Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.5235 (Beta Channel)

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 the referenced 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.

Releasing Windows 10 Build 19045.5794 to the Release Preview Channel

This update includes the following features and improvements (items bolded in brackets indicate the area of the change being documented):

• [Graphics] Fixed: The check for GPU paravirtualization was case-sensitive in Windows Subsystem for Linux 2 (WSL2). This issue might potentially cause GPU paravirtualization support to fail.
  
• [OS Security] Fixed: Updates to the Windows Kernel Vulnerable Driver Blocklist (DriverSiPolicy.p7b). Additions have been made to blocklist drivers with security vulnerabilities that have been used in Bring Your Own Vulnerable Driver (BYOVD) attacks.
  

The same to you!

Passover this year is celebrated April 12 - April 19. Easter Sunday is April 20th.

Best wishes to LzD families and friends.

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5551 (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.

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.

The window also contains regenerate, like, dislike and copy button at the bottom.

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.

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.

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.3863 (Beta Channel)

This release is for Windows Insiders on Windows 11, version 24H2.

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.

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.

The window also contains regenerate, like, dislike and copy button at the bottom.

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.

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 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.

Microsoft released KB5002623 to fix the known issue in KB 5002700 for Microsoft Office 2016, released April 10, 2025, that causes Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft Outlook to stop responding.

For information on installing the update, see April 10, 2025, update for Office 2016 (KB5002623).

Copilot on Windows: Vision and file search begin rolling out to Windows Insiders

An update for the Microsoft Copilot app on Windows via the Microsoft Store which introduces the following changes and improvements is beginning to roll out:

File search: You can now find, open and ask questions about the contents of a file on your device from the Copilot on Windows app. You can adjust your permissions for what Copilot can access, retrieve, or read in Copilot Settings under Permission settings. File search supports most file types and can read .docx, .xlsx, .pptx, .txt, .pdf, .json files. Ask Copilot questions like "Can you find my resume", "Open the trip planning doc I was working on last week", or "Look at my budget file and tell me how much I spent on dining last month".

Copilot Vision on Windows: You can share any browser or app window with Copilot. Copilot can then help analyze, offer insights, or answer your questions, coaching you through it aloud. To get started click the glasses icon in your composer, select which browser window or app you want to share, and ask Copilot to help with whatever you're working on. To stop sharing, press 'Stop' or 'X' in the composer.

This Copilot app update (version 1.25034.133.0 and higher) is beginning to roll out across all Insider Channels via the Microsoft Store. Copilot Vision on Windows will first roll out to Insiders in the U.S., and file search will roll out to Insiders worldwide. The above-mentioned features 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 on Windows.

FEEDBACK: Please provide feedback directly within the Copilot app by clicking on your profile icon and choosing "Give feedback".

The Microsoft April 2025 security updates have been released and consist of 124 new CVEs to Microsoft products. The additional third-party CVEs bring the combined total to 134 CVEs and 9 non-Microsoft CVEs.

Of the Microsoft CVEs released, 11 are rated critical, 2 low and the rest are rated important in security. At the time of release, one is listed as being publicly known and under active attack.

The security updates apply to the following products, features and roles: Windows and Windows Components, Office and Office Components, Azure, .NET and Visual Studio, BitLocker, Kerberos, Windows Hello, OpenSSH, and Windows Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP).

See the list of KBs at the bottom of the page at April 2025 Security Updates - Release Notes - Security Update Guide - Microsoft for information regarding known issues with the security updates.

Recommended Reading:   See Dustin Childs review and analysis in Zero Day Initiative -- The April 2025 Security Update Review.