windows Backup]

[UPDATED 1/21] You will now have a standard Windows 11 taskbar after restoring from a backup via the Windows Setup experience (OOBE) on a new Windows PC. You can still find your apps in the Start menu and Search and pin apps you want to your taskbar. This change is not yet rolling out in the EEA (European Economic Area).

Known issues

[File Explorer]

[NEW] If you open a File Explorer window and minimize it in this build, it may not render correctly when you restore it.

[Settings]

[NEW] The Home page of Settings may crash. If you are impacted by this, you should still be able to open specific Settings pages directly by searching for them from the taskbar.
[NEW] There is a known issue where the two new enterprise-specific device info and accessibility preferences cards are showing up on non-managed PCs signed in with Microsoft accounts.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel

Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel will receive updates based on Windows 11, version 23H2 via an enablement package (Build 22635.xxxx).
Many features in the Beta Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27774 (Canary Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Thu, 16 Jan 2025 18:04:38 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27774 to the Canary Channel. We are releasing ISOs for this build – they can be downloaded here. We are also not planning to release SDKs for 27xxx series builds for the time being.

Changes and Improvements

[General]

This update includes a small set of general improvements and fixes that improve the overall experience for Insiders running this build on their PCs.

[Windows Setup]

When installing Windows from installation media, you will now see a confirmation dialog when formatting or deleting partitions.

[Administrator protection]

Administrator protection can now be enabled from Windows Security settings under the Account Protection tab. This allows users to enable this feature without requiring help from IT admins. It also allows Windows home users to enable Administrator protection via Windows Security settings. Changing this setting requires a Windows reboot.

[caption id="attachment_177520" align="alignnone" width="621"] Administrator protection in Windows Security highlighted in a red box.[/caption]

With administrator protection enabled, the prompt requesting the user’s authorization for elevating untrusted and unsigned applications now comes with expanded color-coded regions which will now extend down over the app description.

[caption id="attachment_177521" align="alignnone" width="335"] Windows Security credential dialog example showing expanded color over app description.[/caption]

Fixes

[General]

Fixed an underlying issue causing accent colored window borders to not be not displayed when enabled, shadows around windows not displaying when enabled, and window launching (and other) animations to show even though the setting to show animations is turned off in the latest Canary builds.

[Other]

Fixed an underlying issue which was causing the Xbox app to fail to launch with a “Please try again” error sometimes in the last two Canary builds.

Known issues

[General]

[IMPORTANT NOTE FOR COPILOT+ PCs] If you are joining the Canary Channel on a new Copilot+ PC from the Dev Channel, Release Preview Channel or retail, you will lose Windows Hello pin and biometrics to sign into your PC with error 0xd0000225 and error message “Something went wrong, and your PIN isn’t available”. You should be able to re-create your PIN by clicking “Set up my PIN”.
We’re working on the fix for an issue where SFC /scannow is showing errors every time it’s run.

[File Explorer]

If you open a File Explorer window and minimize it in this build, it may not render correctly when you restore it.

[Remote Desktop]

[NEW] Using MTSC.exe for Remote Desktop may fail on this build with error 0x80080005. As a workaround, please launch as admin.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Canary Channel

The builds we release to the Canary Channel represent the latest platform changes early in the development cycle and should not be seen as matched to any specific release of Windows and features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.

Many features in the Canary Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
Some features may show up in the Dev and Beta Channels first before showing up in the Canary Channel.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
To get off the Canary Channel, a clean install of Windows 11 will be required. As a reminder - Insiders can’t switch to a channel that is receiving builds with lower build numbers without doing a clean installation of Windows 11 due to technical setup requirements.

The desktop watermark shown at the lower right corner of the desktop is normal for these pre-release builds.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27768 (Canary Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Thu, 09 Jan 2025 18:05:15 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27768 to the Canary Channel. We are also not planning to release SDKs for 27xxx series builds for the time being.

Changes and Improvements

[General]

This update includes a small set of general improvements and fixes that improve the overall experience for Insiders running this build on their PCs.

[File Explorer]

We’ve added a New Folder option in the context menu when right-clicking locations in the navigation pane.

[Settings]

The ability to change time zones is available again under Settings > Time & Language > Date & Time for standard (non-admin) users.

Fixes

[File Explorer]

Fixed an issue where the date/time properties of files were unexpectedly updated in some cases after copying them.
Fixed an issue where File Explorer may sometimes lose focus on the search box while typing.
Fixed an issue where when you did a search it may unexpectedly trigger the search happening repeatedly.
Fixed an issue where the Details Pane icons weren’t responding correctly to theme changes, making it hard to see if you switched from dark to light or vice versa.
Fixed a black flash in File Explorer that appeared when duplicating a tab.

[Input]

Fixed an issue which could lead to the mouse cursor unexpectedly stuttering when you moved it around sometimes.

[Graphics]

Fixed an underlying issue which could result in some games appearing oversaturated when using Auto HDR.

[Other]

Fixed an issue causing some Insiders in Canary to experience bugchecks with error PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA.

Known issues

[General]

[IMPORTANT NOTE FOR COPILOT+ PCs] If you are joining the Canary Channel on a new Copilot+ PC from the Dev Channel, Release Preview Channel or retail, you will lose Windows Hello pin and biometrics to sign into your PC with error 0xd0000225 and error message “Something went wrong, and your PIN isn’t available”. You should be able to re-create your PIN by clicking “Set up my PIN”.
We’re working on the fix for an underlying issue causing accent colored window borders to not be not displayed when enabled, shadows around windows not displaying when enabled, and window launching (and other) animations to show even though the setting to show animations is turned off.
[NEW] We’re working on the fix for an issue where SFC /scannow is showing errors every time it’s run.

[File Explorer]

[NEW] If you open a File Explorer window and minimize it in this build, it may not render correctly when you restore it.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Canary Channel

The builds we release to the Canary Channel represent the latest platform changes early in the development cycle and should not be seen as matched to any specific release of Windows and features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.

Many features in the Canary Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
Some features may show up in the Dev and Beta Channels first before showing up in the Canary Channel.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
To get off the Canary Channel, a clean install of Windows 11 will be required. As a reminder - Insiders can’t switch to a channel that is receiving builds with lower build numbers without doing a clean installation of Windows 11 due to technical setup requirements.

The desktop watermark shown at the lower right corner of the desktop is normal for these pre-release builds.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4660 (Beta Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 03 Jan 2025 18:07:03 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4660 (KB5048808) to the Beta Channel. Changes in Beta Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*) and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Beta Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[File Explorer]

To make it easier to use the File Explorer context menu, labels have been added to previously unlabeled actions such as cut, copy, paste, rename, share, and delete.

[caption id="attachment_176878" align="alignnone" width="300"] Labels added to previously unlabeled actions in the File Explorer context menu.[/caption]

[Magnifier]

In addition to the keyboard shortcut CTRL + ALT + Minus to quickly toggle between the current zoom and 1X zoom introduced with Build 22635.4515, we have also added buttons in Magnifier to reset zoom to fit to screen and reset zoom to your last/preferred magnification.

[caption id="attachment_177513" align="alignnone" width="492"] New buttons in Magnifier to reset zoom to fit to screen and reset zoom to your last or preferred magnification highlighted in a red box.[/caption]

[Other]

Suggested actions that appear when you copy a phone number or future date in Windows 11 are now deprecated. With this build, we're beginning to disable the feature.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[File Explorer]

Fixed a few issues impacting File Explorer performance and reliability.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel

Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel will receive updates based on Windows 11, version 23H2 via an enablement package (Build 22635.xxxx).
Many features in the Beta Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27766 (Canary Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 03 Jan 2025 18:06:57 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27766 to the Canary Channel. We are also not planning to release SDKs for 27xxx series builds for the time being.

Changes and Improvements

[General]

This update includes a small set of general improvements and fixes that improve the overall experience for Insiders running this build on their PCs.

Fixes

[General]

We fixed the issue where if you roll back from Build 27764 to an earlier build (including if the upgrade failed), you would see an “Your organization used App Control for Business to block this app” dialog when attempting to use or install certain third-party apps on your PC due to an incorrect policy being enforced.

As of the latest Insider Preview builds in the Canary Channel, the main issues causing Insiders to experience an increase in rollbacks (with error code 0xc190010) when attempting to upgrade have been addressed. As a reminder, 0xc190010 is a generic error code that has multiple root causes, so if you’re continuing to experience issues, please file feedback (WIN + F) to investigate.

[Taskbar & System Tray]

Fixed an underlying issue which was causing some Insiders in Canary to experience frequent explorer.exe crashes after they clean installed or reset their PC.

Known issues

[General]

[IMPORTANT NOTE FOR COPILOT+ PCs] If you are joining the Canary Channel on a new Copilot+ PC from the Dev Channel, Release Preview Channel or retail, you will lose Windows Hello pin and biometrics to sign into your PC with error 0xd0000225 and error message “Something went wrong, and your PIN isn’t available”. You should be able to re-create your PIN by clicking “Set up my PIN”.
We’re working on the fix for an underlying issue causing accent colored window borders to not be not displayed when enabled, shadows around windows not displaying when enabled, and window launching (and other) animations to show even though the setting to show animations is turned off.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Canary Channel

The builds we release to the Canary Channel represent the latest platform changes early in the development cycle and should not be seen as matched to any specific release of Windows and features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.

Many features in the Canary Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
Some features may show up in the Dev and Beta Channels first before showing up in the Canary Channel.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
To get off the Canary Channel, a clean install of Windows 11 will be required. As a reminder - Insiders can’t switch to a channel that is receiving builds with lower build numbers without doing a clean installation of Windows 11 due to technical setup requirements.

The desktop watermark shown at the lower right corner of the desktop is normal for these pre-release builds.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Releasing Real-Time Translation in Live Captions to More Copilot+ PCs in the Dev Channel

Brandon LeBlanc — Wed, 18 Dec 2024 18:03:39 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.2705 (KB5050636) to the Dev Channel. With this update, we are previewing real-time translation in live captions for AMD and Intel®-powered Copilot+ PCs. We also have an improvement for real-time translation on Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PCs as well. Beyond these two changes, this update is the same as the update released to the Dev Channel last week.

New experiences for AMD and Intel®-powered Copilot+ PCs

Please install all the latest driver updates available from Windows Update to ensure the following experience work correctly on your AMD or Intel®-powered Copilot+ PC. To ensure you have the latest drivers for your Copilot+ PC, make sure the “Get the latest updates as soon as they’re available” toggle is on under Settings > Windows Update. Just click the “Check for updates” button and install any new drivers that Windows Update delivers to you. If you’d like to test the latest driver versions available directly from our partners before they get to Windows Update, you can download them directly here:

Live captions and real-time translation

We are enhancing communication on AMD and Intel®-powered Copilot+ PCs with live captions and real-time translation. We’re beginning to roll out the ability in live captions to translate more than 44 languages into English, including speakers in real-time video calls, recordings and streamed content. Real-time translation is rolling out AMD and Intel®-powered Copilot+ PCs with English as the primary language in use. Be sure to check the known issues for real-time translation in live captions documented below in this blog post. [caption id="attachment_177495" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Real-time translation with Live captions while watching a video in Microsoft Edge.[/caption] FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Accessibility > Live captions.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[Live captions]

On Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PCs, we’re beginning to roll out the ability to do real-time translation to Chinese (Simplified). Supported languages include Arabic, Bulgarian, Czech Danish, German, Greek English Spanish, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, Hindi, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Lithuanian, Norwegian, Dutch, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Slovak, Slovene, and Swedish.

Known issues

[General]

After you do a PC reset under Settings > System > Recovery, your build version may incorrectly show as Build 26100 instead of Build 26120. This will not prevent you from getting future Dev Channel updates which will resolve this issue.

[Recall]

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

Recall can be enabled or disabled from “Turn Windows features on or off”. We are caching the Recall binaries on disk while we test add/remove. In a future update we will completely remove the binaries.
Some users may see a message to “Make sure Recall is saving snapshots”, while the Settings page for Recall shows saving snapshots is enabled. Reboot your device to resolve this issue.
Make sure you update Microsoft 365 apps to the latest version so you can jump back into specific documents.

[Click to Do]

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

Sometimes additional context is given when using more intelligent text actions powered by Phi Silica.
The intelligent text actions leverage the power of Microsoft’s secure cloud to improve your text results by ensuring prompts and responses are safe and appropriate. This data is automatically deleted. Local moderation to ensure the safety of prompts and responses will be added in the future, replacing this cloud endpoint.
Sometimes Click to Do doesn’t highlight any info on screen if there is no content on a connected external monitor in extended mode.

[Live captions & real-time translation]

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

Some Insiders may see a crash on first launch of live captions. Restart live captions if you encounter this issue and you will not see it again.
If audio is playing or the microphone is enabled, switching languages will crash live captions. Stop audio when changing languages to resume captions or translations.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel

Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel receive updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 via an enablement package (Build 26120.xxxx).
Updates delivered to the Dev Channel are in a format that offers a preview of enhancements to servicing technology on Windows 11, version 24H2. To learn more, see https://aka.ms/CheckpointCumulativeUpdates.
Many features in the Dev Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.

Please note that some accessibility features may not work with features like Recall and Click to Do while in preview with Windows Insiders.

Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.2702 (Dev Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 13 Dec 2024 18:04:13 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.2702 (KB5048761) to the Dev Channel. Changes in Dev Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*) and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Dev Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

New features gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

Windows Camera Advanced Configurations

We are beginning to roll out a new advanced camera options page. Just navigate to a camera under Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Cameras and click the edit button for advanced camera options. [caption id="attachment_177472" align="alignnone" width="634"] New advanced camera configurations page in Settings.[/caption] This new advanced camera options page will provide you with the following two configurations for your camera:

Multi-app camera: Allows multiple applications to access the camera stream simultaneously, developed with the Hard-of-Hearing community to enable video streaming to both a sign language interpreter and the end audience at the same time.
Basic camera: Enables basic camera functionality for improved debugging, recommended as a last resort when your camera is not functioning correctly. This feature was developed in collaboration with Microsoft support agents.

Coming in a future build, we plan to introduce a third option here for selecting a media type. This feature will let you choose different media types like resolution and frame rate, with the default setting being “Let Windows Choose” for optimal experience. FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Devices and Drivers > Device Camera or Webcams.

Passwordless Improvements

As part of Microsoft’s commitment to a passwordless future, on Windows, we are launching API support for third-party passkey providers. Microsoft has been engaging with passkey manager partners on developing this capability. We are committed to bringing a passwordless future to all customers – together with third-party credential providers, we will raise the bar on login security with passkeys for all users on Windows. WebAuthn Plugin Authenticator APIs We are releasing updates to WebAuthn APIs to support a plugin authentication model for passkeys. In the coming months, Windows customers will be able to choose a third-party provider as an additional choice alongside the native Windows passkey provider while maintaining the Windows Hello user experience. Messages in WebAuthn flows will be forwarded to the plugin and responses are returned to the WebAuthn client applications. This enables plugins to create and authenticate with passkeys when requested by the customer. This model allows plugins to use Windows Hello as a user verification mechanism to enable a seamless passkey experience. You will notice additional user experience updates to the passkey flows and Settings alongside the new capabilities. If you are a developer for third-party passkeys, we invite you to integrate with Windows 11 to support customers in their passkey journey. To find out more about implementation detail, go to https://aka.ms/3P-Plugin-API. FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Security and Privacy > Passkey.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[Start menu]

We are improving the filtering for recommended websites on the Start menu based on feedback from Windows Insiders so that we show the highest quality sites based on your own browsing history. Please continue to give us feedback if you see a website recommended you feel shouldn't be.

[Settings]

The ability to change time zones is available again under Settings > Time & Language > Date & Time for standard (non-admin) users.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[Input]

Fixed an issue where if pointer trails were enabled, the mouse cursor may become invisible with a black box behind it.
Mitigated an issue where the ALT or Shift key on the keyboard may get stuck down in the latest flights after the Windows Hello prompt appeared for some Insiders.
Fixed an issue which could lead to the mouse cursor unexpectedly stuttering when you moved it around sometimes.

[Graphics]

Fixed an underlying issue which could result in some games appearing oversaturated when using Auto HDR.

Fixes for everyone in the Dev Channel

[Rollback]

We fixed the issue where if you roll back from Build 26120.2510 to an earlier build, you would see an “Your organization used App Control for Business to block this app” dialog when attempting to use or install certain third-party apps on your PC due to an incorrect policy being enforced.

Known issues

[General]

[NEW] After you do a PC reset under Settings > System > Recovery, your build version may incorrectly show as Build 26100 instead of Build 26120. This will not prevent you from getting future Dev Channel updates which will resolve this issue.

[Recall]

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

Recall can be enabled or disabled from “Turn Windows features on or off”. We are caching the Recall binaries on disk while we test add/remove. In a future update we will completely remove the binaries.
Some users may see a message to “Make sure Recall is saving snapshots”, while the Settings page for Recall shows saving snapshots is enabled. Reboot your device to resolve this issue.
Make sure you update Microsoft 365 apps to the latest version so you can jump back into specific documents.

[Click to Do]

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

Sometimes additional context is given when using more intelligent text actions powered by Phi Silica.
The intelligent text actions leverage the power of Microsoft’s secure cloud to improve your text results by ensuring prompts and responses are safe and appropriate. This data is automatically deleted. Local moderation to ensure the safety of prompts and responses will be added in the future, replacing this cloud endpoint.
Sometimes Click to Do doesn’t highlight any info on screen if there is no content on a connected external monitor in extended mode.

Microsoft Edge Game Assist (Preview)

We invite Windows Insiders to try out Microsoft Edge Game Assist (Preview)! [caption id="attachment_177487" align="alignnone" width="700"] The Microsoft Edge Game Assist experience in Game Bar.[/caption] Game Assist is the first in-game browser that delivers a rich gaming-centric browsing experience—including access to your browser data from your PC and mobile devices. Game Assist is a special version of Microsoft Edge that’s optimized for PC gaming and can appear on top of your game in Game Bar. It’s game-aware and will suggest tips and guides for what you’re playing. It also shares the same browser data with Edge on your PC so the information you care about is always accessible while you play, including your favorites, history, cookies, form fills, and more. Check out this blog post for more details and how to get started using Game Assist!

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel

Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel receive updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 via an enablement package (Build 26120.xxxx).
Updates delivered to the Dev Channel are in a format that offers a preview of enhancements to servicing technology on Windows 11, version 24H2. To learn more, see https://aka.ms/CheckpointCumulativeUpdates.
Many features in the Dev Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.

Please note that some accessibility features may not work with features like Recall and Click to Do while in preview with Windows Insiders.

Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4655 (Beta Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 13 Dec 2024 18:04:07 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4655 (KB5048753) to the Beta Channel. Changes in Beta Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*) and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Beta Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Start menu]

We are improving the filtering for recommended websites on the Start menu based on feedback from Windows Insiders so that we show the highest quality sites based on your own browsing history. Please continue to give us feedback if you see a website recommended you feel shouldn't be.

[Spotlight on the lock screen]

We’re trying out a few different treatments for the top right hotspot ("Like the image that you see") on the lock screen. You can now learn more about the spotlight image on your lock screen by clicking on the "Like icon" that takes you to the Spotlight landing page.

[Spotlight on the desktop]

We’re beginning to roll out some changes to the Desktop Spotlight icon interaction model for Windows Insiders. You can now quickly and easily discover more information about your background image by simply hovering over or clicking on the "Learn about this picture" icon on your desktop.

[Windows Share]

When you share links or web content using the Windows share window, you will see a visual preview for that content.

[caption id="attachment_177485" align="alignnone" width="561"] Visual preview of links and web content in the Windows share window.[/caption]

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Taskbar]

Fixed an issue where the window previews weren’t showing when hovering over certain open apps in the taskbar.

Microsoft Edge Game Assist (Preview)

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel

Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel will receive updates based on Windows 11, version 23H2 via an enablement package (Build 22635.xxxx).
Many features in the Beta Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27764 (Canary Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Wed, 11 Dec 2024 18:05:28 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27764 to the Canary Channel. We are also not planning to release SDKs for 27xxx series builds for the time being.

Changes and Improvements

[Start menu]

When right-clicking on apps pinned to the Start menu, jump lists will be shown for apps that have them such as PowerPoint.

[caption id="attachment_177125" align="alignnone" width="339"] Jump lists will now be shown when right-clicking on apps pinned to the Start menu such as PowerPoint that have jump lists.[/caption]

[Dynamic Lighting]

When no compatible devices are attached, the Dynamic Lighting settings page will now show a placeholder message and Brightness and Effects controls are disabled.
On the Dynamic Lighting settings page, we have added Forward, Backward, Outward and Inward direction options to the Wave effect, and added the Forward direction option to the Gradient effect.

[Input]

We are beginning to roll out a change where we now hide the IME toolbar when apps are in full screen mode for those who have the IME toolbar enabled and type in Chinese or Japanese.

[Narrator]

We have added new functionalities to Narrator scan mode. Skip past links (N’) allows you to navigate to the text after a link. This is most helpful when navigating through long emails, news articles, and wiki pages. Jump to lists (L’) allows you to quickly access a list on a web page or a document. To try these new features, you need to turn on Narrator first (Win key + Ctrl + Enter), then turn scan mode ON by pressing Caps Lock + Spacebar and finally use the new shortcuts – ‘N’ and ‘L’. Please note that scan mode is ‘ON’ by default on most web pages (like news articles, wiki page, etc.).

[Speech in Windows]

We have improved our speech-to-text and text-to-speech experience on Windows. Users of Narrator, voice access, live captions, live translations, and voice typing might see a message asking them to update their language files manually. The language files will be released separately through Microsoft Store.

Fixes

[General]

Fixed an issue causing some Insiders to see a bugcheck with error PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA while using their PC starting with Build 27754.

[File Explorer]

We did some work to help address an issue where File Explorer might hang when browsing a folder with lots of media in it.

[Taskbar & System Tray]

Fixed an issue on secondary monitors for left aligned taskbar users, where the widgets text in the taskbar might overlap the date and time.

[Input]

Fixed an issue where if pointer trails were enabled, the mouse cursor may become invisible with a black box behind it.

[Task Manager]

Fixed an issue where some HDDs were being incorrectly listed as SSD on the Performance page.

[Display]

Fixed an issue which could result in lag and screen tearing on secondary monitors with full screen windows.

[Other]

Fixed an underlying issue which could lead to Excel sometimes hanging on launch when opening certain files.

Known issues

[General]

[IMPORTANT NOTE FOR COPILOT+ PCs] If you are joining the Canary Channel on a new Copilot+ PC from the Dev Channel, Release Preview Channel or retail, you will lose Windows Hello pin and biometrics to sign into your PC with error 0xd0000225 and error message “Something went wrong, and your PIN isn’t available”. You should be able to re-create your PIN by clicking “Set up my PIN”.
We’re investigating reports that some Insiders are still experiencing rollbacks (with error code 0xc190010) when attempting to install the latest Canary builds.
We’re working on the fix for an underlying issue causing accent colored window borders to not be not displayed when enabled, shadows around windows not displaying when enabled, and window launching (and other) animations to show even though the setting to show animations is turned off.
[ADDED 12/16] After installing Build 27764, some Windows Insiders are reporting hitting the issue that previously impacted the Dev Channel where an “Your organization used App Control for Business to block this app” dialog is shown when attempting to use or install certain third-party apps on your PC due to an incorrect policy being enforced. This forum post provides a workaround to correct this issue.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Canary Channel

The builds we release to the Canary Channel represent the latest platform changes early in the development cycle and should not be seen as matched to any specific release of Windows and features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Many features in the Canary Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
Some features may show up in the Dev and Beta Channels first before showing up in the Canary Channel.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
To get off the Canary Channel, a clean install of Windows 11 will be required. As a reminder - Insiders can’t switch to a channel that is receiving builds with lower build numbers without doing a clean installation of Windows 11 due to technical setup requirements.
The desktop watermark shown at the lower right corner of the desktop is normal for these pre-release builds.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4580 (Beta Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 06 Dec 2024 18:06:52 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4580 (KB5046733) to the Beta Channel. Changes in Beta Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*) and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Beta Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Taskbar & System Tray]

The more simplified system tray with shortened form date/time we began rolling out with Build 22635.4010 is being temporarily disabled to address a few issues. Thanks to all the Insiders who gave us feedback on this experience.

[File Explorer]

We're making a change so that when you launch File Explorer folders from outside of File Explorer (for example, from an app or from the desktop), by default they will now open in a new tab if you have an existing File Explorer window open. If you'd prefer that they continue opening in a new window, you can change this in File Explorer folder options, under General > Browse Folders.
When "Restore previous folder windows at logon" is enabled in File Explorer, we will also now restore all the extra tabs which you previously had open in each File Explorer window. As part of this work, we have also updated the logic for the "Automatically save my restartable apps and restart them when I sign back in" setting via Settings > Accounts > Sign in options, so that when you enable this, we will automatically enable the File Explorer specific setting for you too.
We're adding a new option to snooze or turn off the “Start backup” reminder in the File Explorer address bar, for those that aren't already backing up their Documents, Pictures, or Desktop folders. This option is available when you right-click "Start backup".

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Input]

Fixed an issue for Pinyin IME users, where switching between windows (like with ALT + Tab) may unexpectedly switch the IME from Chinese to English.

Fixes for everyone in the Beta Channel

[Other]

This update includes fixes for the following issues:

[Bluetooth LE Audio] Fixed: Some devices, like hearing aids, do not stream Bluetooth audio.
[Internet Printing Protocol (IPP) printer] Fixed: Windows stops responding when you use an IPP USB printer.
[Motherboard replacement] Fixed: Windows does not activate after you replace a motherboard.
[Country and Operator Settings Asset (COSA)] Fixed: This update brings profiles up to date for certain mobile operators.

Microsoft Store Update

For Win32 apps that are “provided and updated” by their publishers, the Microsoft Store will now support updating directly in the Store. Previously, these apps could only be updated outside of the Microsoft Store. Insiders can head to the Downloads page and click Get Updates. If any installed apps of this type have updates, it’ll be displayed on the pending list. You can perform the update by clicking the update button; it won’t start automatically. [caption id="attachment_177453" align="alignnone" width="593"] Downloads page with update buttons for Win32 apps installed from the Store.[/caption] You can also head to the product page and see an update button. [caption id="attachment_177454" align="alignnone" width="350"] Update button on a Win32 app product page.[/caption] Windows Insiders across all channels running Microsoft Store version 22411.1401.x.x and higher will see this improvement. Click here to read more about recent updates to the Microsoft Store! FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Microsoft Store.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel

Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel will receive updates based on Windows 11, version 23H2 via an enablement package (Build 22635.xxxx).
Many features in the Beta Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Previewing More Copilot+ Experiences with Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 06 Dec 2024 18:04:14 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.2510 (KB5048780) to the Dev Channel. With this update, we are previewing new experiences for AMD and Intel®-powered Copilot+ PCs including Recall and more and expanding Click to Do (Preview) beyond Recall in Windows.

Join the Dev Channel on your Copilot+ PC

Here is how you can join the Dev Channel on your Copilot+ PC today (we have a video too!):

Register for the Windows Insider Program here via our website with your Microsoft account or Microsoft Entra ID. This should be the same account you use to sign into your Copilot+ PC with.
After you have registered, go to Settings > Windows Update > Windows Insider Program on your PC and select the Get Started button.
When asked to link an account, choose the account you’re signed into Windows with and be sure that it is the same account you registered for the program with.
Choose the Dev Channel and reboot.
After rebooting and signing into your Copilot+ PC, go to Settings > Windows Update and check for updates and Build 26120.2510 should be offered.
Your PC will download the update and reboot to finish the update process.

New experiences for AMD and Intel®-powered Copilot+ PCs

The following experiences are rolling out to Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel on AMD and Intel®-powered Copilot+ PCs. Please install all the latest driver updates available from Windows Update to ensure the following experiences, like Recall, work correctly on your PC. To ensure you have the latest drivers for your Copilot+ PC, make sure the “Get the latest updates as soon as they’re available” toggle is on under Settings > Windows Update. Just click the “Check for updates” button and install any new drivers that Windows Update delivers to you. If you’d like to test the latest driver versions available directly from our partners before they get to Windows Update, you can download them directly here:

Recall (Preview)

After previewing Recall with our Windows Insider community on Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PCs, we are expanding the preview of Recall to Windows Insiders on AMD and Intel®-powered Copilot+ PCs. This includes Click to Do in Recall as well. With the AI capabilities of Copilot+ PCs, it’s now possible to quickly find and get back to apps, website, image, or document just by describing its content. [caption id="attachment_177438" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Recall with timeline control to go back in time to find something you did in the past on your PC.[/caption] We continue to invite you to try out Recall and share feedback, issues, or suggestions for improvement through in-experience links or the Feedback Hub. We also want to recognize the contributions of researchers and the security community in shaping Recall. If you’re an Insider also in this group, we additionally invite feedback on Recall’s updated security and privacy architecture through participation in our Windows Insider Preview Bug Bounty Program. To get started, check out this blog post which highlights all the steps required to opt-in to using Recall and saving snapshots on your Copilot+ PC. As we gradually roll out Recall in preview, Recall is supported on select languages including Chinese (simplified), English, French, German, Japanese, and Spanish. Content-based and storage limitations apply. See here for more details. Recall is not yet available in all regions, with expanded availability coming over time. As part of today’s update, we’re expanding the roll out of Recall (Preview) through the Windows Insider Program to the European Economic Area (EEA). As a reminder for when we first preview new features with Windows Insiders, you may encounter some known issues listed at the bottom of this blog post we highly recommend you read. FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Desktop Environment > Recall or through in-experience links.

Cocreator in Paint

Microsoft Paint is your creative companion, making it effortless to bring your visions to life. The latest update to the Paint app (version 11.2410.1002.0 and higher) brings Cocreator to AMD and Intel®-powered Copilot+ PCs. Paint Cocreator allows you to create amazing artwork with the help of AI. You can enter a text prompt and start drawing on the Paint canvas, and Cocreator will generate beautiful artwork based on your input, all for free and without the need for a subscription. [caption id="attachment_177465" align="alignnone" width="622"] Cocreator in the Microsoft Paint app allows you to create amazing artwork with the help of AI.[/caption] We are beginning to roll out Cocreator to AMD and Intel®-powered Copilot+ PCs, so it may not be available on your PC just yet. FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Apps > Paint.

Restyle Image and Image Creator in the Photos app

In the latest update to the Microsoft Photos app, we are introducing Image Creator and Restyle Image to AMD and Intel® Copilot+ PCs. These advanced AI-powered features are designed to unlock new creative possibilities—all powered locally on your device for fast and seamless performance. Image Creator lets you generate brand-new images from simple text prompts. For example, you can type “a serene lake at sunset” or “a vibrant city skyline at night,” and the AI will transform your idea into a feed of images. Whether you're seeking inspiration or crafting the perfect visual, Image Creator delivers endless possibilities for creativity. [caption id="attachment_177466" align="alignnone" width="692"] Image Creator in the Microsoft Photos app leverages the AI capabilities of your Copilot+ PC to transform a text prompt into a stunning gallery of diverse, uniquely crafted images.[/caption] Restyle Image allows you to take an existing photo and apply a variety of artistic styles. Whether you want to give your vacation photos a vintage aesthetic or turn a casual snapshot into a bold modern artwork, Restyle Image makes it effortless. [caption id="attachment_177467" align="alignnone" width="692"] Restyle Image uses AI on your Copilot+ PC to give your photos a creative twist. You can choose from pre-made style ideas, like 'fantasy’ or 'impressionist', or create your own to give your photo a new artistic effect.[/caption] To get these new features, update your Photos app to version 2024.11120.1001.0 or higher via the Microsoft Store. This update is currently rolling out, so it may not be available right away. Don’t forget to share your creations with us! FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (Win + F) under Apps > Photos.

New ways to engage with Click to Do (Preview)

In addition to expanding support for Click to Do with Recall to AMD and Intel®-powered Copilot+ PCs, today’s update also introduces new ways for you to effortlessly engage with Click to Do outside of Recall on Copilot+ PCs. You can now engage with Click to Do by simply pressing WIN key + mouse-click, WIN + Q, through the Snipping Tool menu and print screen, or searching “Click to Do” through the search box on the Windows taskbar. These methods will make it easier than ever to take immediate action on whatever catches your eye on-screen. [caption id="attachment_177468" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Animated GIF showing WIN ley + click in action with visual effects.[/caption] We're also working on introducing more intelligent text actions to enhance your Click to Do experience even further. Use WIN key + mouse-click or WIN + Q to select a text block and then drag to select the text that you want. You’ll see options to Summarize or to help you Rewrite your text, so it sounds more causal or more formal. [caption id="attachment_177469" align="alignnone" width="1024"] More intelligent text actions in Click to Do with options to Summarize or Rewrite.[/caption] Click to Do is the first experience to leverage the capabilities of Phi Silica, the on-device Small Language Model (SLM) that is built right into Windows. Results from our local model will show directly inline and if you’re happy with the rewrites you can copy them directly to your clipboard for use anywhere. These more intelligent text actions are available on Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PCs today when your language is set to English with support for AMD and Intel®-powered Copilot+ PCs coming soon. The intelligent text actions leverage the power of Microsoft’s secure cloud to improve your text results by ensuring prompts and responses are safe and appropriate. This data is automatically deleted. The analysis of your screen is always performed locally on your device. Content is only shared out of Click to Do if you choose to complete an action, like copying text to your clipboard, for use in another app, or sharing an image with Bing for a visual search. You can continue to use the same image and text actions you saw for the Click to Do in the Recall experience we released two weeks ago as well including on AMD or Intel®-powered Copilot+ PCs too. Click to Do in Recall will recognize text and images in snapshots and offers AI powered actions you can take on these. Just press the Windows logo key and left mouse-click on any image in a snapshot in Recall to get options like Copy, Save, Share, Visual Search with Bing, Blur background with Photos, or Remove background with Paint. And by pressing the WIN key and left mouse-click on any text in a snapshot will give you options to Copy, Search the web, or send email or open a website if an email or URL is recognized. To use Click to Do, you will need to have Recall enabled on your Copilot+ PC but do not have to opt in to having snapshots saved. You can learn more about using Click to Do here. FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Desktop Environment > Click to Do.

Other changes included in this Dev Channel update

This update (Build 26120.2510) includes other changes and improvements available to Windows Insiders across all Windows 11 PCs in addition to the features noted above that are exclusive to Copilot+ PCs. These changes are documented below in two buckets:

New features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*).
New features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Dev Channel.

For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

New features gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

Modernized Windows Hello

At Microsoft, we are committed to security and enhancing user experiences. As part of this commitment, we launched enhanced passkey features in September 2023 and are now revamping the Windows Hello user experience. This represents a significant update to Windows Hello, aligning it with contemporary Windows visual design standards. The primary focus is on making authentication intuitive and seamless. [caption id="attachment_177394" align="alignnone" width="511"] Image showing new Windows Hello iconography.[/caption] Modernized Windows Hello Visual Communication: The updated Windows Hello visuals are designed to facilitate fast and clear communication and appear on the Windows Sign-in screen as well as other authentication flows such as passkey, Recall, Microsoft Store and many more. [caption id="attachment_177396" align="alignnone" width="632"] Image of the Windows 11 login screen depicting new Windows Hello iconography.[/caption] Revamped Windows Hello credential user experience for passkeys and the new administrator protection experience: We redesigned Windows security credential user experience for passkey by creating a cleaner experience that supports secured and quick authentication. Users will now be able to switch between authentication options and select passkey/devices more intuitively. [caption id="attachment_177397" align="alignnone" width="633"] Image of new passkey sign-in flow screens.[/caption] This experience will also apply for the new administrator protection feature coming to Windows 11, version 24H2 and higher and currently in preview with Windows Insiders in the most recent Canary Channel builds. For more information on administrator protection – you can check out this blog post that highlights our investments in adminless experiences in Windows from Microsoft Ignite. FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Security and Privacy > Passwordless experience.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[Taskbar & System Tray]

The more simplified system tray with shortened form date/time we began rolling out with Build 26120.1843 is being temporarily disabled to address a few issues. Thanks to all the Insiders who gave us feedback on this experience.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[Taskbar & System Tray]

Fixed a few issues impacting taskbar and explorer.exe reliability.

[Audio]

Fixed an underlying issue which could lead to USB audio devices going to sleep after 1 minute of idle time, and not waking up until the PC was rebooted.
Fixed an underlying issue which could lead you to unexpectedly hear a mute or unmute noise in certain headsets.
Fixed an underlying issue that could lead to the audio on certain audio devices unexpectedly going to 100% on boot or after sleep.

[Other]

Fixed an underlying issue which could lead to Excel sometimes hanging on launch when opening certain files.

Fixes for everyone in the Dev Channel

[Recall]

Fixed an issue where Recall didn’t warn that you must have Secure Boot enabled for Recall to save snapshots.
Improved the experience for submitting feedback for Recall by adding a loading dialog.
Fixed an issue where some users experience a delay before snapshots first appear in the timeline while using their device.
Fixed an issue where Recall won’t save any snapshots if you join the Dev Channel and install Build 26120.2415 after installing KB5046740.

[Other]

[Exporting chart objects] Fixed: An app stops responding when it exports chart objects in PDF and XLSX formats.
[Internet connection] Fixed: A small number of devices cannot connect to the internet. This occurs when a DHCP server response has duplicate DHCP options. This stops IPv4 connections on certain networks.
[Display] Fixed: Some secondary displays might experience lag and screen tearing when a window is in full screen.
[HTML Applications (HTA)] Fixed: HTA optional components (OC) are now in ARM64 Windows PE.

Known issues

[Rollback]

There is an issue where if you roll back from Build 26120.2510 to Build 26120.2415, you will see an “Your organization used App Control for Business to block this app” dialog when attempting to use or install certain third-party apps on your PC due to an incorrect policy being enforced. To avoid this, please take the following steps FIRST before rolling back:

Open Command Prompt with administrator privileges.
Type and hit enter: mountvol s: /s
Type and hit enter: del S:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\cipolicies\active\{8E8A94F0-6EB9-42C7-A189-E018C8CF3D10}.cip
Type and hit enter: del S:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\cipolicies\active\{36D62F7C-AB85-4F61-8724-744294F24023}.cip
Type and hit enter: del S:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\cipolicies\active\{66D7D265-7EDD-47DD-86E4-F7C42CD55A8F}.cip
Then proceed with rolling back.

Note if you update back to Build 26120.2510 after rolling back, you will still need to do this workaround. If you do not do these steps FIRST before rolling back, your PC could get into a bad state. If you run into issues with Build 26120.2510, we recommend trying the option "Fix problems using Windows Update" via Settings > Recovery which delivers an in-place upgrade (IPU) of Build 26120.2510 instead of rolling back. We expect to have this issue fixed with the next Dev Channel flight.

[Recall]

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

Recall can be enabled or disabled from “Turn Windows features on or off”. We are caching the Recall binaries on disk while we test add/remove. In a future update we will completely remove the binaries.
Some users may see a message to “Make sure Recall is saving snapshots”, while the Settings page for Recall shows saving snapshots is enabled. Reboot your device to resolve this issue.
Make sure you update Microsoft 365 apps to the latest version so you can jump back into specific documents.

[Click to Do]

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

Sometimes additional context is given when using more intelligent text actions powered by Phi Silica.
The intelligent text actions leverage the power of Microsoft’s secure cloud to improve your text results by ensuring prompts and responses are safe and appropriate. This data is automatically deleted. Local moderation to ensure the safety of prompts and responses will be added in the future, replacing this cloud endpoint.
Sometimes Click to Do doesn’t highlight any info on screen if there is no content on a connected external monitor in extended mode.

Microsoft Store Update

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel

Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel receive updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 via an enablement package (Build 26120.xxxx).
Updates delivered to the Dev Channel are in a format that offers a preview of enhancements to servicing technology on Windows 11, version 24H2. To learn more, see https://aka.ms/CheckpointCumulativeUpdates.
Many features in the Dev Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Please note that some accessibility features may not work with features like Recall and Click to Do while in preview with Windows Insiders.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27758 (Canary Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Wed, 04 Dec 2024 18:06:03 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27758 to the Canary Channel. We are also not planning to release SDKs for 27xxx series builds for the time being.

What's new in Build 27758

Windows Camera Advanced Configurations

We have introduced a new advanced camera options page in this build. Just navigate to a camera under Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Cameras and click the edit button for advanced camera options. [caption id="attachment_177472" align="alignnone" width="544"] New advanced camera configurations page in Settings.[/caption] This new advanced camera options page will provide you with the following two configurations for your camera:

Multi-app camera: Allows multiple applications to access the camera stream simultaneously, developed with the Hard-of-Hearing community to enable video streaming to both a sign language interpreter and the end audience at the same time.
Basic camera: Enables basic camera functionality for improved debugging, recommended as a last resort when your camera is not functioning correctly. This feature was developed in collaboration with Microsoft support agents.

Coming in a future build, we plan to introduce a third option here for selecting a media type. This feature will let you choose different media types like resolution and frame rate, with the default setting being "Let Windows Choose" for optimal experience. FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Devices and Drivers > Device Camera or Webcams.

Fixes

[File Explorer]

Did some work so the search box in File Explorer shouldn’t draw off the end of the window anymore.

[Taskbar]

Fixed an issue where right clicking on app icons in the taskbar might crash explorer.exe in the previous flight.

[Input]

Fixed an issue for some people where the mouse cursor would become invisible when hovering over text fields in certain apps.

[Desktop]

Fixed an issue where your desktop background might not show correctly sometimes with multiple monitors (showing big black areas).

[Task Manager]

We are beginning to roll out a fix for the issue where if you resized Task Manager to be larger while settings was open, the Mica background wouldn't align with the new window size.

[Narrator]

Fixed an issue in the previous flight which caused Narrator to crash on launch if you used one of the natural voices (like Jenny).

[Audio]

Fixed an underlying issue which could lead to USB audio devices going to sleep after 1 minute of idle time, and not waking up until the PC was rebooted.
Fixed an underlying issue which could lead you to unexpectedly hear a mute or unmute noise in certain headsets.

[Settings]

Fixed an issue which could cause Settings to crash when selecting your default audio device.

[Other]

Fixed an issue which could cause an unexpected black line along the top border of a window.

Known issues

[General]

[IMPORTANT NOTE FOR COPILOT+ PCs] If you are joining the Canary Channel on a new Copilot+ PC from the Dev Channel, Release Preview Channel or retail, you will lose Windows Hello pin and biometrics to sign into your PC with error 0xd0000225 and error message “Something went wrong, and your PIN isn’t available”. You should be able to re-create your PIN by clicking “Set up my PIN”.
We’re investigating reports that some Insiders are still experiencing rollbacks (with error code 0xc190010) when attempting to install the latest Canary builds.
We’re working on the fix for an underlying issue causing accent colored window borders to not be not displayed when enabled, shadows around windows not displaying when enabled, and window launching (and other) animations to show even though the setting to show animations is turned off.
[NEW] We’re working on the fix for an issue causing some Insiders to see a bugcheck with error PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA starting with the previous flight.

Microsoft Store Update

For Win32 apps that are “provided and updated” by their publishers, the Microsoft Store will now support updating directly in the Store. Previously, these apps could only be updated outside of the Microsoft Store. Insiders can head to the Downloads page and click Get Updates. If any installed apps of this type have updates, it'll be displayed on the pending list. You can perform the update by clicking the update button; it won't start automatically. [caption id="attachment_177453" align="alignnone" width="593"] Downloads page with update buttons for Win32 apps installed from the Store.[/caption] You can also head to the product page and see an update button. [caption id="attachment_177454" align="alignnone" width="350"] Update button on a Win32 app product page.[/caption] Windows Insiders across all channels running Microsoft Store version 22411.1401.x.x and higher will see this improvement. Click here to read more about recent updates to the Microsoft Store! FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Microsoft Store.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Canary Channel

The builds we release to the Canary Channel represent the latest platform changes early in the development cycle and should not be seen as matched to any specific release of Windowsand features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.

Many features in the Canary Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.

Some features may show up in the Dev and Beta Channels first before showing up in the Canary Channel.

Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
To get off the Canary Channel, a clean install of Windows 11 will be required. As a reminder - Insiders can’t switch to a channel that is receiving builds with lower build numbers without doing a clean installation of Windows 11 due to technical setup requirements.

The desktop watermark shown at the lower right corner of the desktop is normal for these pre-release builds.

Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4515 (Beta Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 22 Nov 2024 18:03:56 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4515 (KB5046756) to the Beta Channel. Changes in Beta Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*) and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Beta Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

New features gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

Ability to seamlessly resume OneDrive files in 1-click from your phone to PC

We are gradually rolling out the ability to seamlessly resume working on OneDrive files from your phone (iOS and Android) on your Windows 11 PC with a single click. With this feature, you will get a notification asking you if you want to pick up where you left off editing a OneDrive file like a Word doc that you last viewed or edited on your phone within a 5-minute time window preceding unlocking your PC. [caption id="attachment_177446" align="alignnone" width="455"] A cross-device resume notification indicating that you can continue working across devices seamlessly.[/caption] Upon clicking on this notification, the same file that you were viewing or editing previously on your phone will open in your default browser on your PC. Here are some important details about how this feature works:

This feature works only when signing into OneDrive with a Microsoft account. Work and school accounts are not supported. And you need to be using the same Microsoft account signing into OneDrive on your phone and signing into your Windows 11 PC.

This feature supports Word docs, Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations, OneNote notebooks/pages, and PDFs.

The OneDrive file must be opened on your phone when your PC is locked. If you then unlock your PC within 5 minutes of accessing the file on your phone, you will receive the resume notification as noted above.

For the best experience using this feature, you should be logged into OneDrive in your default browser on your PC.
Your PC should be on Build 22635.4515 and higher in the Beta Channel.

This feature can be managed and turned off via Settings > Apps > Resume. FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Devices and Drivers -> Linked Phone.

Passwordless Improvements

As part of Microsoft’s commitment to a passwordless future, on Windows, we are launching API support for third-party passkey providers. Microsoft has been engaging with passkey manager partners on developing this capability. We are committed to bringing a passwordless future to all customers - together with third-party credential providers, we will raise the bar on login security with passkeys for all users on Windows. WebAuthn Plugin Authenticator APIs We are releasing updates to WebAuthn APIs to support a plugin authentication model for passkeys. In the coming months, Windows customers will be able to choose a third-party provider as an additional choice alongside the native Windows passkey provider while maintaining the Windows Hello user experience. Messages in WebAuthn flows will be forwarded to the plugin and responses are returned to the WebAuthn client applications. This enables plugins to create and authenticate with passkeys when requested by the customer. This model allows plugins to use Windows Hello as a user verification mechanism to enable a seamless passkey experience. You will notice additional user experience updates to the passkey flows and Settings alongside the new capabilities. If you are a developer for third-party passkeys, we invite you to integrate with Windows 11 to support customers in their passkey journey. To find out more about implementation detail, go to https://aka.ms/3P-Plugin-API. FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Security and Privacy > Passkey.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Start menu]

We are rolling out the ability to right-click and share local files under the Recommended section of the Start menu.

[caption id="attachment_177447" align="alignnone" width="343"] Share option shown when right-clicking on a local file under the Recommended section of the Start menu.[/caption]

[Magnifier]

We're adding a new keyboard shortcut CTRL + ALT + Minus for Magnifier users to quickly toggle between the current zoom and 1X zoom.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[File Explorer]

Fixed an issue where sometimes you would be unable to navigate by entering a path in the address bar.
Fixed an issue where the File Explorer address bar was unexpectedly overlapping with content while in full screen (F11) view.
Improved performance of context menu launch for people when right-clicking on cloud files.
Made a change to help ensure thumbnails for cloud files are displayed more consistently in search results within File Explorer.
Fixed an issue which was causing some explorer.exe crashes in the last couple flights, including when trying to create new folders in certain locations.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel

Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel will receive updates based on Windows 11, version 23H2 via an enablement package (Build 22635.xxxx).
Many features in the Beta Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Previewing Recall with Click to Do on Copilot+ PCs with Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 22 Nov 2024 18:03:30 +0000

UPDATE 12/6: With Build 26120.2510, we are welcoming Windows Insiders on AMD and Intel®-powered Copilot+ PCs to try out Recall (Preview) and Click to Do (Preview). Insiders across Copilot+ PCs can now preview these experiences in the Dev Channel. The below blog post has been updated to reflect this. Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.2415 (KB5046723) to the Dev Channel. With this update, we welcome Windows Insiders with Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PCs to join the Dev Channel to try out Recall (Preview) with Click to Do (Preview).

Join the Dev Channel on your Copilot+ PC

Here is how you can join the Dev Channel on your Copilot+ PC today (we have a video too!):

Register for the Windows Insider Program here via our website with your Microsoft account or Microsoft Entra ID. This should be the same account you use to sign into your Copilot+ PC with.
After you have registered, go to Settings > Windows Update > Windows Insider Program on your PC and select the Get Started button.
When asked to link an account, choose the account you’re signed into Windows with and be sure that it is the same account you registered for the program with.
Choose the Dev Channel and reboot.
After rebooting and signing into your Copilot+ PC, go to Settings > Windows Update and check for updates and ~~Build 26120.2415~~ Build 26120.2510 should be offered.
Your PC will download the update and reboot to finish the update process.

New Copilot+ PC experiences

Retrace your steps with Recall (Preview)

We’re excited to release the first preview of Recall to our Windows Insider community. Recall is an entirely new way to search for things you’ve seen or done on your PC securely. With the AI capabilities of Copilot+ PCs, it’s now possible to quickly find and get back to any app, website, image, or document just by describing its content. We invite you to try out Recall and share feedback, issues, or suggestions for improvement through in-experience links or the Feedback Hub. We also want to recognize the contributions of researchers and the security community in shaping Recall. If you’re an Insider also in this group, we additionally invite feedback on Recall’s updated security and privacy architecture through participation in our Windows Insider Preview Bug Bounty Program. As is typical when first previewing new features with Windows Insiders, you may encounter some known issues listed at the bottom of this blog post we highly recommend you read. Setup: After installing this build, the models for Recall and Click to Do will start to download in the background. You can check the download status via Settings > Windows Update. To open Recall you can find it in the Start menu under the All apps list. [caption id="attachment_177437" align="alignnone" width="1024"] The first page of the first-run experience for Recall.[/caption] When you open Recall, you can complete the first-run experience, which will ask you to opt-in to saving snapshots. It will also require you to enroll in Windows Hello to confirm your presence. This requires you to enable BitLocker and Secure Boot if you haven’t already. If you don’t enable saving snapshots, Recall will not save any snapshots of your activity. [caption id="attachment_177438" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Recall with timeline control to go back in time to find something you did in the past on your PC.[/caption] Find It: Use your PC as you normally would. When you need to find or get back to something you’ve done previously, open Recall and authenticate with Windows Hello. As we use our PCs throughout the day working on documents or presentations, taking video calls, and context switching across activities, Recall helps you find things faster and easier and reduces the strain when you can’t remember something. Search using the clues you remember. You can not only search for the text you need to get back to, but now simply describe what you're looking for (“pie chart”). You can also browse the timeline to see snapshots from a specific time you remember and get right back to that document or website quickly. Recall’s search results leverage AI to provide both text and visual matches for your query. AI can make mistakes, if the results aren’t accurate or don’t look right, please provide us with feedback using the feedback link. When you’ve found what you were looking for, you can get back to the application, website, or document, or use Click to Do to act on any image or text in the snapshot you found. You can learn more about using Recall here. [caption id="attachment_177439" align="alignnone" width="1024"] The Recall icon in the system tray indicating when Recall is in use and running and the flyout lets you pause saving snapshots and open Recall.[/caption] Control: With Recall, you’re in control of what snapshots are saved and when Recalls saves them. A new icon in the system tray displays status and provides quick access to Recall actions. When Recall is enabled, you’ll see the Recall icon visible. It provides visual cues to remind you when snapshots are being analyzed and saved. Click the icon and you will be able to pause saving snapshots or view more status information. When paused, you see a slash through the icon. [caption id="attachment_177440" align="alignnone" width="1024"] You can delete a snapshot in Recall from the bottom actions when you no longer want it saved.[/caption] You can delete any snapshot in Recall that you don’t want and tell Recall to ignore that app or website in that snapshot going forward, either when viewing an individual snapshot or by searching for what you want deleted and removing those results. [caption id="attachment_177441" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Windows Hello authentication is required to unlock the Recall experience.[/caption] Your data: Insiders and Recall users, we want you to know your snapshots are truly yours. We do not send your snapshots off your PC to Microsoft or third parties, and don’t use them for training purposes. Microsoft can’t access the keys to view your encrypted data, so we can’t restore your snapshots if you remove Windows Hello or restore your snapshots if you need to reset your PC or move to a new PC. We will in future updates provide ways for you to store a backup of your keys for these cases. For now, your Copilot + PC only releases the keys to use Recall if you show your face, fingerprint, or PIN. Please note that while in preview, we may make updates that require a reset of your saved snapshots and will let you know here. Technical Insiders can learn more about the security and privacy architecture of Recall here. Privacy: We’ve updated Recall to detect sensitive information like credit card details, passwords, and personal identification numbers. When detected, Recall won’t save or store those snapshots. We’ll continue to improve this functionality, and if you find sensitive information that should be filtered out, for your context, language, or geography, please let us know through Feedback Hub. We’ve also provided an option in Settings that we encourage you to enable that will anonymously share the apps and sites you prefer to be excluded from Recall to help us improve the product. And you can also choose to exclude specific apps and websites through the Recall settings page which we talk about below. [caption id="attachment_177442" align="alignnone" width="1024"] The Recall settings page where you can disable saving snapshots, change your storage settings, delete snapshots and filter webs and apps from being saved.[/caption] Settings: Try out the additional settings available to configure Recall. Changing Recall settings requires you to authenticate with Windows Hello. You can disable saving snapshots, pause temporarily, filter applications and websites in supported browsers, control disk usage, and delete your snapshots at any time via Settings > Privacy and security > Recall and snapshots. Please provide us with feedback if additional settings would improve your experience. You can also remove Recall entirely by typing “Turn Windows features on or off” in the search box on your taskbar. Uncheck Recall from the dialog and restart your PC. Enterprises: As announced at Ignite, for our enterprise customers, Recall is removed by default on PCs managed by an IT administrator for work or school, as well as Enterprise versions of Windows 11. IT administrators fully control the availability of Recall within their organization. Employees must choose to opt-in to saving snapshots and enroll their face or fingerprint with Windows Hello for snapshots to be saved. Only the signed-in user can access and decrypt Recall data, so although enterprises cannot access employee Recall data, they can prevent Recall from being used altogether and prevent any saving of specific apps or sites. IT administrators can click here to learn more about managing Recall on Copilot+ PCs in their organizations. Recall (Preview) is available on Copilot+ PCs (AMD, Intel®, and Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PCs) with Build 26120.2510 released on 12/6. As we gradually roll out Recall in preview, Recall is supported on select languages including Chinese (simplified), English, French, German, Japanese, and Spanish. Content-based and storage limitations apply. See here for more details. Recall is not yet available in all regions, with expanded availability coming over time. FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Desktop Environment > Recall or through in-experience links.

Click to Do (Preview) with Recall

With Click to Do in Recall, you can get more done with snapshots and improve your productivity and creativity. Click to Do recognizes text and images in snapshots and offers AI powered actions you can take on these, saving you time by helping complete tasks inline, and/or quickly getting you to the app that can best complete the job for you. [caption id="attachment_177443" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Click to Do in Recall showing image actions on a highlighted image.[/caption] For text, Click to Do offers the following actions:

Copy: Easily copy text to your clipboard.
Open with: Open the selected text with your preferred application.
Search the web: Quickly search the web for the selected text.
Open website: Open any URL you recognize on screen in your preferred browser
Send email: Send email to the email address recognized on screen in your preferred email app

For image, Click to Do provides a variety of options:

Copy: Copy the image to your clipboard.
Save as: Save the image to your desired location.
Share: Share the image with others.
Open with: Open the image with your preferred application.
Visual search with Bing: Perform a visual search and surface relevant contents using Bing.
Blur background with Photos: Blur the background of the image using Photos app.
Erase objects with Photos: Erase unwanted objects from the image using Photos app.
Remove background with Paint: Remove the background of the image using Paint app.

In this update Click to Do only works within the Recall experience. In a future update, you'll be able to effortlessly engage with Click to Do by simply pressing Windows logo key + mouse click, Windows logo key + Q, through the Snipping Tool menu and Print Screen, or searching “Click to Do” through Windows Search Box. These methods will make it easier than ever to take immediate action on whatever catches your eye on-screen. We're also working on introducing more intelligent text actions to enhance your experience even further. Just like with Recall noted above, Click to Do (Preview) is now available on Copilot+ PCs (AMD, Intel®, and Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PCs) with Build 26120.2510 released on 12/6. FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Desktop Environment > Click to Do.

Other changes included in this Dev Channel update (Build 26120.2415)

This update (Build 26120.2415) includes additional changes and improvements available to Windows Insiders across every Windows 11 PCs. These changes include:

New features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*).
New features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Dev Channel.

For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[Windows Hello]

The revamped and modernized Windows Hello user experience that is rolling out to Windows Insiders in the Beta and Canary Channels will start rolling out to Insiders in the Dev Channel soon.

[Narrator]

We have added new functionalities to Narrator scan mode. Skip past links (N’) allows you to navigate to the text after a link. This is most helpful when navigating through long emails, news articles, and wiki pages. Jump to lists (L’) allows you to quickly access a list on a web page or a document. To try these new features, you need to turn on Narrator first (Win key + Ctrl + Enter), then turn scan mode ON by pressing Caps Lock + Spacebar and finally use the new shortcuts – ‘N’ and ‘L’. Please note that scan mode is ‘ON’ by default on most web pages (like news articles, wiki page, etc.).

[Speech in Windows]

We have improved our speech-to-text and text-to-speech experience on Windows. Users of Narrator, voice access, live captions, live translations, and voice typing might see a message asking them to update their language files manually. The language files will be released separately through Microsoft Store.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[Taskbar & System Tray]

Fixed an issue causing explorer.exe to crash sometimes when interacting with app icons in the taskbar in the latest flights.

[Desktop]

Fixed the issue where your desktop background may not show correctly sometimes with multiple monitors (showing big black areas).

[File Explorer]

Did some work so the search box in File Explorer shouldn’t draw off the end of the window anymore.

[Input]

Fixed an underlying issue in the last few flights that could cause Windows wheel devices to not scroll.

[Narrator]

Fixed an issue in the previous flight which caused Narrator to crash on launch if you used one of the natural voices (like Jenny).

Known issues

[Recall with Click to Do]

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

You must have Secure Boot enabled for Recall to save snapshots. Ensure Secure Boot is enabled before trying out Recall. This support article will help you enable Secure Boot.
Clicking links within Recall to submit feedback may experience a delay in loading the Feedback Hub application. Be patient and it will display.
Recall can be enabled or disabled from “Turn Windows features on or off”. We are caching the Recall binaries on disk while we test add/remove. In a future update we will completely remove the binaries.
Some users experience a delay before snapshots first appear in the timeline while using their device. If snapshots do not appear after 5 minutes, reboot your device. If saving snapshots is enabled, but you see snapshots are no longer being saved, reboot your device.
Some users may see a message to “Make sure Recall is saving snapshots”, while the Settings page for Recall shows saving snapshots is enabled. Reboot your device to resolve this issue.
Websites added as filters may be saved if the content is in split screen or side bar pane in Edge. This will be addressed in an update.
Make sure you update Microsoft 365 apps to the latest version so you can jump back into specific documents.
Recall may not currently work with some accessibility applications.
[ADDED 12/2] There is an issue where Recall won't save any snapshots if you join the Dev Channel and install Build 26120.2415 after installing KB5046740. We recommend you not install this preview update before joining the Dev Channel until we fix the issue in a future update.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel

Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel receive updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 via an enablement package (Build 26120.xxxx).
Updates delivered to the Dev Channel are in a format that offers a preview of enhancements to servicing technology on Windows 11, version 24H2. To learn more, see https://aka.ms/CheckpointCumulativeUpdates.
Many features in the Dev Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27754 (Canary Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Wed, 20 Nov 2024 18:05:26 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27754 to the Canary Channel. We are also not planning to release SDKs for 27xxx series builds for the time being.

What’s new with Build 27754

Modernized Windows Hello

At Microsoft, we are committed to security and enhancing user experiences. As part of this commitment, we launched enhanced passkey features in September 2023 and are now revamping the Windows Hello user experience. This represents a significant update to Windows Hello, aligning it with contemporary Windows visual design standards. The primary focus is on making authentication intuitive and seamless. [caption id="attachment_177394" align="alignnone" width="453"] Image showing new Windows Hello iconography.[/caption] Modernized Windows Hello Visual Communication: The updated Windows Hello visuals are designed to facilitate fast and clear communication and appear on the Windows Sign-in screen as well as other authentication flows such as passkey, Microsoft Store and many more. [caption id="attachment_177396" align="alignnone" width="583"] Image of the Windows 11 login screen depicting new Windows Hello iconography.[/caption] Revamped Windows Hello credential user experience for passkeys and the new administrator protection experience: We redesigned Windows security credential user experiences for passkey creating a cleaner experience that supports secured and quick authentication. Users will now be able to switch between authentication options and select passkey/devices more intuitively. [caption id="attachment_177397" align="alignnone" width="585"] Image of new passkey sign-in flow screens.[/caption] This experience will also apply for the new administrator protection feature coming to Windows 11, version 24H2 and higher and currently in preview with Windows Insiders in the most recent Canary Channel builds. For more information on administrator protection – you can check out this blog post that highlights our investments in adminlesss experiences in Windows from Microsoft Ignite. FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Security and Privacy > Passwordless experience.

Changes and Improvements

[General]

If you hold Shift and CTRL when clicking on a jump list item in Start menu or taskbar, this will now launch that item as admin, just like if you were to do Shift + CTRL and click the app icon itself. For example, if you right-click on Windows Terminal, and hold Shift and CTRL when you click PowerShell, it would open a PowerShell window as admin.

[Taskbar & System Tray]

We’ve updated the previews that show when you mouse-over/hover over apps on the taskbar. We have also improved the animations for when these previews show on the taskbar based on Insider feedback.

[caption id="attachment_177179" align="alignnone" width="555"] Updated taskbar previews shown for two open File Explorer windows.[/caption]

We are trying out a more simplified system tray to highlight the date/time in a shortened form and to show the notifications bell icon based on DND status. Without the notification bell icon, you can get to your notifications by clicking the date and time to Notification Center. You can revert to the long form of the date/time and bell icon visuals by toggling the values in the Settings via Settings > Date and Time under “Show time and day in the system tray” and Settings > System > Notifications under “Notifications”. These settings are also accessible through the context menu shown by right clicking the system tray clock/bell icon button.

[caption id="attachment_177177" align="alignnone" width="348"] Simplified system tray shown with shortened form data and time and no notification bell icon.[/caption]

Fixes

[General]

Fixed the issue with applying policy for the Digital Markets Act in EEA regions in Build 27749.
Fixed an issue where an update failing and rolling back could potentially result in a duplicate Windows entry in the boot menu.

[File Explorer]

Fixed an underlying issue which was causing RAW images taken in portrait mode to unexpectedly display in landscape mode thumbnails.
Did some work so the search box in File Explorer shouldn’t draw off the end of the window anymore.

[Taskbar & System Tray]

Fixed an issue on secondary monitors for left aligned taskbar users, where the widgets text in the taskbar might overlap the date and time.

[Input]

Fixed an underlying issue which could cause the mouse to unlock from a game window on a system with multiple monitors after opening and closing Game Bar, so you couldn’t use it within the game.

[Other]

Fixed an underlying issue causing some apps used for remoting into other PCs to crash in the latest Canary builds.
Fixed an issue causing some Insiders to see bugchecks with SYSTEM THREAD EXCEPTION NOT HANDLED in the latest Canary builds.
~~Fixed an issue where sfc /scannow was unexpectedly showing errors every time it was run.~~ This issue is not fixed.
Fixed an underlying issue which could lead to Registry Editor going unresponsive if you pressed Alt after clicking on the license information in the About section.

Known issues

[General]

[IMPORTANT NOTE FOR COPILOT+ PCs] If you are joining the Canary Channel on a new Copilot+ PC from the Dev Channel, Release Preview Channel or retail, you will lose Windows Hello pin and biometrics to sign into your PC with error 0xd0000225 and error message “Something went wrong, and your PIN isn’t available”. You should be able to re-create your PIN by clicking “Set up my PIN”.
We’re investigating reports that some Insiders are still experiencing rollbacks (with error code 0xc190010) when attempting to install the latest Canary builds.
[NEW] We’re investigating reports that accent colored window borders are not displaying when enabled, and shadows aren’t displaying when enabled.
[NEW] We’re investigating reports that people are seeing window launching (and other) animations even though the setting to show animations is turned off.

[Desktop]

We’re working on the fix for an issue where your desktop background may not show correctly sometimes with multiple monitors (showing big black areas).

[Narrator]

[ADDED 11/22] Narrator is crashing on some builds with Natural voices like Jenny or Aria. We suggest you switch to a non-natural voice like David, Mark, etc. from Narrator settings page and restart your PC to continue using Narrator.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Canary Channel

The builds we release to the Canary Channel represent the latest platform changes early in the development cycle and should not be seen as matched to any specific release of Windowsand features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.

Many features in the Canary Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.

Some features may show up in the Dev and Beta Channels first before showing up in the Canary Channel.

Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
To get off the Canary Channel, a clean install of Windows 11 will be required. As a reminder - Insiders can’t switch to a channel that is receiving builds with lower build numbers without doing a clean installation of Windows 11 due to technical setup requirements.

The desktop watermark shown at the lower right corner of the desktop is normal for these pre-release builds.

Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4510 (Beta Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 15 Nov 2024 18:04:40 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4510 (KB5046716) to the Beta Channel. Changes in Beta Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*) and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Beta Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Taskbar & System Tray]

We are rolling out the ability to share files directly from the jump lists on the taskbar, which appears when you right-click on an app with a jump list like Notepad the taskbar.

[caption id="attachment_177429" align="alignnone" width="318"] Share icon appearing on a txt file on the jump list for Notepad.[/caption]

[Input]

We are beginning to roll out the new Gamepad keyboard layout for the on-screen keyboard in Windows 11 again that began rolling out to Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel with Build 22635.4145.

[caption id="attachment_177283" align="alignnone" width="692"] New Gamepad keyboard layout for the on-screen keyboard in Windows 11 that supports the ability to use your Xbox controller to navigate and type.[/caption]

[Narrator]

We have added new functionalities to Narrator scan mode. Skip past links (N’) allows you to navigate to the text after a link. This is most helpful when navigating through long emails, news articles, and wiki pages. Jump to lists (L’) allows you to quickly access a list on a web page or a document. To try these new features, you need to turn on Narrator first (Win key + Ctrl + Enter), then turn scan mode ON by pressing Caps Lock + Spacebar and finally use the new shortcuts – ‘N’ and ‘L’. Please note that scan mode is ‘ON’ by default on most web pages (like news articles, wiki page, etc.).

[Speech in Windows]

We have improved our speech-to-text and text-to-speech experience on Windows. Users of Narrator, voice access, live captions, live translations, and voice typing might see a message asking them to update their language files manually. The language files will be released separately through Microsoft Store.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Lock screen]

Fixed an issue where you might unexpectedly see a message saying “You’re offline. Widgets are unavailable”.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel

Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel will receive updates based on Windows 11, version 23H2 via an enablement package (Build 22635.xxxx).
Many features in the Beta Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27749 (Canary Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Wed, 13 Nov 2024 18:04:57 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27749 to the Canary Channel. We are releasing ISOs for this build – they can be downloaded here. We are also not planning to release SDKs for 27xxx series builds for the time being.

Changes and Improvements

[Narrator]

We have added a new shortcut “Narrator key + control + X” to copy what Narrator last spoke to clipboard. It follows the pattern of using “Narrator key + X” which repeats the last spoken phrase out loud and is a good way to memorize similar shortcuts. You can use these shortcuts to review and copy what Narrator spoke, useful in cases you want to quickly copy some content or descriptions or codes/numbers for use.
Narrator will now auto-read contents of a mail in the new Outlook app similar to behavior in Outlook classic.

Fixes

[File Explorer]

Fixed an issue which was causing the items in the navigation pane to become very spread out (with unexpected padding between each item) for some people.
Fixed an underlying issue which was causing RAW images taken in portrait mode to unexpectedly display in landscape mode thumbnails.

[Taskbar & System Tray]

Made a change so you will now see a search box if the taskbar auto-hides when the setting for search on the taskbar is set to “Search box” (rather than an icon).

[Input]

Updated the mouse option “Show location of pointer when I press the CTRL key”, so that the circles displayed are now DPI-aware, and aren’t really small on high DPI monitors.

[Narrator]

We have addressed a performance issue where Narrator would slow down after 15 minutes of continuous use with a single application. If you continue to experience any performance delays, do report using Feedback Hub.
Fixed an issue where Narrator would add an additional announcement “contains style” whenever its focus is on text that has styling attributes such as bullets, numbers across applications such as Microsoft Edge, Teams, Outlook, etc.
Fixed an issue where few dialogs in Narrator were not adopting the 200% text scaling setting in Windows.

[Task Manager]

Fixed an issue causing Task Manager to show a 0 count for apps and processes.

[Audio]

Fixed an underlying issue that could lead to the audio on certain audio devices unexpectedly going to 100% on boot or after sleep.
Fixed a blank entry in Settings > Privacy, which was crashing Settings if you clicked it.

[Other]

Mitigated an issue resulting in Git not working for Insiders with Arm PCs in the previous flight.
Fixed an issue causing some insiders to see a bugcheck with KERNEL_MODE_HEAP_CORRUPTION in the previous flight.
Fixed an underlying issue which could potentially lead to not being able to join a domain.
Fixed an issue where DirectAccess wasn’t working and might stay stuck in a connecting state.

Known issues

[General]

[IMPORTANT NOTE FOR COPILOT+ PCs] If you are joining the Canary Channel on a new Copilot+ PC from the Dev Channel, Release Preview Channel or retail, you will lose Windows Hello pin and biometrics to sign into your PC with error 0xd0000225 and error message “Something went wrong, and your PIN isn’t available”. You should be able to re-create your PIN by clicking “Set up my PIN”.
We’re investigating reports that some Insiders are still experiencing rollbacks (with error code 0xc190010) when attempting to install the latest Canary builds.
[NEW] We’re working on the fix for an underlying issue causing some apps used for remoting into other PCs to crash in the latest Canary builds.
[NEW] This build has an issue with applying policy for the Digital Markets Act in EEA regions.

[Desktop]

We’re working on the fix for an issue where your desktop background may not show correctly sometimes with multiple monitors (showing big black areas).

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Canary Channel

The builds we release to the Canary Channel represent the latest platform changes early in the development cycle and should not be seen as matched to any specific release of Windows and features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.

Many features in the Canary Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.

Some features may show up in the Dev and Beta Channels first before showing up in the Canary Channel.

Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
To get off the Canary Channel, a clean install of Windows 11 will be required. As a reminder - Insiders can’t switch to a channel that is receiving builds with lower build numbers without doing a clean installation of Windows 11 due to technical setup requirements.

The desktop watermark shown at the lower right corner of the desktop is normal for these pre-release builds.

Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4445 (Beta Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 08 Nov 2024 18:04:04 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4445 (KB5046745) to the Beta Channel. Changes in Beta Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*) and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Beta Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[File Explorer]

We’ve added a New Folder option in the context menu when right-clicking locations in the navigation pane.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Taskbar]

Fixed a few issues impacting explorer.exe reliability in the latest flights related to the taskbar, including an issue impacting some Insiders which could cause explorer.exe to crash sometimes when right clicking apps in the taskbar.
Fixed an issue on secondary monitors for left aligned taskbar users, where the widgets text in the taskbar might overlap the date and time.

[File Explorer]

We fixed an issue where the date/time properties of files were unexpectedly updated in some cases after copying them.
We fixed an issue where the Details Pane icons weren’t responding correctly to theme changes, making it hard to see if you switched from dark to light or vice versa.
We fixed a black flash in File Explorer that appeared when duplicating a tab.
We made a change to help improve performance of context menu launch and File Explorer navigation.
We fixed an issue where when you did a search it may unexpectedly trigger the search happening repeatedly.

[Other]

Fixed an underlying issue which could result in Snipping Tool screenshots being distorted on certain displays.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel

Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel receive updates based on Windows 11, version 23H2 via an enablement package (Build 22635.xxxx).
Many features in the Beta Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.2222 (Dev Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 08 Nov 2024 18:04:00 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.2222 (KB5046746) to the Dev Channel. Changes in Dev Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*) and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Dev Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[General]

If you hold Shift and CTRL when clicking on a jump list item in Start menu or taskbar, this will now launch that item as admin, just like if you were to do Shift + CTRL and click the app icon itself. For example, if you right-click on Windows Terminal, and hold Shift and CTRL when you click PowerShell, it would open a PowerShell window as admin.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[File Explorer]

Fixed an issue causing the See More (“…”) menu to open in the wrong direction (and potentially display offscreen as a result).

[Input]

Fixed an underlying issue which could cause the mouse to unlock from a game window on a system with multiple monitors after opening and closing Game Bar, so you couldn’t use it within the game.

[Windowing]

Fixed a recent issue causing windows to potentially unexpectedly move around after waking from sleep if you had multiple monitors.

[Other]

Fixed an underlying issue which could lead to Registry Editor going unresponsive if you pressed Alt after clicking on the license information in the About section.

Known issues

[Narrator]

[NEW] [IMPORTANT] There is an issue in this build which will cause Narrator to crash on launch if you use one of the natural voices (like Jenny). If you are a Narrator user, we recommend pausing updates from Settings under Windows Update > “Pause Updates”. If you do install this update and encounter this issue, switching to another voice, like Microsoft David, in Settings under Accessibility > Narrator will stop the crashes. As Narrator is crashing, you will need to use a secondary screen reader, or have someone assist in order to do this.

[Desktop]

We’re working on the fix for an issue where your desktop background may not show correctly sometimes with multiple monitors (showing big black areas).

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel

Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel receive updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 via an enablement package (Build 26120.xxxx).
Updates delivered to the Dev Channel are in a format that offers a preview of enhancements to servicing technology on Windows 11, version 24H2. To learn more, see https://aka.ms/CheckpointCumulativeUpdates.
Many features in the Dev Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27744 (Canary Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Wed, 06 Nov 2024 18:04:53 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27744 to the Canary Channel. We are also not planning to release SDKs for 27xxx series builds for the time being.

What’s new with Build 27744

New Processor Feature Support in Prism

In today’s Canary Channel Insider Preview build, we're previewing a major feature update to Prism, our emulator for Windows on Arm, that will make it possible for more 64-bit x86 (x64) applications to run under emulation by adding support for more CPU features under emulation. This new support in Prism is already in limited use today in the retail version of Windows 11, version 24H2, where it enables the ability to run Adobe Premiere Pro 25 on Arm. Starting with Build 27744, the support is being opened to any x64 application under emulation. You may find some games or creative apps that were blocked due to CPU requirements before will be able to run using Prism on this build of Windows. At a technical level, the virtual CPU used by x64 emulated applications through Prism will now have support for additional extensions to the x86 instruction set architecture. These extensions include AVX and AVX2, as well as BMI, FMA, F16C, and others, that are not required to run Windows but have become sufficiently commonplace that some apps expect them to be present. You can see some of the new features in the output of a tool like Coreinfo64.exe. [caption id="attachment_177409" align="alignnone" width="784"] You can see some of the new features in the output of a tool like Coreinfo64.exe with newly exposed CPU features are highlighted above in green.[/caption] Note that in today’s preview, only x64 applications can use these new CPU features. If you have a 32-bit app or a 64-bit app that uses a 32-bit helper to detect CPU feature support, that app won't detect the new features in Prism. We welcome any feedback from Insiders who are interested in trying out apps and games using this early preview of Prism. Please submit any feedback on compatibility issues or performance regressions through the Feedback Hub (Win + F) under Apps and the specific app you’re seeing issues with (if you don’t see the app listed, use "All other apps") to help us to ensure that this updated Prism provides a great experience. Thanks for helping us improve emulation on Windows. We're excited to see customers able to run more apps and games that they care about on Windows on Arm!

Changes and Improvements

[Start menu]

“All apps” is now just “All” on the Start menu.

[Input]

We’re beginning to roll out a new Gamepad keyboard layout for the on-screen keyboard in Windows 11 that supports the ability to use your Xbox controller to navigate and type. This includes button accelerators (example: X button for backspace, Y button for spacebar) additionally the keyboard keys have been vertically aligned for better controller navigation patterns.

[caption id="attachment_177283" align="alignnone" width="861"] New Gamepad keyboard layout for the on-screen keyboard in Windows 11 that supports the ability to use your Xbox controller to navigate and type.[/caption]

[Task Manager]

We’ve updated the design of the Disconnect and Logoff dialogs in Task Manager to now support dark mode and text scaling.
In the Performance section we now label listed disks with their type.

[Settings]

The detach virtual hard disk (VHD/VHDx) button we added under Settings > System > Storage > Disks & Volumes introduced with Build 27686 is now back with this build after being temporarily disabled starting with Build 27718.

Fixes

[General]

We fixed the issue causing some Insiders with PCs that have older NVIDIA GPUs (like the GTX 970, Quadro K620, etc.) to experience issues where their displays appear stuck at a black screen and unresponsive or seeing their GPUs showing errors in Device Manager and not working correctly.

[Input]

Fixed an underlying issue causing the Emoji Panel and Clipboard History to not open in certain surfaces anymore, including in Registry Editor.
Fixed an underlying issue which could lead to clipboard history not displaying items you’d copied.

[Windows Sandbox]

Fixed an issue impacting performance of Windows Sandbox for some Insiders after the latest updates.

[Graphics]

Fixed an which could lead dynamic refresh rate to get stuck at 60Hz on first boot.

[Other]

Fixed an issue causing some Insiders to see a bugcheck with error PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA starting in Build 27723.
Fixed an issue causing remote desktop connection (mstsc.exe) to crash in the previous flight.
Fixed a msmpeg2vdec.dll related issue in the last couple flights which was leading to some apps crashing.
Fixed an issue where rotation info about JPGs couldn’t be queried via APIs (for example, via PowerShell).
Fixed an underlying issue which was causing the Get-WindowsCapability command to get into a state sometimes where it would fail unexpectedly until rebooting your PC.
Fixed an issue causing mica to not work correctly when using a slideshow for your desktop background.
Fixed an issue which could lead to certain apps not detecting a scanner, although one was connected.

Known issues

[General]

[IMPORTANT NOTE FOR COPILOT+ PCs] If you are joining the Canary Channel on a new Copilot+ PC from the Dev Channel, Release Preview Channel or retail, you will lose Windows Hello pin and biometrics to sign into your PC with error 0xd0000225 and error message “Something went wrong, and your PIN isn’t available”. You should be able to re-create your PIN by clicking “Set up my PIN”.
We’re investigating reports that some Insiders are still experiencing rollbacks (with error code 0xc190010) when attempting to install the latest Canary builds.

[Desktop]

[NEW] We’re working on the fix for an issue where your desktop background may not show correctly sometimes with multiple monitors (showing big black areas).

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Canary Channel

The builds we release to the Canary Channel represent the latest platform changes early in the development cycle and should not be seen as matched to any specific release of Windowsand features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.

Many features in the Canary Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.

Some features may show up in the Dev and Beta Channels first before showing up in the Canary Channel.

Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
To get off the Canary Channel, a clean install of Windows 11 will be required. As a reminder - Insiders can’t switch to a channel that is receiving builds with lower build numbers without doing a clean installation of Windows 11 due to technical setup requirements.

The desktop watermark shown at the lower right corner of the desktop is normal for these pre-release builds.

Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.2213 (Dev Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Mon, 04 Nov 2024 22:04:43 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.2213 (KB5045885) to the Dev Channel. Changes in Dev Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*) and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Dev Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[Input]

We are beginning to roll out a change where we now hide the IME toolbar when apps are in full screen mode for those who have the IME toolbar enabled and type in Chinese or Japanese.
We have temporarily disabled the new Gamepad keyboard layout for the on-screen keyboard in Windows 11 that began rolling out to Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel with Build 26120.2130 to address some issues. This feature will roll out again in a future flight.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[Start menu]

Fixed an issue impacting Start menu reliability.
Fixed an issue causing some Insiders to see an unexpected amount of spacing between items in the Start menu apps list.
Fixed an issue where ability to pin / unpin apps to and from Start menu was unexpectedly unavailable for some people.

[File Explorer]

Fixed an issue which was causing the items in the navigation pane to become very spread out (with unexpected padding between each item) for some people.
Fixed an underlying issue which was causing RAW images taken in portrait mode to unexpectedly display in landscape mode thumbnails.

[Taskbar]

Made a change so you will now see a search box if the taskbar auto-hides when the setting for search on the taskbar is set to “Search box” (rather than an icon).
Made a fix for WIN + <# associated with position on taskbar> not working in some cases in the latest flights.
Fixed an issue where the X button to close an app window from the taskbar wasn’t working for some Insiders.
Fixed an issue on secondary monitors for left aligned taskbar users, where the widgets text in the taskbar might overlap the date and time.

[Dev Drive]

Fixed an underlying issue leading to Dev Drives potentially not being accessible within WSL after the latest flights.

[Other]

Fixed an underlying issue which could potentially lead to not being able to join a domain.
Fixed an underlying issue which could lead to DISM /StartComponentCleanup not working properly, getting stuck at 71% and showing error 6842.
Fixed an underlying issue which was causing the Get-WindowsCapability command to get into a state sometimes where it would fail unexpectedly until rebooting your PC.
Fixed an issue where rotation info about JPGs couldn't be queried via APIs (for example, via PowerShell).

Fixes for everyone in the Dev Channel

[General]

Fixed an underlying issue leading to some games not launching in the previous flight.

[Task Manager]

Fixed an issue causing Task Manager to show a 0 count for apps and processes.

[Network]

Fixed an underlying issue impacting DHCP where unexpected duplicate options would fail lease acquisition, which could cause DHCP to not get an IP address, leading to Wi-Fi not working.
Fixed an issue where DirectAccess wasn’t working and might stay stuck in a connecting state.

Known issues

[Desktop]

[NEW] We’re working on the fix for an issue where your desktop background may not show correctly sometimes with multiple monitors (showing big black areas).

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel

Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel receive updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 via an enablement package (Build 26120.xxxx).
Updates delivered to the Dev Channel are in a format that offers a preview of enhancements to servicing technology on Windows 11, version 24H2. To learn more, see https://aka.ms/CheckpointCumulativeUpdates.
Many features in the Dev Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4440 (Beta Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 01 Nov 2024 17:09:02 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4440 (KB5045889) to the Beta Channel. Changes in Beta Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*) and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Beta Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

New features gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

Modernized Windows Hello

At Microsoft, we are committed to security and enhancing user experiences. As part of this commitment, we launched enhanced passkey features in September 2023 and are now revamping the Windows Hello user experience. This represents a significant update to Windows Hello, aligning it with contemporary Windows visual design standards. The primary focus is on making authentication intuitive and seamless. [caption id="attachment_177394" align="alignnone" width="591"] Image showing new Windows Hello iconography.[/caption] Modernized Windows Hello Visual Communication: The updated Windows Hello visuals are designed to facilitate fast and clear communication and appear on the Windows Sign-in screen as well as other authentication flows such as passkey, Microsoft Store and many more. [caption id="attachment_177396" align="alignnone" width="721"] Image of the Windows 11 login screen depicting new Windows Hello iconography.[/caption] Revamped Windows Hello credential user experience for passkeys and the new administrator protection experience: We redesigned Windows security credential user experiences for passkey creating a cleaner experience that supports secured and quick authentication. Users will now be able to switch between authentication options and select passkey/devices more intuitively. [caption id="attachment_177397" align="alignnone" width="744"] Image of new passkey sign-in flow screens.[/caption] This experience will also apply for the new administrator protection feature coming to Windows 11, version 24H2 and higher and currently in preview with Windows Insiders in the Canary Channel. FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Security and Privacy > Passwordless experience.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[General]

This update includes a small set of general improvements and fixes that improve the overall experience for Insiders running this build on their PCs.

[Input]

We have temporarily disabled the new Gamepad keyboard layout for the on-screen keyboard in Windows 11 that began rolling out to Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel with Build 22635.4145 to address some issues. This feature will be roll out again in a future flight.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Input]

Fixed an underlying issue causing touch keyboard crashes and the IME candidate window to not appear for some Insiders in the previous flight.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel

Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel will receive updates based on Windows 11, version 23H2 via an enablement package (Build 22635.xxxx).
Many features in the Beta Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.2200 (Dev Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 25 Oct 2024 17:04:13 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.2200 (KB5044376) to the Dev Channel. Changes in Dev Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*) and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Dev Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[Windows Studio Effects]

Windows Studio Effects delivers AI-based camera and audio enhancements on devices equipped with a Neural Processing Unit (NPU). Today, you can access Studio Effects in Quick Settings from the system tray of the taskbar. To further streamline your experience, an icon will now appear in the system tray when using any application with a Studio Effects-enabled camera. Simply click on this icon to launch the Studio Effects page in Quick Settings. Additionally, hovering over the icon will display a tooltip indicating which application is utilizing the camera.

[caption id="attachment_177180" align="alignnone" width="438"] New Studio Effects icon shown in system tray when using any application with a Studio Effects-enabled camera.[/caption]

[Dynamic Lighting]

When no compatible devices are attached, the Dynamic Lighting settings page will now show a placeholder message and Brightness and Effects controls are disabled.
On the Dynamic Lighting settings page, we have added Forward, Backward, Outward and Inward direction options to the Wave effect, and added the Forward direction option to the Gradient effect.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[Start menu]

Fixed an issue where if you clicked or tapped on a letter on Start menu's All apps list, the All apps list may break.

[Taskbar]

Fixed an issue where explorer.exe was crashing for some Insiders when hovering over certain open apps in the taskbar.

[Settings]

Fixed an issue where there was a blank entry in Privacy & Security and clicking it would crash Settings.

[Input]

Updated the mouse option “Show location of pointer when I press the CTRL key”, so that the circles displayed are now DPI-aware, and aren’t really small on high DPI monitors.

Fixes for everyone in the Dev Channel

[Other]

[Windows Kernel Vulnerable Driver Blocklist file (DriverSiPolicy.p7b)] Fixed: This update adds to the list of drivers that are at risk for Bring Your Own Vulnerable Driver (BYOVD) attacks.
[HTML Applications (HTA)] Fixed: HTA optional components (OC) are now in ARM64 Windows PE.
[Live kernel debug files (dumps)] Fixed: sys creates live kernel debug files when it should not.
[User interface (UI)] Fixed: You cannot view some parts of the UI when you run certain apps.
[Winlogon] Fixed: A stop error occurs during shutdown.
[sfc /scannow command] Fixed: You get errors every time you run the command.
[Windows Disk Cleanup app] Fixed: This update addresses some of the causes for the wrong free space estimates and improves its accuracy.

Known issues

[Start menu]

[NEW] You may see there is an unexpected amount of spacing between items in the Start menu apps list.

[Dev Drive]

[NEW] We’re working on the fix for an underlying issue leading to Dev Drives potentially not being accessible within WSL.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel

Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel receive updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 via an enablement package (Build 26120.xxxx).
Updates delivered to the Dev Channel are in a format that offers a preview of enhancements to servicing technology on Windows 11, version 24H2. To learn more, see https://aka.ms/CheckpointCumulativeUpdates.
Many features in the Dev Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4435 (Beta Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 25 Oct 2024 17:03:56 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4435 (KB5044377) to the Beta Channel. Changes in Beta Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*) and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Beta Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[General]

If you hold Shift and CTRL when clicking on a jump list item in Start menu or taskbar, this will now launch that item as admin, just like if you were to do Shift + CTRL and click the app icon itself. For example, if you right-click on Windows Terminal, and hold Shift and CTRL when you click PowerShell, it would open a PowerShell window as admin.

[Dynamic Lighting]

When no compatible devices are attached, the Dynamic Lighting settings page will now show a placeholder message and Brightness and Effects controls are disabled.
On the Dynamic Lighting settings page, we have added Forward, Backward, Outward and Inward direction options to the Wave effect, and added the Forward direction option to the Gradient effect.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Taskbar]

Made another fix for WIN + <# associated with position on taskbar> not working in some cases in the latest flights.
Fixed an issue where the X button to close an app window from the taskbar wasn’t working for some Insiders.

[Input]

Fixed an underlying issue which could cause the mouse to unlock from a game window on a system with multiple monitors after opening and closing Game Bar, so you couldn’t use it within the game.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to everyone in the Beta Channel

[Settings]

After disabling the ability to configure the Copilot key with Build 22635.4291, we are enabling this functionality again with refinements. We have limited the apps that can be launched by the Copilot key to those apps that have opted into this experience. This is to ensure apps targeted by the key know they will be used in this way and meet security and privacy requirements to keep customers safe. We will be publishing how apps can opt-in to this experience here in on this Microsoft Learn page soon. As a reminder, this setting can be found via Settings > Personalization > Text input.

