Experimental Channel

[Corrine]

Windows 11 Insider Experimental Preview Build 26300.8289

New Build for the former Dev Channel, now Experimental.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out

[Windows Insider Program channel movement]
As announced in the Windows Insider Blog, we will begin moving users in the Dev Channel to the new Experimental channel. This will be a phased roll out and Insiders who do not see the new experience on their device but want to, can enable the experience under Settings > Windows Update > Windows Insider Program > Feature flags.

[Windows Update]
We're introducing new capabilities to enhance security and improve user control over the Windows update experience. This includes:

• Ability to skip updates immediately during the out of box experience (OOBE)
• Extend update pauses as many times as you need
• Always available options to shutdown and restart with updating
• More insight on available updates to make more informed installation decisions

See the Windows Update announce blog for more details.
[Print Drivers]

• The Internet Protocol Print driver (prnms012) has new hardware IDs (HWIDs) in preparation for upcoming changes in printer driver ranking order. See our third-party driver deprecation timeline: End of Servicing Plan for Third-Party Printer Drivers on Windows - Windows drivers | Microsoft Learn..
  

[Start menu]

• Improved detection of clicks at the leftmost edge of the taskbar to invoke start menu when the taskbar icons are set to left aligned.

[Other]

• Removed unexpected error that was showing when opening Group Policy Editor in the last couple Insider flights.
• We're updated Times New Roman to improve support for combining diacritical marks across the Greek and Cyrillic Unicode ranges. If you notice any positioning issues with these diacritical marks, please let us know by filing feedback under Desktop Environment > Font Installation and Preview in the Feedback Hub – preferably with details about the specific Unicode character, and a screenshot highlighting the expected position.

[Corrine]

Windows 11 Insider Experimental Preview Build 26300.8346

Changes and improvements gradually being rolled out

[Widgets is quiet by default]
We're working to make Widgets feel less distracting and overwhelming by making the experience quiet by default.

To do this, we're testing a new set of default settings designed to reduce unexpected alerts and visual interruptions. These changes include:

• Disabling Open on hover by default
• Turning off taskbar badging by default
• Opening to widgets experience on first launch
• Limiting taskbar alerts until you choose to open and engage with the Widgets experience

If you prefer more proactive updates, you can easily turn features like taskbar badging back on through Widgets settings.

Please share your feedback to let us know how these changes are working for you or if you encounter any issues with your quieter Widgets experience.

Feedback: Share your thoughts in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Widgets.

[File Explorer]

• We've eliminated a grey flash on load and unexpected scrolling to the top on the Home page in certain cases.
• We've cleaned up the Favorites section, so OneDrive files no longer appear duplicated in some cases.
• We've sharpened file thumbnails in the Recommended section on the Home page so they're crisper and easier to read.

[Run dialog update]
We're rolling out a refreshed Run dialog experience designed to bring a more modern look and improved usability. This update introduces updated visuals and a cleaner interface, along with new controls that make it easier to manage the experience from within Settings. The refreshed Run dialog is currently available as an opt-in experience for Windows Insiders on the Experimental channel, where you can enable it by going to Settings > System > Advanced and turning on the new Run dialog option.

See the Dev blog announcement for more information.

Changes and improvements gradually being rolled out

[Widgets is quiet by default]
We're working to make Widgets feel less distracting and overwhelming by making the experience quiet by default.

To do this, we're testing a new set of default settings designed to reduce unexpected alerts and visual interruptions. These changes include:

• Disabling Open on hover by default
• Turning off taskbar badging by default
• Opening to widgets experience on first launch
• Limiting taskbar alerts until you choose to open and engage with the Widgets experience

If you prefer more proactive updates, you can easily turn features like taskbar badging back on through Widgets settings.

Please share your feedback to let us know how these changes are working for you or if you encounter any issues with your quieter Widgets experience.

Feedback: Share your thoughts in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Widgets.

[File Explorer]

• We've eliminated a grey flash on load and unexpected scrolling to the top on the Home page in certain cases.
• We've cleaned up the Favorites section, so OneDrive files no longer appear duplicated in some cases.
• We've sharpened file thumbnails in the Recommended section on the Home page so they're crisper and easier to read.

[Run dialog update]
We're rolling out a refreshed Run dialog experience designed to bring a more modern look and improved usability. This update introduces updated visuals and a cleaner interface, along with new controls that make it easier to manage the experience from within Settings. The refreshed Run dialog is currently available as an opt-in experience for Windows Insiders on the Experimental channel, where you can enable it by going to Settings > System > Advanced and turning on the new Run dialog option.

See the Dev blog announcement for more information.

[Windows Share]

• The Windows ShareSheet just got smarter for AAD users. You can now discover and install relevant apps right where you share - no need to jump to the Microsoft Store or interrupt your flow.
• Previously available only to MSA users, this experience now extends to AAD accounts, bringing greater flexibility and convenience. You're also in control, with a simple setting to turn promotional app recommendations on or off. The result is a faster, more seamless, and user-controlled sharing experience with helpful app suggestions exactly when you need them.

The screenshot in the referenced post shows the ShareSheet with a row of suggested apps at the bottom, each labeled "Install." A new "Settings" option is visible in the top-right overflow menu, allowing users to manage this experience.

