Windows 11 Insider Beta Channel

[Corrine]

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.5722 (Beta Channel)

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

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.

FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Settings > All other settings.

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.

[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.

[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.

[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.
  

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.

[Corrine]

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.5733 (Beta Channel)

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

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.
  

[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.

[Corrine]

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.5742 (Beta Channel)

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

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.
• Improved support for text scaling on desktop icons, addressing an issue which could lead to overlapping icons and text.
• Fixed a couple cases where Narrator was unexpectedly not announcing actions in File Explorer (when using the "create new" library option, and when expanding details while copying files).
• 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.

[Corrine]

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.5751 (Beta Channel)

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

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.

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 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.
  

[Taskbar & System Tray]

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

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.

[Corrine]

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.5761 (Beta Channel)

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

New features gradually being rolled out to the Beta 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.

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.

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:

1. Turn on access to your phone.

• On your PC, go to Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Mobile devices.
  
• Switch "Allow this PC to access your mobile devices" to On.
  
• Click the "Manage devices" button and follow the steps to connect your Android phone.
  

2. Set up the Link to Windows app on your phone.

• On your Android phone, open the Link to Windows app.
• Make sure you allow the app to run in the background (this keeps the Resume feature working reliably).

3. Try the feature.

• Open Spotify on your phone and play a track or episode.
• 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.

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

[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.

[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.

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!
  

[Corrine]

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.5770 (Beta Channel)

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.

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.

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 Beta 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.

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 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.

[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.

[Corrine]

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.5790 (Beta Channel)

Releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.5790 (KB5065779) to the Beta Channel for Windows Insiders on Windows 11, version 24H2.

New Copilot+ PC experiences

Introducing
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."

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.

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 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).
  

[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.

[Corrine]

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.6682 (Beta Channel)

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.
  
• 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 new you discover our newest and most popular AI-powered actions available to use.
  
  • 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.
  

• 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.

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.

[Corrine]

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.6690 (Beta Channel)

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

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.
  

[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.