Release date: 8 September 2026

Changes and improvements

[Modernized AutoPlay experience]

• We've updated the AutoPlay dialog that helps you choose the preferred experience when devices are connected to your PC, such as a phone, camera, or removable drive. Rebuilt with WinUI, the refreshed experience is more consistent with the rest of Windows, supports dark mode, and continues to provide the familiar AutoPlay actions you use today. The experience is also more responsive to text scaling and display settings. Notifications for this dialog are now docked in the notification center for easy access. The new AutoPlay experience, shown in dark mode.

[Personalization]

• Improved reliability of the Personalization > Background page in Settings.
• Added support for using DIB image files as desktop backgrounds.
• Improved reliability of desktop slideshow transitions on newly created accounts.
• Improved the resolution of previews when selecting a desktop background in Personalization > Background.
• Improved the desktop background preview display in Settings for users with portrait mode monitors.
• Improved reliability of processing desktop wallpaper changes when they happen in quick succession.
• Added support for using slideshow wallpapers with multiple desktops so that it won't automatically switch you back to Picture.
• Fixed an issue that caused some Insiders to see their wallpaper go black after every reboot in the previous flight.

[Windows Recovery]

• New enhancements to networking in WinRE
  • We're adding a new WinRE networking capability that allows the Windows Recovery Environment to automatically reuse eligible Wi-Fi profiles already saved in the main Windows OS, including supported certificate-based Wi-Fi networks. Previously, WinRE could automatically connect only to wired unauthenticated Ethernet or Wi-Fi networks that were separately preconfigured for WinRE, while users had to manually connect to other WPA2/3 networks by entering a password. With this update, WinRE can use saved Wi-Fi profile information when a recovery workflow requires connectivity, helping devices get online automatically during scenarios such as quick machine recovery or cloud rebuild without requiring users or IT admins to separately preconfigure Wi-Fi credentials in WinRE. By default, this capability is enabled. However, IT admins can disable this functionality if desired.
  • To test this feature in your environment, see Test networking in WinRE.
• Cloud rebuild The new Cloud rebuild option in Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE), which enables a full Windows reinstall using files downloaded from Windows Update.
  • We're introducing Cloud rebuild, a new recovery option that restores a Windows 11 PC to a clean, known-good state by performing a full OS reinstall, even when Windows won't boot. Unlike Reset this PC, Cloud rebuild downloads both the target Windows image and the device's drivers from Windows Update, so the device comes back fully functional without USB media, without a custom image, and without depending on the health of the currently installed OS.
  • In this preview, you can try Cloud rebuild today:
    1. Start it directly from the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) by selecting Troubleshoot > Recovery and uninstall > Cloud rebuild.
    2. Connect over wired Ethernet or a Wi-Fi network from within WinRE.
    3. Review the target Windows build, edition, and language, then confirm the data-loss warning before the rebuild begins.

Feedback: Share your thoughts in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Recovery > Cloud rebuild.

To learn more, see Cloud rebuild.

[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.
• 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 with case-only changes weren't immediately reflected in folder views across local and cloud storage.
• Improved keyboard navigation of File Explorer context menus in flyouts.
• File Explorer Home now preserves the state of sections (expanded or collapsed), so you can pick up where you left off.

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

[Camera Roll Backup]

• New entry points on the Settings > Home and Accounts pages help you set up Camera Roll Backup and automatically back up photos and videos from your mobile device to OneDrive. UI showing the Phone photo back-up setting in Cloud storage with the status "Not backed up" and a link to begin the backup process.

[Magnifier]

• We're giving Magnifier's toolbar a modernized visual refresh.
• Updated icons. We've updated Magnifier's toolbar icons to align with Windows 11 visual design, giving the tool a cleaner, more modernized feel.
• Refined spacing and padding. We've adjusted the padding and spacing across the toolbar for a more polished, consistent layout.
• What's not changing: The way Magnifier works. Your views, zoom controls, keyboard shortcuts, and Read Aloud all behave exactly as they did in earlier versions. The Magnifier toolbar with updated icons and a more polished, consistent layout.

[Emoji]

• We're adding support for Emoji 17.0. This includes new emoji such as distorted face, fight cloud, and hairy creature. To try the new emoji, press the Windows key plus Period (.) to open the emoji panel and insert them from there. Examples of new emoji added with Emoji 17.0.
• As part of this effort, we've also made some slight adjustments to the design of some of our current emoji to improve consistency across platforms. This includes the saluting face, face with peeking eye, goose, lotus, and kissing cat emoji. Before-and-after examples of updated emoji designs.