Feedback: Share your thoughts in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Desktop Environment > Share.

[Windows Magnifier]

• Magnifier now gives you more control over how you zoom. You can type an exact zoom percentage directly in the magnifier toolbar to land on precisely the level you need.
• We've also added preset step increments (5%, 10%, 25%, 50%, 100%, 150%, 200%, and 400%) to the Settings dropdown, so you can jump to common levels in a single click. Whether you need a subtle boost or a dramatic close-up, Magnifier adapts to how you want to zoom.

Enter an exact percentage or jump to preset steps —5% up to 400%.

Feedback: Share your thoughts in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Accessibility > Magnifier

[Storage]

• In the latest Insider builds, we've updated the dialog when creating a Dev Drive to now support specifying the size in GB instead of only MB. This has also been added when changing the size of volumes under Settings > System > Storage.

[Feedback Hub update]
Thanks Windows Insiders who have been sharing feedback about the Feedback Hub – we're now rolling out version 2.2604.301.0. This update contains a number of improvements based on what you've been telling us, including:

• Generally improved reliability.
• More tweaks to improve general design fit and finish, accessibility, and localization.
• The Community feedback section for non-English now allows you to switch view to English if you'd prefer.
• Collection titles and Official responses now will be automatically translated in top languages.
• The file upload limit when submitting feedback is back up to 500 MB.
• Improved upvote and comment count accuracy for feedback.

Please keep the feedback coming! If you want to share any thoughts, you can file them in the Feedback Hub under Apps > Feedback Hub.

[Other]

• If you were seeing a large number of APISet events in Event Viewer after the latest Insider builds, that should no longer occur after today's flight.
• Task Scheduler will now persist column width adjustments in task list view across sessions.
• Fixed accuracy of CPU speed display on the Performance page of Task Manager for VMs after resume from hibernate, so it doesn't sometimes show unexpectedly high unrealistic numbers.

[Corrine]

Windows 11 Insider Experimental Preview Build 26300.8376

As a reminder, these release notes apply to those who are in the Experimental channel, formerly known as the Dev Channel. As we begin the transition to the new Windows Insider Program, all new build release notes will be labeled under the new channel names, even though Insiders in the Dev Channel may not yet find themselves having transitioned to Experimental. See the Windows Insider Blog for more details.

Changes and improvements gradually being rolled out

Touchpad]
We're adding new gesturing-related functionality to precision touchpads in Settings. The new features should be widely available across applications, with the exception that WinUI3-based UI requires new WinAppSDK versions for complete functionality - we're in the process of bringing the necessary changes to versions 1.8 and 2.0.

• Scroll / zoom speed: control the baseline speed for these gestures
• Automatic scrolling: scrolling continues indefinitely without lifting your fingers. Activate by either bringing your fingers near the edge of the touchpad while scrolling, or holding them still and pressing harder (requires hardware support).
• Accelerated scrolling: repeatedly scrolling increases their speed, allowing quick traversal of long documents.
• Single-finger scrolling: perform a vertical scroll with a single finger starting from the left or right side of the touchpad.

Touchpad improvements bring new gesture capabilities including automatic scrolling, gesture speed controls, accelerated scrolling, and optional single-finger scrolling support.

[File Explorer]
We've made several updates to improve reliability, readability, and overall usability in File Explorer:

• Address Bar improvements
  
  • The address bar now supports paths containing double backslashes and quotation marks (for example, C:\Users\user or "C:\Users\user"), improving compatibility with a wider range of inputs.
  • Improved reliability of the Address Bar suggestion dropdown so it now consistently closes after an item is selected.
• More readable file size formatting
  
  • File sizes in the Details view now display using appropriate units (KB, MB, GB) instead of KB-only, making them easier to understand at a glance.
• Refinements to the rename experience
  
  • Fixed an issue where text would be repeatedly selected while renaming items in folder views.
  • Fixed an issue where updated names (case-only changes) were not immediately reflected in folder views across local and cloud storage.
• Improved keyboard navigation of File Explorer context menu in flyouts.

Feedback: Share your thoughts in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Files, Folders, and Online Storage > File Explorer.

[EDU]

Free upgrade path to Windows 11 Pro Education for K-12

Windows Insiders in K–12 education environments can now experience a seamless upgrade path from Windows 11 Home to Windows 11 Pro Education edition—at no additional cost. This enables educational organizations to procure Windows 11 Home devices, upgrade them to Windows 11 Pro Education, and bring devices under school management.

Instructions:

• Sign in to the device using a local account
• Launch an elevated Command Prompt and initiate the upgrade by running Clipupgrade.exe
• Sign in with your K–12 organization account to validate eligibility
• The device prepares the upgrade and completes after a restart

Please note: This upgrade is one-way only. Reverting to Windows Home is not supported without a clean OS reinstall.

Feedback: Share your thoughts in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Windows Installation.

[Administrator Protection]

• Improved reliability of Japanese IME usage when Administrator Protection is enabled.

[Other]

• Fixed a WPN hang in the previous flight, which was leading to notification issues and certain apps hanging on launch.
• Improved reliability of loading desktop app icon shortcuts.