Windows Insider Canary Channel

[Corrine]

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27943 (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.

[Corrine]

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27950 (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!
  

[Corrine]

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27954 (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.

[Networking]

• Fixed an issue where you might not be able to connect to shared files and folders if you were using the Server Message Block (SMB) v1 protocol on NetBIOS over TCP/IP NetBIOS (NetBT) after the latest updates.
  

[Corrine]

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27959 (Canary Channel)

Changes and Improvements

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.

To change the position of your flyouts, go to Settings > System > Notifications and use the dropdown for Position of the onscreen pop-up.

FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Desktop Environment > MTC controls and audio.

[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]

• We've added the ability to pin your favorite apps in the Windows share window.

[Other]

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

Fixes

[General]

• Fixed 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.

[File Explorer]

• The File Explorer context menu has been updated to remove the accent colored backplate behind packaged appicons in the Open With list when right clicking a file (for example, Snipping Tool). This change makes icons easier to see.
  
• Made some underlying changes to help improve the performance of launching cloud files from File Explorer and loading context menus.
• Fixed an issue which could lead to icons and text might becoming overlapping on the desktop when using increased text scaling.
• Fixed an issue where icons in the details, preview, and navigation panes of File Explorer weren't properly mirrored when using an Arabic or Hebrew display language.

[Taskbar and System Tray]

• Fixed an issue in the latest builds where the battery icon could get out of sync with the actual charging state (for example, it would show that you weren't plugged in when you were).
• Fixed a focus related issue when clicking on an app preview thumbnail which could result on it dismissing but the app window not actually coming to the foreground.

[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.

[Display and Graphics]

• Fixed an issue where apps and browsers could have partially stuck onscreen content when other maximized / full screen apps were updating in the background. This may have been noticeable particularly when trying to scroll the window content, as only some parts would update.

[Windows Hello]

• Fixed an issue where Windows Hello Pin setup might fail with error 0x80090010 on Entra-domain joined devices after the latest updates.

[Voice Access]

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

[For developers]

• There was an issue where PIX on Windows was unable to play back GPU captures on the latest OS versions. This has been addressed by a new PIX release.
  

[Windows Security]

• Fixed an issue where the apostrophes in some of the text in the app weren't displaying correctly.

[Corrine]

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27965 (Canary Channel)

What's new in Build 27965

Introducing the new Start menu for Windows 11

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.

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.

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'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.

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.

[We are beginning to roll this out to Windows Insiders in the Canary, 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 > Start menu.

Changes and Improvements for everyone in the Canary channel

[.NET Framework 3.5]

• Starting with Build 27965, .NET Framework 3.5 is no longer a Windows Feature on Demand optional component. We encourage customers relying on the legacy framework to move to modern versions of .NET. Customers running business-critical applications that still depend on .NET Framework 3.5 can access a .NET Framework 3.5 standalone installer located here: https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=2337635. More information about .NET Framework products' lifecycle can be found here: Lifecycle FAQ – .NET Framework | Microsoft Learn
  

[Command Line]

• Edit, a command line text editor, is now delivered with Windows! You can quickly edit a file while in the Terminal app by typing edit followed by the file name. Edit is open source on GitHub and for a full list of its features, check out its docs.
  

Fixes

[Taskbar and System Tray]

• If you were having issues with the taskbar not autohiding correctly in the previous flight, that should be resolved now.

[Video Playback]

• Fixed a recent issue which was causing some videos and games to be unexpectedly red.
• Fixed an issue that could affect playback of protected content in certain Blu-ray, DVD, and digital TV apps that used Enhanced Video Renderer with HDCP enforcement.
  

[Corrine]

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27971 (Canary Channel)

What's new in Build 27971

[Notification Center]

• 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.
  

[We are beginning to roll this out to Windows Insiders in the Canary, so the experience isn't available to all Insiders just yet as we plan to monitor feedback before pushing it out to everyone.]

Fixes

[File Explorer]

• Fixed an issue in the latest Canary builds causing File Explorer to crash when transferring files to a network drive.

[Lock and login screens]

• Fixed an issue in the previous build where the media controls might not display on the lock screen.

[Input]

• Fixed an underlying issue related to microsoft.ink.dll and relevant APIs, which could result in pen and handwriting not working correctly in apps or app crashes recently due to unexpected exceptions being thrown.

[Other]

• Fixed an underlying issue which was causing protected content playback to fail for some apps recently.
• Fixed an issue impacting the ability to start Hyper-V virtual machines with Trusted Platform Module (TPM) on ARM64 devices.

[Corrine]

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27975 (Canary Channel)

Cumulative Update Build 27975.984 (KB5070899) does not include anything new and is designed to test the servicing pipeline for builds in the Canary Channel.

What's new in Build 27975

[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

[Input]

• Fixed an issue impacting touch keyboard launch reliability in the latest Canary builds.

[Windows Hello]

• Fixed an issue impacting certain devices which was causing the Windows Hello PIN to not work after upgrading to the latest Canary builds, until you set it up again.

[Settings]

• Fixed an issue causing Settings to crash when accessing drive information under Settings > System > Storage. This also impacted accessing the drive information from the properties when you right clicked a drive in File Explorer.