Fixes for everyone in the Beta Channel

[Other]

This update includes fixes for the following issues:

[Bluetooth] Fixed: An app stops responding because of a memory leak in a device.
[Product activation phone numbers] Fixed: This adds new phone numbers for several regions.
[Collector sets] Fixed: They do not close properly when an exception occurs during startup or while the set is active. Because of this, the command to stop a collector set stops responding.
[Windows Kernel Vulnerable Driver Blocklist file (DriverSiPolicy.p7b)] This update adds to the list of drivers that are at risk for Bring Your Own Vulnerable Driver (BYOVD) attacks.
[Windows Hello for Business] Fixed: PIN reset does not work when you select the “I forgot my PIN’ link on the credentials screen.
[Multi-Function Printer (MFP)] Fixed: When you use a USB cable to connect to it, it prints specific network command text when you do want it to.
[Microsoft Teams] Fixed: The issue stops you from joining Teams meetings when you select an Outlook meeting reminder.
[Country and Operator Settings Asset (COSA)] Fixed: This update brings profiles up to date for certain mobile operators.
[vmswitch] Fixed: A vmswitch triggers a stop error. This occurs when you use Load Balancing and Failover (LBFO) teaming with two virtual switches on a virtual machine (VM). In this case, one virtual switch uses single root Input/Output virtualization (SR-IOV).
[WebView2 apps] Fixed: They do not detect input from Xbox 360 and Bluetooth controllers.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel

Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel will receive updates based on Windows 11, version 23H2 via an enablement package (Build 22635.xxxx).
Many features in the Beta Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.2130 (Dev Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 18 Oct 2024 17:03:44 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.2130 (KB5044400) to the Dev Channel. Changes in Dev Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update)* and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Dev Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[Start menu]

“All apps” is now just “All” on the Start menu.

[Input]

We’re beginning to roll out a new Gamepad keyboard layout for the on-screen keyboard in Windows 11 that supports the ability to use your Xbox controller to navigate and type. This includes button accelerators (example: X button for backspace, Y button for spacebar) additionally the keyboard keys have been vertically aligned for better controller navigation patterns.

[caption id="attachment_177283" align="alignnone" width="643"] New Gamepad keyboard layout for the on-screen keyboard in Windows 11 that supports the ability to use your Xbox controller to navigate and type.[/caption]

[Narrator]

We have added a new shortcut “Narrator key + control + X" to copy what Narrator last spoke to clipboard. It follows the pattern of using "Narrator key + X" which repeats the last spoken phrase out loud and is a good way to memorize similar shortcuts. You can use these shortcuts to review and copy what Narrator spoke, useful in cases you want to quickly copy some content or descriptions or codes/numbers for use.
Narrator will now auto-read contents of a mail in the new Outlook app similar to behavior in Outlook classic.

[Networking]

If you use the netsh wlan show networks command, you should be able to read SSIDs that are UTF-8 encoded. This means that Wi-Fi SSIDs with Unicode characters (like emojis) should be properly displayed in netsh output.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[General]

Fixed an issue for a small number of Insiders after the latest builds, where on locking your PC, after waking the PC from sleep the login screen contents wouldn’t load and you couldn’t sign back in.

[Input]

Fixed an underlying issue which could lead to clipboard history not displaying items you’d copied.

[Taskbar]

Fixed an issue where if you had multiple windows open for an app on your taskbar, pressing WIN + multiple times wasn’t cycling between the windows, for example, pressing WIN + 1.

[Narrator]

We have addressed a performance issue where Narrator would slow down after 15 minutes of continuous use with a single application. If you continue to experience any performance delays, do report using Feedback Hub.
Fixed an issue where Narrator would add an additional announcement "contains style" whenever its focus is on text that has styling attributes such as bullets, numbers across applications such as Microsoft Edge, Teams, Outlook, etc.
Fixed an issue where few dialogs in Narrator were not adopting the 200% text scaling setting in Windows.

[Live captions]

Fixed an issue causing live captions to crash for some people in the previous flight when you tried to use it.

[Other]

Fixed an issue causing mica to not work correctly when using a slideshow for your desktop background.

Known issues

[Taskbar]

[NEW] We’re investigating reports that explorer.exe is crashing for some Insiders when hovering over certain open apps in the taskbar.

[Start menu]

If you click or tap on a letter on Start menu's All apps list, the All apps list may break. If you encounter this issue, please try rebooting or restarting explorer.exe to fix it.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel

Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel receive updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 via an enablement package (Build 26120.xxxx).
Updates delivered to the Dev Channe are in a format that offers a preview of enhancements to servicing technology on Windows 11, version 24H2. To learn more, see https://aka.ms/CheckpointCumulativeUpdates.
Many features in the Dev Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4371 (Beta Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 18 Oct 2024 17:03:38 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4371 (KB504498) to the Beta Channel. Changes in Beta Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update)* and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Beta Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Snap]

We’re trying out a behind-the-scenes change to improve what apps are suggested for snapping in snap layouts. Try out snapping different apps and let us know if you see improvements in what apps you see suggested.

[Narrator]

We have added a new shortcut “Narrator key + control + X" to copy what Narrator last spoke to clipboard. It follows the pattern of using "Narrator key + X" which repeats the last spoken phrase out loud and is a good way to memorize similar shortcuts. You can use these shortcuts to review and copy what Narrator spoke, useful in cases you want to quickly copy some content or descriptions or codes/numbers for use.
Narrator will now auto-read contents of a mail in the new Outlook app similar to behavior in Outlook classic.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[File Explorer]

Did some work so the search box in File Explorer shouldn’t draw off the end of the window anymore.

[Narrator]

We have addressed a performance issue where Narrator would slow down after 15 minutes of continuous use with a single application. If you continue to experience any performance delays, do report using Feedback Hub.
Fixed an issue where Narrator would add an additional announcement "contains style" whenever its focus is on text that has styling attributes such as bullets, numbers across applications such as Microsoft Edge, Teams, Outlook, etc.
Fixed an issue where few dialogs in Narrator were not adopting the 200% text scaling setting in Windows.

Snipping Tool Update

We are rolling out an update for Snipping Tool (version 11.2409.23.0 and newer) to Windows Insiders in the Beta and Release Preview Channels that introduces a new “Copy as table” feature. [caption id="attachment_177355" align="alignnone" width="648"] Snipping Tool showing copy as table option with text pasted into Microsoft Excel.[/caption] Customers can do even more with Snipping Tool! Alongside existing text features, like copying text from an image and redacting sensitive information, we’re adding a new option for “Copy as table”. Customers can use “Copy as table” to easily copy structured table data into an email, document, or spreadsheet. To get started, capture a screenshot with table data, select “Text actions,” and select “Copy as table.” You can paste the structured table data from there! Please note: the current implementation of the feature works best when your screenshot only includes one table. FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Apps > Snipping Tool.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel

Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel will receive updates based on Windows 11, version 23H2 via an enablement package (Build 22635.xxxx).
Many features in the Beta Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27729 (Canary Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Thu, 17 Oct 2024 21:03:50 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27729 to the Canary Channel. We are also not planning to release SDKs for 27xxx series builds for the time being.

Changes and Improvements

[Settings]

We are adding the ability to configure the Copilot key. You can choose to have the Copilot key launch an app that is MSIX packaged and signed, thus indicating the app meets security and privacy requirements to keep customers safe. The key will continue to launch Copilot on devices that have the Copilot app installed until a customer selects a different experience. This setting can be found via Settings > Personalization > Text input. If the keyboard connected to your PC does not have a Copilot key, adjusting this setting will not do anything. We are planning further refinements to this experience in a future flight.

[caption id="attachment_177304" align="alignnone" width="635"] New setting for configuring the Copilot key highlighted in a red box.[/caption]

Fixes

[General]

We fixed an underlying issue causing some games, including Microsoft Solitaire & Casual Games, to crash on launch after installing Build 27718+.

[Windowing]

Fixed an underlying issue which could cause the screen to go black for a few seconds for some people when using ALT + Tab.

[Other]

We fixed an issue causing BitLocker to not work correctly for a small number of Insiders in the last 2 flights.

Known issues

[General]

[IMPORTANT NOTE FOR COPILOT+ PCs] If you are joining the Canary Channel on a new Copilot+ PC from the Dev Channel, Release Preview Channel or retail, you will lose Windows Hello pin and biometrics to sign into your PC with error 0xd0000225 and error message “Something went wrong, and your PIN isn’t available”. You should be able to re-create your PIN by clicking “Set up my PIN”.
We’re investigating reports that some Insiders are still experiencing rollbacks (with error code 0xc190010) when attempting to install the latest Canary builds.
[UPDATED] Some Insiders with PCs that have older NVIDIA GPUs (like the GTX 970, Quadro K620, etc.) are experiencing some issues where their displays appear stuck at a black screen and unresponsive or seeing their GPUs showing errors in Device Manager and not working correctly. We are aware of the issue and working on a fix. If you are impacted by this issue and unable to use your PC, you can boot into Windows Recovery (WinRE), roll back to the previous build, and pause updates in Windows Update to wait for a new build with the fix for this issue. If you paused updates with Build 27723 last week you will need to un-pause and re-pause updates to not take Build 27729 to remain on Build 27718 for right now.
[NEW] We’re working on the fix for an issue causing some Insiders to see a bugcheck with error PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA starting in Build 27723.

[Input]

We’re working on the fix for an underlying issue causing the Emoji Panel and Clipboard History to not open in certain surfaces anymore, including in Registry Editor.

Snipping Tool Update

We are rolling out an update for Snipping Tool (version 11.2409.23.0 and newer) to Windows Insiders in the Canary and Dev Channels that introduces a new “Copy as table” feature. [caption id="attachment_177355" align="alignnone" width="556"] Snipping Tool showing copy as table option with text pasted into Microsoft Excel.[/caption] Customers can do even more with Snipping Tool! Alongside existing text features, like copying text from an image and redacting sensitive information, we’re adding a new option for “Copy as table”. Customers can use “Copy as table” to easily copy structured table data into an email, document, or spreadsheet. To get started, capture a screenshot with table data, select “Text actions,” and select “Copy as table.” You can paste the structured table data from there! Please note: the current implementation of the feature works best when your screenshot only includes one table. FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Apps > Snipping Tool.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Canary Channel

The builds we release to the Canary Channel represent the latest platform changes early in the development cycle and should not be seen as matched to any specific release of Windowsand features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.

Many features in the Canary Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.

Some features may show up in the Dev and Beta Channels first before showing up in the Canary Channel.

Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
To get off the Canary Channel, a clean install of Windows 11 will be required. As a reminder - Insiders can’t switch to a channel that is receiving builds with lower build numbers without doing a clean installation of Windows 11 due to technical setup requirements.

The desktop watermark shown at the lower right corner of the desktop is normal for these pre-release builds.

Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4367 (Beta Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 11 Oct 2024 17:03:43 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4367 (KB5044373) to the Beta Channel. Changes in Beta Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update)* and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Beta Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[General]

This update includes a small set of general improvements and fixes that improve the overall experience for Insiders running this build on their PCs.

[Windows Share]

We are adding the ability to share directly to apps that support sharing in Windows when right-clicking on local files in File Explorer or the desktop.

[caption id="attachment_177359" align="alignnone" width="463"] Share with apps directly through the context menu in File Explorer or on the desktop.[/caption]

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Start menu]

Fixed an issue that was leading to some Insiders potentially seeing unexpected amount of spacing between items in the Start menu all apps list.

[Live captions]

Fixed an issue causing live captions to crash on launch for some Insiders in the last 2 builds.

[Taskbar]

Fixed an issue where if you had multiple windows open for an app on your taskbar, pressing WIN + multiple times wasn’t cycling between the windows, for example, pressing WIN + 1.
Fixed an issue for uncombined taskbar users, where app icons were unexpectedly showing instead of the window’s icon next to the window name.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel

Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel will receive updates based on Windows 11, version 23H2 via an enablement package (Build 22635.xxxx).
Many features in the Beta Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.2122 (Dev Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 11 Oct 2024 17:03:37 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.2122 (KB5044374) to the Dev Channel. Changes in Dev Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update)* and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Dev Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[General]

This update includes a small set of general improvements and fixes that improve the overall experience for Insiders running this build on their PCs.

[Taskbar & System Tray]

We’ve updated the previews that show when you mouse-over/hover over apps on the taskbar. We have also improved the animations for when these previews show on the taskbar based on Insider feedback.

[caption id="attachment_177179" align="alignnone" width="592"] Updated taskbar previews shown for two open File Explorer windows.[/caption]

[Task Manager]

We’ve updated the design of the Disconnect and Logoff dialogs in Task Manager to now support dark mode and text scaling.
In the Performance section we now label listed disks with their type.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[Windowing]

Fixed an underlying issue which could cause the screen to go black for a few seconds for some people when using ALT + Tab.

Fixes for everyone in the Dev Channel

[General]

Fixed an issue causing some Insiders to see error 0x800f0825 when trying to install the latest Dev Channel builds.

[Other]

This update includes fixes for the following issues:

[Remote Desktop Gateway Service] Fixed: The service stops responding. This occurs when a service uses remote procedure calls (RPC) over HTTP. Because of this, the clients that are using the service disconnect.

Known issues

[Start menu]

If you click or tap on a letter on Start menu's All apps list, the All apps list may break. If you encounter this issue, please try rebooting or restarting explorer.exe to fix it.

[Live captions]

[NEW] After installing this build, live captions may crash if you try to use it.

Snipping Tool Update

We are rolling out an update for Snipping Tool (version 11.2409.22.0 and newer) to Windows Insiders in the Canary and Dev Channels that introduces a new “Copy as table” feature. [caption id="attachment_177355" align="alignnone" width="637"] Snipping Tool showing copy as table option with text pasted into Microsoft Excel.[/caption] Customers can do even more with Snipping Tool! Alongside existing text features, like copying text from an image and redacting sensitive information, we’re adding a new option for “Copy as table”. Customers can use “Copy as table” to easily copy structured table data into an email, document, or spreadsheet. To get started, capture a screenshot with table data, select “Text actions,” and select “Copy as table.” You can paste the structured table data from there! Please note: the current implementation of the feature works best when your screenshot only includes one table. FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Apps > Snipping Tool.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel

Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel receive updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 via an enablement package (Build 26120.xxxx).
Updates delivered to the Dev Channel are in a format that offers a preview of enhancements to servicing technology on Windows 11, version 24H2. To learn more, see https://aka.ms/CheckpointCumulativeUpdates.
Many features in the Dev Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27723 (Canary Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Wed, 09 Oct 2024 17:05:10 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27723 to the Canary Channel. We are also not planning to release SDKs for 27xxx series builds for the time being.

Changes and Improvements

[General]

[REMINDER] Insider Preview Build Expiration: The expiration date for Insider Preview builds flighted to the Canary Channel has been updated to 9/15/2025 starting with Build 27695. Please make sure you are updated to the latest build in the Canary Channel.

[Search on the Taskbar]

We are beginning to roll out the ability to share local files directly from within the search results shown in the search box on the taskbar.

[caption id="attachment_177099" align="alignnone" width="430"] New option to share a local file highlighted in a red box in the search results from the search box on the taskbar.[/caption]

[Voice Access]

We are making improvements for the spelling and corrections experience in voice access. You can now use the experience for the entire voice access session. The spelling experience will now enable you to dictate the characters at a faster speed and offer more editing flexibility inside the experience with dictation commands, namely selection, deletion and text navigation commands.

[Fonts]

There is a new simplified Chinese font (Simsun-ExtG) with 9,753 ideographs supporting Unicode Extensions G, H and I. Included is the highly requested character for Biangbiang noodles. This character U+30EDD is said to be the most complicated Chinese character, as you can see in the image below. We are aware that some applications may not be able to display these new extension characters yet.
- Unicode range G 30000-3134A (4,939 chars)
- Unicode range H 31350-323AF (4,192 chars)
- Unicode range I 2EBF0-2EE5D (622 chars)

[caption id="attachment_177339" align="alignnone" width="97"] Biangbiang character Unicode 30EDD.[/caption]

[Settings]

The detach virtual hard disk (VHD/VHDx) button we added under Settings > System > Storage > Disks & Volumes introduced with Build 27686 has temporarily been disabled starting with Build 27718. We’re working to re-enable this change in a future flight soon.

Known issues

[General]

[IMPORTANT NOTE FOR COPILOT+ PCs] If you are joining the Canary Channel on a new Copilot+ PC from the Dev Channel, Release Preview Channel or retail, you will lose Windows Hello pin and biometrics to sign into your PC with error 0xd0000225 and error message “Something went wrong, and your PIN isn’t available”. You should be able to re-create your PIN by clicking “Set up my PIN”.
[NEW] We’re investigating reports that some games, including Microsoft Solitaire & Casual Games, are crashing on launch after installing 27718.
[NEW] We’re investigating reports that some Insiders are still experiencing rollbacks (with error code 0xc190010) when attempting to install the latest Canary builds.
[ADDED 10/10] Some Insiders with PCs that have older NVIDIA GPUs (like the GTX 970, Quadro K620, etc.) are experiencing some issues where their displays appear stuck at a black screen and unresponsive or seeing their GPUs showing errors in Device Manager and not working correctly. We are aware of the issue and working on a fix. If you are impacted by this issue and unable to use your PC, you can boot into Windows Recovery (WinRE), roll back to the previous build, and pause updates in Windows Update to wait for a new build with the fix for this issue.

[Input]

We’re working on the fix for an underlying issue causing the Emoji Panel and Clipboard History to not open in certain surfaces anymore, including in Registry Editor.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Canary Channel

The builds we release to the Canary Channel represent the latest platform changes early in the development cycle and should not be seen as matched to any specific release of Windows and features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Many features in the Canary Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
Some features may show up in the Dev and Beta Channels first before showing up in the Canary Channel.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
To get off the Canary Channel, a clean install of Windows 11 will be required. As a reminder - Insiders can’t switch to a channel that is receiving builds with lower build numbers without doing a clean installation of Windows 11 due to technical setup requirements.
The desktop watermark shown at the lower right corner of the desktop is normal for these pre-release builds.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.1930 (Dev Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 04 Oct 2024 17:04:32 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.1930 (KB5044388) to the Dev Channel. Changes in Dev Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update)* and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Dev Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[General]

This update includes a small set of general improvements and fixes that improve the overall experience for Insiders running this build on their PCs.

[Fonts]

There is a new simplified Chinese font (Simsun-ExtG) with 9,753 ideographs supporting Unicode Extensions G, H and I. Included is the highly requested character for Biangbiang noodles. This character U+30EDD is said to be the most complicated Chinese character, as you can see in the image below. We are aware that some applications may not be able to display these new extension characters yet.
- Unicode range G 30000-3134A (4,939 chars)
- Unicode range H 31350-323AF (4,192 chars)
- Unicode range I 2EBF0-2EE5D (622 chars)

[caption id="attachment_177339" align="alignnone" width="97"] Biangbiang character Unicode 30EDD.[/caption]

[Windows Sandbox]

The new Windows Sandbox Client Preview that began rolling out with Build 26120.1843 should now be available to all Insiders in the Dev Channel.

[caption id="attachment_177309" align="alignnone" width="675"] Windows Sandbox Client Preview with new dropdown showing clipboard redirection, audio/video input control, and the ability to share folders with the host.[/caption]

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[Other]

Fixed an issue for some Insiders with dual boot devices, where the boot menu (where you select which OS to boot into) wasn’t displaying correctly (the color was wrong, and it might only display in half the available space).

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to everyone in the Dev Channel

[Settings]

We are adding the ability to configure the Copilot key. You can choose to have the Copilot key launch an app that is MSIX packaged and signed, thus indicating the app meets security and privacy requirements to keep customers safe. The key will continue to launch Copilot on devices that have the Copilot app installed until a customer selects a different experience. This setting can be found via Settings > Personalization > Text input. If the keyboard connected to your PC does not have a Copilot key, adjusting this setting will not do anything. We are planning further refinements to this experience in a future flight.

[caption id="attachment_177304" align="alignnone" width="590"] New setting for configuring the Copilot key highlighted in a red box.[/caption]

Known issues

[General]

This build may fail to install with error 0x800f0983. If you see this error, please try to install it again, as it should work on retry. If it stays on 0%, please be patient - it should proceed.

[Start menu]

If you click or tap on a letter on Start menu's All apps list, the All apps list may break. If you encounter this issue, please try rebooting or restarting explorer.exe to fix it.

New Clock widgets: Countdown and Timer

We are rolling out a Clock app update to Windows Insiders across all Insider Channels that includes two new clock widgets: countdown and timer. Make sure you have the latest version of the Clock app update from the Microsoft Store (version 11.2408.9.0 and higher). After you open the widgets board, you can open the widgets picker by clicking the “+” button in the top right corner where you would be able to add these widgets to your board. [caption id="attachment_177332" align="alignnone" width="525"] New countdown and timer widgets from the Clock app showing on the widgets board.[/caption] FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Apps > Clock App.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel

Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel receive updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 via an enablement package (Build 26120.xxxx).
Updates delivered to the Dev Channel are in a format that offers a preview of enhancements to servicing technology on Windows 11, version 24H2. To learn more, see https://aka.ms/CheckpointCumulativeUpdates.
Many features in the Dev Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4300 (Beta Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 04 Oct 2024 17:04:28 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4300 (KB5044386) to the Beta Channel. Changes in Beta Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update)* and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Beta Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Start menu]

"All apps" is now just "All" on the Start menu. This change began rolling out with Build 22635.4291 earlier this week.

[Fonts]

There is a new simplified Chinese font (Simsun-ExtG) with 9,753 ideographs supporting Unicode Extensions G, H and I. Included is the highly requested character for Biangbiang noodles. This character U+30EDD is said to be the most complicated Chinese character, as you can see in the image below. We are aware that some applications may not be able to display these new extension characters yet.
- Unicode range G 30000-3134A (4,939 chars)
- Unicode range H 31350-323AF (4,192 chars)
- Unicode range I 2EBF0-2EE5D (622 chars)

[caption id="attachment_177339" align="alignnone" width="97"] Biangbiang character Unicode 30EDD.[/caption]

[Security]

Windows Search runs IFilters in the Less Privileged App Containers (LPAC). LPAC are like app containers, but they deny even more permissions by default. The intent is that a process running in a LPAC has access only to the resources needed by it. This model helps to minimize the potential damage that can be caused by a compromised process by limiting its access to sensitive system components and data.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[General]

Fixed a high hitting explorer.exe crash impacting Insiders while using your PC in the last few Beta Builds.

[File Explorer]

Fixed an issue which was causing the items in the navigation pane to become very spread out (with unexpected padding between each item) for some people.

Known issues

[Start menu]

After installing this build, you may find there is an unexpected amount of spacing between items in the Start menu all apps list.

[Live captions]

After installing this build, live captions will crash if you try to use it.

New Clock widgets: Countdown and Timer

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel

Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel will receive updates based on Windows 11, version 23H2 via an enablement package (Build 22635.xxxx).
Many features in the Beta Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27718 (Canary Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Wed, 02 Oct 2024 17:04:39 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27718 to the Canary Channel. We are releasing ISOs for this build – they can be downloaded here. We are also not planning to release SDKs for 27xxx series builds for the time being.

Changes and Improvements

[General]

[REMINDER] Insider Preview Build Expiration: The expiration date for Insider Preview builds flighted to the Canary Channel has been updated to 9/15/2025 starting with Build 27695. Please make sure you are updated to the latest build in the Canary Channel.

[Lock screen]

We have updated the Lock screen so that the media controls will now show at the lower bottom center of the Lock screen now when media is being played.

[caption id="attachment_177265" align="alignnone" width="666"] Updated position of media controls shown on the Lock screen when media is being played highlighted in a red box.[/caption]

[Start menu]

You can drag apps from the Pinned section of the menu and pin them to the taskbar.
[ADDED] Based on feedback, we’ve made some updates to the new account manager on the Start menu making the sign out option directly visible, and adding a list of signed in users under “…” so it’s faster to switch accounts.

[caption id="attachment_177282" align="alignnone" width="401"] New account manager on the Start menu with sign out option directly visible highlighted in a red box.[/caption]

[Taskbar & System Tray]

Updated the taskbar to now support first letter navigation, so when keyboard focus is set to the taskbar (WIN + T), you can press a letter, and it will jump to the open or pinned app whose name starts with that letter. Pressing the letter multiple times will jump to the subsequent app which starts with that letter, if there are multiple apps for that letter. For those using uncombined taskbar, rather than app name, the first letter navigation will use window name. Along with this, pressing Home and End will now move keyboard focus to the first and last (respectively) items in the taskbar.

[Notifications]

If desired, there’s now an option to turn off the suggestions to disable notifications from certain apps. You can now press the “…” within the notification to disable the notification, as you can with other notifications, or you can go to the list of notification senders in Settings > System > Notifications and turn it off from there (called “Notification Suggestions” in the list). Note – this entry will only appear in the senders list after you have received one.

[Windows Share]

We’re rolling out some minor UI changes to simplify the Windows share window which removes the search box.

[Narrator]

We have made several changes to improve the performance of Narrator scan mode. This is expected to make scan mode responses much quicker, especially while using Microsoft Edge, and reading through large documents. To try out scan mode, turn on Narrator first (Win key + Ctrl + Enter), and then turn scan mode ON by pressing Caps Lock + Spacebar during a Narrator session.

[Energy Saver]

For laptops on battery, a notification will pop up asking you to plug in your laptop if the battery level reaches 20% while Energy Saver is set to “Always On”.

[Windows Update]

We’ve made some small design improvements to the dialog that opens if there’s something that needs your attention before proceeding with a Windows update, for example if more space is needed or there’s a compatibility issue. This includes updating the icon sizes and spacing.

[Input]

We have updated Settings > Bluetooth & Devices > Touch to have a new section for touch screen edge gestures, where you can choose if you would like to disable the left or right screen edge touch gesture. Note, this feature is rolling out so not all Insiders in the Canary Channel will see it right away.

[Administrator protection]

Administrator protection is an upcoming platform security feature in Windows 11, which aims to protect free floating admin rights for administrator users allowing them to still perform all admin functions with just-in-time admin privileges. This feature is off by default and needs to be enabled via group policy. We plan to share more details about this feature at Microsoft Ignite.

Fixes

[General]

Fixed an issue which was causing some Insiders to experience a hang at the boot screen and their PC to roll back with error 0xC1900101 when trying to upgrade to the previous flight.
Fixed an issue in the last 2 Canary builds which was causing sporadic explorer.exe crashes when moving windows around.
Fixed an issue causing some Insiders on the last 2 Canary builds to see a bugcheck with error message “SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION”.

[Input]

Fixed an issue causing the emoji panel to close when trying to switch to the kaomoji and symbols sections, or after selecting an emoji.
Updated the logic for the setting “Press the lower right corner of the touchpad to right-click” Settings > Bluetooth & Devices > Touchpad so it shouldn’t show in cases where the touchpad doesn’t support the functionality.

[Widgets]

Fixed an issue which could result in the Widgets icon unexpectedly displaying in the taskbar twice sometimes.

[Other]

Fixed a high hitting wmiprvse.exe crash in the last 2 Canary flights.
Fixed an issue which was causing certain apps (like Media Player) to crash when playing audio for some Insiders in the last 2 Canary flights.
Fixed an issue for some Insiders with dual boot devices, where the boot menu (where you select which OS to boot into) wasn’t displaying correctly (the color was wrong, and it might only display in half the available space).

Known issues

[General]

[IMPORTANT NOTE FOR COPILOT+ PCs] If you are joining the Canary Channel on a new Copilot+ PC from the Dev Channel, Release Preview Channel or retail, you will lose Windows Hello pin and biometrics to sign into your PC with error 0xd0000225 and error message “Something went wrong, and your PIN isn’t available”. You should be able to re-create your PIN by clicking “Set up my PIN”.

[Movies & TV]

[NEW] Insiders may not be able to play purchased content in the Movies & TV app on the recent Canary Channel builds. This issue will soon be fixed in a future flight.

[Input]

[NEW] We’re working on the fix for an underlying issue causing the Emoji Panel and Clipboard History to not open in certain surfaces anymore, including in Registry Editor.

Microsoft Store Update

Windows Insiders in the Canary and Dev Channels running version 22409.xxxx.x of the Microsoft Store and higher will see the following improvement rolling out:

App Categories: The apps page on the Microsoft Store will now show a new categories experience just under the featured section. Clicking on any of the options will lead you to a page where you can browse a variety of apps for that category. We hope you find this new experience helpful as you browse the store to find your next favorite app. Let us know what you think!

[caption id="attachment_177330" align="alignnone" width="821"] New app categories shown on the apps page in the Microsoft Store under the featured section.[/caption] FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Microsoft Store.

New Clock widgets: Countdown and Timer

We are rolling out a Clock app update to Windows Insiders across all Insider Channels that includes two new clock widgets: countdown and timer. Make sure you have the latest version of the Clock app update from the Microsoft Store (version 11.2408.9.0 and higher). After you open the widgets board, you can open the widgets picker by clicking the “+” button in the top right corner where you would be able to add these widgets to your board. [caption id="attachment_177332" align="alignnone" width="560"] New countdown and timer widgets from the Clock app showing on the widgets board.[/caption] FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Apps > Clock App.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Canary Channel

The builds we release to the Canary Channel represent the latest platform changes early in the development cycle and should not be seen as matched to any specific release of Windows and features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.

Many features in the Canary Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.

Some features may show up in the Dev and Beta Channels first before showing up in the Canary Channel.

Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
To get off the Canary Channel, a clean install of Windows 11 will be required. As a reminder - Insiders can’t switch to a channel that is receiving builds with lower build numbers without doing a clean installation of Windows 11 due to technical setup requirements.

The desktop watermark shown at the lower right corner of the desktop is normal for these pre-release builds.

Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.1912 (Dev Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Mon, 30 Sep 2024 21:05:51 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.1912 (KB5043168) to the Dev Channel. Changes in Dev Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update)* and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Dev Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[General]

This update includes a small set of general improvements and fixes that improve the overall experience for Insiders running this build on their PCs.

[Mobile Hotspot]

The Windows Mobile Hotspot has been enhanced to support 6 GHz connections. The new band requires chips that support the feature and updated drivers; not all chips that support 6 GHz Wi-Fi in general will support the 6 GHz mobile hotspot. The change will be visible under Settings > Network & internet > Mobile hotspot when you edit the mobile hotspot properties. For compatibility with existing devices, the mobile hotspot will only use 6 GHz when explicitly enabled.

[caption id="attachment_177327" align="alignnone" width="359"] 6 GHz showing under mobile hotspot properties in Settings on PCs that have the right hardware and drivers.[/caption]

[Other]

This update includes fixes for the following issues:

[Open Source Software] This update adds attributions to txt files for Rust OSS components.
[Task Manager]
- Its Settings page might have a white background when it should not.
- It stops responding when you switch from a high contrast theme to a normal theme.
[Input Method Editor (IME)] When a combo box has input focus, a memory leak might occur when you close that window.
[WebView2 apps] They do not detect input from Xbox 360 and Bluetooth controllers.

Known issues

[Start menu]

If you click or tap on a letter on Start menu's All apps list, the All apps list may break. If you encounter this issue, please try rebooting or restarting explorer.exe to fix it.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel

Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel receive updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 via an enablement package (Build 26120.xxxx).
Updates delivered to the Dev Channel are in a format that offers a preview of enhancements to servicing technology on Windows 11, version 24H2. To learn more, see https://aka.ms/CheckpointCumulativeUpdates.
Many features in the Dev Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4291 (Beta Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Mon, 30 Sep 2024 21:05:48 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4291 (KB5043166) to the Beta Channel. Changes in Beta Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update)* and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Beta Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Task Manager]

We’ve updated the design of the Disconnect and Logoff dialogs in Task Manager to now support dark mode and text scaling.
In the Performance section we now label listed disks with their type.

[Settings]

Tailored Experiences is becoming Personalized offers in OOBE. The new setting can be found on the Recommendations and offers page under Settings > Privacy & security. Personalized offers will let users opt-out of allowing Windows to use info about their devices and how they use them to enhance Windows.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[General]

Fixed a few issues which could cause explorer.exe crashes, including one causing sporadic explorer.exe crashes when using ALT + Tab in recent builds.

[Start menu]

Fixed an issue where if you clicked or tapped on a letter on Start menu's All apps list, the All apps list may break and not display correctly.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to everyone in the Beta Channel

[Settings]

[ADDED] We have temporarily disabled the ability to configure the Copilot key that began rolling out with Build 22635.4225 to address some issues and refine the experience. We plan to bring it back soon.

Fixes for everyone in the Beta Channel

[Other]

This update includes fixes for the following issues:

[Microsoft Defender for Endpoint] Work Folders files fail to sync when Defender for Endpoint is on.
[Outlook and other encrypted email apps] This issue prompts for your PIN each time you open an encrypted email.
[Microsoft Edge] It sometimes stops responding when you use IE mode.
[Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)] There is inconsistent data between TCP_INFO_v1 and GetPerTcpConnectionEstats. File synchronization services use TCP connection performance analysis tools. This issue affects how accurate those tools are.
[Country and Operator Settings Asset] This update brings COSA profiles up to date for certain mobile operators.
[Task Manager] It stops responding when you switch from a high contrast theme to a normal theme.

Known issues

[Start menu]

[NEW] After installing this build, you may find there is an unexpected amount of spacing between items in the Start menu all apps list.

[Live captions]

[NEW] After installing this build, live captions will crash if you try to use it.

Snipping Tool Update

We are rolling out an update for Snipping Tool (version 11.2408.15.0 and newer) to Windows Insiders in the Beta and Release Preview Channels that introduces the ability to change the folder that original screenshots and screen recordings are automatically saved to. Just go to app settings in Snipping Tool to select a new default folder to try it out! [caption id="attachment_177311" align="alignnone" width="648"] Setting in Snipping Tool to change the folder that screenshots and screen recordings are automatically saved.[/caption] FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Apps > Snipping Tool.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel

Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel will receive updates based on Windows 11, version 23H2 via an enablement package (Build 22635.xxxx).
Many features in the Beta Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.1843 (Dev Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 20 Sep 2024 17:04:04 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.1843 (KB5043185) to the Dev Channel. This update is delivered in a format that offers a preview of enhancements to servicing technology on Windows 11, version 24H2. To learn more, see https://aka.ms/CheckpointCumulativeUpdates. Changes in Dev Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update)* and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Dev Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

New features gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

Shared Content in File Explorer Home

File Explorer will now provide you with quick access to files that have been shared with you. If you are signed into Windows with your Microsoft account, you will be able to view files that have been shared with your account, such as email, Teams chat, etc. If you are a commercial customer who is signed-in with your Microsoft Entra ID account, you will additionally be able to view files that they have shared with others. You can access this feature by launching File Explorer Home and clicking on the ‘Shared’ tab item. You will also be able to view a broader set of file types in their Recent, Favorites, and Shared sections on the homepage. For example, if you’ve recently opened/edited files in Designer, Loop, Power BI, Forms, etc. these files will now be available in your Recent list. [caption id="attachment_177176" align="alignnone" width="720"] File Explorer Home with new tabs for Recent, Favorites, and Shared.[/caption] FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Files Folders and Online Storage > File Explorer.

Windows Sandbox Client Preview

This build includes the new Windows Sandbox Client Preview that is now updated via the Microsoft Store. As part of this preview, we’re introducing runtime clipboard redirection, audio/video input control, and the ability to share folders with the host at runtime. You can access these via the new “…” icon at the upper right on the app. Additionally, this preview includes a super early version of command line support (commands may change over time). You can use ‘wsb.exe –help’ command for more information. [caption id="attachment_177309" align="alignnone" width="628"] Windows Sandbox Client Preview with new dropdown showing clipboard redirection, audio/video input control, and the ability to share folders with the host.[/caption] FEEDBACK: Send us feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Security & Privacy > Windows Sandbox.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[General]

For new PCs or new user accounts on managed commercial devices (PCs running Windows 11 Enterprise, Education, or Pro logged in with an Entra ID (or domain), the Microsoft 365 app will be pinned to the taskbar for quick access to Copilot for Microsoft 365. Existing commercial PCs that still have the previous Copilot in Windows experience will see that replaced with the Copilot app pinned to their taskbar.

[Lock screen]

We have updated the Lock screen so that the media controls will now show at the lower bottom center of the Lock screen now when media is being played.

[caption id="attachment_177265" align="alignnone" width="637"] Updated position of media controls shown on the Lock screen when media is being played highlighted in a red box.[/caption]

[Start menu]

When right-clicking on apps pinned to the Start menu, jump lists will be shown for apps that have them such as PowerPoint.

[caption id="attachment_177125" align="alignnone" width="241"] Jump lists will now be shown when right-clicking on apps pinned to the Start menu such as PowerPoint that have jump lists.[/caption]

Based on feedback, we’ve made some updates to the new account manager on the Start menu making the sign out option directly visible, and adding a list of signed in users under “…” so it’s faster to switch accounts.

[caption id="attachment_177282" align="alignnone" width="353"] New account manager on the Start menu with sign out option directly visible highlighted in a red box.[/caption]

[Taskbar & System Tray]

We are trying out a more simplified system tray to highlight the date/time in a shortened form and to show the notifications bell icon based on DND status. Without the notification bell icon, you can get to your notifications by clicking the date and time to Notification Center. You can revert to the long form of the date/time and bell icon visuals by toggling the values in the Settings via Settings > Date and Time under “Show time and day in the system tray” and Settings > System > Notifications under “Notifications”. These settings are also accessible through the context menu shown by right clicking the system tray clock/bell icon button.

[caption id="attachment_177177" align="alignnone" width="348"] Simplified system tray shown with shortened form data and time and no notification bell icon.[/caption]

[Search on the Taskbar]

We are beginning to roll out the ability to share local files directly from within the search results shown in the search box on the taskbar.

[caption id="attachment_177099" align="alignnone" width="413"] New option to share a local file highlighted in a red box in the search results from the search box on the taskbar.[/caption]

[Input]

We have updated Settings > Bluetooth & Devices > Touch to have a new section for touch screen edge gestures, where you can choose if you would like to disable the left or right screen edge touch gesture.

[Notifications]

If desired, there’s now an option to turn off the suggestions to disable notifications from certain apps. You can now press the “…” within the notification to disable the notification, as you can with other notifications, or you can go to the list of notification senders in Settings > System > Notifications and turn it off from there (called “Notification Suggestions” in the list). Note – this entry will only appear in the senders list after you have received one.

[Settings]

In response to feedback, we have added a detach virtual hard disk (VHD/`VHDx) button to Settings making it much simpler to detach your VHD/VHDx as needed. This option is available under Settings > System > Storage > Disks & Volumes, in the properties for your VHD/VHDx.

[caption id="attachment_177244" align="alignnone" width="580"] New detach VHD button under highlighted in a red box in properties of attached VHD in Settings.[/caption]

We’ve designed the settings page for Delivery Optimization under Settings > Windows Update > Advanced options > Delivery Optimization to match the Windows 11 design principles.

[caption id="attachment_177267" align="alignnone" width="572"] Delivery Optimization settings page with updated design.[/caption]

We’ve updated the dialog when viewing your Wi-Fi password under Settings > Network & internet to match the Windows 11 visuals.
[ADDED] We’re beginning to roll out a change that redirects links for the Fonts Control Panel page to the Fonts settings page at Settings > Personalization > Fonts. Insiders who see this change can still access the Fonts Control Panel UI by navigating to the system fonts folder in File Explorer and a link to the system fonts folder is also provided on the Font settings page.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[File Explorer]

Fixed an issue where when pressing WIN + E, a screen reader might unexpectedly say a pane had focus, or focus may not be set within File Explorer at all.
Fixed an issue which was causing CTRL + F to sometimes not start a search in File Explorer.
Fixed an issue where keyboard focus might get lost sometimes when doing Shift + Tab in File Explorer.
Fixed an issue causing screen readers to not announce when you were opening or navigating items in the breadcrumb flyouts of the open or save dialog.
Fixed an issue causing screen readers to not announce anything when opening or navigating items in the column header flyout in File Explorer.

[Input]

Updated the logic for the setting "Press the lower right corner of the touchpad to right-click" Settings > Bluetooth & Devices > Touchpad so it shouldn’t show in cases where the touchpad doesn’t support the functionality.

[Task Manager]

Fixed an issue where the background wasn’t displayed correctly in Task Manager settings.

Fixes for everyone in the Dev Channel

[General]

We can confirm that the Recall feature is no longer showing as an option under the ‘Turn Windows features on or off’ dialog in the Control Panel in Windows.
Fixed an underlying issue believed to be the cause of Insiders on the previous flight finding the Windows Modules Installer (tiworker.exe) unexpectedly using 100% of the CPU, causing freezes and other issues on PCs.
Fixed an issue causing some Insiders to fail to install the latest updates, seeing error 0x800f0993.

[Input]

Fixed an issue causing text suggestions for the hardware keyboard to not work properly (selecting one unexpectedly concatenates).

[Widgets]

Fixed an issue which could result in the Widgets icon unexpectedly displaying in the taskbar twice sometimes.

[Other]

This update includes fixes for the following issues:

[FrameShutdownDelay] The browser ignores its value in the “HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main” registry key.
[Unified Write Filter (UWF) and Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM)] An SCCM task to re-enable UWF fails because of a deadlock in UWF. This stops the device from restarting when you expect it.
[OpenSSH] This update adds a prompt that asks you to confirm when you turn on OpenSSH using the Server Manager UI.
[NetJoinLegacyAccountReuse] This update removes this registry key. For more information refer to KB5020276—Netjoin: Domain join hardening changes.
[Domain Name System (DNS)] This update hardens DNS server security to address CVE-2024-37968. If the configurations of your domains are not up to date, you might get the SERVFAIL error or time out.
[vmswitches] They fail to enumerate using Get-VMSwitch command.
[Windows Installer] When it repairs an application, the User Account Control (UAC) does not prompt for your credentials. After you install this update, the UAC will prompt for them. Because of this, you must update your automation scripts. Application owners must add the Shield icon. It indicates that the process requires full administrator access. To turn off the UAC prompt, set the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Installer\DisableLUAInRepair registry value to 1. The changes in this update might affect automatic Windows Installer repairs; see Application Resiliency: Unlock the Hidden Features of Windows Installer.
[Group Policy Preferences Item Level Targeting (ILT) and Local Users and Groups] You cannot choose a group from the target domain for ILT. Also, you cannot choose an account from Local Users and Groups. The forest does not appear. This issue occurs when you deploy multiple forests, and the target domain has a one-way trust with the domain of the admin. This issue affects Enhanced Security Admin Environment (ESAE), Hardened Forests (HF), or Privileged Access Management (PAM) deployments.
[Task Manager] Graphs on the Performance page in Task Manager do not show the correct colors when you use dark mode.
[Remote Desktop Services] It stops responding.

Known issues

[General]

[NEW] This build may fail to install with error 0x800f0983. If you see this error, please try to install it again, as it should work on retry. If it stays on 0%, please be patient - it should proceed.
[NEW] Reset your PC > Cloud Download won’t work on this build, it will get stuck on Getting Things Ready. Please choose the non-cloud option if you need to reset while we work on a fix.

[Start menu]

[NEW] If you click or tap on a letter on Start menu's All apps list, the All apps list may break. If you encounter this issue, please try rebooting or restarting explorer.exe to fix it.

Snipping Tool Update

We are rolling out an update for Snipping Tool (version 11.2408.13.0 and newer) to Windows Insiders in the Canary and Dev Channels that introduces the ability to change the folder that original screenshots and screen recordings are automatically saved to. Just go to app settings in Snipping Tool to select a new default folder to try it out! [caption id="attachment_177311" align="alignnone" width="680"] Setting in Snipping Tool to change the folder that screenshots and screen recordings are automatically saved.[/caption] FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Apps > Snipping Tool.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel

Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel receive updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 via an enablement package (Build 26120.xxxx).
Many features in the Dev Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4225 (Beta Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 20 Sep 2024 17:03:58 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4225 (KB5043186) to the Beta Channel. Changes in Beta Channel builds and updates are documented in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update)* and then new features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Beta Channel. For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[File Explorer]

We are adding the ability to share content to an Android device from the context menu in File Explorer and on the desktop. To use this feature, the Phone Link must be installed and configured on your PC.

[caption id="attachment_177302" align="alignnone" width="250"] Ability to share content to an Android device from the context menu in File Explorer highlighted in a red box.[/caption]

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Input]

Fixed an issue causing some Insiders to see the emoji panel not working properly again in the previous flight (closing after selecting one emoji, and not able to switch categories).