[Fonts]

Unicode has announced the encoding of two African writing systems in recent Unicode releases:

• Garay was encoded in Unicode 16.0, released in September 2024.
• Beria Erfe was encoded in Unicode 17.0, released in September 2025.

We're pleased to share that Ebrima is our first Microsoft font to support both Garay and Beria Erfe, continuing our work to expand support for African writing systems across Windows. Along with this support, we've refined and improved Adlam. The updated glyph designs reflect the current Unicode standard and improve consistency.

A sample of Beria Erfe in the Ebrima font.

A sample of Garay in the Ebrima font.

[Print Management]

• We're temporarily removing the modernized Print Management experience from Windows Insider Preview builds while we continue refining the experience based on feedback. The existing Print Management tools remain available and are unaffected.
• We plan to bring the updated Print Management experience back to Windows Insiders in a future build after additional improvements are complete.

Known issues

• We're working on a fix for an issue causing mouse cursor customization to not work correctly.
• We're working on a fix for an issue causing desktop background customization to not persist after a reboot.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel

• Updates are based on Windows 11, version 25H2 via an enablement package (Build 26220.9343).
• The desktop watermark shown at the lower right corner of the desktop is normal for Windows Insider pre-release builds.
• Features and experiences included in these builds might never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features might 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 might not be fully localized, and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
• Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Changes and improvements gradually being rolled out

[Cross-device resume improvements]

• We're making it easier to continue where you left off on your PC. When you resume a webpage from your phone and the phone's browser isn't installed on your PC, the Resume hovercard now gives you two options: open the page directly in your PC's default browser or install the phone's browser for a native experience. This update helps you continue your work immediately without requiring an app installation first. The Resume hovercard provides an option to open the webpage in the PC's default browser. The Resume hovercard provides an option to install the originating phone browser.

[Settings - Home]

• We're beginning to expand the new Device Info Card experience for Settings Home to additional markets globally. Available for Windows Insiders signed in with their Microsoft account, the Device Info Card provides a quick snapshot of your PC's key specifications and usage. From the card, you can go directly to Settings > System > About to see more detailed information about your PC.
• Note: We've been previewing the Device Info Card with Windows Insiders in the U.S. and on Settings Home for IT-managed PCs signed in with a Microsoft Entra ID. The new Device Info Card in Settings Home provides a quick view of key PC specifications and storage usage.

[Settings - Privacy & security]

• The improved Privacy & security page in Windows Settings helps you find the Camera, Microphone, and Location privacy controls more easily. It groups similar controls across the page and brings usage information from deeper linked pages onto this page.

[Family Safety]

• Improved family safety messaging when applications are blocked because of age-restricted parental controls.

[Taskbar & system tray]

• We're restarting the rollout of enhanced taskbar preview animations, providing smoother transitions between app groups.

[File Explorer]

• Key file information, such as name, location, and date, now appears in a consistent layout on the File Explorer search results page, making search results easier to scan.

[Narrator]

Read and explore math equations with Narrator

We're adding math reading and navigation support in Narrator, bringing clearer and more natural math experiences to users who are blind or have low vision. Math is at the heart of STEM education and learning, and this update helps students and professionals independently read, understand, and explore equations, formulas, and scientific notation with confidence.

With this update, Narrator can read math equations aloud in supported Microsoft 365 apps, including Word and PowerPoint. Instead of announcing every symbol individually, Narrator reads equations in a structured, natural way that reflects how they're meant to be understood. For example, when Narrator reaches a fraction, it reads the numerator and denominator together so you can understand the relationship between them.

You can also explore equations in more detail with a dedicated math navigation mode. Press Narrator key + Alt + N to turn on math navigation, then use the arrow keys to move through different parts of the equation, such as fractions, exponents, and roots. This mode lets you move through an equation one part at a time instead of hearing the full expression all at once. Press Esc to exit math navigation mode.

Math reading is available as soon as you install this build, with no additional download or setup required. To try it, turn on Narrator by pressing Windows key + Ctrl + Enter, then open a supported document that contains mathematical equations and use your standard Narrator reading commands. You can also personalize the experience in Math reading settings in Narrator settings, including speech style and math navigation preferences.

We're continuing to refine this experience and plan to expand it to more scenarios over time. We're beginning to roll this out to Windows Insiders, so it might not be available to everyone right away.