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to everyone in the Beta Channel

[Settings]

We are adding the ability to configure the Copilot key. You can choose to have the Copilot key launch an app that is MSIX packaged and signed, thus indicating the app meets security and privacy requirements to keep customers safe. The key will continue to launch Copilot on devices that have the Copilot app installed until a customer selects a different experience. This setting can be found via Settings > Personalization > Text input. If the keyboard connected to your PC does not have a Copilot key, adjusting this setting will not do anything. UPDATE 9/26: We are planning further refinements to this experience in a future flight.

[caption id="attachment_177304" align="alignnone" width="663"] New setting for configuring the Copilot key highlighted in a red box.[/caption]

Fixes for everyone in the Beta Channel

[General]

Fixed an issue which was causing some Insiders to experience a bugcheck when closing Notepad in the previous flight.

[Other]

This update includes fixes for the following issues:

[Windows Installer] When it repairs an application, the User Account Control (UAC) does not prompt for your credentials. After you install this update, the UAC will prompt for them. Because of this, you must update your automation scripts. Application owners must add the Shield icon. It indicates that the process requires full administrator access. To turn off the UAC prompt, set the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Installer\DisableLUAInRepair registry value to 1. The changes in this update might affect automatic Windows Installer repairs; see Application Resiliency: Unlock the Hidden Features of Windows Installer.
[Group Policy Preferences Item Level Targeting (ILT) and Local Users and Groups] You cannot choose a group from the target domain for ILT. Also, you cannot choose an account from Local Users and Groups. The forest does not appear. This issue occurs when you deploy multiple forests, and the target domain has a one-way trust with the domain of the admin. This issue affects Enhanced Security Admin Environment (ESAE), Hardened Forests (HF), or Privileged Access Management (PAM) deployments.
[Task Manager] It stops responding when you switch from a high contrast theme to a normal theme.

Known issues

[Start menu]

[NEW] If you click or tap on a letter on Start menu's All apps list, the All apps list may break. If you encounter this issue, please try rebooting or restarting explorer.exe to fix it.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel

Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel will receive updates based on Windows 11, version 23H2 via an enablement package (Build 22635.xxxx).
Many features in the Beta Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27695 (Canary Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 30 Aug 2024 17:04:20 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27695 to the Canary Channel. We are also not planning to release SDKs for 27xxx series builds for the time being.

What’s new with Build 27695

New position for the Widgets entry-point on left-aligned taskbars

We’re beginning to roll out a new position for the Widgets entry-point on left-aligned taskbars. The taskbar entry-point will move to the left of the systems tray and will be wider so you can see richer content from Widgets on your taskbar. When you launch the Widgets board, it will fly out from the right side instead of the left side. [caption id="attachment_177272" align="alignnone" width="430"] The Widgets entry-point at its new position to the left of system tray on a left-aligned taskbar.[/caption] FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Desktop Environment > Widgets.

Windows LAPS: Retrieve encrypted passwords during Active Directory recovery situations

Windows Local Administrator Password Solution (LAPS) has been improved with a new ability to recover encrypted passwords from Active Directory (AD) backup media even when there are zero AD domain controllers running. Windows LAPS encrypted passwords offer much better security over the traditional approach of storing clear-text passwords in Active Directory. Windows LAPS password encryption is based on Cryptography API: Next Generation Data Protection API (CNG DPAPI). Under normal operating conditions, the decryption keys are always retrieved from a running AD domain controller. When an unexpected disaster occurs, there may be no AD domain controllers running. You can now use the Get-LapsADPassword PowerShell cmdlet to retrieve and decrypt Windows LAPS encrypted passwords from Active Directory backup media (mounted using the AD snapshot browser, aka dsamain.exe) with zero network interaction with any AD domain controller. In fact, this operation is now possible even when running on a non-domain-joined, workgroup machine. If you still have access to your AD backup media, all Windows LAPS encrypted passwords will now be recoverable regardless of the situation. This new improvement is implemented in the existing Get-LapsADPassword PowerShell cmdlet. When the -Port and -RecoveryMode parameters are both specified, any retrieved passwords will be automatically decrypted in a purely local operation using the decryption keys found in the snapshot browser. Step 1: Mount the Active Directory backup media database: [caption id="attachment_177273" align="alignnone" width="565"] Command line view of mounting an Active Directory backup media database.[/caption] Step 2: Recover the Windows LAPS passwords from the mounted AD backup media database: [caption id="attachment_177274" align="alignnone" width="560"] PowerShell view of recovering Windows LAPS passwords from a mounted Active Directory backup media database.[/caption] Step 3: This step is informative only; the screenshot below demonstrates that the above operations were executed on a workgroup machine: [caption id="attachment_177275" align="alignnone" width="567"] View of all the operations for executing recovery of Windows LAPS passwords from a mounted Active Directory backup media database.[/caption] In summary this improvement resolves a key Windows LAPS concern of how to recover Windows LAPS passwords in a disaster scenario where no AD domain controllers are running. For more information see: Retrieving passwords during AD disaster recovery scenarios.

Changes and Improvements

[General]

Insider Preview Build Expiration: The expiration date for Insider Preview builds flighted to the Canary Channel has been updated to 9/15/2025 starting with Build 27691. Please make sure you are updated to the latest build in the Canary Channel.
Some Insiders in the Canary Channel will begin to see an estimated time for how long their PC will be offline to install Build 27695. This estimate will be shown on the Windows Update settings page and via the Start menu power button.

[caption id="attachment_177276" align="alignnone" width="421"] Estimated time for how long a PC will be offline to install a build as shown on the Windows Update settings page.[/caption]

[Notifications]

If desired, there’s now an option to turn off the suggestions to disable notifications from certain apps. You can now press the “…” within the notification to disable the notification, as you can with other notifications, or you can go to the list of notification senders in Settings > System > Notifications and turn it off from there (called “Notification Suggestions” in the list). Note – this entry will only appear in the senders list after you have received one.

[Windows Share]

We are rolling out the ability to easily share content to an Android device from Windows share window. The feature requires you to pair your Android device to your Windows PC using the Link to Windows app on Android and Phone Link on your PC.

[caption id="attachment_177181" align="alignnone" width="466"] Updated UI for sharing content to an Android device via the Windows share window showing an updated icon in the Nearby Share section.[/caption]

[Widgets]

We are rolling out an update to the Widgets Board to improve security and the APIs for creating widgets and feeds for users in EEA regions. As part of this update, the Microsoft Start Experiences app will power the Microsoft Start widget and feed experiences. Also, as part of this update, some existing widgets will be removed and others will be modified, temporarily affecting their functionality. This update sets the foundation for new widgets and other features in development, set to roll out soon.

[Settings]

[ADDED 9/3] We’ve updated the dialog when viewing your Wi-Fi password under Settings > Network & internet to match the Windows 11 visuals.

Fixes

[File Explorer]

Fixed an issue where when pressing WIN + E, a screen reader might unexpectedly say a pane had focus, or focus may not be set within File Explorer at all.
Fixed an issue which was causing CTRL + F to sometimes not start a search in File Explorer.
Fixed an issue where keyboard focus might get lost sometimes when doing Shift + Tab in File Explorer.
Fixed an issue causing screen readers to not announce when you were opening or navigating items in the breadcrumb flyouts of the open or save dialog.
Fixed an issue causing screen readers to not announce anything when opening or navigating items in the column header flyout in File Explorer.

[Task Manager]

Fixed an issue where the colors in the Performance section weren’t displayed correctly in dark mode.

[Windows Sandbox]

Fixed an underlying issue which could cause Windows Sandbox to fail to launch with error 0x80070005 sometimes.

[Other]

Fixed an issue where when installing Windows by booting from recent install media, it wouldn't make itself the default partition if another version of Windows was installed.
Fixed an issue underlying issue causing dfrgui.exe (Defrag and Optimize drives) to fail in the previous flight with a pop up saying SXSHARED_UCRT.dll was not found. This is also believed to be the cause of seeing an error saying “the specified module could not be found” errors in that flight when trying to use the backup options in Control Panel.

Known issues

[General]

[IMPORTANT NOTE FOR COPILOT+ PCs] If you are joining the Canary Channel on a new Copilot+ PC from the Dev Channel, Release Preview Channel or retail, you will lose Windows Hello pin and biometrics to sign into your PC with error 0xd0000225 and error message “Something went wrong, and your PIN isn’t available”. You should be able to re-create your PIN by clicking “Set up my PIN”.
[ADDED 9/5] We're investigating reports that starting with Build 27686, when upgrading to a newer Canary Channel build some Insiders experience a hang at the boot screen and their PC rolls back with error 0xC1900101.

[Input]

We are working on the fix for an issue causing the emoji panel to close when trying to switch to the kaomoji and symbols sections, or after selecting an emoji.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Canary Channel

The builds we release to the Canary Channel represent the latest platform changes early in the development cycle and should not be seen as matched to any specific release of Windows and features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.

Many features in the Canary Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.

Some features may show up in the Dev and Beta Channels first before showing up in the Canary Channel.

Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
To get off the Canary Channel, a clean install of Windows 11 will be required. As a reminder - Insiders can’t switch to a channel that is receiving builds with lower build numbers without doing a clean installation of Windows 11 due to technical setup requirements.

The desktop watermark shown at the lower right corner of the desktop is normal for these pre-release builds.

Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4145 (Beta Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 30 Aug 2024 17:03:35 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4145 (KB5041881) to the Beta Channel. REMINDER: Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel will receive updates based on Windows 11, version 23H2 via an enablement package (Build 22635.xxxx). For Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle (shown in the image below) to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready. [caption id="attachment_176587" align="alignnone" width="670"] Turn on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available to get new features rolled out to you.[/caption] Going forward, we will document changes in Beta Channel builds in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available and then new features, improvements, and fixes available to everyone in the Beta Channel.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[General]

For new PCs or new user accounts on managed commercial devices (PCs running Windows 11 Enterprise, Education, or Pro logged in with an Entra ID (or domain), the Microsoft 365 app will be pinned to the taskbar for quick access to Copilot for Microsoft 365. Existing commercial PCs that still have the previous Copilot in Windows experience will see that replaced with the Copilot app pinned to their taskbar.

[Start menu]

[ADDED 9/3] Based on feedback, we've made some updates to the new account manager on the Start menu making the sign out option directly visible, and adding a list of signed in users under "..." so it's faster to switch accounts.

[caption id="attachment_177282" align="alignnone" width="397"] New account manager on the Start menu with sign out option directly visible highlighted in a red box.[/caption]

[Input]

We have updated Settings > Bluetooth & Devices > Mouse to now include the option to turn off enhanced mouse pointer precision for those that would prefer to not use it and have added a new option for changing mouse scrolling direction.

[caption id="attachment_177202" align="alignnone" width="641"] New toggles for enhanced mouse pointer precision changing mouse scrolling direction highlighted in red boxes.[/caption]

We have updated Settings > Bluetooth & Devices > Touch to have a new section for touch screen edge gestures, where you can choose if you would like to disable the left or right screen edge touch gesture.
[ADDED 9/3] We're beginning to roll out a new Gamepad keyboard layout for the on-screen keyboard in Windows 11 that supports the ability to use your Xbox controller to navigate and type. This includes button accelerators (example: X button for backspace, Y button for spacebar) additionally the keyboard keys have been vertically aligned for better controller navigation patterns.

[caption id="attachment_177283" align="alignnone" width="1024"] New Gamepad keyboard layout for the on-screen keyboard in Windows 11 that supports the ability to use your Xbox controller to navigate and type.[/caption]

[ADDED 9/6] We are beginning to roll out a change where we now hide the IME toolbar when apps are in full screen mode for those who have the IME toolbar enabled and type in Chinese or Japanese.

[Desktop Spotlight]

We are trying out some adjustments to the Windows Spotlight experience on the desktop to include hotspots when users right-click on the Windows Spotlight icon. In addition, these changes will include two different UX treatments that Insiders will notice. There is no change to the interaction model where right click opens the experience in full screen and double clicking launches the Bing landing page. When in full screen, you will now see two hotspots which will be animated to aid discovery, and which will reveal additional information on hover. Clicking on a hotspot will close the full screen experience and launch the Bing landing page. [caption id="attachment_177280" align="alignnone" width="601"] With Treatment 1 you will see a reduced flyout and hotspots which reveal additional information on hover. Clicking on a hotspot will launch the Bing landing page.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_177281" align="alignnone" width="602"] With Treatment 2 you will see a minimized Spotlight experience and hotspots which reveal additional information on hover. Clicking on a hotspot will launch the Bing landing page.[/caption]

[Windows Share]

We’re adding the ability to share content to Notepad and Clipchamp directly from the Windows share window.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[File Explorer]

Fixed an issue causing File Explorer to crash when navigating to Home for some Insiders with the two flights. This also led File Explorer to crash on launch if it opened directly to Home.
Fixed an issue causing explorer.exe to crash when interacting with archive files in the last few flights.

[Start menu]

Fixed an issue where the text might be unreadable in the section of the Start menu with Phone Link features shown on the side.

Fixes for everyone in the Beta Channel

[Other]

This update includes fixes for the following issues:

[File Explorer] The navigation pane does not update when you browse folders that are in a shell namespace extension.
[Hibernate stop error] Your laptop stops responding after you resume it from hibernate. This occurs if you have closed and opened the lid many times.
[Bind Filter Driver] Your system might stop responding when it accesses symbolic links.
[Bluetooth] External devices lose their connection when you deploy certain Bluetooth policies.
[Microsoft Entra single sign-on (SSO)] The SSO notice that the European Digital Markets Act (DMA) requires prompts too often. This occurs when you authenticate using a certificate. To learn more, see Upcoming changes to Windows single sign-on.
[Unified Write Filter (UWF) and Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM)] An SCCM task to re-enable UWF fails because of a deadlock in UWF. This stops the device from restarting when you expect it.
[Country and Operator Settings Asset] This update brings COSA profiles up to date for certain mobile operators.
[Input Method Editor (IME)] When a combo box has input focus, a memory leak might occur when you close that window.
[BitLocker] You might not be able to decrypt a BitLocker data drive. This occurs when you move that drive from a newer version of Windows to an older version.

Known issues

[Start menu]

[NEW] If you click or tap on a letter on Start menu's All apps list, the All apps list may break. If you encounter this issue, please try rebooting or restarting explorer.exe to fix it.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel

Updates released to the Beta Channel are based off Windows 11, version 23H2.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Many features in the Beta Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you*, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4082 (Beta Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Mon, 26 Aug 2024 21:03:37 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4082 (KB5041876) to the Beta Channel. REMINDER: Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel will receive updates based on Windows 11, version 23H2 via an enablement package (Build 22635.xxxx). For Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle (shown in the image below) to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready. [caption id="attachment_176587" align="alignnone" width="670"] Turn on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available to get new features rolled out to you.[/caption] Going forward, we will document changes in Beta Channel builds in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available and then new features, improvements, and fixes available to everyone in the Beta Channel.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Notifications]

If desired, there’s now an option to turn off the suggestions to disable notifications from certain apps. You can now press the “…” within the notification to disable the notification, as you can with other notifications, or you can go to the list of notification senders in Settings > System > Notifications and turn it off from there (called “Notification Suggestions” in the list). Note – this entry will only appear in the senders list after you have received one.

[Lock screen]

We have updated the Lock screen so that the media controls will now show at the lower bottom center of the Lock screen now when media is being played.

[caption id="attachment_177265" align="alignnone" width="754"] Updated position of media controls shown on the Lock screen when media is being played highlighted in a red box.[/caption]

[Settings]

We’ve designed the settings page for Delivery Optimization under Settings > Windows Update > Advanced options > Delivery Optimization to match the Windows 11 design principles.

[caption id="attachment_177267" align="alignnone" width="682"] Delivery Optimization settings page with updated design.[/caption]

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Taskbar & System Tray]

Fixed an issue causing explorer.exe to crash for some Insiders when closing apps from the taskbar in the latest flights.

[Start menu]

Fixed an issue causing the Start menu to crash on launch in the last few flights for some Insiders.

[Other]

Fixed an issue causing a memory leak after receiving certain notifications.

Fixes for everyone in the Beta Channel

[Other]

[NetJoinLegacyAccountReuse] This update removes this registry key. For more information refer to KB5020276—Netjoin: Domain join hardening changes.

Known issues

[File Explorer]

We’re working on the fix for an issue causing explorer.exe to crash when interacting with archive files in the latest Beta flights.
[NEW] We’re working on the fix for an issue causing File Explorer to crash when going to Home for some Insiders with the previous flight. If you are impacted by this and are having issues launching File Explorer because it’s set to Home, as a workaround one option is to use the Run dialog (WIN + R) to open specific folders.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel

Updates released to the Beta Channel are based off Windows 11, version 23H2.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Many features in the Beta Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you*, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4076 (Beta Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Mon, 19 Aug 2024 21:03:47 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4076 (KB5041873) to the Beta Channel. REMINDER: Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel will receive updates based on Windows 11, version 23H2 via an enablement package (Build 22635.xxxx). For Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle (shown in the image below) to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready. [caption id="attachment_176587" align="alignnone" width="670"] Turn on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available to get new features rolled out to you.[/caption] Going forward, we will document changes in Beta Channel builds in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available and then new features, improvements, and fixes available to everyone in the Beta Channel.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Windows Studio Effects]

The improvement introduced with Build 22635.3930 that introduces a Studio Effects icon in the system tray when using any application with a Studio Effects-enabled camera has temporarily been disabled with this build. We plan to re-enable this feature in a future flight.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[File Explorer]

Fixed an issue where keyboard focus might get lost on selection of an unselected tab item.

[Voice Access]

Fixed an issue where Voice Access commands weren’t working for non-English supported languages.

[Input]

Fixed an issue causing the emoji panel to close when trying to switch to the kaomoji and symbols sections, or after selecting an emoji.

[Other]

Fixed an issue in Registry Editor where when editing a DWORD or QWORD if you pasted in a HEX value into the text box and saved it, the value saved might not be the one you had entered (for example, pasting 0x1 would become 0x411).

Fixes for everyone in the Beta Channel

[NetAdapterCx module] A system stops responding when large amounts of data travel over Wi-Fi. This issue occurs on devices that have certain wireless network cards.
[Windows Kernel Vulnerable Driver Blocklist file (DriverSiPolicy.p7b)] This update adds to the list of drivers that are at risk for Bring Your Own Vulnerable Driver (BYOVD) attacks.
[Windows Defender Application Control (WDAC)]
- When you apply WDAC Application ID policies, some apps might fail.
- A memory leak occurs that might exhaust system memory as time goes by. This issue occurs when you provision a device.
[Group Policy Preferences Item Level Targeting (ILT) and Local Users and Groups] You cannot choose a group from the target domain for ILT. Also, you cannot choose an account from Local Users and Groups. The forest does not appear. This issue occurs when you deploy multiple forests, and the target domain has a one-way trust with the domain of the admin. This issue affects Enhanced Security Admin Environment (ESAE), Hardened Forests (HF), or Privileged Access Management (PAM) deployments.
[Autopilot] Using it to provision Surface Laptop SE devices fails.
[FrameShutdownDelay] The browser ignores its value in the “HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main” registry key.
[Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCPIP)] The issue causes high CPU usage and loss of packets. It also affects TCP connection success rates.
[Cache manager] It might stop responding. This occurs when you use Hyperthreading on Windows Server 2022.
[Print Support App] When you use the app with a USB device, the app stops responding and does not print. This issue also limits the functions of the user interface.
[Universal Print clients] They fail to communicate with the Universal Print service. This affects printing functions. This issue occurs when you turn on Web Proxy Auto Discovery (WPAD).
[NetJoinLegacyAccountReuse] This update removes this registry key. For more information refer to KB5020276—Netjoin: Domain join hardening changes.
[Windows Backup] Backup sometimes fails. This occurs when a device has an Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) system partition (ESP).
[PowerShell and VBScript] The issue stops you from using Windows Update Agent (WUA) APIs in your scripts.

Known issues

[Taskbar]

We’re working on the fix for an issue causing explorer.exe to crash for some Insiders when closing apps from the taskbar in the latest builds.

[File Explorer]

[NEW] We’re working on the fix for an issue causing explorer.exe to crash when interacting with archive files starting with the previous flight.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel

Updates released to the Beta Channel are based off Windows 11, version 23H2.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Many features in the Beta Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you*, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.1542 (Dev Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Mon, 19 Aug 2024 21:03:44 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.1542 (KB5041872) to the Dev Channel. This update is delivered in a format that offers a preview of enhancements to servicing technology on Windows 11, version 24H2. To learn more, see https://aka.ms/CheckpointCumulativeUpdates. Please note we will not be publishing symbols for this build. REMINDER: Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel will now receive updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 via an enablement package (Build 26120.xxxx). For Insiders in the Dev Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle (shown in the image below) to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready. [caption id="attachment_176587" align="alignnone" width="670"] Turn on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available to get new features rolled out to you.[/caption] Going forward, we will document changes in Dev Channel builds in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available and then new features, improvements, and fixes available to everyone in the Dev Channel.

New features gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

New position for the Widgets entry-point on left-aligned taskbars

We’re beginning to roll out a new position for the Widgets entry-point on left-aligned taskbars. The taskbar entry-point will move to the left of the systems tray and will be wider so you can see richer content from Widgets on your taskbar. When you launch the Widgets board, it will fly out from the right side instead of the left side. [caption id="attachment_176973" align="alignnone" width="477"] The Widgets entry-point at its new position to the left of system tray on a left-aligned taskbar.[/caption] FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Desktop Environment > Widgets.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[Taskbar & System Tray]

Updated the taskbar to now support first letter navigation, so when keyboard focus is set to the taskbar (WIN + T), you can press a letter, and it will jump to the open or pinned app whose name starts with that letter. Pressing the letter multiple times will jump to the subsequent app which starts with that letter, if there are multiple apps for that letter. For those using uncombined taskbar, rather than app name, the first letter navigation will use window name. Along with this, pressing Home and End will now move keyboard focus to the first and last (respectively) items in the taskbar.

[Widgets]

We are rolling out an update to the Widgets Board to improve security and the APIs for creating widgets and feeds for users in EEA regions. As part of this update, the Microsoft Start Experiences app will power the Microsoft Start widget and feed experiences. Also, as part of this update, some existing widgets will be removed and others will be modified, temporarily affecting their functionality. This update sets the foundation for new widgets and other features in development, set to roll out soon.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[Input]

Fixed an issue causing text suggestions for the hardware keyboard to not work properly (selecting one unexpectedly concatenated).
Fixed an issue causing the emoji panel to close when trying to switch to the kaomoji and symbols sections, or after selecting an emoji.

[Other]

Fixed an issue in Registry Editor where when editing a DWORD or QWORD if you pasted in a HEX value into the text box and saved it, the value saved might not be the one you had entered (for example, pasting 0x1 would become 0x411).

Fixes for everyone in the Dev Channel

[General]

Fixed an issue where adding additional languages or optional features might fail with error 0x800f081f in the last few flights.

[Other]

[Windows Kernel Vulnerable Driver Blocklist file (DriverSiPolicy.p7b)] This update adds to the list of drivers that are at risk for Bring Your Own Vulnerable Driver (BYOVD) attacks.
[Group Policy Preferences Item Level Targeting (ILT) and Local Users and Groups] You cannot choose a group from the target domain for ILT. Also, you cannot choose an account from Local Users and Groups. The forest does not appear. This issue occurs when you deploy multiple forests, and the target domain has a one-way trust with the domain of the admin. This issue affects Enhanced Security Admin Environment (ESAE), Hardened Forests (HF), or Privileged Access Management (PAM) deployments.
[NetJoinLegacyAccountReuse] This update removes this registry key. For more information refer to KB5020276—Netjoin: Domain join hardening changes.
[Share button] On USB controllers, the button might not work with Game Bar.
[GPU-Paravirtualized VM or Container] After you restart it, graphic allocation creation might fail. Because of this, the VM and Container are not as reliable as you expect.
[Domain Name System (DNS)] This update hardens DNS server security to address CVE-2024-37968. If the configurations of your domains are not up to date, you might get the SERVFAIL error or time out.
[PowerShell and VBScript] The issue stops you from using Windows Update Agent (WUA) APIs in your scripts.
[BitLocker] A firmware update might fail if you turn on BitLocker.

Known issues

[General]

[IMPORTANT] Windows Insiders joining the Dev Channel on PCs running Windows 11, version 24H2 Build 26100.xxxx will see "(repair version)" noted next to the latest Dev Channel build from Windows Update. This is nothing to worry about as all it means is that an in-place upgrade will happen to update your PC to the latest build in the Dev Channel.

[Task Manager]

Navigating between different pages in Task Manager may crash Task Manager.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel

Updates released to the Dev Channel are based off Windows 11, version 24H2.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Many features in the Dev Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you*, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27686 (Canary Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Thu, 15 Aug 2024 17:04:53 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27686 to the Canary Channel. If you are joining the Canary Channel on a new Copilot+ PC from the Dev Channel, Release Preview Channel or retail, please take note of a known issue below. We are also not planning to release SDKs for 27xxx series builds for the time being.

What’s new with Build 27686

Windows Sandbox Client Preview

This build includes the new Windows Sandbox Client Preview that is now updated via the Microsoft Store. As part of this preview, we’re introducing runtime clipboard redirection, audio/video input control, and the ability to share folders with the host at runtime. You can access these via the new “…” icon at the upper right on the app. Additionally, this preview includes a super early version of command line support (commands may change over time). You can use ‘wsb.exe --help’ command for more information. [caption id="attachment_177242" align="alignnone" width="710"] Windows Sandbox Client Preview with new dropdown showing clipboard redirection, audio/video input control, and the ability to share folders with the host.[/caption] FEEDBACK: Send us feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Security & Privacy > Windows Sandbox.

Changes and Improvements

[General]

Some features that were previously rolled out to Insiders in the Canary Channel may disappear as we flight newer 27xxx series builds. These features should begin rolling out again to Insiders over time.
We've made optimizations to improve battery life for PCs running Build 27686+ in the Canary Channel. Let us know what you think and if you are not seeing the battery life on your PC you are expecting, let us know via Feedback Hub. When filing feedback in Feedback Hub on any battery life issues you experience, be sure to use the “Start recording” button to capture additional logs.

[Settings]

In response to feedback, we have added a detach virtual hard disk (VHD/VHDx) button to Settings making it much simpler to detach your VHD/VHDx as needed. This option is available under Settings > System > Storage > Disks & Volumes, in the properties for your VHD/VHDx.

[caption id="attachment_177244" align="alignnone" width="650"] New detach VHD button under highlighted in a red box in properties of attached VHD in Settings.[/caption]

[ADDED 8/16] We’re beginning to roll out improvements to Settings > System > Power & battery including the ability to set your Power Mode for both when your PC is plugged in when it’s on battery along with a few other UI improvements to the page.

[caption id="attachment_177216" align="alignnone" width="660"] Ability to set your Power Mode for both when your PC is plugged in when it’s on battery in Settings highlighted in red square.[/caption]

[ADDED 8/16] On PCs with HDR displays, we have added the option to allow HDR video streaming even when HDR is off under Settings > System > Display > HDR.

[caption id="attachment_177248" align="alignnone" width="657"] New option to allow HDR video streaming even when HDR is off highlighted in a red box.[/caption]

[Networking]

To help us evaluate future improvements in network performance, your device may periodically run network tests in the background to collect diagnostic data. These tests will use a small amount of data (up to 10MB/day) and will only run on Ethernet and Wi-Fi connections that are not marked as metered. This will only occur on PCs in the Canary Channel running Build 27686 and higher.

[Storage]

When formatting disks from the command line using the format command, we've increased the FAT32 size limit from 32GB to 2TB.

Fixes

[Dev Drive]

Fixed an issue where Dev Drive VHDs weren’t automatically re-mounting when the underlying volume was dismounted and brought back online.

[Lock screen]

Did some work to help address an issue where the battery icon displayed on the lock screen might be out of sync with the actual battery level of your PC.

[Windows Security]

Fixed an issue in the Windows Security app where if you browsed the networks under Firewall & Network protection, it showed a broken glyph (a rectangle) next to the network name rather than a network icon.

[Settings]

Fixed an issue under Settings > System > Storage > Disks and Volumes, where there was no space between the Create and Attach VHD buttons.
Fixed an issue where the power mode option in Settings > System > Power & Battery was showing in cases where it couldn’t be changed, leading to a blank dropdown.
Fixed an issue where if you searched in Settings for Kiosk and clicked the result for setting up kiosk mode, it wouldn’t navigate to the correct page for doing that.

[Other]

Fixed an issue in Registry Editor where when editing a DWORD or QWORD if you pasted in a HEX value into the text box and saved it, the value saved might not be the one you had entered (for example, pasting 0x1 would become 0x411).

Known issues

[General]

[IMPORTANT NOTE FOR COPILOT+ PCs] If you are joining the Canary Channel on a new Copilot+ PC from the Dev Channel, Release Preview Channel or retail, you will lose Windows Hello pin and biometrics to sign into your PC with error 0xd0000225 and error message “Something went wrong, and your PIN isn’t available”. You should be able to re-create your PIN by clicking “Set up my PIN”.
[ADDED 8/16] We're investigating an issue where when trying to open dfrgui.exe (Defrag and Optimize drives) fails with a pop up saying SXSHARED_UCRT.dll was not found.

[Input]

We are working on the fix for an issue causing the emoji panel to close when trying to switch to the kaomoji and symbols sections, or after selecting an emoji.

[UPDATED!] Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Canary Channel

The builds we release to the Canary Channel represent the latest platform changes early in the development cycle and should not be seen as matched to any specific release of Windows and features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Many features in the Canary Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Some features may show up in the Dev and Beta Channels first before showing up in the Canary Channel.
To get off the Canary Channel, a clean install of Windows 11 will be required. As a reminder - Insiders can’t switch to a channel that is receiving builds with lower build numbers without doing a clean installation of Windows 11 due to technical setup requirements.

The desktop watermark shown at the lower right corner of the desktop is normal for these pre-release builds.

Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4010 (Beta Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 09 Aug 2024 17:03:55 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4010 (KB5041869) to the Beta Channel. REMINDER: Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel will receive updates based on Windows 11, version 23H2 via an enablement package (Build 22635.xxxx). For Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle (shown in the image below) to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready. [caption id="attachment_176587" align="alignnone" width="670"] Turn on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available to get new features rolled out to you.[/caption] Going forward, we will document changes in Beta Channel builds in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available and then new features, improvements, and fixes available to everyone in the Beta Channel.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Taskbar & System Tray]

The more simplified system tray with shortened date/time change that began rolling out with Build 22635.3930 is now beginning to roll out again to Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel after temporarily disabling the experience to address some issues.

[caption id="attachment_177177" align="alignnone" width="345"] Simplified system tray shown with shortened form data and time and no notification bell icon.[/caption]

For Insiders in the Beta Channel who have the experience where we show jump lists when you hover your mouse cursor over apps on the taskbar that have jump lists that began rolling out with Build 22635.4000, there is a setting to turn this off should you want to via Settings > Personalization > Taskbar under “Taskbar behaviors”.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Taskbar]

Fixed a recent issue where if you pressed the Shift key when you right clicked on an app icon on the taskbar, it was opening another instance of the app rather than opening the expected menu. As part of this fix, we also fixed an issue where if you pressed the Shift key when right-clicking on an app icon on the taskbar would sometimes crash explorer.exe.

[Task Manager]

Fixed an issue where the dropdown at the top of the GPU section of Performance wasn’t showing in dark mode when dark mode was enabled.

Known issues

[Taskbar]

We’re working on the fix for an issue causing explorer.exe to crash for some Insiders when closing apps from the taskbar in the latest builds.

[File Explorer]

Insiders in the Beta Channel with the updated Recent, Favorites, and Shared sections on the File Explorer homepage may see the following known issues:

Keyboard focus may be lost on selection of an unselected tab item.

[Input]

We are working on the fix for an issue causing the emoji panel to close when trying to switch to the kaomoji and symbols sections, or after selecting an emoji.

Paint Update

We are rolling out an update for Paint (version 11.2406.36.0 and newer) to Windows Insiders in the Beta and Release Preview Channels that introduces the following improvements:

Pen back button eraser support: In the new update, users can now seamlessly switch from their current tool to erase by pressing on the eraser button or flipping to the back of the stylus pen to erase.
Pen support lasso select in pen side button: In the latest update, users can click on the side button when they hover the stylus pen over the screen to use the free-form selection tool and select anything on the canvas quickly.

FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Apps > Paint.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel

Updates released to the Beta Channel are based off Windows 11, version 23H2.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Many features in the Beta Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you*, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Copilot in Windows** is being rolled out gradually to Windows Insiders across our global markets. Customers in the European Economic Area will be able to download the Copilot in Windows experience as an app from the Microsoft Store.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.1350 (Dev Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 09 Aug 2024 17:03:51 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.1350 (KB5041871) to the Dev Channel. This update is delivered in a format that offers a preview of enhancements to servicing technology on Windows 11, version 24H2. To learn more, see https://aka.ms/CheckpointCumulativeUpdates. REMINDER: Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel will now receive updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 via an enablement package (Build 26120.xxxx). For Insiders in the Dev Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle (shown in the image below) to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready. [caption id="attachment_176587" align="alignnone" width="670"] Turn on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available to get new features rolled out to you.[/caption] Going forward, we will document changes in Dev Channel builds in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available and then new features, improvements, and fixes available to everyone in the Dev Channel.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[General]

When installing an MSIX package either locally or via the web (ms-appinstaller://?source=), we are beginning to roll out a change where Microsoft SmartScreen is used to verify the source of the MSIX package and if it’s safe to install.

[Windows Share]

We are rolling out the ability to easily share content to an Android device from Windows share window. The feature requires you to pair your Android device to your Windows PC using the Link to Windows app on Android and Phone Link on your PC.

[caption id="attachment_177181" align="alignnone" width="609"] Updated UI for sharing content to an Android device via the Windows share window showing an updated icon in the Nearby Share section.[/caption]

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[Task Manager]

Fixed the issue causing graphs on the Performance page in Task Manager to not show the correct colors when using dark mode again.

Fixes for everyone in the Dev Channel

[Windows Sandbox]

We fixed the issue causing Windows Sandbox to fail to launch with error 0x80370106.

[Voice Access]

Fixed an issue where Voice Access commands weren’t working for non-English supported languages.

Known issues

[General]

[IMPORTANT] Windows Insiders joining the Dev Channel on PCs running Windows 11, version 24H2 Build 26100.xxxx will see "(repair version)" noted next to the latest Dev Channel build from Windows Update. This is nothing to worry about as all it means is that an in-place upgrade will happen to update your PC to the latest build in the Dev Channel.
Adding additional languages or optional features may fail with error 0x800f081f.

[Task Manager]

Navigating between different pages in Task Manager may crash Task Manager.

[Input]

We’re working on the fix for an issue causing text suggestions for the hardware keyboard to not work properly (selecting one unexpectedly concatenates).
[ADDED 6/13] We are working on the fix for an issue causing the emoji panel to close when trying to switch to the kaomoji and symbols sections, or after selecting an emoji.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel

Updates released to the Dev Channel are based off Windows 11, version 24H2.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Many features in the Dev Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you*, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.
Copilot in Windows** is being rolled out gradually to Windows Insiders across our global markets. Customers in the European Economic Area will be able to download the Copilot in Windows experience as an app from the Microsoft Store.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.1340 (Dev Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Mon, 05 Aug 2024 21:03:56 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.1340 (KB5040557) to the Dev Channel. This update is delivered in a format that offers a preview of enhancements to servicing technology on Windows 11, version 24H2. To learn more, see https://aka.ms/CheckpointCumulativeUpdates. REMINDER: Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel will now receive updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 via an enablement package (Build 26120.xxxx). For Insiders in the Dev Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle (shown in the image below) to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready. [caption id="attachment_176587" align="alignnone" width="645"] Turn on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available to get new features rolled out to you.[/caption] Going forward, we will document changes in Dev Channel builds in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available and then new features, improvements, and fixes available to everyone in the Dev Channel.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[Input]

We are updating Settings > Bluetooth & Device > Mouse to now include the option to turn off enhanced mouse pointer precision for those that would prefer to not use it and have added a new option for changing mouse scrolling direction.

[caption id="attachment_177202" align="alignnone" width="685"] New toggles for enhanced mouse pointer precision changing mouse scrolling direction highlighted in red boxes.[/caption]

[Voice Access]

We are making improvements for the spelling and corrections experience in voice access. You can now use the experience for the entire voice access session. The spelling experience will now enable you to dictate the characters at a faster speed and offer more editing flexibility inside the experience with dictation commands, namely selection, deletion and text navigation commands.

[Energy Saver]

For laptops on battery, a notification will pop up asking you to plug in your laptop if the battery level reaches 20% while Energy Saver is set to “Always On”.

[Settings]

We are beginning to roll out a new energy recommendation for turning off HDR to conserve energy on PCs with HDR displays under Settings > Power & battery > Energy recommendations.

[caption id="attachment_177169" align="alignnone" width="685"] New HDR energy recommendation highlighted in a red box in Settings.[/caption]

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[Settings]

Fixed an issue where the items under “Let desktop apps access your location” section in Settings > Privacy & Security > Location might visibly flicker although there were no changes displayed.

Known issues

[General]

[IMPORTANT] Windows Insiders joining the Dev Channel on PCs running Windows 11, version 24H2 Build 26100.xxxx will see "(repair version)" noted next to the latest Dev Channel build from Windows Update. This is nothing to worry about as all it means is that an in-place upgrade will happen to update your PC to the latest build in the Dev Channel.
Adding additional languages or optional features may fail with error 0x800f081f.

Windows Sandbox]

Windows Sandbox will fail to launch with error 0x80370106.

[Task Manager]

Navigating between different pages in Task Manager may crash Task Manager.
We’re working on the fix for an issue causing graphs on the Performance page in Task Manager to not show the correct colors when using dark mode again.

[Input]

We’re working on the fix for an issue causing text suggestions for the hardware keyboard to not work properly (selecting one unexpectedly concatenates).

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel

Updates released to the Dev Channel are based off Windows 11, version 24H2.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Many features in the Dev Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you*, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.
Copilot in Windows** is being rolled out gradually to Windows Insiders across our global markets. Customers in the European Economic Area will be able to download the Copilot in Windows experience as an app from the Microsoft Store.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4005 (Beta Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 02 Aug 2024 17:03:27 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4005 (KB5040555) to the Beta Channel. REMINDER: Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel will receive updates based on Windows 11, version 23H2 via an enablement package (Build 22635.xxxx). For Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle (shown in the image below) to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready. [caption id="attachment_176587" align="alignnone" width="762"] Turn on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available to get new features rolled out to you.[/caption] Going forward, we will document changes in Beta Channel builds in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available and then new features, improvements, and fixes available to everyone in the Beta Channel.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[General]

This update includes a small set of general improvements and fixes that improve the overall experience for Insiders running this build on their PCs.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[General]

Fixed an issue which was causing sporadic explorer.exe for some Insiders while using your PC in the latest flights.

Known issues

[Taskbar]

[NEW] We’re working on the fix for an issue causing explorer.exe to crash for some Insiders when closing apps from the taskbar in the latest builds.

[File Explorer]

Insiders in the Beta Channel with the updated Recent, Favorites, and Shared sections on the File Explorer homepage may see the following known issues:

Keyboard focus may be lost on selection of an unselected tab item.

[Input]

We are working on the fix for an issue causing the emoji panel to close when trying to switch to the kaomoji and symbols sections, or after selecting an emoji.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel

Updates released to the Beta Channel are based off Windows 11, version 23H2.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Many features in the Beta Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you*, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Copilot in Windows** is being rolled out gradually to Windows Insiders across our global markets. Customers in the European Economic Area will be able to download the Copilot in Windows experience as an app from the Microsoft Store.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4000 (Beta Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 26 Jul 2024 17:04:26 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4000 (KB5040546) to the Beta Channel. REMINDER: Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel will receive updates based on Windows 11, version 23H2 via an enablement package (Build 22635.xxxx). For Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle (shown in the image below) to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready. [caption id="attachment_176587" align="alignnone" width="680"] Turn on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available to get new features rolled out to you.[/caption] Going forward, we will document changes in Beta Channel builds in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available and then new features, improvements, and fixes available to everyone in the Beta Channel.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[General]

This update includes a small set of general improvements and fixes that improve the overall experience for Insiders running this build on their PCs.

[Taskbar & System Tray]

We're beginning to try out showing jump lists when you hover your mouse cursor over apps on the taskbar that have jump lists and are inactive. Should you see this experience, let us know what you think via Feedback Hub.
[ADDED 7/29] The setting to show seconds in the system tray clock has moved to Settings > Time & language > Time & date under "Show time and date in the system tray".

[Voice Access]

We are making improvements for the spelling and corrections experience in voice access. You will now be able to use the experience for the entirety of voice access session. The spelling experience will now enable you to dictate the characters at a faster speed and offer more editing flexibility inside the experience with dictation commands, namely selection, deletion and text navigation commands.

[Widgets]

We are rolling out an update to the Widgets Board to improve security and the APIs for creating widgets and feeds for users in EEA regions. As part of this update, the Microsoft Start Experiences app will power the Microsoft Start widget and feed experiences. Also, as part of this update, some existing widgets will be removed and others will be modified, temporarily affecting their functionality. This update sets the foundation for new widgets and other features in development, set to roll out soon.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[General]

Fix and underlying issue causing the Notification Center to get stuck and not open sometimes for some Insiders with the latest builds. This is also believed to be the same underlying cause as some Insiders finding that the Add a Device dialog didn’t appear when trying to add Bluetooth devices in Settings.

[Input]

[ADDED] We’re rolling out the fix for an issue impacting the ability to launch the touch keyboard, emoji panel, and IME candidate window reliably due to an underlying crash.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to everyone in the Beta Channel

[File Explorer]

Fixed some issues causing Narrator to not work as expected when navigating through the Recent, Favorites, and Shared tab items for Insiders with the recent updates to Home in File Explorer.
Fixed an issue causing the context menu in Home or Gallery to open in the wrong position when using Arabic or Hebrew display languages.

Known issues

[General]

We’re investigating a couple of issues causing an increase in explorer.exe crashes for some Insiders with the latest builds.

[File Explorer]

Insiders in the Beta Channel with the updated Recent, Favorites, and Shared sections on the File Explorer homepage may see the following known issues:

Files shared with you may not appear if there has been no interaction with that file.
Keyboard focus may be lost on selection of an unselected tab item.

[Input]

We are working on the fix for an issue causing the emoji panel to close when trying to switch to the kaomoji and symbols sections, or after selecting an emoji.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel

Updates released to the Beta Channel are based off Windows 11, version 23H2.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Many features in the Beta Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you*, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.
Copilot in Windows** is being rolled out gradually to Windows Insiders across our global markets. Customers in the European Economic Area will be able to download the Copilot in Windows experience as an app from the Microsoft Store.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.1330 (Dev Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 26 Jul 2024 17:04:20 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.1330 (KB5040543) to the Dev Channel. This update is delivered in a format that offers a preview of enhancements to servicing technology on Windows 11, version 24H2. To learn more, see https://aka.ms/CheckpointCumulativeUpdates. REMINDER: Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel will now receive updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 via an enablement package (Build 26120.xxxx). For Insiders in the Dev Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle (shown in the image below) to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready. [caption id="attachment_176587" align="alignnone" width="680"] Turn on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available to get new features rolled out to you.[/caption] Going forward, we will document changes in Dev Channel builds in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available and then new features, improvements, and fixes available to everyone in the Dev Channel.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[Taskbar & System Tray]

[ADDED 7/29] The setting to show seconds in the system tray clock has moved to Settings > Time & language > Time & date under "Show time and date in the system tray".

[File Explorer]

We’re rolling out the ability to duplicate a tab by right-clicking on a tab in File Explorer.

[caption id="attachment_177024" align="alignnone" width="513"] Option to duplicate tab when right-clicking on a tab in File Explorer highlighted in a red square.[/caption]

[Narrator]

We have made several changes to improve the performance of Narrator scan mode. This is expected to make scan mode responses much quicker, especially while using Microsoft Edge, and reading through large documents. To try out scan mode, turn on Narrator first (Win key + Ctrl + Enter), and then turn scan mode ON by pressing Caps Lock + Spacebar during a Narrator session.

[Settings]

We're beginning to roll out improvements to Settings > System > Power & battery including the ability to set your Power Mode for both when your PC is plugged in when it’s on battery along with a few other UI improvements to the page.

[caption id="attachment_177216" align="alignnone" width="583"] Ability to set your Power Mode for both when your PC is plugged in when it’s on battery in Settings highlighted in red square.[/caption]

[For Developers]

Updated the logic for the “End Task” option in the taskbar so that it no longer shows a Not Responding dialog to give confirmation before ending the task.

[Other]

Updated System Info (msinfo32) to now follow your text size preference under Settings > Accessibility > Text Size.

Fixes for everyone in the Dev Channel

[Settings]

Fixed an issue where the Windows Update page in Settings was not displaying correctly for Insiders using certain languages (no text showed). If you are impacted by this on Build 26120.1252, updating to this flight should still happen on its own, however you may need to wait a little bit.

Known issues

[General]

[IMPORTANT] Windows Insiders joining the Dev Channel on PCs running Windows 11, version 24H2 Build 26100.xxxx will see "(repair version)" noted next to the latest Dev Channel build from Windows Update. This is nothing to worry about as all it means is that an in-place upgrade will happen to update your PC to the latest build in the Dev Channel.
[NEW] The BitLocker Recovery screen issue documented here may also impact Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel.
Adding additional languages or optional features may fail with error 0x800f081f.

Windows Sandbox]

Windows Sandbox will fail to launch with error 0x80370106.

[Task Manager]

Navigating between different pages in Task Manager may crash Task Manager.
[NEW] We’re investigating an issue causing graphs on the Performance page in Task Manager to not show the correct colors when using dark mode again.

[Input]

[NEW] We’re working on the fix for an issue causing text suggestions for the hardware keyboard to not work properly (selecting one unexpectedly concatenates).

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel

Updates released to the Dev Channel are based off Windows 11, version 24H2.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Many features in the Dev Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you*, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.
Copilot in Windows** is being rolled out gradually to Windows Insiders across our global markets. Customers in the European Economic Area will be able to download the Copilot in Windows experience as an app from the Microsoft Store.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26257 (Canary Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Wed, 24 Jul 2024 17:04:34 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26257 to the Canary Channel. Developers, please note that for a short period of time, we will not be releasing an SDK for builds we flight to the Canary Channel.

Changes and Improvements

[Taskbar & System Tray]

[ADDED 7/29] The setting to show seconds in the system tray clock has moved to Settings > Time & language > Time & date under "Show time and date in the system tray".

[File Explorer]

We’re rolling out the ability to duplicate a tab by right-clicking on a tab in File Explorer.

[caption id="attachment_177024" align="alignnone" width="525"] Option to duplicate tab when right-clicking on a tab in File Explorer highlighted in a red square.[/caption]

[Input]

[ADDED] We have updated Settings > Bluetooth & Device > Mouse to now include the option to turn off enhanced mouse pointer precision for those that would prefer to not use it and have added a new option for changing mouse scrolling direction.

[caption id="attachment_177202" align="alignnone" width="706"] New options for enhanced mouse pointer precision changing mouse scrolling direction highlighted in red boxes.[/caption]

[Networking]

If you use the netsh wlan show networks command, you should be able to read SSIDs that are UTF-8 encoded. This means that Wi-Fi SSIDs with Unicode characters (like emojis) should be properly displayed in netsh output. This change is beginning to roll out so not all Insiders in the Canary Channel will see it right away.

[For Developers]

Updated the logic for the “End Task” option in the taskbar so that it no longer shows a Not Responding dialog to give confirmation before ending the task.

[Other]

Updated System Info (msinfo32) to now follow your text size preference under Settings > Accessibility > Text Size.

Fixes

[General]

Fixed an underlying issue causing some Insiders to see bugchecks in recent builds citing KERNEL_SECURITY_CHECK_FAILURE.

[File Explorer]

Did some work to help address an issue where the address bar dropdown might appear unexpectedly while you were using File Explorer.

[Settings]

Fixed an underlying issue leading to some of the pop-up windows in Settings unexpectedly appearing left aligned, for example, the window for selecting a custom color for Dynamic Lighting.

Known issues

[General]

[IMPORTANT NOTE] We are investigating reports that some Windows Insiders in the Canary and Dev Channels are stuck on Build 26040 or Build 23620. The investigation is ongoing, however if you are impacted by this and really want to get onto the latest build in the Canary or Dev Channel today – you can download the latest ISO here and do a clean install and opt your device back into flighting in the Canary or Dev Channels.

[Windows Sandbox]

[NEW] Windows Sandbox will fail to launch with error 0x80370106.

[Input]

[NEW] We are working on the fix for an issue causing the emoji panel to close when trying to switch to the kaomoji and symbols sections, or after selecting an emoji.
[ADDED 7/25] We’re working on the fix for an issue causing text suggestions for the hardware keyboard to not work properly (selecting one unexpectedly concatenates).

[Task Manager]

[ADDED] We're investigating an issue causing graphs on the Performance page in Task Manager to not show the correct colors when using dark mode again.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Canary Channel

The builds we release to the Canary Channel should not be seen as matched to any specific release of Windows and features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Many features in the Canary Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
To get off the Canary Channel, a clean install of Windows 11 will be required. As a reminder - Insiders can’t switch to a channel that is receiving builds with lower build numbers without doing a clean installation of Windows 11 due to technical setup requirements.

The desktop watermark shown at the lower right corner of the desktop is normal for these pre-release builds.

Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Copilot in Windows* is being rolled out gradually to Windows Insiders across our global markets. Customers in the European Economic Area will be able to download the Copilot in Windows experience as an app from the Microsoft Store.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.3936 (Beta Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Mon, 22 Jul 2024 21:03:25 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.3936 (KB5040535) to the Beta Channel. REMINDER: Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel will receive updates based on Windows 11, version 23H2 via an enablement package (Build 22635.xxxx). For Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle (shown in the image below) to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready. [caption id="attachment_176587" align="alignnone" width="671"] Turn on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available to get new features rolled out to you.[/caption] Going forward, we will document changes in Beta Channel builds in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available and then new features, improvements, and fixes available to everyone in the Beta Channel.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[General]

We are trying out updated designs for the "Open with" dialog where the group headers are removed, among a few other changes.

[Taskbar & System Tray]

We have temporarily disabled the more simplified system tray with shortened date/time change that began rolling out with Build 22635.3930 to address several issues. We will begin re-enabling this on a future flight. If you saw this change previously, it will likely disappear after updating to this build today.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Input]

Fixed an issue causing text suggestions for the hardware keyboard to not work properly in recent builds (selecting one unexpectedly concatenated).
Fixed a few high hitting ctfmon.exe crashes, which could impact the ability to input text.
Fixed an issue which could cause certain mice and keyboards to not work in safe mode.

Known issues

[General]

[NEW] We’re investigating a couple of issues causing an increase in explorer.exe crashes for some Insiders with the latest builds.
[NEW] We’re working on the fix for an issue causing the Notification Center to get stuck and not open sometimes for some Insiders with the latest builds.

[File Explorer]

Insiders in the Beta Channel with the updated Recent, Favorites, and Shared sections on the File Explorer homepage may see the following known issues:

Files shared with you may not appear if there has been no interaction with that file.
Keyboard focus may be lost on selection of an unselected tab item.
Narrator may not work as expected when navigating through the Recent, Favorites, and Shared tab items.

[Widgets]

Insiders in the Beta Channel who have the new position for the Widgets entry-point on left-aligned taskbars may see the following known issues:

Swipe invocation for Widgets may not work if taskbar is center-aligned instead of left-aligned.
Unpinning Widgets from the taskbar may not work if taskbar is center-aligned instead of left-aligned.
The Widgets board is incorrectly positioned when Copilot is in side-by-side mode.

[Input]

[NEW] We are working on the fix for an issue causing the emoji panel to close when trying to switch to the kaomoji and symbols sections, or after selecting an emoji.

Microsoft Store Update

Windows Insiders across all Insider Channels running version 22406.xxxx.x of the Microsoft Store and higher will see the following improvement rolling out: Store Search suggestions: When you’re searching for content in the Store Search box, a new flyout at the bottom of the search display suggests content you may be interested in. Check it out by navigating to the Search box! [caption id="attachment_177194" align="alignnone" width="610"] New flyout at the bottom of search results showing recommended content from the Store.[/caption] Browsing games per category: From the Gaming page, you can now navigate easily and quickly through different game categories such as strategy, role-playing, shooter, sport, puzzle, and simulation. We are trying this out in the US, UK and CA. [caption id="attachment_177195" align="alignnone" width="709"] Navigate more easily between game categories in the Store.[/caption] FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Microsoft Store.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel

Updates released to the Beta Channel are based off Windows 11, version 23H2.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Many features in the Beta Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you*, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Copilot in Windows** is being rolled out gradually to Windows Insiders across our global markets. Customers in the European Economic Area will be able to download the Copilot in Windows experience as an app from the Microsoft Store.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.1252 (Dev Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Mon, 15 Jul 2024 21:03:40 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.1252 (KB5038603) to the Dev Channel. This update is delivered in a format that offers a preview of enhancements to servicing technology on Windows 11, version 24H2. To learn more, see https://aka.ms/CheckpointCumulativeUpdates. REMINDER: Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel will now receive updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 via an enablement package (Build 26120.xxxx). For Insiders in the Dev Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle (shown in the image below) to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready. [caption id="attachment_176587" align="alignnone" width="708"] Turn on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available to get new features rolled out to you.[/caption] Going forward, we will document changes in Dev Channel builds in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available and then new features, improvements, and fixes available to everyone in the Dev Channel.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[General]

We are beginning to enable again the set of new features we started to enable on 6/28 but paused on 6/30. We’re starting the enablement of these at a small percentage at first so not all Insiders in the Dev Channel with this toggle turned on will see all these features right away. And some features may show up while others might not just yet.

[Start menu]

You can now also pin apps from the Start menu to the taskbar by dragging and dropping items directly to taskbar from the pinned section in the Start menu.

[File Explorer]

Drag-and-drop files with your mouse functionality between breadcrumbs is now available in the File Explorer Address Bar – thanks again Insiders that shared feedback about this!

[Lock screen]

We’re beginning to roll out Weather and more to your lock screen starting with this build in the Dev Channel. Stay informed and efficient with dynamic updates that bring finance, traffic, and sports to your Lock screen, alongside weather. The card design has been improved with acrylic blur, card size, spacing, and font optimizations. To turn on this feature, go to Settings > Personalization > Lock screen. To learn more, see Personalize your lock screen.

[caption id="attachment_176976" align="alignnone" width="706"] Finance, traffic, and sports content along with weather on the Lock screen.[/caption]

[Widgets]

[ADDED] We are also making some improvements to the Widgets button on the taskbar so that the icons on the taskbar are clearer and we are rolling out a larger set of animated icons too.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[File Explorer]

Fixed an issue which could make explorer.exe crash when navigating away from Home.

[Input]

Fixed an issue where if you went through Windows Setup (OOBE), pinyin would be unexpectedly displayed twice in the list of available input methods.

[Other]

~~Fixed an underlying issue believed to be the cause of Insiders seeing error 0x80370106 when trying to launch Windows Sandbox after the latest flights.~~
Fixed an issue which was causing the preferred audio volume (under Settings > System > Sound > Volume Mixer) for Microsoft Edge to not persist across restarting the app.

Fixes for everyone in the Dev Channel

[General]

Fixed an issue causing some Insiders to see a bugcheck with error KERNEL_SECURITY_CHECK_FAILURE in recent flights.
Fixed an issue believed to be the underlying cause of some Insiders noticing stutters in some animations recently (dropping frames), particularly with Task View.

[Input]

Fixed an issue causing a cyclical input crash in the previous flight for a small number of Insiders, which impacted various input experiences.
Fixed an issue where the Input Method Editor (IME) candidate list may fail to show or showed in the wrong position.
Fixed an issue causing Insiders to see errors when attempting to use Voice Typing with certain languages such as Chinese.

[Taskbar & System Tray]

Updated the app icon flashing in the taskbar to be a bit easier to see.

[Settings]

Fixed an issue where Settings > System > Power & Battery unexpectedly had duplicate text when showing a warning about a slow charger.
Fixed an issue causing Insiders to see errors when attempting to use Voice Typing with certain languages such as Chinese.

[Other]

This update brings Country and Operator Settings Asset (COSA) profiles up to date for certain mobile operators.
Fixed the underlying issue causing some Insiders to see a Pcasvc.dll error dialog pop-up with the message “Missing entry: PcaWallpaperAppDetect” after upgrading from Windows 11, version 22H2/23H2 to a 26xxx build.

Known issues

[General]

[IMPORTANT] Windows Insiders joining the Dev Channel on PCs running Windows 11, version 24H2 Build 26100.xxxx will see "(repair version)" noted next to the latest Dev Channel build from Windows Update. This is nothing to worry about as all it means is that an in-place upgrade will happen to update your PC to the latest build in the Dev Channel.
[NEW] There’s an issue in this build where the Windows Update page in Settings is not displaying correctly for Insiders using certain languages (no text shows). If you are impacted by this, the update when the next flight goes out should still happen on its own, however you may need to wait a little bit.
[NEW] Adding additional languages or optional features may fail with error 0x800f081f.

[Task Manager]

Navigating between different pages in Task Manager may crash Task Manager.

[Windows Sandbox]

[ADDED 7/16] Windows Sandbox will fail to launch with error 0x80370106.

[ADDED 7/18] Paint Update

We are rolling out an update for Paint (version 11.2406.34.0and newer) to Windows Insiders in the Canary and Dev Channels that introduces the following improvements:

Pen back button eraser support: In the new update, users can now seamlessly switch from their current tool to erase by pressing on the eraser button or flipping to the back of the stylus pen to erase.
Pen support lasso select in pen side button: In the latest update, users can click on the side button when they hover the stylus pen over the screen to use the free-form selection tool and select anything on the canvas quickly.

FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Apps > Paint.

[ADDED 7/18] Microsoft Store Update

Windows Insiders across all Insider Channels running version 22406.xxxx.x of the Microsoft Store and higher will see the following improvement rolling out: Store Search suggestions: When you’re searching for content in the Store Search box, a new flyout at the bottom of the search display suggests content you may be interested in. Check it out by navigating to the Search box! [caption id="attachment_177194" align="alignnone" width="795"] New flyout at the bottom of search results showing recommended content from the Store.[/caption] Browsing games per category: From the Gaming page, you can now navigate easily and quickly through different game categories such as strategy, role-playing, shooter, sport, puzzle, and simulation. We are trying this out in the US, UK and CA. [caption id="attachment_177195" align="alignnone" width="815"] Navigate more easily between game categories in the Store.[/caption] FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Microsoft Store.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel

Updates released to the Dev Channel are based off Windows 11, version 24H2.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Many features in the Dev Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you*, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.
Copilot in Windows** is being rolled out gradually to Windows Insiders across our global markets. Customers in the European Economic Area will be able to download the Copilot in Windows experience as an app from the Microsoft Store.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.3930 (Beta Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 12 Jul 2024 17:03:26 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.3930 (KB5040550) to the Beta Channel. REMINDER: Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel will updates based on Windows 11, version 23H2 via an enablement package (Build 22635.xxxx). For Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle (shown in the image below) to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready. [caption id="attachment_176587" align="alignnone" width="683"] Turn on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available to get new features rolled out to you.[/caption] Going forward, we will document changes in Beta Channel builds in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available and then new features, improvements, and fixes available to everyone in the Beta Channel.

New features gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

Shared Content in File Explorer Home

File Explorer will now provide you with quick access to files that have been shared with you. If you are signed into Windows with your Microsoft account, you will be able to view files that have been shared with your account, such as email, Teams chat, etc. If you are a commercial customer who is signed-in with your Microsoft Entra ID account, you will additionally be able to view files that they have shared with others. You can access this feature by launching File Explorer Home and clicking on the ‘Shared’ tab item. You will also be able to view a broader set of file types in their Recent, Favorites, and Shared sections on the homepage. For example, if you’ve recently opened/edited files in Designer, Loop, Power BI, Forms, etc. these files will now be available in your Recent list. [caption id="attachment_177176" align="alignnone" width="736"] File Explorer Home with new tabs for Recent, Favorites, and Shared.[/caption] FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Files Folders and Online Storage > File Explorer.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Taskbar & System Tray]

We are trying out a more simplified system tray to highlight the date/time in a shortened form and to show the notifications bell icon based on DND status. Without the notification bell icon, you can get to your notifications by clicking the date and time to Notification Center. You can revert to the long form of the date/time and bell icon visuals by toggling the values in the Settings via Settings > Date and Time under “Show time and day in the system tray” and Settings > System > Notifications under “Notifications”. These settings are also accessible through the context menu shown by right clicking the system tray clock/bell icon button. [UPDATE 7/17] We have temporarily disabled the more simplified system tray with shortened date/time change to address several issues. We will begin re-enabling this in a future flight.

[caption id="attachment_177177" align="alignnone" width="338"] Simplified system tray shown with shortened form data and time and no notification bell icon.[/caption]

We've updated the previews that show when you mouse-over/hover over apps on the taskbar. We have also improved the animations for when these previews show on the taskbar based on Insider feedback.

[caption id="attachment_177179" align="alignnone" width="622"] Updated taskbar previews shown for two open File Explorer windows.[/caption]

Updated the taskbar to now support first letter navigation, so when keyboard focus is set to the taskbar (WIN + T), you can press a letter, and it will jump to the open or pinned app whose name starts with that letter. Pressing the letter multiple times will jump to the subsequent app which starts with that letter, if there are multiple apps for that letter. For those using uncombined taskbar, rather than app name, the first letter navigation will use window name. Along with this, pressing Home and End will now move keyboard focus to the first and last (respectively) items in the taskbar.

[Windows Studio Effects]

Windows Studio Effects delivers AI-based camera and audio enhancements on devices equipped with a Neural Processing Unit (NPU). Today, you can access Studio Effects in Quick Settings from the system tray of the taskbar. To further streamline your experience, an icon will now appear in the system tray when using any application with a Studio Effects-enabled camera. Simply click on this icon to launch the Studio Effects page in Quick Settings. Additionally, hovering over the icon will display a tooltip indicating which application is utilizing the camera.

[caption id="attachment_177180" align="alignnone" width="438"] New Studio Effects icon shown in system tray when using any application with a Studio Effects-enabled camera.[/caption]

[Windows Share]

We are updating the UI in the Windows share window for sharing content to an Android device that began rolling out with Build 22635.3785. The option is also move to be under “Nearby Share” in the Windows share window. The feature requires you to pair your Android device to your Windows PC using the Link to Windows app on Android and Phone Link on your PC.

[caption id="attachment_177181" align="alignnone" width="547"] Updated UI for sharing content to an Android device via the Windows share window showing an updated icon in the Nearby Share section.[/caption]

[Narrator]

We have made several changes to improve the performance of Narrator scan mode. This is expected to make scan mode responses much quicker, especially while using Microsoft Edge, and reading through large documents. To try out scan mode, turn on Narrator first (Win key + Ctrl + Enter), and then turn scan mode ON by pressing Caps Lock + Spacebar during a Narrator session.

[Other]

Updated System Info (msinfo32) to now follow your text size preference under Settings > Accessibility > Text Size.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Start menu]

Fixed an issue where the All apps list wasn’t being read out by screen readers in recent flights.
Fixed an issue causing some apps to not be sorted correctly in the All apps list when using certain display languages.

[Taskbar & System Tray]

Fixed an issue where keyboard focus might get lost when using Shift + Tab to move through the taskbar.

Fixes for everyone in the Beta Channel

[Taskbar & System Tray]

We fixed the issue causing you not to be able to view or interact with the taskbar after you install KB5039302. This issue occurs on devices that run the Windows N edition. This edition is like other editions but lacks most media-related tools. The issue also occurs if you turn off “Media Features” from the Control Panel.

Known issues

[Taskbar & System Tray]

Insiders in the Beta Channel who have the more simplified system tray with shortened date/time may see the following known issues:

[NEW] If the “Show notification icon” is greyed out under Settings > System > Notifications – just toggle “Notifications” off and back on again and it should no longer be greyed out.

[File Explorer]

Insiders in the Beta Channel with the updated Recent, Favorites, and Shared sections on the File Explorer homepage may see the following known issues:

[NEW] Files shared with you may not appear if there has been no interaction with that file.
[NEW] Keyboard focus may be lost on selection of an unselected tab item.
[NEW] Narrator may not work as expected when navigating through the Recent, Favorites, and Shared tab items.

[Text input]

We’re working on the fix for an issue causing text suggestions for the hardware keyboard to not work properly with the previous flight (selecting one unexpectedly concatenates).

[Widgets]

Insiders in the Beta Channel who have the new position for the Widgets entry-point on left-aligned taskbars may see the following known issues:

Swipe invocation for Widgets may not work if taskbar is center-aligned instead of left-aligned.
Unpinning Widgets from the taskbar may not work if taskbar is center-aligned instead of left-aligned.
The Widgets board is incorrectly positioned when Copilot is in side-by-side mode.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel

Updates released to the Beta Channel are based off Windows 11, version 23H2.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Many features in the Beta Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you*, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Copilot in Windows** is being rolled out gradually to Windows Insiders across our global markets. Customers in the European Economic Area will be able to download the Copilot in Windows experience as an app from the Microsoft Store.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26252 (Canary Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Wed, 10 Jul 2024 17:04:10 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26252 to the Canary Channel. Developers, please note that for a short period of time, we will not be releasing an SDK for builds we flight to the Canary Channel.

Changes and Improvements

[Lock screen]

We’re beginning to roll out Weather and more to your lock screen starting with this build in the Canary Channel. Stay informed and efficient with dynamic updates that bring finance, traffic, and sports to your Lock screen, alongside weather. The card design has been improved with acrylic blur, card size, spacing, and font optimizations. To turn on this feature, go to Settings > Personalization > Lock screen. To learn more, see Personalize your lock screen.

[caption id="attachment_176976" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Finance, traffic, and sports content along with weather on the Lock screen.[/caption]

[Start menu]

You can now also pin apps from the Start menu to the taskbar by dragging and dropping items directly to taskbar from the pinned section in the Start menu.

[Settings]

Evaluation copy expiry date information is now visible under Settings > System > About.

[caption id="attachment_177167" align="alignnone" width="748"] Evaluation expiration date highlighted in a red box on the About settings page.[/caption]

We are beginning to roll out a new energy recommendation for turning off HDR to conserve energy on PCs with HDR displays under Settings > Power & battery > Energy recommendations.

[caption id="attachment_177169" align="alignnone" width="776"] New HDR energy recommendation highlighted in a red box in Settings.[/caption]

Fixes

[Input]

Fixed an issue causing Insiders to see errors when attempting to use Voice Typing with certain languages such as Chinese.
Fixed an issue where if you went through Windows Setup (OOBE), pinyin would be unexpectedly displayed twice in the list of available input methods.

[Task Manager]

Fixed an issue causing colors in the Performance section to not display correctly in dark mode.

[Settings]

Fixed an issue causing the icons in Settings > Apps > Startup too be way too large for the available space for some users, causing them to be cut off.
Fixed an issue where Settings > System > Power & Battery unexpectedly had duplicate text when showing a warning about a slow charger.
Fixed an issue where the Windows Update page in Settings was not displayed correctly for some Insiders after the previous flight (no text shows). If you are impacted by this, the update to this build with the fix should still happen on its own, however you may need to wait a little bit.

Known issues

[General]

[IMPORTANT NOTE] We are investigating reports that some Windows Insiders in the Canary and Dev Channels are stuck on Build 26040 or Build 23620. The investigation is ongoing, however if you are impacted by this and really want to get onto the latest build in the Canary or Dev Channel today – you can download the latest ISO here and do a clean install and opt your device back into flighting in the Canary or Dev Channels.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Canary Channel

The builds we release to the Canary Channel should not be seen as matched to any specific release of Windows and features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Many features in the Canary Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
To get off the Canary Channel, a clean install of Windows 11 will be required. As a reminder - Insiders can’t switch to a channel that is receiving builds with lower build numbers without doing a clean installation of Windows 11 due to technical setup requirements.

The desktop watermark shown at the lower right corner of the desktop is normal for these pre-release builds.

Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Copilot in Windows* is being rolled out gradually to Windows Insiders across our global markets. Customers in the European Economic Area will be able to download the Copilot in Windows experience as an app from the Microsoft Store.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Beginning to enable a set of new features for Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel on Build 26120.961

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 28 Jun 2024 18:04:16 +0000

UPDATE 7/15: We are beginning to enable again the features in the below post to Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel with Build 26120.1252. ~~UPDATE 6/30: We have temporarily paused the enablement of these features to investigate a few issues reported by Windows Insiders. We plan to begin the enablement again shortly.~~

Hello Windows Insiders, we are beginning to enable the following new features, changes and improvements, and fixes to the Dev Channel for Insiders on Build 26120.961 who have turned ON the toggle (shown in the image below) to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update. We’re starting the enablement of these at a small percentage at first so not all Insiders in the Dev Channel with this toggle turned on will see all these features right away. And some features may show up while others might not just yet. We hope to further expand the enablement of these new features, changes and improvements, and fixes with the next new Dev Channel build. Insiders will need to reboot to see if they have received the enablement of these features. [caption id="attachment_176587" align="alignnone" width="730"] Turn on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available to get new features rolled out to you.[/caption]

New features gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

Narrator users can now use voice access to dictate text hands-free

Narrator users can start using voice access in Windows 11 to dictate text with voice and hear what is dictated. In addition, you can also use voice access to give Narrator commands. For example, “Turn on Narrator,” “speak faster,” “read selection,” “read next line,” etc. To know the entire list of Narrator commands supported with voice access, click help icon (?) on the voice access bar, select “View all commands” and choose “Narrator commands.” What will work:

Start and set up voice access which includes downloading a speech model.
Read a list of voice access commands and Narrator commands from voice access help menu.
Changing voice access microphone state.
Dictating text with voice and hearing back what was dictated.

Tips:

If you don’t use headphones for listening to the screen reader, the audio output from the screen reader may get picked up by voice access microphone, leading to unwanted behavior.

FEEDBACK: Send us feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Accessibility > Narrator.

Auto Restart for Voice Access & New Voice Access Command for Windows Search

We are introducing auto restart for voice access in Windows 11. This feature ensures that voice access will automatically restart if it encounters any issues so that individuals with limited mobility can get back to using voice access as quickly as possible. Customers will no longer need to rely on alternative assistive technologies or assistance from others to reactivate voice access. Should voice access automatically restart due to a crash, we are making it easier to report those crashes once voice access restarts so the team can investigate and work on fixes. We are introducing a new command for searching directly with Windows search. Users can now say the command Search “Entity”; Search Windows for “Entity”; or Search for “Entity” to search for their desired application or file in Windows (“Entity” is replaced with whatever application or file you want to search.) FEEDBACK: Send us feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Accessibility > Voice access.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[Start menu]

This update starts the roll out of the new account manager on Start menu. When you sign in with a Microsoft account, the new design gives you a quick glanceable view of your account benefits and makes it easy to manage account settings.

[caption id="attachment_177008" align="alignnone" width="416"] New account manager experience on the Start menu showing account settings and an action needed that needs to be taken to secure your Microsoft account.[/caption]

[Windows Share]

We are beginning to roll out the ability to copy files from the Windows share window. Just click the new copy button.

[caption id="attachment_177049" align="alignnone" width="572"] New copy button for copying files in the Windows share window highlighted in a red box.[/caption]

Users will be able to now generate QR codes for URLs and cloud file links through the Windows share window to seamlessly share webpages and files across their devices. To try this out in Microsoft Edge, just click the share button in the Edge toolbar and choose “Windows share options”.

[caption id="attachment_176975" align="alignnone" width="576"] Option to generate a QR code to share a URL through the Windows share window.[/caption]

To prevent accidentally closing the Windows share window, clicking outside the Windows share window will no longer close it. To close the Windows share window, just press the close button at the top right corner.
If your Microsoft account uses a Gmail address, you can now send email to yourself from Windows share window and receive it in your Gmail account.

[caption id="attachment_177009" align="alignnone" width="410"] Example Gmail option to email yourself in the Windows share window highlighted in a red box.[/caption]

[Emoji]

We’re adding support for Emoji 15.1 which introduces a small number of brand-new emoji such as head shaking horizontally and vertically, phoenix, lime, brown mushroom and broken chain. Other changes for Emoji 15.1 include Unicode’s decision to revert family combinations to symbol-like shapes. Windows has chosen to stay with our existing style that uses people in family combinations. We are also supporting the new directionality updates for person/man/woman walking, kneeling, with cane, running, manual wheelchair and motorized wheelchair. You can now select right facing or the original left facing orientation for these emoji.

[caption id="attachment_177061" align="alignnone" width="624"] New Emoji 15.1 that includes head shaking horizontally and vertically, phoenix, lime, brown mushroom and broken chain.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_177062" align="alignnone" width="624"] Example of new directionality updates for person/man/woman walking emoji with right facing or the original left facing orientation.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_177063" align="alignnone" width="624"] Example of new directionality updates for person/man/woman in manual wheelchair and motorized wheelchair emoji with right facing or the original left facing orientation.[/caption]

[Windows Backup]

If you have both Personalization and Other Windows settings toggled on under Settings > Accounts > Windows backup, many of your sound settings (including chosen sound scheme) will be backed up which can be restored via the Windows Backup app.

[Settings]

To ensure you don’t lose access to your Microsoft account, we’re beginning to roll out a new banner with a “Add now” button under Settings > Account for adding a recovery email address if you haven’t added one for your Microsoft account yet. This will only show if you are signed in with a Microsoft account.
We are beginning to roll out updated visuals for the “Rename your PC” and “Change date and time” dialogs to match the Windows 11 visuals.

[caption id="attachment_177056" align="alignnone" width="509"] Rename your PC dialog with refreshed design to match the Windows 11 visuals.[/caption]

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[Task Manager]

Updated the units (from MHz to MT/s) for DDR speed.
Fixed an issue where the Safely Remove Hardware option for ejecting USB devices wouldn’t work if Task Manager was open.
Did some work to ensure Task Manager releases process handles quickly when terminating processes.
Made some more improvements to help with Task Manager reliability.
We have improved the performance when changing the sort order.
Made multiple improvements to overall accessibility of Task Manager, including improving keyboard focus, tab navigation, text scaling, names of items read out by screen readers, and more.
We made it a little easier to resize Task Manager when trying to resize by grabbing the top of the window.

[Graphics]

Fixed an issue where some monitors would get stuck at a 60Hz refresh rate and couldn’t be set higher even though the monitor supported it, because dynamic refresh rate was stuck.

[Multiple desktops]

Fixed an issue where the option to set a different wallpaper on each desktop wasn’t working.

[Other]

Fixed an underlying issue which could lead to some apps not starting on startup even though they were enabled as startup apps in Setting.
Fixed an underlying issue which could lead to the pop up asking for permission to use location not appearing, which could lead to app issues without location access.
Fixed an issue causing some Insiders to see a bugcheck with error DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL in recent flights.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel

Updates released to the Dev Channel are based off Windows 11, version 24H2.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Many features in the Dev Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you*, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.
Copilot in Windows** is being rolled out gradually to Windows Insiders across our global markets. Customers in the European Economic Area will be able to download the Copilot in Windows experience as an app from the Microsoft Store.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26244 (Canary Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 28 Jun 2024 17:06:09 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26244 to the Canary Channel. Developers, please note that for a short period of time, we will not be releasing an SDK for builds we flight to the Canary Channel.

Changes and Improvements

[General]

This update includes a small set of general improvements and fixes that improve the overall experience for Insiders running this build on their PCs.

[Windows Backup]

If you have both Personalization and Other Windows settings toggled on under Settings > Accounts > Windows backup, many of your sound settings (including chosen sound scheme) will be backed up which can be restored via the Windows Backup app.

[Settings]

To ensure you don’t lose access to your Microsoft account, we’re beginning to roll out a new banner with a “Add now” button under Settings > Account for adding a recovery email address if you haven’t added one for your Microsoft account yet. This will only show if you are signed in with a Microsoft account.
We are introducing a new Game Pass recommendation card on the Settings homepage. The Game Pass recommendation card on Settings Homepage will be shown to you if you actively play games on your PC. As a reminder – the Settings homepage will be shown only on the Home and Pro editions of Windows 11 and if you’re signed into Windows with your Microsoft account.

[caption id="attachment_177010" align="alignnone" width="643"] New Game Pass recommendation card highlighted in a red box on the Settings homepage.[/caption]

We're beginning to roll out a change that redirects links for the Fonts Control Panel page to the Fonts settings page at Settings > Personalization > Fonts. Insiders who see this change can still access the Fonts Control Panel UI by navigating to the system fonts folder in File Explorer and a link to the system fonts folder is also provided on the Font settings page.

Fixes

[Other]

Fixed the underlying issue causing some Insiders to see a Pcasvc.dll error dialog pop-up with the message “Missing entry: PcaWallpaperAppDetect” after upgrading from Windows 11, version 22H2/23H2 to a 26xxx build.

Known issues

[General]

[IMPORTANT NOTE] We are investigating reports that some Windows Insiders in the Canary and Dev Channels are stuck on Build 26040 or Build 23620. The investigation is ongoing, however if you are impacted by this and really want to get onto the latest build in the Canary or Dev Channel today – you can download the latest ISO here and do a clean install and opt your device back into flighting in the Canary or Dev Channels.

[Windows Update]

[NEW] We’re investigating reports that the Windows Update page in Settings is not displaying correctly for Insiders using certain languages after the previous flight (no text shows). If you are impacted by this, the update should still happen on its own, however you may need to wait a little bit.

[Task Manager]

We’re working on the fix for an issue where the colors in the Performance section aren’t displaying correctly in dark mode.

[Voice Typing]

[NEW] We’re working on the fix for an issue causing Insiders to see errors when attempting to use Voice Typing with certain languages such as Chinese.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Canary Channel

The builds we release to the Canary Channel should not be seen as matched to any specific release of Windows and features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Many features in the Canary Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
To get off the Canary Channel, a clean install of Windows 11 will be required. As a reminder - Insiders can’t switch to a channel that is receiving builds with lower build numbers without doing a clean installation of Windows 11 due to technical setup requirements.

The desktop watermark shown at the lower right corner of the desktop is normal for these pre-release builds.

Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Copilot in Windows* is being rolled out gradually to Windows Insiders across our global markets. Customers in the European Economic Area will be able to download the Copilot in Windows experience as an app from the Microsoft Store.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.3858 (Beta Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 28 Jun 2024 17:03:47 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.3858 (KB5039327) to the Beta Channel. REMINDER: Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel will updates based on Windows 11, version 23H2 via an enablement package (Build 22635.xxxx). For Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle (shown in the image below) to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready. [caption id="attachment_176587" align="alignnone" width="730"] Turn on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available to get new features rolled out to you.[/caption] Going forward, we will document changes in Beta Channel builds in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available and then new features, improvements, and fixes available to everyone in the Beta Channel.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[File Explorer]

The preview thumbnail title in the taskbar, ALT + Tab and Task View for File Explorer windows will now indicate if that window includes multiple tabs.

[Windows Share]

We're rolling out some minor UI changes to simplify the Windows share window which removes the search box.

[For Developers]

Updated the logic for the “End Task” option in the taskbar so that it no longer shows a Not Responding dialog to give confirmation before ending the task.

[Other]

Updated the Run dialog to now follow text scaling (Settings > Accessibility > Text size).

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[File Explorer]

Addressed several accessibility issues where File Explorer, Common File Dialog (CFD), and Browse/Shortcuts Dialogs did not respond appropriately to your text size / scaling preferences. Including, but not limited to, fixed an issue where file name was getting clipped in the CFD and the Browse/ Shortcuts dialog.
Addressed several accessibility issues in File Explorer impacting screen reader users, related to content being read out correctly, and also keyboard focus not going to the correct place. Some examples include, keyboard focus getting lost sometimes when using Shift + Tab, and Narrator stuttering during the search process
Fixed an issue causing some people to see a thin line between the tab and address bar in File Explorer.
Fixed an issue impacting File Explorer reliability for a small number of people.
Fixed an issue where the OneDrive icon in the address bar was blurry sometimes for some people.

Fixes for everyone in the Beta Channel

[Voice Typing]

Fixed an issue believed to be the underlying cause of some Insiders seeing errors when attempting to use Voice Typing in certain languages such as Chinese with recent flights.

[Taskbar]

Updated the app icon flashing in the taskbar to be a bit easier to see.

[Other]

You can now use OneDrive as a RemoteApp in Azure Virtual Desktop.
This update improves the Virtual Filtering Platform (VFP) within Windows nodes. Now, VFP has more support for packet drop collection. This will make it easier to troubleshoot issues.
Fixed an issue where Group Policy would fail to detect when a network’s speed is slow. Instead, it assumed that a fast link was present.
Fixed an issue causing a deadlock which could stop you from signing in to Azure Virtual Desktop sessions.
Fixed an issue occurring when using Storage Spaces Direct (S2D) and Remote Direct Memory Access (RDMA). When you used them with SMBdirect in your networks, the networks would fail, and you would lose the ability to manage clusters.
Fixed and issue where a firewall profile might drop from domain to public. This would occur when multiple interfaces existed, and you added or removed an interface.
Fixed an issue where GPUs did not enter the idle state that stops them from consuming power.
Fixed an issue where when using Snipping Tool to record videos on some PCs, the audio would have distortions.
This update adds the registry key HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\DWM ForceDisableModeChangeAnimation (REG_DWORD). When you set its value to 1 (or a non-zero number), it turns off the display mode change animation. If the value is 0 or the key does not exist, the animation is set to on.
This update brings Country and Operator Settings Asset (COSA) profiles up to date for certain mobile operators.
Fixed an issue occurring in the Windows Filtering Platform (WFP) driver. This issue could lead to high system CPU usage. It also reduced throughput under a heavy load. This update boosts network packet processing in WFP. This helps to stop performance from degrading. This update also adds batch processing to reduce CPU load.
Fixed an issue where the Input Method Editor (IME) candidate list might fail to show or showed in the wrong position.

Known issues

[Start menu]

We are investigating an issue where the All apps list isn’t being read out by screen readers.
We’re working on the fix for an issue causing some apps to not be sorted correctly in the All apps list when using certain display languages.

[Text input]

[NEW] We’re working on the fix for an issue causing text suggestions for the hardware keyboard to not work properly with the previous flight (selecting one unexpectedly concatenates).

[Widgets]

Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who have the new position for the Widgets entry-point on left-aligned taskbars may see the following known issues:

Swipe invocation for Widgets may not work if taskbar is center-aligned instead of left-aligned.
Unpinning Widgets from the taskbar may not work if taskbar is center-aligned instead of left-aligned.
The Widgets board is incorrectly positioned when Copilot is in side-by-side mode.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel

Updates released to the Beta Channel are based off Windows 11, version 23H2.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Many features in the Beta Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you*, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Copilot in Windows** is being rolled out gradually to Windows Insiders across our global markets. Customers in the European Economic Area will be able to download the Copilot in Windows experience as an app from the Microsoft Store.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.3790 (Beta Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 21 Jun 2024 17:04:01 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.3790 (KB5039307) to the Beta Channel. REMINDER: Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel will updates based on Windows 11, version 23H2 via an enablement package (Build 22635.xxxx). For Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle (shown in the image below) to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready. [caption id="attachment_176587" align="alignnone" width="649"] Turn on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available to get new features rolled out to you.[/caption] Going forward, we will document changes in Beta Channel builds in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available and then new features, improvements, and fixes available to everyone in the Beta Channel.

New features gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Phone Link]

We are gradually rolling out a new feature, which allows you to use your mobile device directly from the Start menu on your Windows 11 PCs, to Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel. With this feature, you can stay connected and effortlessly access your mobile device's functionalities right from the Start menu. See this blog post for more details.

[caption id="attachment_177149" align="alignnone" width="632"] Feature for managing your mobile device shown next to the Start menu.[/caption]

[Copilot in Windows]**

The evolved Copilot experience on Windows where it is pinned to the taskbar and behaves like an app is now rolling out to Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel on Windows 11. We updated last week’s Beta Channel flight blog post with more details.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[File Explorer]

Addressed contrast issues of certain elements in File Explorer (left navigation pane, view pane/folder view, status bar buttons on the bottom right) in light, dark, and high contrast themes. E.g., adjustments to make it easier to see when a file or folder is selected.

Fixes for everyone in the Beta Channel

[General]

We fixed the issue where Settings was crashing when trying to look at wi-fi properties.

[Settings]

Fixed an issue where when attempting to install an optional feature via Settings > System > Option features, it might crash Settings in the latest Windows 11 Insider Preview build in the Beta Channel.

Known issues

[Start menu]

[NEW] We are investigating an issue where the All apps list isn’t being read out by screen readers.
[NEW] We’re working on the fix for an issue causing some apps to not be sorted correctly in the All apps list when using certain display languages.

[Voice Typing]

[NEW] We’re working on the fix for an issue causing some Insiders to see errors when attempting to use Voice Typing.

[Widgets]

Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who have the new position for the Widgets entry-point on left-aligned taskbars may see the following known issues:

Swipe invocation for Widgets may not work if taskbar is center-aligned instead of left-aligned.
Unpinning Widgets from the taskbar may not work if taskbar is center-aligned instead of left-aligned.
The Widgets board is incorrectly positioned when Copilot is in side-by-side mode.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel

Updates released to the Beta Channel are based off Windows 11, version 23H2.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Many features in the Beta Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you*, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Copilot in Windows** is being rolled out gradually to Windows Insiders across our global markets. Customers in the European Economic Area will be able to download the Copilot in Windows experience as an app from the Microsoft Store.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26241 (Canary Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Wed, 19 Jun 2024 21:06:40 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26241 to the Canary Channel. Developers, please note that for a short period of time, we will not be releasing an SDK for builds we flight to the Canary Channel.

Changes and Improvements

[General]

This update includes a small set of general improvements and fixes that improve the overall experience for Insiders running this build on their PCs.

[File Explorer]

Drag-and-drop files with your mouse functionality between breadcrumbs is now available in the File Explorer Address Bar – thanks again Insiders that shared feedback about this!

Fixes

[Taskbar]

Updated the app icon flashing in the taskbar to be a bit easier to see.

[File Explorer]

As some Insiders have noticed, we’ve updated File Explorer so it’s a little easier to see when you have files or folders selected, by adding a thin border to the selected area.
Fixed an underlying issue causing File Explorer to crash when going to Home for some Insiders in the last few flights.

[Notifications]

We’ve updated the underlying logic for when we suggest turning off notifications for certain apps, so that it requires a longer period of time without engaging with notifications from that app in order to trigger.

Known issues

[General]

[IMPORTANT NOTE] We are investigating reports that some Windows Insiders in the Canary and Dev Channels are stuck on Build 26040 or Build 23620. The investigation is ongoing, however if you are impacted by this and really want to get onto the latest build in the Canary or Dev Channel today – you can download the latest ISO here and do a clean install and opt your device back into flighting in the Canary or Dev Channels.

[Task Manager]

We’re investigating an issue where the colors in the Performance section aren’t displaying correctly in dark mode.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Canary Channel

The builds we release to the Canary Channel should not be seen as matched to any specific release of Windows and features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Many features in the Canary Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
To get off the Canary Channel, a clean install of Windows 11 will be required. As a reminder - Insiders can’t switch to a channel that is receiving builds with lower build numbers without doing a clean installation of Windows 11 due to technical setup requirements.

The desktop watermark shown at the lower right corner of the desktop is normal for these pre-release builds.

Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Copilot in Windows* is being rolled out gradually to Windows Insiders across our global markets. Customers in the European Economic Area will be able to download the Copilot in Windows experience as an app from the Microsoft Store.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.961 (Dev Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 14 Jun 2024 17:04:23 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.961 (KB5038575) to the Dev Channel. REMINDER: Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel will now receive updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 via an enablement package (Build 26120.xxxx). For Insiders in the Dev Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle (shown in the image below) to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready. [caption id="attachment_176587" align="alignnone" width="611"] Turn on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available to get new features rolled out to you.[/caption] Going forward, we will document changes in Dev Channel builds in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available and then new features, improvements, and fixes available to everyone in the Dev Channel.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[General]

This update includes a small set of general improvements and fixes that improve the overall experience for Insiders running this build on their PCs.

Microsoft Store Update

Windows Insiders in the Canary, Dev, and Beta Channels running version 22405.xxxx.x of the Microsoft Store and higher will see the following improvement rolling out: Fast, safe checkout with Microsoft Wallet: Make quick and easy purchases in Store using Microsoft Wallet. Not only can you earn Microsoft Rewards points in the Store, but you can also easily redeem your points for a gift card during checkout to apply towards your purchase. Wallet is fast, safe, and easy to use! [caption id="attachment_177107" align="alignnone" width="583"] New Microsoft Wallet dialog when making purchases in the Microsoft Store.[/caption] FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Microsoft Store.