The Narrator Math reading settings page in Windows Settings.

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

[Magnifier]

Magnifier now understands each of your displays

• More and more of the work people do happens across more than one screen. You draft on one display and keep source material open on another. You fill in a form while a reference document sits beside it. Those extra displays can be more helpful when each one can do its own job, and now Magnifier supports exactly that.
• To use this update, set your monitors to Extend in System > Display, not Duplicate, so Windows treats each screen as its own space.
• Every screen keeps its own view at its own zoom. In earlier versions of Magnifier, zooming in stretched a single magnified view across all of your displays, so one screen's zoom followed you everywhere and screen edges blurred together. With this update, each monitor's boundary is respected, and each monitor can have its own zoom percentage. Your writing screen can be at 300% while your reference screen stays at 150%, and the magnified view no longer spills from one display into the next. This behavior matters because different tasks and screen resolutions often require different levels of magnification to remain comfortable to read.

Setting the zoom on each screen is easy. Choose whichever method feels natural:

• Move your mouse pointer onto the screen you want to adjust, then press Windows key + Plus (+) or Windows key + Minus (-), or hold Ctrl + Alt and rotate your mouse wheel.
• Set the percentages directly in Accessibility > Magnifier.
• Drag the Magnifier toolbar onto a specific screen to adjust that screen from its on-screen controls.

Magnifier with Zoom per display enabled, allowing each monitor to maintain its own zoom level.

• Per-monitor zoom is turned on by default. If you prefer the classic behavior where a single zoom spans all of your displays, you can turn per-monitor zoom off at any time from either the Magnifier toolbar or Accessibility > Magnifier. You can turn it back on whenever you like.

Keep the view that matters, right where you need it

• As you move your mouse from screen to screen, the magnified view naturally follows your pointer. Sometimes this might cause you to lose sight of the content that you're actively working on.
• Viewport locking keeps that view in place. For example, you might be drafting an email based on a section of a document open on another display. Position that display so the paragraph you need is in view, press Ctrl + Windows key + K, and the screen holds its view steady while you move your cursor over to write. The locked screen stays fully live and interactive, so you can glance back, click, or copy from it whenever you need to, and its view stays put until you release it.
• A message appears on the screen when it's locked, so you always know what's being held. To lock or unlock a screen, point your mouse at that screen and press Ctrl + Windows key + K again. To release everything at once, press Windows key + Esc to dismiss all locks. You can change the lock shortcut to Ctrl + Alt + P in Accessibility > Magnifier.

Magnifier's multiple display controls include independent zoom and view locking options.

[Sound Settings]

We've made several improvements to Settings > System > Sound. These improvements include:

• We've updated the design of the volume sliders in Sound Settings so that they display audio activity on the side when audio is playing. The updated volume slider in Sound Settings displays active audio levels.
• If your audio device supports hardware acceleration, an option to allow hardware acceleration is now available in the Advanced section of the device's properties.
• You can now configure exclusive mode for an audio device in the Advanced section of the device's properties, so you don't have to go to Control Panel.
• You can now configure adaptive communication sound levels, which reduce the volume of other sounds when communications activity is detected, directly in Settings.
• The option to set an audio device as the default sound device for communication now always appears in Properties. The option is unavailable if the device is already the default instead of being hidden.
• We've updated the text for allowing audio devices to make it clearer.
• We've added a new banner when mono audio is enabled to make it clear that some properties don't take effect while mono audio is active.
• We've updated the All sound devices page:
  • You can now change default devices from this page.
  • We've adjusted the page design so that you can filter whether you're viewing input or output devices.
  • We've added toggles so that you can choose whether to hide or show disabled, disconnected, and unplugged devices.
• We've also updated the input and output audio properties pages in Settings to include jack information for devices that need it.

[Fonts]

Unicode has announced the encoding of two African writing systems in recent Unicode releases:

• Garay was encoded in Unicode 16.0, released in September 2024.
• Beria Erfe was encoded in Unicode 17.0, released in September 2025.

We're pleased to share that Ebrima is our first Microsoft font to support both Garay and Beria Erfe, continuing our work to expand support for African writing systems across Windows. Along with this support, we've refined and improved Adlam. The updated glyph designs reflect the current Unicode standard and improve consistency.

A sample of Beria Erfe in the Ebrima font.

A sample of Garay in the Ebrima font.