Known issues

[Live Captions]

[ADDED 6/14] We are investigating an issue where Live Captions may not work after installing this update.

[Task Manager]

[ADDED 6/18] Navigating between different pages in Task Manager may crash Task Manager.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel

Updates released to the Dev Channel are based off Windows 11, version 24H2.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Many features in the Dev Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you*, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.
Copilot in Windows** is being rolled out gradually to Windows Insiders across our global markets. Customers in the European Economic Area will be able to download the Copilot in Windows experience as an app from the Microsoft Store (coming soon).

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.3785 (Beta Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 14 Jun 2024 17:03:44 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.3785 (KB5039319) to the Beta Channel. REMINDER: Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel will updates based on Windows 11, version 23H2 via an enablement package (Build 22635.xxxx). For Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle (shown in the image below) to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready. [caption id="attachment_176587" align="alignnone" width="612"] Turn on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available to get new features rolled out to you.[/caption] Going forward, we will document changes in Beta Channel builds in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available and then new features, improvements, and fixes available to everyone in the Beta Channel.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Copilot in Windows]

[ADDED 6/19] As part of this update, we’re also evolving the Copilot** experience on Windows as an app that will be pinned to the taskbar. This enables users to get the benefits of a traditional app experience, including the ability to resize, move, and snap the window – feedback we’ve heard from users throughout the preview of Copilot in Windows. This model also allows Microsoft to more agilely develop and optimize the experience based on user feedback. PLEASE NOTE: Managed commercial devices will not receive this new experience. This includes devices not running Windows 11 Home and are managed by an IT administrator.
[ADDED 6/19] As part of the Copilot experience’s evolution on Windows to become an app that is pinned to the taskbar, we are retiring the WIN + C keyboard shortcut.

[Start menu]

When right-clicking on apps pinned to the Start menu, jump lists will be shown for apps that have them such as PowerPoint.

[caption id="attachment_177125" align="alignnone" width="296"] Jump lists will now be shown when right-clicking on apps pinned to the Start menu such as PowerPoint that have jump lists.[/caption]

[ADDED] 6/17] You can now also pin apps from the Start menu to the taskbar or the desktop by dragging and dropping items directly to taskbar or desktop from the Start menu.

[Desktop Spotlight]

We are trying out some new adjustments to the Windows Spotlight experience on the desktop to make it easier for Spotlight users to engage with this feature to change images, like or not like an image etc. There will be several changes that Insiders will notice highlighted in the images below.

[caption id="attachment_177122" align="alignnone" width="730"] Treatment #1 – if a user right-clicks on the Windows Spotlight icon it will launch the Spotlight experience in full screen mode, while double-clicking will open the Bing landing page for the image on desktop.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_177123" align="alignnone" width="730"] Treatment #2 – if a user right-clicks on the Windows Spotlight icon it will launch the Spotlight experience, while double-clicking will open Windows Spotlight experience in full screen mode. A single click on the Spotlight icon will open the Bing landing page for the image on desktop.[/caption]

[Windows Share]

We are rolling out the ability to easily share content to an Android device from Windows share window. The feature requires you to pair your Android device to your Windows PC using the Link to Windows app on Android and Phone Link on your PC.

[caption id="attachment_177124" align="alignnone" width="305"] New option to share content to My Phone highlighted in a red box in the Windows share window.[/caption]

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Taskbar & System Tray]

Fixed an issue causing the taskbar to not appear for a small number of Insiders in the last couple flights.

[File Explorer]

Fixed an issue causing screen readers to not announce when you were opening or navigating items in the breadcrumb flyouts of the open or save dialog.
Fixed an issue causing screen readers to not announce anything when opening or navigating items in the column header flyout in File Explorer.

[Start menu]

Fixed the issue from the last flight where if you clicked your profile icon on the Start menu and chose “Change account settings”, it would not open account settings

Fixes for everyone in the Beta Channel

[Other]

This update addresses an issue that might stop your system from resuming from hibernate. This occurs after you turn on BitLocker.
This update addresses an issue that affects lsass.exe. It leaks memory. This occurs during a Local Security Authority (Domain Policy) Remote Protocol (LSARPC) call.
This update addresses an issue that affects lsass.exe. It stops responding. This occurs after you install the April 2024 security updates on Windows servers.

Known issues

[General]

We are investigating an issue where Internet Information Services (IIS) and Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) may not work after installing this update.
We’re investigating an issue where Settings is crashing when trying to look at Wi-Fi properties.

[Start menu]

The "Most used" section at the top of the Start menu All apps list is showing even though the setting for it under Settings > Personalization > Start and “Show most used apps” is toggled off.

[Settings]

Attempting to install an optional feature via Settings > System > Option features may crash Settings. Should you need to install an optional feature, please do so before taking the update to Build 22635.3720.

[Widgets]

Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who have the new position for the Widgets entry-point on left-aligned taskbars may see the following known issues:

Swipe invocation for Widgets may not work if taskbar is center-aligned instead of left-aligned.
Unpinning Widgets from the taskbar may not work if taskbar is center-aligned instead of left-aligned.
The Widgets board is incorrectly positioned when Copilot is in side-by-side mode.

Snipping Tool Update

We are rolling out an update for Snipping Tool (version 11.2405.31.0 and newer) to Windows Insiders in the Beta and Release Preview Channels that introduces automatic save for screen recordings. This feature works the same as automatic save for screenshots. Your recordings will automatically be saved to Screen Recordings folder (inside your Videos folder). You can choose to turn this off in Snipping Tool settings. [caption id="attachment_177096" align="alignnone" width="582"] Snipping Tool showing new banner for screen recordings now automatically being saved to your Screen Recordings folder.[/caption] FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Apps > Snipping Tool.

Microsoft Store Update

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel

Updates released to the Beta Channel are based off Windows 11, version 23H2.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Many features in the Beta Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you*, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.
Copilot in Windows** in preview is being rolled out gradually to Windows Insiders in select global markets. The initial markets for the Copilot in Windows preview include North America, United Kingdom and parts of Asia and South America. It is our intention to add additional markets over time.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26236 (Canary Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Wed, 12 Jun 2024 17:04:33 +0000

UPDATE 6/18: We have temporarily paused the rollout of Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26236 in the Canary Channel. We will resume flights to the Canary Channel shortly.

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26236 to the Canary Channel. Developers, please note that for a short period of time, we will not be releasing an SDK for builds we flight to the Canary Channel.

Changes and Improvements

[General]

This update includes a small set of general improvements and fixes that improve the overall experience for Insiders running this build on their PCs.

[Start menu]

This update starts the roll out of the new account manager on Start menu. When you sign in with a Microsoft account, the new design gives you a quick glanceable view of your account benefits and makes it easy to manage account settings.

[caption id="attachment_177008" align="alignnone" width="301"] New account manager experience on the Start menu showing account settings and an action needed that needs to be taken to secure your Microsoft account.[/caption]

Fixes

[Taskbar]

Fixed an issue causing the taskbar to not appear for a small number of Insiders in the last couple flights.

[Audio]

Fixed an underlying issue which was causing the preferred audio volume (under Settings > System > Sound > Volume Mixer) for Microsoft Edge to not persist across restarting the app.

Known issues

[General]

[IMPORTANT NOTE] We are investigating reports that some Windows Insiders in the Canary and Dev Channels are stuck on Build 26040 or Build 23620. The investigation is ongoing, however if you are impacted by this and really want to get onto the latest build in the Canary or Dev Channel today – you can download the latest ISO here and do a clean install and opt your device back into flighting in the Canary or Dev Channels.

[Task Manager]

[New] We’re investigating an issue where the colors in the Performance section aren’t displaying correctly in dark mode.

Microsoft Store Update

Windows Insiders in the Canary, Dev, and Beta Channels running version 22405.xxxx.x of the Microsoft Store and higher will see the following improvement rolling out: Fast, safe checkout with Microsoft Wallet: Make quick and easy purchases in Store using Microsoft Wallet. Not only can you earn Microsoft Rewards points in the Store, but you can also easily redeem your points for a gift card during checkout to apply towards your purchase. Wallet is fast, safe, and easy to use! [caption id="attachment_177107" align="alignnone" width="582"] New Microsoft Wallet dialog when making purchases in the Microsoft Store.[/caption] FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Microsoft Store.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Canary Channel

The builds we release to the Canary Channel should not be seen as matched to any specific release of Windows and features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Many features in the Canary Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
To get off the Canary Channel, a clean install of Windows 11 will be required. As a reminder - Insiders can’t switch to a channel that is receiving builds with lower build numbers without doing a clean installation of Windows 11 due to technical setup requirements.

The desktop watermark shown at the lower right corner of the desktop is normal for these pre-release builds.

Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Copilot in Windows* is being rolled out gradually to Windows Insiders across our global markets. Customers in the European Economic Area will be able to download the Copilot in Windows experience as an app from the Microsoft Store (coming soon).

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.770 (Dev Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 07 Jun 2024 17:05:24 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.770 (KB5039314) to the Dev Channel. REMINDER: Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel will now receive updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 via an enablement package (Build 26120.xxxx). For Insiders in the Dev Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle (shown in the image below) to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready. [caption id="attachment_176587" align="alignnone" width="634"] Turn on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available to get new features rolled out to you.[/caption] Going forward, we will document changes in Dev Channel builds in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available and then new features, improvements, and fixes available to everyone in the Dev Channel.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[General]

This update includes a small set of general improvements and fixes that improve the overall experience for Insiders running this build on their PCs.

Snipping Tool Update

We are rolling out an update for Snipping Tool (version 11.2405.24.0 and newer) to Windows Insiders in the Canary and Dev Channels that introduces automatic save for screen recordings. This feature works the same as automatic save for screenshots. Your recordings will automatically be saved to Screen Recordings folder (inside your Videos folder). You can choose to turn this off in Snipping Tool settings. [caption id="attachment_177096" align="alignnone" width="632"] Snipping Tool showing new banner for screen recordings now automatically being saved to your Screen Recordings folder.[/caption] FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Apps > Snipping Tool.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel

Updates released to the Dev Channel are based off Windows 11, version 24H2.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Many features in the Dev Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you*, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.
Copilot in Windows** is being rolled out gradually to Windows Insiders across our global markets. Customers in the European Economic Area will be able to download the Copilot in Windows experience as an app from the Microsoft Store (coming soon).

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.3720 (Beta Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 07 Jun 2024 17:05:18 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.3720 (KB5039312) to the Beta Channel. REMINDER: Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel will updates based on Windows 11, version 23H2 via an enablement package (Build 22635.xxxx). For Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle (shown in the image below) to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready. [caption id="attachment_176587" align="alignnone" width="634"] Turn on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available to get new features rolled out to you.[/caption] Going forward, we will document changes in Beta Channel builds in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available and then new features, improvements, and fixes available to everyone in the Beta Channel.

New features gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

Narrator users can now use voice access to dictate text hands-free

Start and set up voice access which includes downloading a speech model.
Read a list of voice access commands and Narrator commands from voice access help menu.
Changing voice access microphone state.
Dictating text with voice and hearing back what was dictated.

Tips:

If you don’t use headphones for listening to the screen reader, the audio output from the screen reader may get picked up by voice access microphone, leading to unwanted behavior.

FEEDBACK: Send us feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Accessibility > Narrator.

Auto Restart for Voice Access & New Voice Access Command for Windows Search

We are introducing auto restart for voice access in Windows 11. This feature ensures that voice access will automatically restart if it encounters any issues so that individuals with limited mobility can get back to using voice access as quickly as possible. Customers will no longer need to rely on alternative assistive technologies or assistance from others to reactivate voice access. Should voice access automatically restart due to a crash, we are making it easier to report those crashes once voice access restarts so the team can investigate and work on fixes. We are introducing a new command for searching directly with Windows search. Users can now say the command Search "Entity"; Search Windows for "Entity"; or Search for "Entity" to search for their desired application or file in Windows (“Entity” is replaced with whatever application or file you want to search.) FEEDBACK: Send us feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Accessibility > Voice access.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Search on the Taskbar]

We are beginning to roll out the ability to share local files directly from within the search results shown in the search box on the taskbar.

[caption id="attachment_177099" align="alignnone" width="502"] New option to share a local file highlighted in a red box in the search results from the search box on the taskbar.[/caption]

[Windows Share]

If you are in China and turn on nearby sharing, you will receive a notification asking to allow turning on Wi-Fi and or Bluetooth should these settings be off as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are required to be enabled for nearby sharing to work.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[File Explorer]

Fixed an issue where when pressing WIN + E, a screen reader might unexpectedly say a pane had focus, or focus may not be set within File Explorer at all.
Fixed an issue which was causing CTRL + F to sometimes not start a search in File Explorer.
Fixed an issue where keyboard focus might get lost sometimes when doing Shift + Tab in File Explorer.

Known issues

[General]

We are investigating an issue where Internet Information Services (IIS) and Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) may not work after installing this update.
We’re investigating an issue where Settings is crashing when trying to look at Wi-Fi properties.

[Start menu]

[NEW] Clicking your profile icon on the Start menu and choosing “Change account settings” will not open account settings. Should you need to adjust your account settings, you can navigate directly to them via Settings > Accounts.

[Settings]

[NEW] Attempting to install an optional feature via Settings > System > Option features may crash Settings. Should you need to install an optional feature, please do so before taking the update to Build 22635.3720.

[Widgets]

Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who have the new position for the Widgets entry-point on left-aligned taskbars may see the following known issues:

Swipe invocation for Widgets may not work if taskbar is center-aligned instead of left-aligned.
Unpinning Widgets from the taskbar may not work if taskbar is center-aligned instead of left-aligned.
The Widgets board is incorrectly positioned when Copilot is in side-by-side mode.

Introducing Suggested Replies in Phone Link for Android

We’re excited to announce the addition of a new feature to the Phone Link app for Android users: Suggested Replies. Powered by our cloud-based intelligent suggestion model, this feature is designed to make your messaging experience seamless and more efficient. [caption id="attachment_177083" align="alignnone" width="473"] Suggested Replies as shown in Phone Link when replying to a message.[/caption] With Suggested Replies, you’ll see 3 contextually relevant reply bubbles to choose from when you receive a message. The feature is turned on by default, so you can start using it right away. Simply select a suggested reply and it’ll be sent immediately. Suggested Replies are beginning to roll out to Windows Insiders across all channels with Phone Link version 1.24051.98 and higher. FEEDBACK: Send us feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Apps > Phone Link.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel

Updates released to the Beta Channel are based off Windows 11, version 23H2.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Many features in the Beta Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you*, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.
Copilot in Windows** in preview is being rolled out gradually to Windows Insiders in select global markets. The initial markets for the Copilot in Windows preview include North America, United Kingdom and parts of Asia and South America. It is our intention to add additional markets over time.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26231 (Canary Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Thu, 06 Jun 2024 17:04:15 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26231 to the Canary Channel. Developers, please note that for a short period of time, we will not be releasing an SDK for builds we flight to the Canary Channel.

What’s new with Build 26231

Narrator users can now use voice access to dictate text hands-free

Start and set up voice access which includes downloading a speech model.
Read a list of voice access commands and Narrator commands from voice access help menu.
Changing voice access microphone state.
Dictating text with voice and hearing back what was dictated.

Tips:

If you don’t use headphones for listening to the screen reader, the audio output from the screen reader may get picked up by voice access microphone, leading to unwanted behavior.

[We are beginning to roll this out to Windows Insiders in the Canary Channel, so the experience isn’t available to all Insiders just yet as we plan to monitor feedback before pushing it out to everyone.] FEEDBACK: Send us feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Accessibility > Narrator.

Auto Restart for Voice Access & New Voice Access Command for Windows Search

We are introducing auto restart for voice access in Windows 11. This feature ensures that voice access will automatically restart if it encounters any issues so that individuals with limited mobility can get back to using voice access as quickly as possible. Customers will no longer need to rely on alternative assistive technologies or assistance from others to reactivate voice access. Should voice access automatically restart due to a crash, we are making it easier to report those crashes once voice access restarts so the team can investigate and work on fixes. We are introducing a new command for searching directly with Windows search. Users can now say the command Search "Entity"; Search Windows for "Entity"; or Search for "Entity" to search for their desired application or file in Windows (“Entity” is replaced with whatever application or file you want to search.) [We are beginning to roll this out to Windows Insiders in the Canary Channel, so the experience isn’t available to all Insiders just yet as we plan to monitor feedback before pushing it out to everyone.] FEEDBACK: Send us feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Accessibility > Voice access.

Changes and Improvements

[Windows Share]

We are beginning to roll out the ability to copy files from the Windows share window. Just click the new copy button.

[caption id="attachment_177049" align="alignnone" width="520"] New copy button for copying files in the Windows share window highlighted in a red box.[/caption]

[Settings]

The change that updates the visuals for the “Rename your PC” and “Change date and time” dialogs to match the Windows 11 visuals that began rolling out with Build 26217 should now be available to everyone in the Canary Channel.

[caption id="attachment_177056" align="alignnone" width="446"] Rename your PC dialog with refreshed design to match the Windows 11 visuals.[/caption]

Fixes

[File Explorer]

As some Insiders have noticed, we’ve done some work to improve how the new icon labels in the context menu display for non-English languages.

[Task Manager]

Updated the units (from MHz to MT/s) for DDR speed.
Fixed an issue where the Safely Remove Hardware option for ejecting USB devices wouldn’t work if Task Manager was open.
Did some work to ensure Task Manager releases process handles quickly when terminating processes.
Made some more improvements to help with Task Manager reliability.
We have improved the performance when changing the sort order.
Made multiple improvements to overall accessibility of Task Manager, including improving keyboard focus, tab navigation, text scaling, names of items read out by screen readers, and more.
We made it a little easier to resize Task Manager when trying to resize by grabbing the top of the window.

Known issues

[General]

[IMPORTANT NOTE] We are investigating reports that some Windows Insiders in the Canary and Dev Channels are stuck on Build 26040 or Build 23620. The investigation is ongoing, however if you are impacted by this and really want to get onto the latest build in the Canary or Dev Channel today – you can download the latest ISO here and do a clean install and opt your device back into flighting in the Canary or Dev Channels.

Snipping Tool Update

We are rolling out an update for Snipping Tool (version 11.2405.24.0 and newer) to Windows Insiders in the Canary and Dev Channels that introduces automatic save for screen recordings. This feature works the same as automatic save for screenshots. Your recordings will automatically be saved to Screen Recordings folder (inside your Videos folder). You can choose to turn this off in Snipping Tool settings. [caption id="attachment_177096" align="alignnone" width="643"] Snipping Tool showing new banner for screen recordings now automatically being saved to your Screen Recordings folder.[/caption] FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Apps > Snipping Tool.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Canary Channel

The builds we release to the Canary Channel should not be seen as matched to any specific release of Windows and features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Many features in the Canary Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
To get off the Canary Channel, a clean install of Windows 11 will be required. As a reminder - Insiders can’t switch to a channel that is receiving builds with lower build numbers without doing a clean installation of Windows 11 due to technical setup requirements.

The desktop watermark shown at the lower right corner of the desktop is normal for these pre-release builds.

Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Copilot in Windows* is being rolled out gradually to Windows Insiders across our global markets. Customers in the European Economic Area will be able to download the Copilot in Windows experience as an app from the Microsoft Store (coming soon).

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.751 (Dev Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 31 May 2024 17:04:41 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.751 (KB5037874) to the Dev Channel. REMINDER: Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel will now receive updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 via an enablement package (Build 26120.xxxx). For Insiders in the Dev Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle (shown in the image below) to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready. [caption id="attachment_176587" align="alignnone" width="669"] Turn on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available to get new features rolled out to you.[/caption] Going forward, we will document changes in Dev Channel builds in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available and then new features, improvements, and fixes available to everyone in the Dev Channel.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[General]

This update includes a small set of general improvements and fixes that improve the overall experience for Insiders running this build on their PCs.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to everyone in the Dev Channel

[Copilot in Windows]**

As part of this update, we’re also evolving the Copilot** experience on Windows as an app that will be pinned to the taskbar. This enables users to get the benefits of a traditional app experience, including the ability to resize, move, and snap the window – feedback we’ve heard from users throughout the preview of Copilot in Windows. This model also allows Microsoft to more agilely develop and optimize the experience based on user feedback.
As part of the Copilot experience's evolution on Windows to become an app that is pinned to the taskbar, we are retiring the WIN + C keyboard shortcut. For new devices that ship with a Copilot key, this key will open Copilot. For existing devices without that key, using the WIN + (number position for Copilot pinned to your taskbar) is a great way to open Copilot.

[Settings]

We are beginning to roll out a new Linked devices page under Settings > Accounts that allows you to manage PCs and Xbox consoles that you are signed in to with your Microsoft account. This settings page will only show on the Home and Pro editions of Windows 11 and if you’re signed into Windows with your Microsoft account.

[caption id="attachment_177067" align="alignnone" width="609"] New linked devices page under Accounts settings highlighted in a red box.[/caption]

Fixes for everyone in the Dev Channel

[Widgets]

Fixed the issue causing the WIN + W keyboard shortcut to not work correctly and open the Widgets board.

[Other]

This update brings Country and Operator Settings Asset (COSA) profiles up to date for certain mobile operators.
This update addresses an issue that affects the installation of a Windows update. It fails to complete. This occurs when you have to restart your device more than once.
This update addresses an issue that affects a device that uses an enablement KB (EKB). It might stop you from installing a new Windows update.

Introducing Suggested Replies in Phone Link for Android

We’re excited to announce the addition of a new feature to the Phone Link app for Android users: Suggested Replies. Powered by our cloud-based intelligent suggestion model, this feature is designed to make your messaging experience seamless and more efficient. [caption id="attachment_177083" align="alignnone" width="535"] Suggested Replies as shown in Phone Link when replying to a message.[/caption] With Suggested Replies, you'll see 3 contextually relevant reply bubbles to choose from when you receive a message. The feature is turned on by default, so you can start using it right away. Simply select a suggested reply and it’ll be sent immediately. Suggested Replies are beginning to roll out to Windows Insiders across all channels with Phone Link version 1.24051.98 and higher. FEEDBACK: Send us feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Apps > Phone Link.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel

Updates released to the Dev Channel are based off Windows 11, version 24H2.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Many features in the Dev Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you*, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.
Copilot in Windows** is being rolled out gradually to Windows Insiders across our global markets. Customers in the European Economic Area will be able to download the Copilot in Windows experience as an app from the Microsoft Store (coming soon).

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26227 (Canary Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Thu, 30 May 2024 17:04:28 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26227 to the Canary Channel. Developers, please note that for a short period of time, we will not be releasing an SDK for builds we flight to the Canary Channel.

Changes and Improvements

**[Copilot in Windows*]**

As part of this update, we’re also evolving the Copilot* experience on Windows as an app that will be pinned to the taskbar. This enables users to get the benefits of a traditional app experience, including the ability to resize, move, and snap the window – feedback we’ve heard from users throughout the preview of Copilot in Windows. This model also allows Microsoft to more agilely develop and optimize the experience based on user feedback.
As part of the Copilot experience's evolution on Windows to become an app that is pinned to the taskbar, we are retiring the WIN + C keyboard shortcut. For new devices that ship with a Copilot key, this key will open Copilot. For existing devices without that key, using the WIN + (number position for Copilot pinned to your taskbar) is a great way to open Copilot.

[Emoji]

We’re adding support for Emoji 15.1 which introduces a small number of brand-new emoji such as head shaking horizontally and vertically, phoenix, lime, brown mushroom and broken chain. Other changes for Emoji 15.1 include Unicode’s decision to revert family combinations to symbol-like shapes. Windows has chosen to stay with our existing style that use people in family combinations. We are also supporting the new directionality updates for person/man/woman walking, kneeling, with cane, running, manual wheelchair and motorized wheelchair. You can now select right facing or the original left facing orientation for these emoji.

[caption id="attachment_177061" align="alignnone" width="518"] New Emoji 15.1 that includes head shaking horizontally and vertically, phoenix, lime, brown mushroom and broken chain.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_177062" align="alignnone" width="518"] Example of new directionality updates for person/man/woman walking emoji with right facing or the original left facing orientation.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_177063" align="alignnone" width="518"] Example of new directionality updates for person/man/woman in manual wheelchair and motorized wheelchair emoji with right facing or the original left facing orientation.[/caption]

[Settings]

We are beginning to roll out a new Linked devices page under Settings > Accounts that allows you to manage PCs and Xbox consoles that you are signed in to with your Microsoft account. This settings page will only show on the Home and Pro editions of Windows 11 and if you’re signed into Windows with your Microsoft account.

[caption id="attachment_177067" align="alignnone" width="624"] New linked devices page under Accounts settings highlighted in a red box.[/caption]

Fixes for known issues

[General]

Fixed an issue believed to be the underlying cause of some Insiders noticing stutters in some animations recently (dropping frames), particularly with Task View.
Fixed an underlying issue which could lead to some apps not starting on startup even though they were enabled as startup apps in Settings. It would show as Suspended in Task Manager, but not appear in the taskbar.
Fixed an underlying issue which could lead to the pop up asking for permission to use location not appearing, which could lead to app issues without location access.

[Windowing]

Fixed an issue related to showing tabs in Alt + Tab, which could lead to frequent explorer.exe crashes if you had a very large number of tabs.

[Widgets]

Fixed the issue causing the WIN + W keyboard shortcut to not work correctly and open the Widgets board.

[Other]

Fixed explorer.exe crashes impacting live captions and voice access.

Known issues

[General]

[IMPORTANT NOTE] We are investigating reports that some Windows Insiders in the Canary and Dev Channels are stuck on Build 26040 or Build 23620. The investigation is ongoing, however if you are impacted by this and really want to get onto the latest build in the Canary or Dev Channel today – you can download the latest ISO here and do a clean install and opt your device back into flighting in the Canary or Dev Channels.

Introducing Suggested Replies in Phone Link for Android

We’re excited to announce the addition of a new feature to the Phone Link app for Android users: Suggested Replies. Powered by our cloud-based intelligent suggestion model, this feature is designed to make your messaging experience seamless and more efficient. [caption id="attachment_177083" align="alignnone" width="530"] Suggested Replies as shown in Phone Link when replying to a message.[/caption] With Suggested Replies, you'll see 3 contextually relevant reply bubbles to choose from when you receive a message. The feature is turned on by default, so you can start using it right away. Simply select a suggested reply and it’ll be sent immediately. Suggested Replies are beginning to roll out to Windows Insiders across all channels with Phone Link version 1.24051.98 and higher. FEEDBACK: Send us feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Apps > Phone Link.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Canary Channel

The builds we release to the Canary Channel should not be seen as matched to any specific release of Windows and features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Many features in the Canary Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
To get off the Canary Channel, a clean install of Windows 11 will be required. As a reminder - Insiders can’t switch to a channel that is receiving builds with lower build numbers without doing a clean installation of Windows 11 due to technical setup requirements.

The desktop watermark shown at the lower right corner of the desktop is normal for these pre-release builds.

Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Copilot in Windows* is being rolled out gradually to Windows Insiders across our global markets. Customers in the European Economic Area will be able to download the Copilot in Windows experience as an app from the Microsoft Store (coming soon).

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.3646 (Beta Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Thu, 23 May 2024 21:03:50 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.3646 (KB5037858) to the Beta Channel. REMINDER: Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel will updates based on Windows 11, version 23H2 via an enablement package (Build 22635.xxxx). For Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle (shown in the image below) to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready. [caption id="attachment_176587" align="alignnone" width="631"] Turn on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available to get new features rolled out to you.[/caption] Going forward, we will document changes in Beta Channel builds in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available and then new features, improvements, and fixes available to everyone in the Beta Channel.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[General]

This update includes a small set of general improvements and fixes that improve the overall experience for Insiders running this build on their PCs.

Fixes for everyone in the Beta Channel

[Other]

New! This update adds PC Manager to devices in China.
This update addresses an issue that affects File Explorer. It takes up to two minutes to start when you pin a folder that is on a network share to Quick Access. This occurs when you upgrade from Windows 11, version 21H2 to Windows 11, version 22H2.
This update addresses an issue that affects TWAIN drivers. They might stop responding when you use them in a virtual environment.
This update addresses an issue that affects File Explorer. It stops responding when you swipe from a screen edge. This issue occurs after you turn off edge swiping.
This update addresses an issue that affects the display of a smart card icon. It does not appear when you sign in. This occurs when there are multiple certificates on the smart card.
This update addresses an issue that affects a folder context menu. When you choose the command that removes items, the command adds items instead. This occurs when a third-party service implements a sync feature.
This update addresses an issue that affects a server after you remove it from a domain. The Get-LocalGroupMember cmdlet returns an exception. This occurs if the local groups contain domain members.
This update affects the Antimalware Scan Interface (AMSI) AmsiUtil It helps to detect the bypass of the AMSI scan. This update also addresses some long-term issues that expose your device to threats.
This update addresses an issue that affects printers. They do not work as you expect when you use AppContainer or use them in a restricted environment.
This update addresses an issue that affects the out-of-box experience (OOBE). It fails to complete. This occurs when you turn on the "Prevent the use of security questions for local accounts" policy.
This update addresses an issue that affects the Host Networking Service (HNS). When the service restarts, load balancer policies are not brought back in the right way.
This update addresses an issue that affects Enhanced Fast Reconnect. It fails. This occurs when you use it with third-party remote desktop protocol (RDP) providers.
This update addresses an issue that affects Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) Audio They do not show the option to connect or disconnect.
This update addresses an issue that affects an IPP-over-USB printer. After you delete it, it still appears as not available in Control Panel.
This update addresses an issue that affects Unified Write Filter (UWF) Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) API calls. Calls to shut down or restart the system throw an access denied exception.
This update addresses an issue that distorts parts of the screen. This occurs when you use a Chromium-based browser to play a video.
This update brings Country and Operator Settings Asset (COSA) profiles up to date for certain mobile operators.
This update addresses an issue that affects the Share button on USB controllers. It might not work with Game Bar.
This update addresses an issue that displays a hidden window. Its title bar has no content and no client area. This occurs when you share your screen using certain apps.
This update addresses an issue that affects handwriting panels and touch keyboards. They do not appear when you use a pen.
This update addresses an issue that affects an app that supports encrypted email. The app asks you to enter your credentials each time you open an encrypted email. This occurs even after you have entered your PIN at least once.

Known issues

[General]

We are investigating an issue where Internet Information Services (IIS) and Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) may not work after installing this update.
[NEW] We’re investigating an issue where Settings is crashing when trying to look at Wi-Fi properties.

[Widgets]

Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who have the new position for the Widgets entry-point on left-aligned taskbars may see the following known issues:

Swipe invocation for Widgets may not work if taskbar is center-aligned instead of left-aligned.
Unpinning Widgets from the taskbar may not work if taskbar is center-aligned instead of left-aligned.
The Widgets board is incorrectly positioned when Copilot is in side-by-side mode.
Turning on/off Widgets in taskbar settings may refresh the taskbar.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel

Updates released to the Beta Channel are based off Windows 11, version 23H2.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Many features in the Beta Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you*, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.
Copilot in Windows** in preview is being rolled out gradually to Windows Insiders in select global markets. The initial markets for the Copilot in Windows preview include North America, United Kingdom and parts of Asia and South America. It is our intention to add additional markets over time.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.670 (Dev Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 17 May 2024 17:05:22 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.670 (KB5037869) to the Dev Channel. REMINDER: Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel will now receive updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 via an enablement package (Build 26120.xxxx). For Insiders in the Dev Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle (shown in the image below) to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready. [caption id="attachment_176587" align="alignnone" width="640"] Turn on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available to get new features rolled out to you.[/caption] Going forward, we will document changes in Dev Channel builds in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available and then new features, improvements, and fixes available to everyone in the Dev Channel.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[General]

This update includes a small set of general improvements and fixes that improve the overall experience for Insiders running this build on their PCs.

Fixes for everyone in the Dev Channel

[Other]

Fixed an issue where the Network Locations header was missing in the This PC section of File Explorer.
This update affects next secure record 3 (NSEC3) validation in a recursive resolver. Its limit is now 1,000 computations. One computation is equal to the validation of one label with one iteration. DNS Server Administrators can change the default number of computations. To do this, use the registry setting below.
- Name: \HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\DNS\Parameters\ MaxComputationForNsec3Validation
- Type: DWORD
- Default: 1000
- Max: 9600
- Min: 1

This update addresses an issue that might affect domain controllers (DC). NTLM authentication traffic might increase.
This update addresses an issue that affects the installation of a Windows update. It fails to complete. This occurs when you have to restart your device more than once.
This update addresses an issue that might affect Virtual Secure Mode (VSM) scenarios. They might fail. These scenarios include VPN, Windows Hello, Credential Guard, and Key Guard.

Known issues

[Widgets]

The WIN + W keyboard shortcut may not work correctly to open the Widgets board.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel

Updates released to the Dev Channel are based off Windows 11, version 24H2.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Many features in the Dev Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you*, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.
Copilot in Windows** in preview is being rolled out gradually to Windows Insiders in select global markets. The initial markets for the Copilot in Windows preview include North America, United Kingdom and parts of Asia and South America. It is our intention to add additional markets over time.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.3640 (Beta Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 17 May 2024 17:05:18 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.3640 (KB5037867) to the Beta Channel. REMINDER: Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel will updates based on Windows 11, version 23H2 via an enablement package (Build 22635.xxxx). For Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle (shown in the image below) to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready. [caption id="attachment_176587" align="alignnone" width="640"] Turn on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available to get new features rolled out to you.[/caption] Going forward, we will document changes in Beta Channel builds in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available and then new features, improvements, and fixes available to everyone in the Beta Channel.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[File Explorer]

We’ve added support for creating 7-zip and TAR archives in addition to ZIP via the context menu in File Explorer. We have also added a new compression wizard that lets you choose even more formats and specify even more details. You can compress individual files with gzip/bzip2 (and more,) or add multiple files to archives in different tar formats with different types of compression. You can also change the compression level and what types of data are stored in each archive.

[caption id="attachment_177060" align="alignnone" width="648"] New Compress to options for additional archive formats and new compression wizard in a red box under the File Explorer content menu.[/caption]

[Emoji]

We’re adding support for Emoji 15.1 which introduces a small number of brand-new emoji such as head shaking horizontally and vertically, phoenix, lime, brown mushroom and broken chain. Other changes for Emoji 15.1 include Unicode’s decision to revert family combinations to symbol-like shapes. Windows has chosen to stay with our existing style that use people in family combinations. We are also supporting the new directionality updates for person/man/woman walking, kneeling, with cane, running, manual wheelchair and motorized wheelchair. You can now select right facing or the original left facing orientation for these emoji.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[File Explorer]

Fixed a few accessibility issues in the Common File Dialog.

[Input]

Fixed an underlying ctfmon.exe crash which could impact the ability to input text.

[Windowing]

Fixed an issue related to showing tabs in Alt + Tab, which could lead to frequent explorer.exe crashes if you had a very large number of tabs.

Fixes for everyone in the Beta Channel

[Start menu]

We fixed an issue believed to be the underlying cause for Start menu crashing on launch or the All apps list not displaying in the previous Beta Channel flight.

[Other]

This update addresses an issue that might affect domain controllers (DC). NTLM authentication traffic might increase.
This update addresses an issue that might affect Virtual Secure Mode (VSM) scenarios. They might fail. These scenarios include VPN, Windows Hello, Credential Guard, and Key Guard.

Known issues

[General]

We are investigating an issue where Internet Information Services (IIS) and Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) may not work after installing this update.

[Widgets]

Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who have the new position for the Widgets entry-point on left-aligned taskbars may see the following known issues:

Swipe invocation for Widgets may not work if taskbar is center-aligned instead of left-aligned.
Unpinning Widgets from the taskbar may not work if taskbar is center-aligned instead of left-aligned.
The Widgets board is incorrectly positioned when Copilot is in side-by-side mode.
Turning on/off Widgets in taskbar settings may refresh the taskbar.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel

Updates released to the Beta Channel are based off Windows 11, version 23H2.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Many features in the Beta Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you*, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.
Copilot in Windows** in preview is being rolled out gradually to Windows Insiders in select global markets. The initial markets for the Copilot in Windows preview include North America, United Kingdom and parts of Asia and South America. It is our intention to add additional markets over time.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26217 (Canary Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Wed, 15 May 2024 17:04:54 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26217 to the Canary Channel. Developers, please note that for a short period of time, we will not be releasing an SDK for builds we flight to the Canary Channel.

Changes and Improvements

[General]

This update includes a small set of general improvements and fixes that improve the overall experience for Insiders running this build on their PCs.

[Settings]

[ADDED 5/16] We are beginning to roll out updated visuals for the "Rename your PC" and "Change date and time" dialogs to match the Windows 11 visuals.

[caption id="attachment_177056" align="alignnone" width="423"] Rename your PC dialog with refreshed design to match the Windows 11 visuals.[/caption]

Fixes for known issues

[Settings]

Fixed an issue where after using the Disable button for a camera under Settings > Bluetooth & Devices > Cameras, the Enable button wouldn’t work.
Fixed an issue where the text showing the color filters keyboard shortcut was missing from Settings > Accessibility > Color filters.

Known issues

[General]

[IMPORTANT NOTE] We are investigating reports that some Windows Insiders in the Canary and Dev Channels are stuck on Build 26040 or Build 23620. The investigation is ongoing, however if you are impacted by this and really want to get onto the latest build in the Canary or Dev Channel today – you can download the latest ISO here and do a clean install and opt your device back into flighting in the Canary or Dev Channels.

[Widgets]

The WIN + W keyboard shortcut may not work correctly to open the Widgets board.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Canary Channel

The builds we release to the Canary Channel should not be seen as matched to any specific release of Windows and features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Many features in the Canary Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
To get off the Canary Channel, a clean install of Windows 11 will be required. As a reminder - Insiders can’t switch to a channel that is receiving builds with lower build numbers without doing a clean installation of Windows 11 due to technical setup requirements.

The desktop watermark shown at the lower right corner of the desktop is normal for these pre-release builds.

Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Copilot in Windows* in preview is being rolled out gradually to Windows Insiders in select global markets. The initial markets for the Copilot in Windows preview include North America, United Kingdom and parts of Asia and South America. It is our intention to add additional markets over time.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.3575 (Beta Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 10 May 2024 17:04:14 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.3575 (KB5037862) to the Beta Channel. REMINDER: Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel will updates based on Windows 11, version 23H2 via an enablement package (Build 22635.xxxx). For Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle (shown in the image below) to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready. [caption id="attachment_176587" align="alignnone" width="640"] Turn on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available to get new features rolled out to you.[/caption] Going forward, we will document changes in Beta Channel builds in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available and then new features, improvements, and fixes available to everyone in the Beta Channel.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Windows Share]

We are rolling out the ability to copy files from the Windows share window. Just click the new copy button.

[caption id="attachment_177049" align="alignnone" width="459"] New copy button for copying files in the Windows share window highlighted in a red box.[/caption]

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[General]

We believe we have fixed the issue causing the sign-in dialog to persistently show in Microsoft Family Safety when trying to sign-in for customers in Europe.

[Taskbar & System Tray]

We are beginning to roll out a fix where you will see search box if the taskbar auto-hides when the setting for search on the taskbar is set to “Search box”.

[File Explorer]

Made a fix to help address an issue where the address bar dropdown would appear unexpectedly on its own, because focus moved unexpectedly to the address bar.

Known issues

[General]

We are investigating an issue where Internet Information Services (IIS) and Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) may not work after installing this update.

[Widgets]

Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who have the new position for the Widgets entry-point on left-aligned taskbars may see the following known issues:

Swipe invocation for Widgets may not work if taskbar is center-aligned instead of left-aligned.
Unpinning Widgets from the taskbar may not work if taskbar is center-aligned instead of left-aligned.
The Widgets board is incorrectly positioned when Copilot is in side-by-side mode.
Turning on/off Widgets in taskbar settings may refresh the taskbar.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel

Updates released to the Beta Channel are based off Windows 11, version 23H2.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Many features in the Beta Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you*, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.
Copilot in Windows** in preview is being rolled out gradually to Windows Insiders in select global markets. The initial markets for the Copilot in Windows preview include North America, United Kingdom and parts of Asia and South America. It is our intention to add additional markets over time.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.470 (Dev Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 10 May 2024 17:03:49 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.470 (KB5037864) to the Dev Channel. REMINDER: Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel will now receive updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 via an enablement package (Build 26120.xxxx). For Insiders in the Dev Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle (shown in the image below) to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready. [caption id="attachment_176587" align="alignnone" width="640"] Turn on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available to get new features rolled out to you.[/caption] Going forward, we will document changes in Dev Channel builds in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available and then new features, improvements, and fixes available to everyone in the Dev Channel.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[General]

This update includes a small set of general improvements and fixes that improve the overall experience for Insiders running this build on their PCs.

[Settings]

We are introducing a new Game Pass recommendation card on the Settings homepage. The Game Pass recommendation card on Settings Homepage will be shown to you if you actively play games on your PC. As a reminder – the Settings homepage will be shown only on the Home and Pro editions of Windows 11 and if you’re signed into Windows with your Microsoft account.

[caption id="attachment_177010" align="alignnone" width="608"] New Game Pass recommendation card highlighted in a red box on the Settings homepage.[/caption]

Fixes for everyone in the Dev Channel

[General]

We believe we fixed the issue causing some Insiders to experience an install error 0x8007371B trying to install Build 26120.461 in the Dev Channel. If you continue to hit issues – please file feedback in Feedback Hub.

[Other]

This update affects Windows Hello for Business. IT admins can now use mobile device management (MDM) to turn off the prompt that appears when users sign in to an Entra-joined machine. To do this, they can turn on the “DisablePostLogonProvisioning” policy setting. After a user signs in, provisioning is off for Windows 10 and Windows 11 devices.
This update improves the Remote Desktop Session Host. You can now set up its “clipboard redirection” policy to work in a single direction from the local computer to the remote computer. You can also reverse that order.
This update addresses an issue that affects a network resource. You cannot access it from a Remote Desktop session. This occurs when you turn on the Remote Credential Guard feature and the client is Windows 11, version 22H2 or higher.
This update addresses an issue that affects Windows Defender Application Control (WDAC). It prevents a stop error that occurs when you apply more than 32 policies.
This update addresses a deadlock issue in CloudAP. It occurs when different users sign in and sign out at the same time on virtual machines.
This update addresses an issue that affects the Group Policy service. It fails after you use LGPO.exe to apply an audit policy to the system.
This update addresses an issue that affects the Settings app. It stops responding when you use it to remove Bluetooth devices.
This update addresses an issue that affects Notepad. It fails to print to certain Internet Printing Protocol (IPP) printers when you use a print support app.
This update addresses an issue that affects dsamain.exe. When the Knowledge Consistency Checker (KCC) runs evaluations, it stops responding.
This update addresses an issue that stops some apps and features from being available. This occurs after you upgrade to Windows 11.
This update affects MSIX applications. It helps their UI to localize correctly for all languages when you upgrade your OS.
This update addresses an issue that affects the Microsoft Message Queue (MSMQ) PowerShell module. It does not load.
This update addresses an issue that affects the existing AppLocker rule collection enforcement mode. It is not overwritten when rules merge with a collection that has no rules. This occurs when the enforcement mode is set to “Not Configured.”
This update addresses an issue that affects Transport Layer Security (TLS), version 1.3. It causes Azure App Services to fail. This occurs when the web server attempts to connect to a third-party Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) server.
This update affects the touch keyboard. It makes the Japanese 106 keyboard layout appear as expected when you sign in.
This update addresses an issue that affects the touch keyboard and the candidate window for the Japanese and Chinese Input Method Editors (IME). They do not show after you come out of Modern Standby. To learn more, see Microsoft Japanese IME and What is Modern Standby.
This update addresses an issue that affects certain Neural Processing Units (NPU). They do not show in Task Manager.
This update addresses an issue that affects some wireless earbuds. Bluetooth connections are not stable. This occurs on devices that have firmware from April 2023 and later.
This update addresses an issue that affects USB audio. It fails on some processors. This occurs after you pause, play, or resume from sleep.
This update supports DST changes in To learn more, see Interim guidance for Kazakhstan time zone changes 2024.
This update supports DST changes in To learn more, see Interim guidance for Samoa DST changes 2021.
This update supports daylight saving time (DST) changes in Greenland. To learn more, see Greenland 2023 time zone update now available.
This update addresses an issue that affects Secure Launch. It does not run on some processors.
This update addresses a reliability issue. It affects a Virtual Remote App product when you use a custom shell to open it.
This update addresses an issue that affects Containers that you create or deploy. Their status does not progress past “ContainerCreating.”
This update brings Country and Operator Settings Asset (COSA) profiles up to date for some mobile operators.
This update addresses an issue that affects the COM+ component. Some applications that depend on it stop responding.
This update addresses an issue that affects the time service. You can configure it using mobile device management (MDM) or a Group Policy Object (GPO). But the Windows Settings app does not match what you have configured.
This update addresses an issue that occurs when you use LoadImage() to load a top-down bitmap. If the bitmap has a negative height, the image does not load, and the function returns NULL.
This update implements phase three of Distributed Component Object Model (DCOM) hardening. See KB5004442. After you install this update, you cannot turn off the changes using the registry key.
This update addresses an issue that affects certain Neural Processing Units (NPU). They do not show in Task Manager.

Known issues

[Widgets]

[ADDED 5/13] The WIN + W keyboard shortcut may not work correctly and open the Widgets board on Build 26120.470.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel

Updates released to the Dev Channel are based off Windows 11, version 24H2.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Many features in the Dev Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you*, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.
Copilot in Windows** in preview is being rolled out gradually to Windows Insiders in select global markets. The initial markets for the Copilot in Windows preview include North America, United Kingdom and parts of Asia and South America. It is our intention to add additional markets over time.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26212 (Canary Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Wed, 08 May 2024 17:04:54 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26212 to the Canary Channel. Developers, please note that for a short period of time, we will not be releasing an SDK for builds we flight to the Canary Channel.

Changes and Improvements

[Windows Share]

Users will be able to now generate QR codes for URLs and cloud file links through the Windows share window to seamlessly share webpages and files across their devices. To try this out in Microsoft Edge, just click the share button in the Edge toolbar and choose “Windows share options”.

[caption id="attachment_176975" align="alignnone" width="603"] Option to generate a QR code to share a URL through the Windows share window.[/caption]

To prevent accidentally closing the Windows share window, clicking outside the Windows share window will no longer close it. To close the Windows share window, just press the close button at the top right corner.
If your Microsoft account uses a Gmail address, you can now send email to yourself from Windows share window and receive it in your Gmail account.

[caption id="attachment_177009" align="alignnone" width="385"] Example Gmail option to email yourself in the Windows share window highlighted in a red box.[/caption]

**[Copilot in Windows*]**

Over the last few months, we’ve been trying out different experiences for Copilot in Windows (Preview) with Windows Insiders across the Canary, Dev, and Beta Channels. Some of these experiences include the ability for Copilot in Windows to act like a normal application window and the taskbar icon animating to indicate that Copilot can help when you copy text or images. We have decided to pause the rollouts of these experiences to further refine them based on user feedback. Copilot in Windows will continue to work as expected while we continue to evolve new ideas with Windows Insiders.

Fixes for known issues

[General]

We fixed the issue causing advanced startup options to not work. This also fixes the progress wheel from not showing when booting.
We believe we fixed the issue causing Features on Demand (FODs) to not install.

**[Copilot in Windows*]**

We are rolling out a fix for the issue causing Copilot to auto-launch unexpectedly for Windows Insiders in the Canary, Dev, and Beta Channels after restarting their PCs. This issue was unrelated to the auto-launching experience we tried out with Insiders in the Canary and Dev Channels in early Februarywhich we stopped rolling out in March.

[Taskbar & System Tray]

Fixed an issue that caused the taskbar to be partially off the screen on secondary monitors.
Fixed an issue that caused Narrator to be silent while rearranging your apps on taskbar.

[File Explorer]

Fixed an issue which was causing File Explorer to sporadically crash when using path suggestions in the address bar.
Fixed an issue which could cause File Explorer to crash sometimes when going from the search box to the body of File Explorer.

[Windowing]

Fixed a couple DWM crashes, which could cause the screen to appear to flash.

[Other]

Fixed an issue that was causing some people to repeatedly see a message saying live captions were being missed.
Fixed an underlying issue which was causing Visual Studio to fail to debug x64 .NET framework console applications (the app would crash in ntdll.dll upon load).

Known issues

[General]

[IMPORTANT NOTE] We are investigating reports that some Windows Insiders in the Canary and Dev Channels are stuck on Build 26040 or Build 23620. The investigation is ongoing, however if you are impacted by this and really want to get onto the latest build in the Canary or Dev Channel today – you can download the latest ISO here and do a clean install and opt your device back into flighting in the Canary or Dev Channels.

[Widgets]

[ADDED 5/12] The WIN + W keyboard shortcut may not work correctly and open the Widgets board on Build 26212.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Canary Channel

The builds we release to the Canary Channel should not be seen as matched to any specific release of Windows and features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Many features in the Canary Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
To get off the Canary Channel, a clean install of Windows 11 will be required. As a reminder - Insiders can’t switch to a channel that is receiving builds with lower build numbers without doing a clean installation of Windows 11 due to technical setup requirements.

The desktop watermark shown at the lower right corner of the desktop is normal for these pre-release builds.

Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Copilot in Windows* in preview is being rolled out gradually to Windows Insiders in select global markets. The initial markets for the Copilot in Windows preview include North America, United Kingdom and parts of Asia and South America. It is our intention to add additional markets over time.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.461 (Dev Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 03 May 2024 17:03:45 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.461 (KB5037009) to the Dev Channel. Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel will now receive updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 via an enablement package (Build 26120.xxxx). For Insiders in the Dev Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle (shown in the image below) to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready. [caption id="attachment_176587" align="alignnone" width="675"] Turn on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available to get new features rolled out to you.[/caption] Going forward, we will document changes in Dev Channel builds in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available and then new features, improvements, and fixes available to everyone in the Dev Channel.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[General]

This update includes a small set of general improvements and fixes that improve the overall experience for Insiders running this build on their PCs.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to everyone in the Dev Channel

[Copilot in Windows]**

Over the last few months, we’ve been trying out different experiences for Copilot in Windows (Preview) with Windows Insiders across the Canary, Dev, and Beta Channels. Some of these experiences include the ability for Copilot in Windows to act like a normal application window and the taskbar icon animating to indicate that Copilot can help when you copy text or images. We have decided to pause the rollouts of these experiences to further refine them based on user feedback. Copilot in Windows will continue to work as expected while we continue to evolve new ideas with Windows Insiders.

Fixes for everyone in the Dev Channel

[Copilot in Windows]**

We are rolling out a fix for the issue causing Copilot to auto-launch unexpectedly for Windows Insiders in the Canary, Dev, and Beta Channels after restarting their PCs. This issue was unrelated to the auto-launching experience we tried out with Insiders in the Canary and Dev Channels in early February which we stopped rolling out in March.

Known issues

[General]

[ADDED 5/6] We are investigating reports that some Insiders are experiencing an install error 0x8007371B trying to install Build 26120.461.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel

Updates released to the Dev Channel are based off Windows 11, version 24H2.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Many features in the Dev Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you*, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.
Copilot in Windows** in preview is being rolled out gradually to Windows Insiders in select global markets. The initial markets for the Copilot in Windows preview include North America, United Kingdom and parts of Asia and South America. It is our intention to add additional markets over time.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.3570 (Beta Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 03 May 2024 17:03:15 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.3570 (KB5037008) to the Beta Channel. REMINDER: All Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel will now be on the same build (Build 22635.xxxx) via an enablement package. For Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle (shown in the image below) to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready. [caption id="attachment_176587" align="alignnone" width="675"] Turn on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available to get new features rolled out to you.[/caption] Going forward, we will document changes in Beta Channel builds in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available and then new features, improvements, and fixes available to everyone in the Beta Channel.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[File Explorer]

We’re rolling out the ability to duplicate a tab by right-clicking on a tab in File Explorer.

[caption id="attachment_177024" align="alignnone" width="554"] Option to duplicate tab when right-clicking on a tab in File Explorer highlighted in a red square.[/caption]

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[File Explorer]

Fixed a memory leak when interacting with archive folders in File Explorer.
Fixed a few issues impacting File Explorer reliability.
Made a change to help fix an issue which could cause the spacing between your desktop icons to become extremely wide.
Fixed a timing issue where if you start a search from Home in File Explorer, it may unexpectedly show no results the first time you tried.
Did some work to help address an issue where the address bar dropdown might appear unexpectedly while you were using File Explorer.

[Task Manager]

Updated the units (from MHz to MT/s) for DDR speed.
Fixed an issue where the Safely Remove Hardware option for ejecting USB devices wouldn’t work if Task Manager was open.
Did some work to ensure Task Manager releases process handles quickly when terminating processes.
Made some more improvements to help with Task Manager reliability.
We have improved the performance when changing the sort order.
Made multiple improvements to overall accessibility of Task Manager, including improving keyboard focus, tab navigation, text scaling, names of items read out by screen readers, and more.
We made it a little easier to resize Task Manager when trying to resize by grabbing the top of the window.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to everyone in the Beta Channel

[Copilot in Windows]**

Over the last few months, we’ve been trying out different experiences for Copilot in Windows (Preview) with Windows Insiders across the Canary, Dev, and Beta Channels. Some of these experiences include the ability for Copilot in Windows to act like a normal application window and the taskbar icon animating to indicate that Copilot can help when you copy text or images. We have decided to pause the rollouts of these experiences to further refine them based on user feedback. Copilot in Windows will continue to work as expected while we continue to evolve new ideas with Windows Insiders.

Fixes for everyone in the Beta Channel

[Start menu]

We fixed the issue causing a component related to upgrading and restoring data from Windows Backup called “Global.WindowsMigration” to incorrectly show under the Start menu > All apps.

[Copilot in Windows]**

We are rolling out a fix for the issue causing Copilot to auto-launch unexpectedly for Windows Insiders in the Canary, Dev, and Beta Channels after restarting their PCs. This issue was unrelated to the auto-launching experience we tried out with Insiders in the Canary and Dev Channels in early February which we stopped rolling out in March.

Known issues

[General]

We are investigating an issue where Internet Information Services (IIS) and Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) may not work after installing this update.

[Widgets]

Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who have the new position for the Widgets entry-point on left-aligned taskbars may see the following known issues:

Swipe invocation for Widgets may not work if taskbar is center-aligned instead of left-aligned.
Unpinning Widgets from the taskbar may not work if taskbar is center-aligned instead of left-aligned.
The Widgets board is incorrectly positioned when Copilot is in side-by-side mode.
Turning on/off Widgets in taskbar settings may refresh the taskbar.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel

Updates released to the Beta Channel are based off Windows 11, version 23H2.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Many features in the Beta Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you*, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.
Copilot in Windows** in preview is being rolled out gradually to Windows Insiders in select global markets. The initial markets for the Copilot in Windows preview include North America, United Kingdom and parts of Asia and South America. It is our intention to add additional markets over time.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.3566 (Beta Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 26 Apr 2024 17:03:33 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.3566 (KB5037002) to the Beta Channel. REMINDER: All Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel will now be on the same build (Build 22635.xxxx) via an enablement package. For Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle (shown in the image below) to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready. [caption id="attachment_176587" align="alignnone" width="631"] Turn on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available to get new features rolled out to you.[/caption] Going forward, we will document changes in Beta Channel builds in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available and then new features, improvements, and fixes available to everyone in the Beta Channel.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Taskbar & System Tray]

In response to feedback, we are now showing the "show desktop" button by default and users can still manage this by right-clicking on the taskbar and choosing “Taskbar settings” (which opens Settings > Personalization > Taskbar directly).

[File Explorer]

Dragging-and-dropping files with your mouse between breadcrumbs in the File Explorer Address Bar that began rolling out with Build 22635.3420 is now available to all Insiders in the Beta Channel.

Fixes and Improvements for everyone in the Beta Channel

New! This update improves the Widgets icons on the taskbar. They are no longer pixelated or fuzzy. This update also starts the rollout of a larger set of animated icons.
New! This update affects Widgets on the lock screen. They are more reliable and have improved quality. This update also supports more visuals and a more customized experience for you.
This update fixes an issue which was causing Settings to crash when copying out text in the last few flights.
This update addresses an issue that affects universal printers. The system creates duplicate print queues for them.
This update adds support for Arm64 .msi files using a Group Policy Object (GPO). You can now use the Group Policy Management Console (GPMC) to add Arm64 .msi files. You can also use a GPO to install these files on Arm64 machines.
This update affects hypervisor-protected code integrity (HVCI). It accepts drivers that are now compatible.
This update addresses an issue that occurs when you elevate from a normal user to an Administrator to run an application. When you use a PIN to sign in, the app will not run.
This update affects Windows Subsystem for Linux 2 (WSL2). Intermittent name resolution fails in a split DNS setup.
This update addresses an issue that affects the netstat -c It fails to perform effective port exhaustion troubleshooting.
This update addresses an issue that affects a low latency network. The speed of data on the network degrades significantly. This occurs when you turn on timestamps for a Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) connection.
This update addresses an issue that affects the Distributed Transaction Coordinator (DTC). A memory leak occurs when it retrieves mappings.
This update includes quarterly changes to the Windows Kernel Vulnerable Driver Blocklist file, p7b. It adds to the list of drivers that are at risk for Bring Your Own Vulnerable Driver (BYOVD) attacks.
This update affects the touch keyboard. It makes the Japanese 106 keyboard layout appear as expected when you sign in.
This update adds a new mobile device management (MDM) policy called “AllowScreenRecorder.” It affects the Snipping Tool. IT admins can use this policy to turn off screen recording in the app.
This update addresses an issue that affects Bluetooth Advanced Audio Distribution Profile (A2DP) hardware offload. A stop error occurs on PCs that support it.
This update addresses a memory allocation issue in the Host Networking Service (HNS). The issue causes high memory consumption. It also affects service and pod deployment and scaling.
This update addresses an issue that affects the container networking Address Resolution Protocol (ARP). It returns the wrong Virtual Subnet ID (VSID) for external ports.
This update affects media allocations. It improves their memory granularity for some hardware setups. This lowers overcommitment. Also, performance is more efficient.
This update addresses an issue that affects an accelerator backing store management path. A memory leak occurs that affects some devices.
This update addresses an issue that affects Windows Local Administrator Password Solution (LAPS). Its Post Authentication Actions (PAA) do not occur at the end of the grace period. Instead, they occur at restart.
This update addresses a race condition that might stop a machine from starting up. This occurs when you set up a bootloader to start up multiple OSes.
This update makes Country and Operator Settings Asset (COSA) profiles up to date for some mobile operators.
This update addresses an issue that affects the Resilient File System (ReFS). A high load might make the system unresponsive. Also, signing in might be slow.
This update addresses an issue that affects Settings. It stops responding when you dismiss a flyout menu.
This update addresses an issue that affects Protected Process Light (PPL) protections. You can bypass them.

Known issues

[General]

We are investigating an issue where Internet Information Services (IIS) and Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) may not work after installing this update.

[Start menu]

[ADDED 4/29] A component related to upgrading and restoring data from Windows Backup called “Global.WindowsMigration” is incorrectly showing under the Start menu > All apps and will be fixed in the next Beta Channel flight.

**[Copilot in Windows*]**

Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who have the updated Copilot in Windows experience that introduces the ability for Copilot to act like a normal application window may see the following known issues:

We are aware of reports by Insiders in the Canary and Dev Channels that Copilot is auto-launching unexpectedly after restarting their PCs. We hope to have a fix for this issue soon and is unrelated to the auto-launching experience we tried out with Insiders in the Canary and Dev Channels in early Februarywhich we stopped rolling out in March.
Voice access does not work reliably with the updated Copilot in Windows experience that introduces the ability for Copilot to act like a normal application.
Using Windows Ink to write in Copilot will not work with the updated Copilot in Windows experience.

[Widgets]

Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who have the new position for the Widgets entry-point on left-aligned taskbars may see the following known issues:

Swipe invocation for Widgets may not work if taskbar is center-aligned instead of left-aligned.
Unpinning Widgets from the taskbar may not work if taskbar is center-aligned instead of left-aligned.
The Widgets board is incorrectly positioned when Copilot is in side-by-side mode.
Turning on/off Widgets in taskbar settings may refresh the taskbar.

About the Beta Channel

The Beta Channel is the place we preview experiences that are closer to what we will ship to our general customers. Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first. However, this does not mean every feature we try out in the Beta Channel will ship. We encourage Insiders to read this blog post that outlines the ways we’ll try things out with Insiders in both the Dev and Beta Channels. *Getting new features: For Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready. **Availability of Copilot in Windows: Copilot in Windows in preview is being rolled out gradually to Windows Insiders in select global markets. The initial markets for the Copilot in Windows preview include North America, United Kingdom and parts of Asia and South America. It is our intention to add additional markets over time.

Important Insider Links

Want to learn how we made Windows 11? Check out the Inside Windows 11 website to hear and meet our makers from Engineering, Design and Research to share their insights and unique perspectives throughout this journey.
You can check out our Windows Insider Program documentation here.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200 (Canary Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 19 Apr 2024 17:04:43 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200 to the Canary Channel. (Note the .5001 after the build number does not mean anything relevant to Windows Insiders and we will continue to use the primary build number for these flight blog posts.) With the Canary Channel moving to a higher build number, the window closes on being able to switch to the Dev Channel without doing a clean-install of Windows. If you haven’t switched channels yet, you can still do so BEFORE taking Build 26200. Developers, please note that for a short period of time, we will not be releasing an SDK for builds we flight to the Canary Channel.

Changes and Improvements

[General]

[REMINDER] As we’ve been mentioning previously that would happen, the build watermark at the lower right-hand corner of the desktop has returned.

[Widgets]

We are also making some improvements to the Widgets button on the taskbar so that the icons on the taskbar are clearer and we are rolling out a larger set of animated icons too.
As part of the Widgets board improvements that we began rolling out with Build 26090 a few weeks ago (which are now also rolling out to Insiders in the Dev Channel), we are introducing the ability for developers to send notifications to the taskbar button with their custom dashboards for the Widgets board. Developers can check out this documentation on how to implement this capability with their Widgets dashboards. To manage notifications from multiple dashboards, Widgets is also providing more granular control over what content shows on the Widgets button on the taskbar. You can go to Widgets Settings > Notifications and enable or disable taskbar notifications from individual dashboards. NOTE: These changes are only initially available to Windows Insiders in the European Economic Area (EEA).

[Taskbar & System Tray]

After trying out a different design for the energy saver icon in system tray a few months ago for PCs that are plugged in and do not have batteries (such as desktop PCs), we reverted the design back to the leaf icon a few builds ago. (This change is also present in Build 26100.)

[caption id="attachment_177014" align="alignnone" width="333"] Energy saver icon shown on the system tray for PCs that do not have batteries.[/caption]

Fixes for known issues

[Taskbar & System Tray]

Fixed an issue that caused a dead zone you couldn't click inside of next to the notification center.
Fixed an issue that was causing the page icons in quick settings to not work in secondary settings pages.
Fixed an issue where keyboard focus wasn't shifting to the top item of the new page correctly after switching pages in quick settings.

[Input]

Fixed a tabtip.exe crash, which could impact the ability to input text.

[Windowing]

Fixed an issue which could cause RemoteApp windows to get cut off when using 200% scaling.

[Multiple Desktops]

Fixed an issue where the option to set a different wallpaper on each desktop wasn’t working.

Known issues

[General]

[IMPORTANT NOTE] We are investigating reports that some Windows Insiders in the Canary and Dev Channels are stuck on Build 26040 or Build 23620. The investigation is ongoing, however if you are impacted by this and really want to get onto the latest build in the Canary or Dev Channel today – you can download the latest ISO here and do a clean install and opt your device back into flighting in the Canary or Dev Channels.

**[Copilot in Windows*]**

[NEW] We are aware of reports by Insiders in the Canary, Dev, and Beta Channels that Copilot is auto-launching unexpectedly after restarting their PCs. We hope to have a fix for this issue soon and is unrelated to the auto-launching experience we tried out with Insiders in the Canary and Dev Channels in early February which we stopped rolling out in March.
Voice access does not work reliably with the updated Copilot in Windows experience that introduces the ability for Copilot to act like a normal application.
Using Windows Ink to write in Copilot will not work with the updated Copilot in Windows experience that introduces the ability for Copilot to act like a normal application window.

Reminders for Windows Insiders

The builds we release to the Canary Channel should not be seen as matched to any specific release of Windows and features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Many features in the Canary Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
To get off the Canary Channel, a clean install of Windows 11 will be required. As a reminder - Insiders can’t switch to a channel that is receiving builds with lower build numbers without doing a clean installation of Windows 11 due to technical setup requirements.

The desktop watermark shown at the lower right corner of the desktop is normal for these pre-release builds.

Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Copilot in Windows* in preview is being rolled out gradually to Windows Insiders in select global markets. The initial markets for the Copilot in Windows preview include North America, United Kingdom and parts of Asia and South America. It is our intention to add additional markets over time.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.3500 (Beta Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 19 Apr 2024 17:03:20 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.3500 (KB5036985) to the Beta Channel. REMINDER: All Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel will now be on the same build (Build 22635.xxxx) via an enablement package. For Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle (shown in the image below) to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready. [caption id="attachment_176587" align="alignnone" width="737"] Turn on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available to get new features rolled out to you.[/caption] Going forward, we will document changes in Beta Channel builds in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available and then new features, improvements, and fixes available to everyone in the Beta Channel.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Start menu]

This update starts the roll out of the new account manager on the Start menu. When you sign in with a Microsoft account, the new design gives you a quick glanceable view of your account benefits and makes it easy to manage account settings.

[caption id="attachment_177008" align="alignnone" width="370"] New account manager experience on the Start menu showing account settings and an action needed that needs to be taken to secure your Microsoft account.[/caption]

[Windows Share]

If your Microsoft account uses a Gmail address, you can now send email to yourself from Windows share window and receive it in your Gmail account.

[caption id="attachment_177009" align="alignnone" width="389"] Example Gmail option to email yourself in the Windows share window highlighted in a red box.[/caption]

[Settings]

To ensure you don’t lose access to your Microsoft account, we’re beginning to roll out a new banner with a “Add now” button under Settings > Account for adding a recovery email address if you haven’t added one for your Microsoft account yet. This will only show if you are signed in with a Microsoft account.
We are introducing a new Game Pass recommendation card on the Settings homepage. The Game Pass recommendation card on Settings Homepage will be shown to you if you actively play games on your PC. As a reminder - the Settings homepage will be shown only on the Home and Pro editions of Windows 11 and if you’re signed into Windows with your Microsoft account.

[caption id="attachment_177010" align="alignnone" width="671"] New Game Pass recommendation card highlighted in a red box on the Settings homepage.[/caption]

New features rolling out for everyone in the Beta Channel

Widgets Board Improvements

We are introducing a new navigation bar on the left allowing you to switch between a dedicated widgets dashboard and other integrated dashboards like Discover. As part of this change, we are introducing the ability for developers to send notifications to the taskbar button with their custom dashboards for the Widgets board. Developers can check out this documentation on how to implement this capability with their Widgets dashboards. To manage notifications from multiple dashboards, Widgets is also providing more granular control over what content shows on the Widgets button on the taskbar. You can go to Widgets Settings > Notifications and enable or disable taskbar notifications from individual dashboards. NOTE: These changes are only initially available to Windows Insiders in the European Economic Area (EEA). [caption id="attachment_176968" align="alignnone" width="680"] We’ve added a new Navigation Pane on the left that allows you to switch to My Widgets dashboard.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_176970" align="alignnone" width="680"] A full widgets only experience from your favorite apps and services.[/caption] FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Desktop Environment > Widgets.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to everyone in the Beta Channel

[Widgets]

We are making some improvements to the Widgets button on the taskbar so that the icons on the taskbar are clearer and we are rolling out a larger set of animated icons too.

Known issues

[General]

We are investigating an issue where Internet Information Services (IIS) and Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) may not work after installing this update.
[NEW] We’re working on the fix for an issue causing Settings to crash when copying text in certain cases. As a workaround, please use the extract text option in Snipping Tool for the time being if you are impacted.

**[Copilot in Windows*]**

[NEW] We are aware of reports by Insiders in the Canary, Dev, and Beta Channels that Copilot is auto-launching unexpectedly after restarting their PCs. We hope to have a fix for this issue soon and is unrelated to the auto-launching experience we tried out with Insiders in the Canary and Dev Channels in early February which we stopped rolling out in March.
Voice access does not work reliably with the updated Copilot in Windows experience that introduces the ability for Copilot to act like a normal application.
Using Windows Ink to write in Copilot will not work with the updated Copilot in Windows experience.

[Widgets]

[NEW] We’re working on the fix for an issue causing Widgets to crash for some Insiders when interacting with the Widgets board.

Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who have the new position for the Widgets entry-point on left-aligned taskbars may see the following known issues:

Swipe invocation for Widgets may not work if taskbar is center-aligned instead of left-aligned.
Unpinning Widgets from the taskbar may not work if taskbar is center-aligned instead of left-aligned.
The Widgets board is incorrectly positioned when Copilot is in side-by-side mode.
Turning on/off Widgets in taskbar settings may refresh the taskbar.

About the Beta Channel

Important Insider Links

Want to learn how we made Windows 11? Check out the Inside Windows 11 website to hear and meet our makers from Engineering, Design and Research to share their insights and unique perspectives throughout this journey.
You can check out our Windows Insider Program documentation here.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.3495 (Beta Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 12 Apr 2024 17:03:37 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.3495 (KB5037000) to the Beta Channel. REMINDER: All Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel will now be on the same build (Build 22635.xxxx) via an enablement package. For Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle (shown in the image below) to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready. [caption id="attachment_176587" align="alignnone" width="681"] Turn on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available to get new features rolled out to you.[/caption] Going forward, we will document changes in Beta Channel builds in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available and then new features, improvements, and fixes available to everyone in the Beta Channel.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Start menu]

Building on top of recent improvements like grouping recently installed apps and showing your frequently used apps, we are now trying out recommendations to help you discover great apps from the Microsoft Store under Recommended on the Start menu. This will appear only for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel in the U.S. and will not apply to commercial devices (devices managed by organizations). This can be turned off by going to Settings > Personalization > Start and turning off the toggle for “Show recommendations for tips, app promotions, and more”. As a reminder, we regularly try out new experiences and concepts that may never get released with Windows Insiders to get feedback. Should you see this experience on the Start menu, let us know what you think. We are beginning to roll this out to a small set of Insiders in the Beta Channel at first.

[caption id="attachment_176994" align="alignnone" width="523"] Example of a recommended app on the Start menu highlighted in a red box.[/caption]

[Desktop Spotlight]

We are beginning to try out some adjustments for Windows Spotlight experience on the desktop to make it easier for Spotlight users to engage with this feature to change images, like or not like an image etc. In addition, these changes will make the Spotlight icon behave like other desktop icons. There will be several different treatments these adjustments that Insiders will notice.

[caption id="attachment_176995" align="alignnone" width="515"] With Treatment 1, if a user right-clicks on the Windows Spotlight icon it will launch Spotlight experience in full screen mode, while double clicking will open the landing page for the image on desktop.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_176996" align="alignnone" width="529"] With Treatment 2, if a user right-clicks on the Windows Spotlight icon it will launch the Spotlight experience without any change to the desktop set up, while double clicking launches the Spotlight experience in full screen mode.[/caption]

[Settings]

We are introducing a new Linked devices page under Settings > Accounts that allows you to manage PCs and Xbox consoles that you are signed in to with your Microsoft account. This settings page will only show on the Home and Pro editions of Windows 11 and if you’re signed into Windows with your Microsoft account.

[caption id="attachment_177067" align="alignnone" width="681"] New linked devices page under Accounts settings highlighted in a red box.[/caption]

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to everyone in the Beta Channel

**[Copilot in Windows*]**

We are beginning to roll out an updated Copilot in Windows experience that adds the ability to switch between the existing “docked” behavior that attaches Copilot to the side of your desktop, and a new mode where it acts like a normal application window which you can resize and move around your screen. As part of this change, we’re also introducing some under-the-hood improvements as well. This experience is beginning to roll out to Windows Insiders in BOTH the Dev and Beta Channels. As always, please report any issues you experience to us via Feedback Hub.

[caption id="attachment_176935" align="alignnone" width="703"] Copilot in Windows undocked and shown next to Notepad like a normal application window.[/caption]

Known issues

[General]

We are investigating an issue where Internet Information Services (IIS) and Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) may not work after installing this update.

**[Copilot in Windows*]**

[NEW] Voice access does not work reliably with the updated Copilot in Windows experience that introduces the ability for Copilot to act like a normal application.
[NEW] Using Windows Ink to write in Copilot will not work with the updated Copilot in Windows experience.

[Widgets]

Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who have the new position for the Widgets entry-point on left-aligned taskbars may see the following known issues:

Swipe invocation for Widgets may not work if taskbar is center-aligned instead of left-aligned.
Unpinning Widgets from the taskbar may not work if taskbar is center-aligned instead of left-aligned.
The Widgets board is incorrectly positioned when Copilot is in side-by-side mode.
Turning on/off Widgets in taskbar settings may refresh the taskbar.

About the Beta Channel

Important Insider Links

Want to learn how we made Windows 11? Check out the Inside Windows 11 website to hear and meet our makers from Engineering, Design and Research to share their insights and unique perspectives throughout this journey.
You can check out our Windows Insider Program documentation here.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.3430 (Beta Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 05 Apr 2024 17:03:08 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.3430 (KB5036992) to the Beta Channel. REMINDER: All Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel will now be on the same build (Build 22635.xxxx) via an enablement package. For Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle (shown in the image below) to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready. [caption id="attachment_176587" align="alignnone" width="722"] Turn on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available to get new features rolled out to you.[/caption] Going forward, we will document changes in Beta Channel builds in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available and then new features, improvements, and fixes available to everyone in the Beta Channel.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

**[Copilot in Windows*]**

Starting with Build 22635.3286, we began rolling out a new experience for Copilot in Windows that helps showcase the ways that Copilot can accelerate and enhance your work. We’re making an improvement to this experience. Now when you copy both text or image files, the Copilot icon will change appearance and animate to indicate that Copilot can help. When you hover your mouse over the Copilot icon, it will provide a menu of actions that you can take, such as creating a similar image or analyzing an image. If you select an action on the menu, it will launch Copilot with the action ready-to-go.

[caption id="attachment_176986" align="alignnone" width="370"] Copilot actions you can take when you mouse over the Copilot icon on the taskbar after copying an image.[/caption]

[Windows Share]

We are beginning to roll out again the ability to share directly to specific Microsoft Teams Channels and group chats directly within the Windows share window if you’re signed in with a Microsoft Entra ID. This originally rolled out with Build 22635.2776 but was temporarily disabled to fix some issues.

Known issues

[General]

We are investigating an issue where Internet Information Services (IIS) and Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) may not work after installing this update.

[Widgets]

Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who have the new position for the Widgets entry-point on left-aligned taskbars may see the following known issues:

Swipe invocation for Widgets may not work if taskbar is center-aligned instead of left-aligned.
Unpinning Widgets from the taskbar may not work if taskbar is center-aligned instead of left-aligned.
The Widgets board is incorrectly positioned when Copilot is in side-by-side mode.
Turning on/off Widgets in taskbar settings may refresh the taskbar.

About the Beta Channel

Important Insider Links

Want to learn how we made Windows 11? Check out the Inside Windows 11 website to hear and meet our makers from Engineering, Design and Research to share their insights and unique perspectives throughout this journey.
You can check out our Windows Insider Program documentation here.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26100 (Canary and Dev Channels)

Brandon LeBlanc — Wed, 03 Apr 2024 17:04:56 +0000

UPDATE 4/26: We are starting to roll out Cumulative Update Build 26100.268 (KB5036908) to Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel. This update is designed to test our servicing pipeline and is the same as the April 2024 security update released earlier this month for Windows 11, version 23H2.

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26100 to the Canary and Dev Channels. The Canary and Dev Channels receiving the same builds is only temporary. During the times in which the Canary and Dev Channels are on the same builds (e.g. Build 26100), the window is open for Insiders in the Canary Channel to switch to the Dev Channel. In the near future, the Canary Channel will jump to higher build numbers and the window will be closed so make your choice on which channel to be in soon! NOTE: Some features may begin rolling out to the Canary Channel first before the Dev Channel even if the two channels have the same build.

What’s new in Build 26100

Changes and Improvements

[General]

[REMINDER] The build watermark at the lower right-hand corner of the desktop is not present in this build and will return in future Insider Preview builds. This is part of our normal process preparing Windows 11, version 24H2 for releasing to customers later this year – but does not mean we’re done. Windows 11, version 24H2, will be this year’s annual feature update. As mentioned here, Windows 11 will have an annual feature update cadence that releases in the second half of the calendar year.

Fixes for known issues

[General]

Made another fix to address the issue causing shutdown and hibernate to not work in the latest builds.
Fixed an issue resulting in some Insiders seeing error 0x80240067 when trying to download app updates from Microsoft Store or Windows updates in Settings in the latest builds.

**[Copilot in Windows*]**

With the updated Copilot in Windows experience that introduces the ability for Copilot to act like a normal application window, we have fixed the issue that prevented the ability to bring focus to the “…” or refresh buttons within Copilot when using a keyboard (ex: by using tab to cycle through buttons).

[Windowing]

Fixed a DWM crash impacting some Insiders in the latest flights (this could result in you seeing your screen flash black).

Known issues

[General]

[IMPORTANT NOTE] We are investigating reports that some Windows Insiders in the Canary and Dev Channels are stuck on Build 26040 or Build 23620. The investigation is ongoing, however if you are impacted by this and really want to get onto the latest build in the Canary or Dev Channel today – you can download the latest ISO here and do a clean install and opt your device back into flighting in the Canary or Dev Channels.

**[Copilot in Windows*]**

[ADDED 4/12] We are aware of reports by Insiders in the Canary and Dev Channels that Copilot is auto-launching unexpectedly after restarting their PCs. We hope to have a fix for this issue soon and is unrelated to the auto-launching experience we tried out with Insiders in the Canary and Dev Channels in early February which we stopped rolling out in March.
Voice access does not work reliably with the updated Copilot in Windows experience that introduces the ability for Copilot to act like a normal application.
Using Windows Ink to write in Copilot will not work with the updated Copilot in Windows experience that introduces the ability for Copilot to act like a normal application window.
When Copilot in Windows is docked and resized to a large width, Copilot does not always fill the width of the panel. Resizing Copilot usually fixes this issue.

For developers

You can download the latest Windows Insider SDK at aka.ms/windowsinsidersdk. SDK NuGet packages are now also flighting at NuGet Gallery | WindowsSDK which include:

.NET TFM packages for use in .NET apps as described at aka.ms/windowsinsidersdk
C++ packages for Win32 headers and libs per architecture
BuildTools package when you just need tools like MakeAppx.exe, MakePri.exe, and SignTool.exe

These NuGet packages provide more granular access to the SDK and better integration in CI/CD pipelines. SDK flights are now published for both the Canary and Dev Channels, so be sure to choose the right version for your Insider Channel. Remember to use adaptive code when targeting new APIs to make sure your app runs on all customer machines, particularly when building against the Dev Channel SDK. Feature detection is recommended over OS version checks, as OS version checks are unreliable and will not work as expected in all cases.

Reminders for Windows Insiders

The Canary and Dev Channels receive builds with features and experiences that may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Many features in the Canary and Dev Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in these channels.
As the Canary and Dev Channels receive the same builds, some features may begin rolling out to the Canary Channel first before the Dev Channel.
While the Canary Channel is now on Windows 11, version 24H2, this is just temporary. At some point in the future, the Canary Channel will jump ahead to receiving new builds not matched to any specific release in a higher build series.
To get off the Canary or Dev Channel, a clean install of Windows 11 will be required. As a reminder - Insiders can’t switch to a channel that is receiving builds with lower build numbers without doing a clean installation of Windows 11 due to technical setup requirements.

The desktop watermark shown at the lower right corner of the desktop is normal for these pre-release builds.

Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Copilot in Windows* in preview is being rolled out gradually to Windows Insiders in select global markets. The initial markets for the Copilot in Windows preview include North America, United Kingdom and parts of Asia and South America. It is our intention to add additional markets over time.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.3420 (Beta Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 29 Mar 2024 17:03:41 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.3420 (KB5035953) to the Beta Channel. REMINDER: All Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel will now be on the same build (Build 22635.xxxx) via an enablement package. For Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle (shown in the image below) to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready. [caption id="attachment_176587" align="alignnone" width="730"] Turn on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available to get new features rolled out to you.[/caption] Going forward, we will document changes in Beta Channel builds in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available and then new features, improvements, and fixes available to everyone in the Beta Channel.

New features gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

New position for the Widgets entry-point on left-aligned taskbars

We’re beginning to roll out a new position for the Widgets entry-point on left-aligned taskbars. The taskbar entry-point will move to the left of the systems tray and will be wider so you can see richer content from Widgets on your taskbar. When you launch the Widgets board, it will fly out from the right side instead of the left side. [caption id="attachment_176973" align="alignnone" width="477"] The Widgets entry-point at its new position to the left of system tray on a left-aligned taskbar.[/caption] FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Desktop Environment > Widgets.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[File Explorer]

In response to feedback from Windows Insiders, drag-and-drop files with your mouse functionality between breadcrumbs is now available in the File Explorer Address Bar. We are beginning to roll this out today, so not all Insiders in the Beta Channel will see it right away.

[Windows Share]

Users will be able to now generate QR codes for URLs and cloud file links through the Windows share window to seamlessly share webpages and files across their devices. To try this out in Microsoft Edge, just click the share button in the Edge toolbar and choose “Windows share options”.

[caption id="attachment_176975" align="alignnone" width="587"] Option to generate a QR code to share a URL through the Windows share window.[/caption]

To prevent accidentally closing the Windows share window, clicking outside the Windows share window will no longer close it. To close the Windows share window, just press the close button at the top right corner.

[Windows Backup]

If you have both Personalization and Other Windows settings toggled on under Settings > Accounts > Windows backup, many of your sound settings (including chosen sound scheme) will be backed up which can be restored via the Windows Backup app.
We’re beginning to roll out the ability to sign-in with your Microsoft account (MSA) directly within the Windows Backup app to save backups to your account.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[File Explorer]

Fixed an issue causing File Explorer to crash on launch for a small number of Insiders in the previous flight.

[Multiple Desktops]

Fixed an issue where the option to set a different wallpaper on each desktop wasn’t working.

[Search]

Fixed an issue which could potentially result in no app results showing in search anymore.

[Task Manager]

Fixed an issue where Task Manager was holding onto process handles sometimes, leading to processes not stopping when you closed apps if you’d had Task Manager open.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to everyone in the Beta Channel

**[Copilot in Windows*]**

You can ask Copilot in Windows (in preview) for help ten times when you sign in to Windows using a local account. After that, you must sign in using a Microsoft account (MSA) or a Microsoft Entra ID account (formerly Azure Active Directory (Azure AD)). To sign in, use the link in the dialog that appears in Copilot in Windows. If you do not sign in, some Copilot features might not work. To learn more, see Welcome to Copilot in Windows and Manage Copilot in Windows.

[Lock screen]

This update adds Weather and more to your lock screen. Stay informed and efficient with dynamic updates that bring finance, traffic, and sports to your Lock screen, alongside weather. The card design has been improved with acrylic blur, card size, spacing, and font optimizations.To turn on this feature, go to Settings > Personalization > Lock screen. To learn more, see Personalize your lock screen. Note this feature might not be available to all users because it will roll out gradually.

[caption id="attachment_176976" align="alignnone" width="805"] Finance, traffic, and sports content along with weather on the Lock screen.[/caption]

Fixes for everyone in the Beta Channel

New! This update affects Windows Hello for Business. IT admins can now use mobile device management (MDM) to turn off the prompt that appears when users sign in to an Entra-joined machine. To do this, they can turn on the “DisablePostLogonProvisioning” policy setting. After a user signs in, provisioning is off for Windows 10 and Windows 11 devices.
New! This update improves the Remote Desktop Session Host. You can now set up its “clipboard redirection” policy to work in a single direction from the local computer to the remote computer. You can also reverse that order.
This update addresses an issue that affects the Combine taskbar buttons and hide labels The app labels in the taskbar sometimes do not have the correct length, which cuts off the label text. This occurs when this setting is set to “When taskbar is full” or “Never.”
This update addresses an issue that affects certain Neural Processing Units (NPU). They do not show in Task Manager.
This update addresses an issue that affects a network resource. You cannot access it from a Remote Desktop session. This occurs when you turn on the Remote Credential Guard feature and the client is Windows 11, version 22H2 or higher.
This update addresses an issue that affects Windows Defender Application Control (WDAC). It prevents a stop error that occurs when you apply more than 32 policies.
This update addresses a deadlock issue in CloudAP. It occurs when different users sign in and sign out at the same time on virtual machines.
This update addresses an issue that affects the Group Policy service. It fails after you use exe to apply an audit policy to the system.
This update addresses an issue that affects the Settings app. It stops responding when you use it to remove Bluetooth devices.
This update addresses an issue that affects Notepad. It fails to print to certain Internet Printing Protocol (IPP) printers when you use a print support app.
This update addresses an issue that affects dsamain.exe. When the Knowledge Consistency Checker (KCC) runs evaluations, it stops responding.
This update addresses an issue that stops some apps and features from being available. This occurs after you upgrade to Windows 11.
This update affects MSIX applications. It helps their UI to localize correctly for all languages when you upgrade your OS.
This update addresses an issue that affects the Microsoft Message Queue (MSMQ) PowerShell module. It does not load.
This update addresses an issue that affects the existing AppLocker rule collection enforcement mode. It is not overwritten when rules merge with a collection that has no rules. This occurs when the enforcement mode is set to “Not Configured.”
This update addresses an issue that affects Transport Layer Security (TLS), version 1.3. It causes Azure App Services to fail. This occurs when the web server attempts to connect to a third-party Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) server.
This update addresses an issue that affects the touch keyboard and the candidate window for the Japanese and Chinese Input Method Editors (IME). They do not show after you come out of Modern Standby. To learn more, see Microsoft Japanese IME and What is Modern Standby.
This update addresses an issue that affects some wireless headphones. Bluetooth connections are not stable. This occurs on devices that have firmware from April 2023 and later.
This update addresses an issue that affects USB audio. It fails on some processors. This occurs after you pause, play, or resume from sleep.
This update supports DST changes in To learn more, see Interim guidance for Kazakhstan time zone changes 2024.
This update supports DST changes in To learn more, see Interim guidance for Samoa DST changes 2021.
This update supports daylight saving time (DST) changes in Greenland. To learn more, see Greenland 2023 time zone update now available.
This update supports daylight saving time (DST) changes in To learn more, see Interim guidance for DST changes announced by Palestinian Authority for 2024, 2025.
This update addresses an issue that affects Secure Launch. It does not run on some processors.
This update addresses a reliability issue. It affects a Virtual Remote App product when you use a custom shell to open it.
This update addresses an issue that affects Containers that you create or deploy. Their status does not progress past “ContainerCreating.”
This update makes Country and Operator Settings Asset (COSA) profiles up to date for some mobile operators.
This update addresses an issue that affects the COM+ component. Some applications that depend on it stop responding.
This update addresses an issue that affects the time service. You can configure it using mobile device management (MDM) or a Group Policy Object (GPO). But the Windows Settings app does not match what you have configured.
This update addresses an issue that occurs when you use LoadImage() to load a top-down bitmap. If the bitmap has a negative height, the image does not load and the function returns NULL.

Known issues

[General]

We are investigating an issue where Internet Information Services (IIS) and Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) may not work after installing this update.

[File Explorer]

[NEW] Using Shift + F10 will unexpectedly open Show More Options in the File Explorer context menu in this build.

[Widgets]

Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who have the new position for the Widgets entry-point on left-aligned taskbars may see the following known issues:

[NEW] Swipe invocation for Widgets may not work if taskbar is center-aligned instead of left-aligned.
[NEW] Unpinning Widgets from the taskbar may not work if taskbar is center-aligned instead of left-aligned.
[NEW] The Widgets board is incorrectly positioned when Copilot is in side-by-side mode.
[NEW] Turning on/off Widgets in taskbar settings may refresh the taskbar.

About the Beta Channel

Important Insider Links

Want to learn how we made Windows 11? Check out the Inside Windows 11 website to hear and meet our makers from Engineering, Design and Research to share their insights and unique perspectives throughout this journey.
You can check out our Windows Insider Program documentation here.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26090 (Canary and Dev Channels)

Brandon LeBlanc — Thu, 28 Mar 2024 17:05:12 +0000

UPDATE 3/29: We are starting to roll out Cumulative Update Build 26090.112 (KB5037477) to Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel. This update does not include anything new and is designed to test our servicing pipeline.

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26090 to the Canary and Dev Channels. The Canary and Dev Channels receiving the same builds is only temporary. During the times in which the Canary and Dev Channels are on the same builds (e.g. Build 26090), the window is open for Insiders in the Canary Channel to switch to the Dev Channel. In the near future, the Canary Channel will jump to higher build numbers and the window will be closed so make your choice on which channel to be in soon! NOTE: Some features may begin rolling out to the Canary Channel first before the Dev Channel even if the two channels have the same build.