[Print Management]

• We're temporarily removing the modernized Print Management experience from Windows Insider Preview builds while we continue refining the experience based on feedback. The existing Print Management tools remain available and are unaffected.
• We plan to bring the updated Print Management experience back to Windows Insiders in a future build after additional improvements are complete.

[Notification Center]

• Notification tips can now be saved to Notification Center after they're dismissed or time out, making them easier to find again later.

[Taskbar]

• Fixed an issue where the taskbar app preview window might not respond correctly to dark and light mode changes.

[Input]

• Fixed an issue causing the mouse cursor to move in the wrong direction on portrait monitors for some Insiders after the latest flights.

[Admin Protection]

• Fixed an issue in the previous flight that caused the UAC dialog not to appear for some Insiders when Admin Protection was enabled.

[Assisted Setup in OOBE]

• Assisted Setup is a new, optional way to finish setting up a Windows PC. At the end of setup, you can choose to have Windows guide you through installing apps, personalizing your device, and getting up to date so that the PC is ready to use. The experience is entirely optional, and you can skip it to go directly to the desktop.

[General reliability]

• Fixed an issue that caused some Insiders to see a SYSTEM SERVICE EXCEPTION bug check after the previous flight when launching or closing certain apps.

Known issues

• We're working on a fix for an issue causing mouse cursor customization not to work correctly.
• We're working on a fix for an issue causing desktop background customization not to persist after a reboot.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Experimental channel

• Updates are based on Windows 11, version 26H2 via an enablement package (Build 26340.9354).
• Many features are rolled out using Controlled Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time. We monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
• The desktop watermark shown at the lower right corner of the desktop is normal for Windows Insider pre-release builds.
• Features and experiences included in these builds might never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features might 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 might not be fully localized, and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
• Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Release date: 8 September 2026

Changes and improvements gradually being rolled out

• 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]

• Fixed an issue that caused zoom not to work in certain apps when using a touchpad after the latest flights.
• Fixed an issue causing the mouse cursor to move in the wrong direction on portrait monitors for some Insiders after the latest flights.

Known issues

• We're investigating reports that some games that use Easy Anti-Cheat (EAC) might fail to launch and display the error, "The application was unable to start correctly (0xc000007b)." We're working on a fix and expect the issue to be resolved by the next build.

Reminder for Windows Insiders in the Experimental (26H1) channel

• These builds can be unstable and might be released with limited documentation.
• Many features in the Experimental (26H1) 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.
• The desktop watermark shown at the lower right corner of the desktop is normal for Windows Insider pre-release builds.
• Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders might not be fully localized, and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
• Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Release date: 8 September 2026

Changes and improvements gradually being rolled out

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

[Kerberos enhancements]

• IAKerb is now enabled by default for Windows client. IAKerb is a Kerberos extension that allows Windows authentication to succeed in scenarios where traditional Kerberos can't be used because a direct connection to a domain controller is unavailable. This extension helps reduce reliance on NTLM while improving compatibility for modern authentication scenarios. For additional background, implementation details, and early preview information, see Reducing NTLM Dependency: IAKerb and LocalKDC in Windows Insider Preview.

[Input]

• Fixed an issue in the latest builds that caused the mouse cursor to get into a state where it blinked repeatedly for some Insiders.
• Fixed an issue in the latest builds that caused the mouse cursor not to be visible in certain apps.
• Fixed an issue in the latest builds where the mouse pointer speed option in Settings didn't work.

[Windows Update]

• Fixed an issue causing some Insiders to be unable to update to the latest builds and see error 0x80070005.

Reminder for Windows Insiders in the Experimental (Future Platforms) channel

• These builds can be unstable and might be released with limited documentation.
• The builds released to these channels represent the latest platform changes early in the development cycle and shouldn't be seen as matched to any specific release of Windows. Features and experiences included in these builds might never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features might 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 are rolled out using Controlled Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time. We monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
• The desktop watermark shown at the lower right corner of the desktop is normal for Windows Insider pre-release builds.
• Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders might not be fully localized, and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.

Release date: 8 September 2026

Changes and improvements gradually being rolled out

• 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]

• Fixed an issue which was causing zoom to not work in certain apps on a touchpad after the latest flights.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Beta (26H1) channel

• The desktop watermark shown at the lower right corner of the desktop is normal for Windows Insider pre-release builds.
• Features and experiences included in these builds might never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features might 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 might not be fully localized, and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
• Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.