What’s new in Build 26090

Widgets board improvements

We are restarting the rollout of the Widgets board improvements that originally began rolling out with Build 26058 to Windows Insiders in the Canary Channel. Those improvements include introducing a new navigation bar on the left allowing you to switch between a dedicated widgets dashboard and other integrated dashboards like Discover. Give it a try and let us know what you think using the feedback button at the top of the board. [caption id="attachment_176968" align="alignnone" width="700"] We’ve added a new Navigation Pane on the left that allows you to switch to My Widgets dashboard.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_176970" align="alignnone" width="700"] A full widgets only experience from your favorite apps and services.[/caption] [We are beginning to roll this out to Windows Insiders in the Canary Channel today, so the experience isn’t available to all Insiders just yet.] FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Desktop Environment > Widgets.

More Server Message Block (SMB) protocol changes

Starting with Build 26085 and higher, we are introducing the following Server Message Block (SMB) protocol changes for QUIC, signing, and encryption. SMB over QUIC client disable: Administrators can now disable the SMB over QUIC client with Group Policy and PowerShell. To disable SMB over QUIC using PowerShell, run the following command in an elevated console:

Set-SmbClientConfiguration -EnableSMBQUIC $false

To disable SMB over QUIC using Group Policy, use GPMC.MSC or GPEDIT.MSC to configure the following setting:

Computer Configuration \ Administrative Templates \ Network \ Lanman Workstation \ Enable SMB over QUIC

SMB over QUIC client connection auditing: Successful SMB over QUIC client connection events are now written to the event log to include the QUIC transport. You can view these events using EVENTVWR.MSC under the following path:

Applications and Services Logs \ Microsoft \ Windows\ SMBClient \ Connectivity (Event ID: 30832)

SMB signing and encryption auditing: Administrators can now enable auditing of the SMB server and client for support of SMB signing and encryption. This shows if a third-party client or server doesn’t support SMB encryption or signing. You can configure these settings with PowerShell and Group Policy. To configure SMB client or server signing or encryption auditing using Group Policy, use GPMC.MSC or GPEDIT.MSC to configure the following settings:

Computer Configuration \ Administrative Templates \ Network \ Lanman Workstation \ Audit server does not support encryption
Computer Configuration \ Administrative Templates \ Network \ Lanman Workstation \ Audit server does not support signing
Computer Configuration \ Administrative Templates \ Network \ Lanman Server \ Audit client does not support encryption
Computer Configuration \ Administrative Templates \ Network \ Lanman Server \ Audit client does not support signing

To disable SMB over QUIC using PowerShell, run the following command in an elevated console:

Set-SmbClientConfiguration -AuditServerDoesNotSupportEncryption $true
Set-SmbClientConfiguration -AuditServerDoesNotSupportSigning $true
Set-SmbServerConfiguration -AuditClientDoesNotSupportEncryption $true
Set-SmbServerConfiguration -AuditClientDoesNotSupportSigning $true

You can view these events using EVENTVWR.MSC under the following paths:

Applications and Services Logs \ Microsoft \ Windows\ SMBClient \ Audit (Event ID: 31998 and Event ID: 31999)
Applications and Services Logs \ Microsoft \ Windows\ SMBServer \ Audit (Event ID: 3021 and Event ID: 3022)

For more information on SMB over QUIC in Windows and Windows Server Insider Preview builds, review https://aka.ms/SMBoverQUICServer and https://aka.ms/SmbOverQuicCAC. For more information on SMB signing and encryption in Windows and Windows Server Insider Preview builds, review https://aka.ms/SmbSigningRequired and https://aka.ms/SmbClientEncrypt.

Changes and Improvements

[General]

The build watermark at the lower right-hand corner of the desktop is not present in this build and will return in future Insider Preview builds. This is part of our normal process for preparing Windows 11, version 24H2 for release to customers later this year – but does not mean we’re done. Windows 11, version 24H2, will be this year’s annual feature update. As mentioned here, Windows 11 will have an annual feature update cadence that releases in the second half of the calendar year.

**[Copilot in Windows*]**

You can ask Copilot in Windows (in preview) for help ten times when you sign in to Windows using a local account. After that, you must sign in using a Microsoft account (MSA) or a Microsoft Entra IDaccount (formerly Azure Active Directory (Azure AD)). To sign in, use the link in the dialog that appears in Copilot in Windows. If you do not sign in, some Copilot features might not work. To learn more, see Welcome to Copilot in Windows and Manage Copilot in Windows.

[Settings]

The redesigned version of the Delivery Optimization settings page under Settings > Windows Update > Advanced options > Delivery Optimization that was first introduced in Build 25987 has been reverted to the previous design starting with Build 26085. We plan to bring back this redesigned settings page in a future flight after fixing some bugs. Thanks to Insiders for all the feedback on this!

Fixes for known issues

[General]

Fixed an issue which was causing video stutters in some apps (and possibly impacting FPS in some games) in the previous flight.

[Taskbar & System Tray]

Fixed an explorer.exe crash that was impacting taskbar reliability.

[File Explorer]

Fixed an issue causing some Insiders to see File Explorer unexpectedly using the previous design and have no tabs in the latest builds.

[Task Manager]

Fixed an issue where Task Manager was holding onto process handles sometimes, leading to processes not stopping when you closed apps if you’d had Task Manager open.

[Windowing]

Fixed an underlying issue which was causing the bottom half of secondary monitors to be unusable sometimes in recent builds (app windows wouldn’t maximize to that area).
Fixed an explorer.exe crash which was happening for some Insiders recently when dragging windows.

Known issues

[General]

[IMPORTANT NOTE] We are investigating reports that some Windows Insiders in the Canary and Dev Channels are stuck on Build 26040 or Build 23620. The investigation is ongoing, however if you are impacted by this and really want to get onto the latest build in the Canary or Dev Channel today – you can download the latest ISO here and do a clean install and opt your device back into flighting in the Canary or Dev Channels.
[NEW] We’ve seen some Insiders report that shutdown is still not working on their PCs after Build 26085 and are working on a fix.

**[Copilot in Windows*]**

Voice access does not work reliably with the updated Copilot in Windows experience that introduces the ability for Copilot to act like a normal application.
Using Windows Ink to write in Copilot will not work with the updated Copilot in Windows experience that introduces the ability for Copilot to act like a normal application window.
When Copilot in Windows is docked and resized to a large width, Copilot does not always fill the width of the panel. Resizing Copilot usually fixes this issue.
With the updated Copilot in Windows experience that introduces the ability for Copilot to act like a normal application window, you may not be able to bring focus to the “…” or refresh buttons within Copilot when using a keyboard (ex: by using tab to cycle through buttons).

For developers

You can download the latest Windows Insider SDK at aka.ms/windowsinsidersdk. SDK NuGet packages are now also flighting at NuGet Gallery | WindowsSDK which include:

.NET TFM packages for use in .NET apps as described at aka.ms/windowsinsidersdk
C++ packages for Win32 headers and libs per architecture
BuildTools package when you just need tools like MakeAppx.exe, MakePri.exe, and SignTool.exe

Reminders for Windows Insiders

The Canary and Dev Channels receive builds with features and experiences that may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Many features in the Canary and Dev Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in these channels.
As the Canary and Dev Channels receive the same builds, some features may begin rolling out to the Canary Channel first before the Dev Channel.
While the Canary Channel is now on Windows 11, version 24H2, this is just temporary. At some point in the future, the Canary Channel will jump ahead to receiving new builds not matched to any specific release in a higher build series.
To get off the Canary or Dev Channel, a clean install of Windows 11 will be required. As a reminder - Insiders can’t switch to a channel that is receiving builds with lower build numbers without doing a clean installation of Windows 11 due to technical setup requirements.

The desktop watermark shown at the lower right corner of the desktop is normal for these pre-release builds.

Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Copilot in Windows* in preview is being rolled out gradually to Windows Insiders in select global markets. The initial markets for the Copilot in Windows preview include North America, United Kingdom and parts of Asia and South America. It is our intention to add additional markets over time.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26085 (Canary and Dev Channels)

Brandon LeBlanc — Wed, 20 Mar 2024 17:04:29 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26085 to the Canary and Dev Channels. The Canary and Dev Channels receiving the same builds is only temporary. During the times in which the Canary and Dev Channels are on the same builds (e.g. Build 26085), the window is open for Insiders in the Canary Channel to switch to the Dev Channel. At some point in the future, the Canary Channel will jump to higher build numbers and the window will be closed. NOTE: Some features may begin rolling out to the Canary Channel first before the Dev Channel even if the two channels have the same build.

Changes and Improvements

[Input]

The new pointer indicator accessibility setting for low vision Windows users introduced with Build 26052 has been temporarily disabled with Build 26085. We plan to re-enable this feature in a future flight after fixing some bugs. Thanks to Insiders for all the feedback on this!

[Settings]

Windows Insiders who have Bluetooth LE Audio capable assistive hearing devices can now set up and manage their devices via Settings > Accessibility > Hearing aids. This new accessibility settings page allows users to check their PC's compatibility for Bluetooth LE Audio and pair/manage a set of hearing devices for a more streamlined configuration. Please note that this page is a work-in-progress, and the contents of this page may change over time. (Note this change was first introduced in Build 26080.)

Fixes for known issues

[General]

Fixed the underlying issue believed to be the cause of shutdown and hibernation not working in the previous flight.

[File Explorer]

Fixed an issue where the context menu in File Explorer was missing an acrylic background.
Fixed an issue where when opening the context menu in File Explorer, the icons might appear out of place and overlapping text.
Fixed an issue which was causing File explorer to leak GDI objects and heap memory for every folder navigation, leading to stability and rendering issues over time.
Fixed a memory leak when interacting with archive folders in File Explorer.
Fixed an issue causing thumbnails in File Explorer to sometimes unexpectedly be black in the previous flight.

[Sudo]

Fixed an issue believed to be the cause of the setting to enable sudo (under System > For Developers) not working for some Insiders.
Fixed an issue where if you ran the command “sudo pwsh”, it wasn’t working properly in recent builds.

[Windows Security]

Fixed a high hitting Windows Security app crash in the previous flight, which is believed to potentially be the cause of Insiders reporting that the Windows Security app icon in the system tray was sometimes missing in that flight.

[Input]

With this build, the recent issues with the mouse cursor disappearing, and other recent issues related to the mouse cursor behaving abnormally should be fixed.

[Settings]

Fixed an underlying issue which was causing Settings to freeze sometimes so you couldn’t interact with any of the pages.
Fixed an issue where the list of Bluetooth devices under Bluetooth & Devices wasn’t being read out by screen readers in recent builds.

[Windows Update]

Fixed the issue causing Insiders in the Dev Channel to see error 0x80070002 when trying to install cumulative updates.
Fixed an issue where using “Update and Shutdown” wasn’t shutting down your PC upon completion.

[Other]

Fixed an issue that was causing some Insiders to see bugchecks with CRITICAL_STRUCTURE_CORRUPTION recently.
Fixed an issue which was causing Voice Access to crash on launch for some Insiders in recent builds.
Fixed an issue where after renaming your printer, it might not work with print support app association.

Known issues

[General]

[IMPORTANT NOTE FOR GAMERS] Most popular games should work correctly again in the most recent Insider Preview builds in the Canary and Dev Channels. Please be sure to submit feedback in Feedback Hub on any issues you see with playing games on the latest builds. We will be removing this note with the next Canary and Dev Channel flight.
[UPDATED] We’re continuing to investigate reports of rollbacks (with error code 0xC1900101) when installing the latest builds.
[NEW] We’re working on the fix for an issue causing some Insiders to see File Explorer unexpectedly using the previous design and have no tabs in the latest builds.

**[Copilot in Windows*]**

Voice access does not work reliably with the updated Copilot in Windows experience that introduces the ability for Copilot to act like a normal application.
Using Windows Ink to write in Copilot will not work with the updated Copilot in Windows experience that introduces the ability for Copilot to act like a normal application window.
When Copilot in Windows is docked and resized to a large width, Copilot does not always fill the width of the panel. Resizing Copilot usually fixes this issue.
With the updated Copilot in Windows experience that introduces the ability for Copilot to act like a normal application window, you may not be able to bring focus to the “…” or refresh buttons within Copilot when using a keyboard (ex: by using tab to cycle through buttons).

For developers

You can download the latest Windows Insider SDK at aka.ms/windowsinsidersdk. SDK NuGet packages are now also flighting at NuGet Gallery | WindowsSDK which include:

.NET TFM packages for use in .NET apps as described at aka.ms/windowsinsidersdk
C++ packages for Win32 headers and libs per architecture
BuildTools package when you just need tools like MakeAppx.exe, MakePri.exe, and SignTool.exe

Reminders for Windows Insiders

The Canary and Dev Channels receive builds with features and experiences that may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Many features in the Canary and Dev Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in these channels.
As the Canary and Dev Channels receive the same builds, some features may begin rolling out to the Canary Channel first before the Dev Channel.
While the Canary Channel is now on Windows 11, version 24H2, this is just temporary. At some point in the future, the Canary Channel will jump ahead to receiving new builds not matched to any specific release in a higher build series.
To get off the Canary or Dev Channel, a clean install of Windows 11 will be required. As a reminder - Insiders can’t switch to a channel that is receiving builds with lower build numbers without doing a clean installation of Windows 11 due to technical setup requirements.

The desktop watermark shown at the lower right corner of the desktop is normal for these pre-release builds.

Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Copilot in Windows* in preview is being rolled out gradually to Windows Insiders in select global markets. The initial markets for the Copilot in Windows preview include North America, United Kingdom and parts of Asia and South America. It is our intention to add additional markets over time.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26080 (Canary and Dev Channels)

Brandon LeBlanc — Wed, 13 Mar 2024 17:04:10 +0000

UPDATE 3/18: We are starting to roll out two servicing updates to Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel. Both these updates do not include anything new and are designed to test our servicing pipeline for Windows 11, version 24H2. Most Insiders in the Dev Channel will receive Cumulative Update Build 26080.1300 (KB5037139). However, Insiders that have Virtualization Based Security (VBS) turned on will receive Build 26080.1400 (KB5037140) and may not experience a restart upon installing the update. Arm64 devices, even with VBS turned on, will only receive Build 26080.1300 (KB5037139).

UPDATE 3/15: We are starting to roll out Cumulative Update Build 26080.1201 (KB5037135) to Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel. This update does not include anything new and is designed to test our servicing pipeline.

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26080 to the Canary and Dev Channels. We are releasing ISOs for this build – they can be downloaded here. Insiders in the Canary Channel will receive Build 26080.1 while Insiders in the Dev Channel will receive Build 26080.1100 (KB5037133) as we test delivery of a full build and a servicing update at the same time. There is no difference between the two of these as Build 26068.1100 does not include any additional code. Two important notes:

If you’re experiencing an issue with Settings crashing or not loading the Windows Update settings page to download and install Build 26080 – you may have to reboot to correct the issue.
Insiders on Build 26080 and higher who have Dev Drives should no longer see their Dev Drives breaking when rolling back as long as you roll back to Build 26063 and higher. (Insiders in the Dev Channel will need to wait for another new build to get released to ensure rollback happens to build that has this issue fixed.)

The Canary and Dev Channels receiving the same builds is only temporary. During the times in which the Canary and Dev Channels are on the same builds (e.g. Build 26080), the window is open for Insiders in the Canary Channel to switch to the Dev Channel. At some point in the future, the Canary Channel will jump to higher build numbers and the window will be closed. NOTE: Some features may begin rolling out to the Canary Channel first before the Dev Channel even if the two channels have the same build.

What’s new in Build 26080

Updates to Microsoft Teams in Windows 11

Starting with Windows 11, version 24H2, Teams users will get access to a preview experience of the new, unified Microsoft Teams experience on Windows. In this preview, Microsoft Teams will be available as a single application, enabling users to seamlessly switch between multiple cloud environments, tenants, and account types across personal and work. This new, unified application will soon be rolled out to commercial customers as well, through the normal update process. To add or access additional accounts, select your profile picture at the upper right corner of Teams when you sign into Teams. [caption id="attachment_177015" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Teams work user interface showing the Me control open with both work and personal account.[/caption] We received consistent feedback from personal and work users: you prefer a single Teams app that allows you to easily access and switch between personal and work accounts. This update lets you use one app for all kinds of Teams accounts. [caption id="attachment_177016" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Teams personal account user interface over Teams work user interface.[/caption] You can join any Teams meeting with ease. In upcoming builds, when you are joining a meeting, you can select the account you want to use. You will also be able to join a meeting without signing in.

[caption id="attachment_177017" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Teams user selecting which account to use to join a meeting.[/caption] Notifications have been improved, showing which Teams account they belong to. In addition, personal notifications have more details, giving clear and easy actions from the notification banner. [caption id="attachment_176934" align="alignnone" width="417"] A Teams notification that someone is calling.[/caption] You can now launch personal and work accounts simultaneously with separate icons on the taskbar. We listened to users about their communication needs in various aspects of their lives and how they want to use Teams. The feedback was clear that a multi-window experience is preferred. Other things to know:

This unified preview app experience is labeled “Microsoft Teams (work or school)”. The app name will be automatically updated to “Microsoft Teams” in future releases.
This is a preview release, and you will notice some changes from your current experience using Microsoft Teams (free) and Microsoft Teams (work or school). These changes and more updates will continue until we reach general availability. Notably in this release, Teams will launch into a separate icon for single accounts.
We will remove the standalone consumer app, “Microsoft Teams (free)”, in future releases.
If you lose access to either Teams applications through use of the Windows Insiders Program, you can access your preferred Teams application from this download page.
For Enterprise Admins, the ability to sign in with Microsoft accounts will be part of a normal monthly update, there is no new app to install if you have new Teams. The functionality is targeted for preview in April and general availability in May. The ability for users to sign in with Microsoft accounts will follow all sign in restriction polices as it has for all versions of Teams. Admins can learn more in Message Center (MC719659).
[ADDED] This preview version of Microsoft Teams is immediately available on clean installs of Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26080 and higher.
[ADDED] Existing Windows Insiders need to be on Microsoft Teams version 24057.2000.2723.3544 or higher to see this capability, which is rolling out gradually.

**Improvements to Copilot in Windows* now rolling out to more Windows Insiders**

We have been trying out a new runtime for Copilot in Windows* that allows you to manage more settings via Copilot, including accessibility-focused settings, and use Power Automate Desktop through Copilot! We are now rolling out these Copilot in Windows improvements to more Windows Insiders in the Canary Channel (which first began rolling out on 2/20) and beginning to roll these improvements out to Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel. More built-in capabilities via Copilot in Windows Try asking Copilot to turn on Narrator or Live Captions, turn on battery saver, show you available networks, even empty your recycle bin or clean up your storage. Here’s the full list of things you can ask Copilot to do! New with this update:

Ask for available wireless networks.
Ask for system or device information.
Ask for battery information.
Ask to clean storage.
Ask to empty recycle bin.
Ask to toggle battery saver.
Ask to show startup apps.
Ask for your IP address.
Ask for system, device, or storage information.

Try accessibility features:

Ask to turn on narrator.
Ask to open voice access.
Ask to turn on magnifier.
Ask to change text size.
Ask to start live captions.
Ask to turn on high-contrast.
Ask to start voice typing.

Already live, now on the new runtime:

Ask to toggle dark/light theme.
Ask to toggle Bluetooth.
Ask to toggle do not disturb.
Ask to add a device.
Ask to take a screenshot.
Ask to cast your screen to another monitor.
Ask to change your background image.
Ask to set volume, change volume, or mute/unmute volume.
Ask to launch an application.
State that certain parts of your PC aren’t working: Audio, Windows Update, Camera, Bluetooth, Printer, Network, others.
Ask to snap a window.
Ask to start a focus session.

Introducing Power Automate via Copilot in Windows Power Automate is a low-code automation solution that is part of the Power Platform. We’re excited to introduce the Power Automate plugin in Copilot in Windows. This first release of the plugin offers automation features for Excel, PDF manipulation and file management. To use the plugin, download or update Power Automate Desktop to the latest version from the Microsoft Store. Currently plugins are only accessible if you are signed in to Copilot in Windows with a Microsoft account. After you have Power Automate installed and you activate the plugin in the plugins section in Copilot in Windows, you can ask for tasks such as:

Write an email to my team wishing everyone a happy weekend.
List the top 5 highest mountains in the world in an Excel file.
Rename all PDF files in a folder to add the word final at the end.
Move all word documents to another folder.
I need to split a PDF by the first page. Can you help?

Do you want to share your feedback on the Power Automate plugin or do you have other automation scenarios that you would like us to support? Feel free to contact us: powerautomate-ai@microsoft.com. [The rollout continues for these Copilot in Windows improvements to Windows Insiders in the Canary and Dev Channels today, so the experience isn’t available to all Insiders just yet.] FEEDBACK: Because of an issue with our feedback pipeline, please do not use the in-line feedback form that opens from thumbs up/down for these actions right now, and instead file feedback about using these in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Desktop Environment > Copilot in Windows.

Changes and Improvements

**[Copilot in Windows*]**

We are beginning to roll-out an updated Copilot in Windows experience that adds the ability to switch between the existing “docked” behavior that attaches Copilot to the side of your desktop, and a new mode where it acts like a normal application window which you can resize and move around your screen. As part of this change, we’re also introducing some under-the-hood improvements as well. This experience is beginning to roll out to Windows Insiders in the Canary Channel. As always, please report any issues you experience to us via Feedback Hub.

[caption id="attachment_176935" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Copilot in Windows undocked and shown next to Notepad like a normal application window.[/caption]

[Taskbar & System Tray]

You can turn on live captions more quickly by using the new quick setting. Just open quick settings from the system tray, scroll down, then select the live captions quick setting.

[caption id="attachment_176938" align="alignnone" width="360"] The new live captions quick setting highlighted with a red box in the quick settings flyout from the system on the taskbar.[/caption]

Updated the design of the progress bar under app icons to help make it easier to see. This will appear on the taskbar as well as the Start menu.

[caption id="attachment_176939" align="alignnone" width="309"] Design of progress bar under app icons has been updated to show a thin line under the colored progress bar to make it easier to see.[/caption]

[File Explorer]

When extracting files, if there is a file name conflict you can now choose to apply your selected action (skip, replace) for all conflicts.

[caption id="attachment_176940" align="alignnone" width="564"] New option highlighted for choosing to apply your selected action (skip, replace) for all conflicts when extracting files in File Explorer.[/caption]

[Windows Update]

Removed the What's New link in Windows Update history for Windows Insiders - it will only show now for retail (released) versions of Windows. To check what's new in Insider builds, please follow this blog.

[Printing]

[ADDED] Building off the printer improvements first introduced with Build 26020, we have added the ability to rename your printer directly from Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Printers & scanner.

Fixes for known issues

[General]

IMPORTANT NOTE FOR DEV DRIVE USERS: Insiders on Build 26068 and higher who have Dev Drives should no longer see their Dev Drives breaking when rolling back as long as you roll back to Build 26063 and higher. Rolling back to earlier builds may still result in issues with Dev Drives.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Fixed an issue causing Windows Update in Settings to not load or crash in Build 26063. If you are still on Build 26063 and encounter this, rebooting may resolve the issue. If it doesn’t, the update should still eventually download on its own – appreciate your patience.
Fixed an issue for Narrator not working when setting up a device or in Advanced Startup.

**[Copilot in Windows*]**

Fixed an issue where if you turned the Copilot icon off and back on in Settings never showed it on your taskbar again.

[Taskbar & System Tray]

Fixed a memory leak related to showing the tooltip for the date and time in the taskbar when you had enabled additional clocks.

[File Explorer]

Fixed an underlying issue believed to be the cause of some Insiders finding File Explorer had started freezing and using unexpectedly high CPU in the last couple builds. Please file feedback in the Feedback Hub if you continue experiencing this after upgrading.
Fixed an issue where your preference for "Show extracted files when complete" when extracting files in File Explorer wasn’t persisting across upgrades.
Fixed a timing issue where when you start a search from Home in File Explorer, it might unexpectedly show no results the first time you tried.
Fixed an issue causing the Details view in File Explorer to be unexpectedly cramped in recent builds when using compact mode.
Made a change to help address an issue where after a DWM crash, when you opened File Explorer it could just show a blank area on top instead of rendering the area correctly.
Fixed an issue where the 7zip and ZIP compression options weren’t displaying correctly for Insiders with the English (United Kingdom) display language.

[Task Manager]

Fixed an issue which could lead to your GPU showing as -1 in Task Manager.
Fixed an issue where Task Manager may unexpectedly show no GPU % used (when that was not the case).
Fixed an issue impacting Task Manager reliability.

[Audio]

Fixed an issue causing HDMI connected devices to not have audio in the last few builds.

[Input]

Fixed an issue causing the input switcher (WIN + Space) design to revert to an older style and draw in the wrong location.
Fixed an issue where DWM could hang when writing with pen in Snipping Tool.
Fixed a high hitting ctfmon.exe crash, which could impact the ability to input text.
Fixed an issue where magnifier wasn’t following the mouse cursor when centered on screen in recent builds.
Fixed an issue where mouse cursor shadows (if enabled) were not rendered correctly with large cursors.
Fixed an issue where the mouse cursor was unexpectedly leaving a trail of mice on the screen.
Fixed an issue which could lead to some mice and keyboards not working in safe mode.
Fixed an issue where when waking your PC from sleep in Build 26063 the touchpad might be banged out in Device Manager, resulting in the mouse cursor not showing when you tried to use it.

[Settings]

Fixed an issue where a Display Connection section was incorrectly showing up under Settings > System > Display > Graphics that when clicked, would crash Settings.
Fixed an issue where a brightness slider might not show in Settings > System > Display in recent builds even though a brightness slider was available for you to use in Quick Settings.

[Other]

Fixed an underlying issue which could lead to Snipping Tool hanging.
Fixed an underlying dxgi.dll issue which led to some app and game crashes in Build 26058+.
Fixed an underlying issue with winmmbase.dll which could lead to app crashes in Build 26058+.
Fixed an issue related to tcpip.sys which was causing some Insiders to see bugchecks with UNEXPECTED_KERNEL_MODE_TRAP in the last few builds.
Fixed an issue which was causing some Insiders to see bugchecks with SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION in the last few builds.
Fixed an issue which was causing some Insiders to see bugchecks with DPC_WATCHDOG_VIOLATION in the last few builds.
Fixed an issue where if you attempted to use the Windows Update troubleshooter, it would show error 0x803C010A.

Known issues

[General]

[IMPORTANT NOTE FOR GAMERS – UPDATED!] Most popular games should work correctly again in the most recent Insider Preview builds in the Canary and Dev Channels. Please be sure to submit feedback in Feedback Hub on any issues you see with playing games on the latest builds.
[UPDATED] We’ve made some more changes to help reduce the number of rollbacks (with error code 0xC1900101) when installing the latest builds and are continuing to investigate reports. If your PC rolls back trying to install this build, please file feedback in Feedback Hub.
In some cases, the File Explorer context menu no longer has the acrylic effect. This will be fixed in a future flight.
We’re investigating reports of mouse cursor issues after installing Build 26058+, including that the cursor is disappearing in some apps. If you’re experiencing issues, please file feedback describing exactly what you’re seeing under Input and Language > Mouse in the Feedback Hub. This build includes a number of fixes to help with recent reports.
When opening the context menu in File Explorer, the icons may appear out of place and overlapping text.
[NEW] Running the command “sudo pwsh” won’t work properly in this build.

**[Copilot in Windows*]**

[NEW] Voice access does not work reliably with the updated Copilot in Windows experience that introduces the ability for Copilot to act like a normal application window noted in the above blog post.
[NEW] Using Windows Ink to write in Copilot will not work with the updated Copilot in Windows experience that introduces the ability for Copilot to act like a normal application window noted in the above blog post.
[NEW] When Copilot in Windows is docked and resized to a large width, Copilot does not always fill the width of the panel. Resizing Copilot to less than half of the width of your screen usually fixes this issue.
[ADDED 3/14] With the updated Copilot in Windows experience that introduces the ability for Copilot to act like a normal application window, you may not be able to bring focus to the "..." or refresh buttons within Copilot when using a keyboard (ex: by using tab to cycle through buttons).

For developers

You can download the latest Windows Insider SDK at aka.ms/windowsinsidersdk. SDK NuGet packages are now also flighting at NuGet Gallery | WindowsSDK which include:

.NET TFM packages for use in .NET apps as described at aka.ms/windowsinsidersdk
C++ packages for Win32 headers and libs per architecture
BuildTools package when you just need tools like MakeAppx.exe, MakePri.exe, and SignTool.exe

Reminders for Windows Insiders

The Canary and Dev Channels receive builds with features and experiences that may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Many features in the Canary and Dev Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in these channels.
As the Canary and Dev Channels receive the same builds, some features may begin rolling out to the Canary Channel first before the Dev Channel.
While the Canary Channel is now on Windows 11, version 24H2, this is just temporary. At some point in the future, the Canary Channel will jump ahead to receiving new builds not matched to any specific release in a higher build series.
To get off the Canary or Dev Channel, a clean install of Windows 11 will be required. As a reminder - Insiders can’t switch to a channel that is receiving builds with lower build numbers without doing a clean installation of Windows 11 due to technical setup requirements.

The desktop watermark shown at the lower right corner of the desktop is normal for these pre-release builds.

Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Copilot in Windows* in preview is being rolled out gradually to Windows Insiders in select global markets. The initial markets for the Copilot in Windows preview include North America, United Kingdom and parts of Asia and South America. It is our intention to add additional markets over time.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon EDITOR'S NOTE 4/22: We replaced the screenshots for the new, unified Microsoft Teams experience on Windows 11 mentioned above to fix some issues with how the UI was presented in the original screenshots.

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.3350 (Beta Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Wed, 13 Mar 2024 17:03:47 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.3350 (KB5035955) to the Beta Channel. REMINDER: All Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel will now be on the same build (Build 22635.xxxx) via an enablement package. For Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle (shown in the image below) to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready. [caption id="attachment_176587" align="alignnone" width="684"] Turn on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available to get new features rolled out to you.[/caption] Going forward, we will document changes in Beta Channel builds in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available and then new features, improvements, and fixes available to everyone in the Beta Channel.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Taskbar]

Fixed an issue where uncombined taskbar icons were cutting off the title instead of adjusting 0with the title length.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to everyone in the Beta Channel

[Start menu]

We are beginning to try out a change where we will show your most frequently used app under the Recommended section in the Start menu. This will apply for most frequently used apps that are not already pinned to the Start menu (or taskbar).

Fixes for everyone in the Beta Channel

Fixed an issue in File Explorer where hovering over the first picture in Gallery would make a tooltip appear that would never dismiss.

Known issues

[ADDED 3/22] We are investigating an issue where Internet Information Services (IIS) and Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) may not work after installing this update.

About the Beta Channel

Important Insider Links

Want to learn how we made Windows 11? Check out the Inside Windows 11 website to hear and meet our makers from Engineering, Design and Research to share their insights and unique perspectives throughout this journey.
You can check out our Windows Insider Program documentation here.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.3286 (Beta Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 08 Mar 2024 18:03:07 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.3286 (KB5035950) to the Beta Channel. REMINDER: All Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel will now be on the same build (Build 22635.xxxx) via an enablement package. For Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle (shown in the image below) to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready. [caption id="attachment_176587" align="alignnone" width="673"] Turn on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available to get new features rolled out to you.[/caption] Going forward, we will document changes in Beta Channel builds in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available and then new features, improvements, and fixes available to everyone in the Beta Channel.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

**[Copilot in Windows*]**

We are beginning to try out a new experience for Copilot in Windows that helps showcase the ways that Copilot can accelerate and enhance your work. This experience will show when you copy text – since Copilot supports helpful actions that you can take with text content. In this scenario, the Copilot icon will change appearance and animate to indicate that Copilot can help (there are several different treatments so you may notice a different visual effect). When you hover your mouse over the Copilot icon, it will provide a menu of actions that you can take, such as summarizing or explaining the copied text. If you select an action on the menu, it will launch Copilot with the action ready-to-go. We will also support the ability to launch Copilot if you start dragging an image – just drag the image file onto the Copilot icon in the taskbar, and Copilot will open. You can then drop the image into the text box in Copilot and type an action that you would like to take on the image content. [caption id="attachment_176862" align="alignnone" width="249"] Copilot actions you can take when you mouse over the Copilot icon on the taskbar after copying some text.[/caption]

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Nearby Sharing]

Fixed an issue causing Settings to crash for some Insiders when going to System > Nearby Sharing.

Fixes for everyone in the Beta Channel

[Search]

Fixed the issue causing an increase of explorer.exe crashes for Insiders in the Beta Channel in the last two flights.

About the Beta Channel

Important Insider Links

Want to learn how we made Windows 11? Check out the Inside Windows 11 website to hear and meet our makers from Engineering, Design and Research to share their insights and unique perspectives throughout this journey.
You can check out our Windows Insider Program documentation here.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.3276 (Beta Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Mon, 04 Mar 2024 22:02:57 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.3276 (KB5034857) to the Beta Channel. REMINDER: All Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel will now be on the same build (Build 22635.xxxx) via an enablement package. For Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle (shown in the image below) to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready. [caption id="attachment_176587" align="alignnone" width="735"] Turn on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available to get new features rolled out to you.[/caption] Going forward, we will document changes in Beta Channel builds in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available and then new features, improvements, and fixes available to everyone in the Beta Channel.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Nearby Sharing]

Fixed an issue where devices with long names weren’t shown in nearby sharing.
Fixed an issue where device names may unexpectedly show “????” instead of the name.

[Task Manager]

Fixed an issue impacting Task Manager reliability.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to everyone in the Beta Channel

**[Copilot in Windows*]**

We are trying out a new hover experience for Copilot in Windows. When you move your mouse cursor over the Copilot icon on the taskbar, it will open the Copilot pane. The Copilot pane will close unless interacted with after it opens. This will begin rolling out slowly over the next few weeks to Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel.

Fixes for everyone in the Beta Channel

[Search]

Fixed an issue where the search highlights icon in the taskbar could get out of sync with the search highlights for the day.

Known issues

Microsoft Defender Application Guard (MDAG) for Microsoft Edge users may hit a no network connection issue when browsing inside MDAG. The workaround is to disable the MDAG enterprise policy or uninstall MDAG via "Turn Windows Features on and off" and reboot. As a reminder – MDAG for Edge is a deprecated feature.
[NEW] We’re working on the fix for an issue causing an increase in explorer.exe crashes for Insiders in the Beta Channel after the last flight.

About the Beta Channel

Important Insider Links

Want to learn how we made Windows 11? Check out the Inside Windows 11 website to hear and meet our makers from Engineering, Design and Research to share their insights and unique perspectives throughout this journey.
You can check out our Windows Insider Program documentation here.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.3212 (Beta Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Mon, 26 Feb 2024 22:18:38 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.3212 (KB5034845) to the Beta Channel. REMINDER: All Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel will now be on the same build (Build 22635.xxxx) via an enablement package. For Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle (shown in the image below) to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your device over time once they are ready. [caption id="attachment_176587" align="alignnone" width="776"] Turn on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available to get new features rolled out to you.[/caption] Going forward, we will document changes in Beta Channel builds in two buckets: new features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available and then new features, improvements, and fixes available to everyone in the Beta Channel.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on*

[Taskbar]

Fixed an issue which was causing the taskbar to sometimes be very slow to appear sometimes after booting up and logging in for the first time.

[Search]

Fixed an issue where if your taskbar was close to being full of app icons, when you tried to open search it would just open and immediately close.

New features rolling out for everyone in the Beta Channel

New notification badging for Widgets

We’re beginning to roll out a new badging experience for Widgets. Widgets badges will notify you when you miss an important notification on your taskbar. Below is an example of a notification badge for Widgets that shows that there are three missed notifications. [caption id="attachment_176876" align="alignnone" width="319"] Widget badging on the taskbar showing three missed notifications.[/caption] When you open the Widgets board you can see details for the notifications you missed in the top left corner of the board. [caption id="attachment_176877" align="alignnone" width="400"] Missed notifications at the top left of the widgets board.[/caption] [We are beginning to roll this out to Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel today, so the experience isn’t available to all Insiders just yet.] FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Desktop Environment  > Widgets.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to everyone in the Beta Channel

[Widgets]

~~We’ve made improvements to Widgets so that the icons on the taskbar no longer appear pixelated or fuzzy.~~ [UPDATE] We have temporarily disabled this improvement and plan to re-enable this again in a future flight after fixing some bugs. [UPDATE 4/19] This has been re-enabled with Build 22635.3500.

Known issues

Microsoft Defender Application Guard (MDAG) for Microsoft Edge users may hit a no network connection issue when browsing inside MDAG. The workaround is to disable the MDAG enterprise policy or uninstall MDAG via "Turn Windows Features on and off" and reboot. As a reminder – MDAG for Edge is a deprecated feature.

About the Beta Channel

Important Insider Links

Want to learn how we made Windows 11? Check out the Inside Windows 11 website to hear and meet our makers from Engineering, Design and Research to share their insights and unique perspectives throughout this journey.
You can check out our Windows Insider Program documentation here.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26063 (Canary Channel)

Brandon LeBlanc — Thu, 22 Feb 2024 18:04:23 +0000

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26063 to the Canary Channel. Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel will not receive this build. Instead, we are releasing servicing updates to Insiders in the Dev Channel on Build 26058 to test our servicing pipeline for Windows 11, version 24H2. Please read the known issues below. This build still has the issue impacting Dev Drive users.

What’s new in Build 26063

Wi-Fi 7

Following the announcement by the Wi-Fi Alliance, Windows is adding support for Wi-Fi 7 for consumer access points with the current Insider Preview builds in the Canary and Dev Channels. Wi-Fi 7, also known as IEEE 802.11be Extremely High Throughput (EHT), is a revolutionary technology that offers unprecedented speed, reliability, and efficiency for your wireless devices. Next Generation Wi-Fi 7 builds on the innovations of Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 6E to provide enhanced user experiences through upgrades in all aspects of wireless connectivity - throughput, latency, efficiency, reliability, power, etc. Highlighting some of Wi-Fi 7 new features:

Multi-Link operation (MLO) allows devices to use multiple bands (2.4 GHz, 5GHz, and/or 6GHz) simultaneously to avoid network congestion and maintain connectivity.
320 MHz ultra-wide bandwidth in 6GHz doubles the speed to your devices and enables new possibilities for high bandwidth applications – and scenarios using such as AR/VR.
4096-QAM modulation increases the data transmission by 20% and improves the quality of video streaming, video conferencing, and more.

With Wi-Fi 7, you can enjoy multi-gigabit speeds on your Windows PC and experience up to 4x faster speeds than Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 6E, and close to 6x faster than Wi-Fi 5. You can also enjoy significantly lower latency, which improves the responsiveness and performance of real-time activities like gaming and video conferencing. Please note that performance may vary by manufacturer and hardware device capabilities. To take advantage of Wi-Fi 7, you will need a Wi-Fi 7 capable consumer access point and PC, which many of our ecosystem partners have launched on the market. Below is a screenshot from your Windows PC with this build when connected to the Wi-Fi 7 consumer access point. [caption id="attachment_176895" align="alignnone" width="608"] Wi-Fi settings showing a Windows PC connected to the Wi-Fi 7 access point.[/caption] FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Network and Internet > Connecting to a Wi-Fi network.

Changes and Improvements

**[Copilot in Windows*]**

You can now ask Copilot in Windows to do 16 new actions, adding to the 13 already live. With Power Automate Desktop, you can also automate tasks. We began rolling these improvements out for Copilot in Windows to Windows Insiders in the Canary Channel earlier this week and added the details into last week’s blog post.

https://twitter.com/ShilpaRan/status/1760093164776636720

The new Copilot in Windows experience we began trying out with Build 26052 where the Copilot icon will change appearance and animate to indicate that Copilot can help when you copy text has temporarily been disabled. We will bring this back in the future after fixing some bugs. Thank you for all the feedback!

[Widgets]

The widgets board improvements documented with Build 26058 have temporarily been disabled. We will bring this back in the future after fixing some bugs. Thank you for all the feedback.

Fixes for known issues

Fixed an issue causing some Insiders to experience an issue where the network icon in the system tray showed they didn’t have an internet connection when connected to some VPNs even though the internet connection was working. Those impact may have also seen some apps think there wasn’t an internet connection when there really was.
The fix for the issue causing Build 26058 to not be listed under Settings > Windows Update > Update history like it should is making its way out. It may take another flight or two for builds to properly show up under Update History.
Fixed a high hitting DWM crash in the last couple flights.
Fixed an underlying issue with plug and play which may have impacted audio device setup in the last 2 builds. If you’re continuing to experience issues with audio not playing after this build, please file feedback under Devices and Drivers > Audio and sound in the Feedback Hub.
Fixed an issue where typing too quickly in the Settings search box could result in the results not loading completely.
Fixed an issue causing the three-finger touchpad gesture for middle mouse click (if you had enabled this in touchpad settings) to not work in some apps.
Fixed an issue where attempted to use the Move option when you pressed ALT + Space was causing a window to resize instead of move.
Fixed an issue for Insiders with multiple monitors, where opening a minimized window might result in the window appearing on the wrong monitor.
Fixed an issue which could cause the clock in the taskbar to stop updating.
Fixed an issue which could cause the taskbar icons to shift around under your mouse as you moved your mouse across the taskbar.
Fixed an issue where the "Notify when apps request location" option in Settings under Privacy & Security > Location was reset after reboot.
Fixed an issue that was causing the Windows Update page in Settings to unexpectedly flash messages sometimes (too quickly to read) in the previous flight.

Known issues

[General]

[IMPORTANT NOTE FOR GAMERS – UPDATED!] Some popular games may not work correctly and cause a bugcheck (green screen) when launched on the most recent Insider Preview builds in the Canary Channel. Please be sure to submit feedback in Feedback Hub on any issues you see with playing games on these builds.
IMPORTANT NOTE FOR DEV DRIVE USERS: Insiders on Build 26052+ who have Dev Drives and might need to rollback will need to back up their Dev Drives BEFORE rolling back as rolling back will cause Dev Drives to break and data on them to be lost.
A Display Connection section is incorrectly showing up under Settings > System > Display > Graphics that when clicked, will crash Settings. This section will be removed in a future flight.
Using the ISOs for Build 26058 to upgrade instead of doing a clean install may not work if you choose “Keep nothing” in the Windows Setup experience. To upgrade to the latest build in the Canary and Dev Channels, please use Windows Update.
[UPDATED] We’ve made a change to help reduce the number of rollbacks (with error code 0xC1900101) when installing the latest builds and are continuing to investigate reports.
We’re working on the fix for an issue causing the input switcher (WIN + Space) design to revert back to an older style and draw in the wrong location.
In some cases, the File Explorer context menu no longer has the acrylic effect. This will be fixed in a future flight.
[NEW] We’re investigating reports of mouse cursor issues after installing Build 26058, including that the cursor is disappearing in some apps. If you’re experiencing issues, please file feedback describing exactly what you’re seeing under Input and Language > Mouse in the Feedback Hub.
[NEW] When opening the context menu in File Explorer, the icons may appear out of place and overlapping text.

For developers

You can download the latest Windows Insider SDK at aka.ms/windowsinsidersdk. SDK NuGet packages are now also flighting at NuGet Gallery | WindowsSDK which include:

.NET TFM packages for use in .NET apps as described at aka.ms/windowsinsidersdk
C++ packages for Win32 headers and libs per architecture
BuildTools package when you just need tools like MakeAppx.exe, MakePri.exe, and SignTool.exe

Reminders for Windows Insiders

The Canary and Dev Channels receive builds with features and experiences that may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Many features in the Canary and Dev Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in these channels.
As the Canary and Dev Channels receive the same builds, some features may begin rolling out to the Canary Channel first before the Dev Channel.
While the Canary Channel is now on Windows 11, version 24H2, this is just temporary. At some point in the future, the Canary Channel will jump ahead to receiving new builds not matched to any specific release in a higher build series.
To get off the Canary or Dev Channel, a clean install of Windows 11 will be required. As a reminder - Insiders can’t switch to a channel that is receiving builds with lower build numbers without doing a clean installation of Windows 11 due to technical setup requirements.

The desktop watermark shown at the lower right corner of the desktop is normal for these pre-release builds.

Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Copilot in Windows* in preview is being rolled out gradually to Windows Insiders in select global markets. The initial markets for the Copilot in Windows preview include North America, United Kingdom and parts of Asia and South America. It is our intention to add additional markets over time.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon