Windows 11 Insider DEV Channel

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22610 | Windows Insider Blog

See the blog post for information about new group policies for IT administrators and an update to the Family Safety Widget.

Changes and Improvements:

[General]
  • Windows 11 Home edition Dev and Beta Channel builds no longer enable the SMB1 client by default. If you have installed SMB1 manually or upgraded from a previous version of Windows where SMB1 was installed, upgrading to the latest Dev and Beta Channel build will not remove SMB1. For more information, check out this blog post here.
  • We have updated the design of the battery icon on the Lock screen to be consistent with the one in the taskbar.
  • Battery icon on the Lock screen matches the design of the battery icon on the taskbar.
  • If your PC supports it, we will now show estimated battery life timing in the tooltip for the battery icon in the system tray with the most recent Insider Preview builds.
  • The build watermark at the lower right-hand corner of the desktop is no longer present in this build. This doesn’t mean we’re done, and the watermark will return to Insiders in a future build.
[Taskbar]
  • As a result of feedback from Windows Insiders, we have disabled the tablet-optimized taskbar feature that first began rolling out to Windows Insiders in Build 22563 for now. We hope to bring this feature back in the future after further refinement of the experience. As we’ve mentioned previously, features we try out in the Dev or Beta Channels may not always ship.
[Widgets]
  • The changes in Widgets that bring more dynamic content to your Widgets board announced with Build 22563 is rolling out to more Windows Insiders in the Dev and Beta Channels.
[Task Manager]
  • We’ve updated the Processes page in Task Manager so that the colors used in the heatmap are now based on your accent color. Please note in certain cases we will use the default blue accent color to ensure readability. We did a demo of this during this month’s Windows Insider webcast featuring Claton Hendricks from the Task Manager Team – watch the webcast on-demand here.
  • The Processes page in Task Manager now shows colors based on your accent color.
[File Explorer]
  • We have updated the rename, properties, and optimize icons used in the context menu and command bar to help with discoverability and consistency.
  • Context menu in File Explorer showing the updated icons for rename and properties.
[Settings]
  • Your Phone now shows as Phone Link under Settings > Bluetooth & devices. Your Phone is now Phone Link – read the announcement here.
[Other]
  • Based on feedback from Windows Insiders, we are rolling back the change originally documented with Build 22557 where TKIP and WEP connections were no longer allowed. These connections are allowed again starting with this build as we go back to the previous behavior where a warning is given notifying you that these are not secured connections. As a reminder, TKIP and WEP are deprecated security standards and are planned for removal in a future release. We recommend updating your router or other devices to one that supports at least WPA2 (WPA3 is the current standard).
Fixes

[General]
  • We fixed the issue causing Windows Insiders running Windows 10 who were trying to join the Dev or Beta Channels to encounter a download error code 0xc8000402 while trying to download the latest build. If you experienced this issue, please install KB5011831 and then try to download the latest build from either the Dev or Beta Channels. If you continue to see this issue – please file feedback in Feedback Hub.
  • We’ve fixed an issue causing explorer.exe to crash repeatedly in a loop in the latest builds (and unable to successfully load) for a small percent of Insiders.
  • Made a change to help address an issue causing some Insiders to experience a bugcheck with the error BAD_POOL_CALLER when opening Notification Center and some other actions after the last build.
  • When opening Group Policy editor, an Administrative Template error will no longer pop up.
  • Fixed an issue where Group Policy Editor was unexpectedly showing an error saying “mmc cannot initialize the snap-in” on ARM64 in some cases.
[Taskbar]
  • Fixed an issue that was preventing Shift + Right-click on a taskbar icon from opening the expected context menu.
  • Changing the resolution of a secondary display should no longer result in the taskbar app icons unexpectedly shifting to the right.
  • Clicking the taskbar should close things like Quick Settings and Notification Center now if they’re open.
  • Windows and taskbar icons that were being used on a secondary monitor will now transfer correctly to your primary monitor if you unplug the secondary one.
  • Fixed an issue that was preventing taskbar icon animations on system icons like Start, Search, and Task view.
  • Animations will now play correctly the first time you drag and drop to taskbar.
  • If you drag to the taskbar in a right-to-left (RTL) language, the icon will now appear on the correct side.
  • When you’re connected to Wi-Fi, the network icon in the taskbar will no longer incorrectly show as disconnected.
  • Fixed a crash that was happening if the taskbar clock updated while transitioning to daylight savings time changes.
  • The show hidden icons flyout will now dismiss when you click away from it again.
  • There will no longer be an empty show hidden icons arrow showing in your system tray when you’ve set all your icons there to show.
  • Fixed an issue causing Notification Center to be cut off when opened on small screens, hiding the do not disturb button.
  • Fixed an issue for Arabic and Hebrew display languages, where the Notification Center would jump up unexpectedly when dismissed.
  • If your microphone is in use but not your location, hovering over the microphone button in the taskbar should no longer show a location section with an empty app name in the tooltip.
[Start menu]
  • App icons like Microsoft Edge will no longer be cut off on the bottom in Start’s all apps list.
  • If you cancel while dragging icons to create a folder in Start, they will no longer be stuck in a broken folder with just one icon.
  • The Windows Tools entry under All apps should be visible again now.
  • Animations of folders in the Start menu will no longer start on the first pinned app instead of where the folder is located.
[Search]
  • We did some work to help address an issue where sometimes you couldn’t search for an app you’d just installed, although it was showing in Start.
[File Explorer]
  • Using the rename, copy, paste, delete, and other options context menu options in File Explorer or on the desktop should no longer cause explorer.exe to crash when the context menu dismisses.
  • Right-clicking on a file now reflects the updated naming in File Explorer and shows “Add to Favorites”.
  • Right-clicking on This PC in the Open or Save As dialog’s navigation pane should bring up the context menu again now.
  • Addressed an issue believed to be the underlying cause for File Explorer freezing when selecting a large number of files in recent builds.
  • We made some improvements to the performance of keyboard selection of images and zipped files in OneDrive folders.
  • Fixed an issue which was causing File Explorer to freeze frequently when WSL was installed, and WSL files were opened via Home.
  • To help with performance, when opening Home only images and videos will now show thumbnails.
  • Updated the tooltip for the “Please sign in” button in File Explorer from “Sign in again to fix authentication issues.” to “One of your accounts needs attention to show files from Office.com in Home”, so that its purpose is clearer.
  • We addressed an issue where the Sign In button in File Explorer might not work.
  • Fixed an explorer.exe crash related to loading recently used Office files in Home.
  • Addressed an issue where the Open option was unexpectedly showing a generic icon when right clicking on certain file types.
  • Fixed an underlying issue believed to be the cause of some Insiders not seeing the This PC option in the “Open File Explorer to” dropdown in folder options.
[Input]
  • Fixed a couple issues where under certain conditions the emoji panel, clipboard history, and voice typing would stop working after unlocking your PC or right after a Windows update.
  • Fixed an issue where the text suggestions for physical keyboards might sometimes display with a transparent background.
  • To ensure that text input is always available, if you use touch and tap a text field in OOBE, on the login screen, or in the UAC dialog, the touch keyboard will now always appear even if a physical keyboard is connected.
  • When you lock your PC, if you have turned off “Play sounds as I type” under Settings > Time & Language > Typing > Touch keyboard, you should no longer hear key press sounds when using the touch keyboard on the login screen.
  • Added typographic quotes as an option after a press and hold on the quote key when using the German touch keyboard layout.
  • We did some work to address an issue where if you were using the docked touch keyboard on a tablet and tapped the text field of an app that didn’t have focus, the touch keyboard might appear and immediately disappear.
  • Improved the performance going into the listening state after launching voice typing (WIN + H).
  • Fixed a crash when deleting letters using a strikethrough gesture in the handwriting panel.
  • Addressed an issue where if you had unchecked “leave touchpad on when a mouse is connected” under Settings > Bluetooth & Devices > Touchpad, the touchpad wasn’t re-enabled after connecting and disconnecting a mouse.
  • Fixed an issue that could lead to the trail when sliding your finger around the screen being unexpectedly red or invisible in some cases.
  • If you don’t have the Chinese (Simplified) IME installed, it should no longer display as an option to customize under Settings > Personalization > Text Input > Custom Theme.
  • If an Xbox controller is connected, using it to interact with games should no longer result in an unexpected pop-up saying, “No supported apps in use for mic mute.”
[Widgets]
  • Improved reliability of opening the widgets board on first login after an upgrade or after an app update.
  • We did some work to help address an issue where the widgets board wouldn’t light dismiss and you had to use the Esc key to close it.
  • As some Insiders have noticed, to help make the state clearer, if the weather status on the taskbar isn’t available, we will now show a greyed-out weather icon.
  • Addressed an underlying issue leading to Widgets being missing from the taskbar and Settings after upgrading. This fix should stop future PCs from being impacted – if you are currently impacted, please try reinstalling this, which may resolve it for you.
[Settings]
  • Fixed the Windows Update text for English (United Kingdom) so that it will say “last checked” and not “last ticked.”
  • Addressed an underlying issue leading to not being able to activate the “Restart now” button in Windows Update when it had focus using Narrator in scan mode.
  • Fixed an issue where if you opened the Bluetooth section of Quick Settings and went back, it could result in the scrollbar style changing in Quick Settings under certain conditions.
  • Apps should no longer show up with the incorrect icon under Settings > Personalization > Taskbar > Other system tray icons.
  • Fixed an issue that was causing the search icon in Settings > Personalization > Taskbar to be backwards and the wrong color in the Desert contrast theme.
  • Fixed an issue preventing Quick Settings from taking touch input.
  • Addressed an additional issue causing the media controls above Quick Settings to stay there after the media source was closed.
  • Fixed a high hitting crash in recent flights when navigating to the page to pick a sound output option in Quick Settings.
[Windowing]
  • Did some work to help address an issue related snap layouts at the top of the screen where a large invisible area could get stuck and would consume clicks in that area.
  • When you drag down on the title bar of a maximized window, it should be easier to invoke snap layouts from the top of the screen now.
  • If you have a window within a snap group that is set to display across all your Desktops, that setting should now persist if you drag and drop the snap group into a different Desktop in Task View.
  • Fixed a couple issues leading to explorer.exe crashes when using and interacting with snap.
  • Fixed a couple high hitting DWM crashes in recent flights.
  • Addressed an issue where focus wasn’t being properly set when using the 3-finger touchpad gesture to bring up ALT + Tab.
  • Fixed an issue where snap assist was unexpectedly appearing when you had only a single Microsoft Edge window open and tried to snap it.
  • Reduced the likelihood of seeing an acrylic backdrop noticeably lagging when dragging a window around.
  • Improved the reliability of using gestures from the edge of the screen (for example to open Start menu) when using an app full screen.
  • Addressed an issue which could cause the screen to appear frozen after using a 3 finger on screen gesture to minimize open apps on top of certain full screen apps.
[Narrator]
  • Fixed an issue when using Narrator and your keyboard to navigate the show hidden icons panel where focus was jumping out to taskbar at the end of the icons instead of looping back to the beginning.
  • Narrator will now start reading from the beginning of the page on Edge even if a control on the page has focus by default, like Bing’s search box.
[Task Manager]
  • Fixed an underlying issue leading to some apps not showing as suspended in Task Manager even though they should have been.
  • Fixed an issue where expanding the child of a child process would result in the content of the Name column in Processes being significantly offset.
  • Clicking “Show history of all processes” in settings should no longer hang or crash Task Manager.
  • The Run New Task button should work on the Details and Services pages now.
  • To address issues with text and UI clipping, Task Manager will no longer show accent color on the title bar.
[Networking]
  • The issue causing internet connectivity issues for some Insiders recently when certain VPNs were connected should be addressed now.
[Lock screen and logging in]
  • The login screen shouldn’t crash anymore if you click the Power button while a contrast theme is enabled.
  • Fixed an issue where the network icon on the login screen could become clipped if you used the text scaling option in Settings > Accessibility.
  • Did some work to address a high hitting login screen crash.
[Other]
  • Addressed a few issues that were preventing the accessibility flyout from showing or from selecting items in it with your mouse in the device setup experience (OOBE) for Windows 11.
  • The accessibility flyout will no longer be empty in RTL languages in the device setup experience (OOBE).
  • Fixed an issue that was causing notification popups to get stuck as a transparent box on the side of your screen that blocked input.
  • Addressed an underlying issue believed to be the root cause of the system thinking you were on battery when UPS was connected recently.
  • The keyboard shortcut to launch Quick Assist (WIN + CTRL + Q) should be working again now.
  • Addressed an issue where some signed apps were unexpectedly blocked by Smart App Control.
  • If you use your keyboard to control your brightness or volume level, the flyout that appears with now respect if you’ve turned animation effects off in Settings > Accessibility > Visual Effects.
  • Addressed an underlying issue that could result in a yellow border getting stuck around your game after taking a screenshot with the Xbox Game Bar.
  • Fixed an underlying app registration issue leading to the Windows Security app not launching or showing a prompt saying there was no installed app for that protocol after upgrade.
  • Made a change that should help address an issue where Insiders were seeing Windows Terminal failing to update in the Microsoft Store with error code 0x80073CFB.
  • Fixed an issue which was causing certain apps relying on the .NET Framework to fail to launch in the last few flights.
  • Did some work to address a leak in uxtheme.dll, leading to some performance degradation over time in certain apps.
  • Addressed an issue causing defrag.exe to show an error saying “No such interface supported (0x80004002) recently.
  • Fixed a bugcheck with error DPC_WATCHDOG_VIOLATION in recent builds that Insiders might have encountered when disconnecting Bluetooth devices or other Bluetooth scenarios.
  • Improved the reliability of connecting Bluetooth devices like Apple AirPods.
  • Fixed an issue leading to audio not playing immediately after resuming from hibernation when certain Bluetooth headsets were connected.
  • Addressed an issue which could lead to a bugcheck with error PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA when connecting certain USB audio devices in recent builds.
  • Fixed a crash in the previous flight related to cdp.dll.
  • Fixed an underlying issue which was causing the Wireless Display app to not be able to receive content in the last couple flights.
 
Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22616

Windows Insiders who like to game on their PCs with an Xbox Controller on the latest Insider Preview builds in the Dev and Beta Channels can try out the new controller bar feature – see this blog post for details.

Note: The window for switching from Dev Channel to the Beta Channel is closing soon. See the blog post for instructions if you need assistance making the change.

Changes and Improvements:

[General]
  • [REMINDER] The build watermark at the lower right-hand corner of the desktop is no longer present in this build. This doesn’t mean we’re done, and the watermark will return to Insiders in a future build.
[Taskbar]
  • As a result of feedback from Windows Insiders, we have decided to disable the changes to the system tray introduced in Build 22581 for now. The system tray and specifically the “Show hidden icons” flyout will now function the same way it did with the original release of Windows 11, including the ability to rearrange icons in the flyout. We hope to bring these changes back in the future after further refinement of the experience by addressing some of the feedback we have received. As we’ve mentioned previously, features we try out in the Dev or Beta Channels may not always ship.
[Other]
  • Previously, we shared new requirements for internet and MSA on the Windows 11 Pro edition. Today, Windows Insiders on Windows 11 Pro edition will now require MSA and internet connectivity during the initial device setup (OOBE) only when setting up for personal use. If you choose to setup device for Work or School, there is no change, and it will work the same way as before.
Fixes

[General]
  • We fixed an issue where performance and reliability of explorer.exe could degrade over time, eventually resulting in a bugcheck, in the recent Insider Preview builds.
[Taskbar]
  • We fixed the issue causing the “Show hidden icons” flyout in the system tray to disappear completely for some Insiders, even though it shows as “on” under Settings > Personalization > Taskbar and “Other system tray icons”.
[Input]

  • Fixed an issue which was leading to some apps crashing when pressing the half-width/full-width key while using the Japanese IME.
[Widgets]
  • Fixed an issue where if you tried to open the widgets board using a gesture from the side of the screen, you would see the widgets board open and then immediately close.
  • Fixed an issue where users were unable to use the swipe functionality to reliably invoke Widgets.
[Settings]
  • Fixed an issue that could cause Quick Settings to crash when projecting to certain wireless devices.
[Windowing]
  • Addressed an issue where using the 3-finger on-screen touch gesture for minimizing could cause animations to stop working across the system.
  • Fixed an issue impacting DWM reliability in recent flights.
  • Fixed an issue which was causing some apps like Settings to open blank if they were re-opened an upgrade or reboot.
[Task Manager]
  • We fixed an issue that was causing the process list to fluctuate between Apps & Background groups when clicking on Efficiency mode from the command bar
[Windows Sandbox]
  • Fixed an underlying issue which could cause some text in Windows Sandbox to appear as black boxes in certain cases.
[Other]
  • Fixed an issue leading to Windows Update notifications showing they were sent from “Windows.SystemToast.WindowsUpdate.MoNotification” instead of “Windows Update”.
 
Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 25115

IMPORTANT: With this build getting released to the Dev Channel, the window closes for you to be able to switch from the Dev Channel to the Beta Channel since your device will be on a higher build number than what is provided in the Beta Channel. If your device installs this build and you decide you want to switch, you have 10 days or until we release a newer build to the Dev Channel to roll back and switch to the Beta Channel. If you do not roll back within 10 days or your device takes another new build, the only way to switch to the Beta Channel is to do a clean installation of the released version of Windows 11 on your device to switch to the Beta Channel.

Note: This build will not be offered to ARM64 PCs.

This build includes a new feature called "Suggested Actions". When you copy a date, time, or phone number, Windows will suggest actions relevant to you such as creating calendar events or making phone calls with your favorite apps.

Changes and Improvements

[General]
  • We updated the icons in the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) on this build.
Fixes

[General]
  • Updated the underlying speech platform to improve voice activity detection for voice access, live captions, and voice typing, as well as address some issues with how punctuation is recognized.
[Taskbar]
  • Fixed an issue related to loading the system tray icons in Settings > Personalization > Taskbar which could cause Settings to crash when opening that page recently. This issue may have also led to some explorer.exe crashes for impacted Insiders.
[File Explorer]
  • Fixed an issue leading to Insiders seeing error 0x800703E6 when copying files from Google Drive.
  • We made another change to help improve the performance of loading Home.
  • Fixed an issue where if you had ever opened the context menu, doing CTRL + ALT + DEL and cancelling would lead to explorer.exe crashing.
  • Fixed a sporadic explorer.exe crash when closing File Explorer windows.
[Settings]
  • Fixed an issue where if Settings suspended, it could lock up explorer.exe in certain cases.
  • Improved how Narrator reads out remaining space available in System > Storage.
[Task Manager]
  • Fixed some issues related to access key use in Task Manager, including that you weren’t able to directly press ALT + without first releasing the ALT key, and that displaying the access keys wouldn’t work after having used and dismissed them.
  • If the CPU reaches 100%, the CPU column header should no longer unexpectedly become unreadable in dark mode.
[Windows Security]
  • Fixed an issue which could result in Smart App Control unexpectedly blocking correctly signed applications.
[Other]
  • Addressed an issue which was leading to Memory Integrity unexpectedly getting turned off in some cases after rebooting.
  • Fixed an issue causing the Update Stack Package to show install error 0xc4800010.
 
Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 25120

ARM64 devices will be able to update to this build and ISOs are released for the build. They can be downloaded here.

Changes and Improvements

[General]

As described in our blog post here, Windows Insiders who use the Dev Channel may get to try out new ideas, longer lead features, and experiences that are intended to help validate concepts. Starting with this preview build, some Insiders will see one of these conceptual features as we begin to explore exposing lightweight interactive content on the Windows desktop. Today, Windows exposes this type of content in the Widgets board. To begin assessing this general idea and interaction model, the first exploration in this area adds a search box displayed on the desktop that enables you to search the web.

If you would like to remove this search box, you can right-click on the desktop, choose “Show more options,” and toggle the “Show search” option.

We are excited to learn your feedback on this interaction model, so please use the Feedback Hub to provide feedback if you receive this experiment.

NOTE: A reboot is required after updating to this build to trigger this experience but please note that not all Windows Insiders will have this experience enabled even after reboot.

Fixes

[Suggested Actions]
  • Suggested actions should appear for more date and time formats now.
  • Addressed some issues with certain formats when copying a date and/or time.
  • Improved overall performance and reliability of the feature.
[Settings]
  • Fixed an issue that could crash Settings when opening and looking at the battery usage graph.
  • Improved performance of displaying Wi-Fi networks after enabling Wi-Fi from the Wi-Fi section of Quick Settings.
[Task Manager]
  • Addressed an issue leading to some unreadable text in the Performance page when a contrast theme was enabled.
[Other]
  • Fixed an issue which could cause Windows Update to stall and roll back updates for WSA users.
  • Did some work to address a stutter in the progress wheel animation when upgrading to a new build.
NOTE: Some fixes noted here in Insider Preview builds from the Dev Channel may make their way into the servicing updates for the released version of Windows 11.
 
UPDATE 5/20: We are starting to roll out Cumulative Update Build 25120.1010 (KB5015039). This update does not include anything new and is designed to test our servicing pipeline for builds in the Dev Channel.
 
Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 25126

This update will allow you to view all supported Microsoft 365 Office products licensed to your account and you can view details about your product or install Office by clicking the “View Details” button. This information is shown on the Microsoft account management page and you will now be able to view these datils in Windows 11 via Settings > Accounts. Note: the feature isn't available to all Insiders. Feedback will be monitored before making it available to all Insiders in the Dev Channel.

Changes and Improvements

Fixes

[General]
  • We fixed the issue causing some Insiders to experience a bugcheck with error DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL in pci.sys causing a rollback trying to install the latest builds in the Dev Channel.
  • We did work to mitigate the issue causing the Program Compatibility Assistant Service to use an unexpectedly large amount of CPU for some Insiders after upgrading to the latest Insider Preview builds in the Dev Channel.
[Start menu]
  • If the touch keyboard is docked it should no longer unexpectedly dismiss when trying to edit the name of a folder in Start.
[Search]
  • Fixed a high hitting explorer.exe crash that could happen when using Search.
[Settings]
  • The preview image under Personalization > Lock Screen should no longer be backwards when using an Arabic or Hebrew display language.
[Task Manager]
  • If explorer.exe has hung, that should no longer hang Task Manager.
  • Fixed an issue where the context menus weren’t following the same mode (light or dark) as Task Manager itself for some Insiders.
  • Fixed a typo in the “Minimize on use” tooltip.
  • If you’ve hidden the graphs on the side of the Performance page, the color of the circles used instead should now match the graph in the summary view.
  • Addressed an issue where the Not Responding status for certain apps wasn’t being reflected on the Processes page.
[Windows Sandbox]
  • Removed the Lock option in Start menu as it didn’t work.
[Other]
  • Fixed an issue where using “Open All Active Printers” from the printer icon in the system tray would unexpectedly open File Explorer when there were no active queues.
 
Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 25131

Microsoft Store Update (Version 22205.1401.3.0)

An update to Microsoft Store for Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel is beginning to be rolled out with the following changes and improvements:
  • Native Arm64 support: We’ve improved the Microsoft Store app experience on ARM64 devices. You’ll see faster and better performance when you use the app.
  • Improved app updates: We improved automatic updates for your apps. We’ll skip over apps that you have open, so you don’t lose any important work. You can update the apps later in the Microsoft Store.
  • Improved Android apps support for the pop-pup store experience: When you’re browsing the web, you might discover a new app. If it’s available in the Microsoft Store, we’ll show you a pop-up experience to help you install it. This experience now supports free Android apps (depending on device compatibility and age rating).
  • Faster navigation: We have improved the browsing experience.
Fixes

[General]
  • Fixed an issue causing some Insider PCs with certain AMD processors to bugcheck and roll back when attempting to upgrade to last week’s flight. This issue is also believed to be the cause of some Insiders experiencing a bugcheck after enabling SVM in the bios on their PCs in the last build.
  • Fixed an issue which was causing some Insiders with secondary accounts on their PC to not be able to upgrade to the latest builds.
[File Explorer]
  • The new folder icon used in the command bar should be consistent with the one used in the context menu now.
  • Fixed an issue which could lead to File Explorer hanging when browsing folders with lots of .mkv files.
  • Fixed an issue which was causing searching from Home to not return any results sometimes from the Open or Save dialog (when doing it from File Explorer returned results).
[Search]
  • Searching for something like %appdata% should now show a proper folder icon and not just a blank square.
  • When selecting “Open file location” for a search result, it should now select the file in the folder again now, and not just open the folder.
[Settings]
  • Searching for “default” will now return the default apps Settings page as the first result, and not require you to click “show all results” in order to see it.
  • Fixed an issue where the “Listen to this device” audio option would stop working after a reboot until being unchecked and rechecked.
  • Narrator will now read out the position of the radio buttons in the Settings > Accessibility > Color filters page to make it easier to navigate.
[Other]
  • Hovering over “Do you like what you see?” when using Windows Spotlight on the lock screen should no longer display a shadow which extends to the bottom of the screen.
  • Fixed an issue which was leading to certain frame rate monitoring applications impacting game performance.
  • Fixed an issue that could cause rounded corners to unexpectedly become pixelated at certain scale factors.
 
Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 25136 | Windows Insider Blog

What's New in this Build: File Explorer Tabs & Navigation Updates and Dynamic Widgets content on the taskbar. See the blog post for information as well as the Feedback Hub links.

Changes and Improvements

[Input]
  • We are beginning to roll out the ability for Insiders to report animated gifs they feel are inappropriate from the emoji panel (WIN + .)
Fixes

[General]
  • Addressed an issue which was leading to some PCs being erroneously detected as tablets. When this happened, compact mode and the option to hide checkboxes in File Explorer wouldn’t take effect.
  • Fixed an issue causing some Insiders to experience a SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION bugcheck in recent Dev Channel builds.
[Taskbar]
  • Fixed an issue that was sometimes causing taskbar apps to overflow with the system tray icons.
  • When you hover on an app in the system tray, its notification will no longer flash.
 
Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 25140

ISOs for this build can be downloaded here.

Changes and Improvements

[General]
  • Euphemia typeface covers most languages that use the Canadian Syllabic script including various Cree orthographies, Inuktitut, and the Carrier/Dakelh script (dulkw’ahke). In the latest Insider builds, we’ve updated this font to improve the legibility and screen rendering of over 200 characters at various sizes. We’ve also added new glyphs to support Unicode 14 characters for the Nattilik language of the Canadian arctic.
Fixes

[File Explorer]
  • Fixed an issue which was leading some people to unexpectedly see error 0x80070026 when copying files from network drives.
  • Fixed an issue where the active tab color didn’t match the command bar below it.
  • Fixed an issue where dragging to rearrange tabs wasn’t working sometimes.
  • Fixed an issue which could cause artifacts in the windows thumbnail preview in the taskbar if File Explorer was maximized and you used WIN + M to minimize it.
[Settings]
  • If you go to rename a drive label in System > Storage > Disks & Volumes, the current drive name will now be prepopulated in the dialog.
[Input]
  • Fixed an issue where selecting English (New Zealand) in OOBE was unexpectedly leading to the Arabic (101) keyboard getting selected.
  • Setting language bar hotkeys for switching input directly to specific non-IME input method should work now.
  • Some languages don’t support the speech recognition FOD. When an admin user tried to install one of those languages using the new Install-Language CopyToSettings command, some settings such as new user account locale, Input (Keyboard), and UPLL (User Preferred Language List) were not getting updated. This issue has now been fixed.
  • Fixed an issue causing Batang, BatangChe, Gungsuh, and GungsuhChe fonts to not render Korean correctly when using Office online apps when these fonts were not locally present on your PC.
[Task Manager]
  • Fixed a crash that could happen when switching modes in pages other than the Processes page.
  • We made a small adjustment to the intensity of the colors used in the heatmap on the Processes page.
[Other]
  • Fixed an issue where calls to CopyAcceleratorTable and CreateAcceleratorTable would fail if the LPACCEL parameter was the address of an odd numbered index into an array of ACCEL structs.
  • Fixed an issue with x64 emulation on ARM64 which could result in certain apps crashing on launch with error code 0xc0000409.
  • Fixed an issue causing audio to stop playing in certain apps after a minute.
 
Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 25145

This build includes a few new features rolling out including an update for Narrator Braille driver support, OneDrive storage alert and subscription management in Settings, and Local Administrator Password Solution. See the blog post for details.

Changes and Improvements

[General]
  • Every Microsoft customer should be able to use our products knowing we will protect their privacy and give them the information and tools needed to audit all usage of their private resources. The new App usage history features, which began rolling out to Insiders with Build 25140, gives users a 7-day history of resource access for Location, Camera, Microphone, Phone Calls, Messaging, Contacts, Pictures, Videos, Music library, Screenshots and apps through the Settings experience. You can find this new information under Settings > Privacy & security > App permissions (simply click on one of the app permissions categories such as microphone and look at “Recent activity”).
[Suggested Actions]
  • Suggested Actions, which began rolling out with Build 25115, is now available to all Windows Insiders in the in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.
[File Explorer]
  • Middle clicking a folder in the body of File Explorer will now open it in a new tab.
Fixes

[General]
  • Fixed an issue causing Windows Insiders on Surface Pro X devices to hit a black screen when attempting to resume from hibernate.
  • Fixed a bugcheck that some Insiders were experiencing with SYSTEM_THREAD_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED related to USBs.
  • Fixed a bugcheck with error 0x1CA SYNTHETIC_WATCHDOG_TIMEOUT that could happen sporadically on some PCs after left idling for some time. This could happen when a laptop lid was closed, making it appear that the laptop had rebooted while sleeping.
  • Fixed an issue from the last two builds that was leading to InventorySvc consuming an unexpectedly high volume of memory the longer it was running.
[File Explorer]
  • The row of tabs should now be included in the keyboard focus cycle when pressing Tab or F6. Once focus is in the tab row, you can use left or right arrow keys to navigate through them.
  • Fixed an issue where the tab order when using CTRL + Tab would be wrong if you’d rearranged the tabs in File Explorer.
 
Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 25151

Fixes

[File Explorer]
  • Fixed a scaling issue which could result in the tabs being unexpectedly large.
  • Right clicking a tab and then clicking somewhere else in File Explorer should dismiss the context menu more reliably now.
[Other]
  • We believe an underlying fix in Build 25145 addressed the recent issue where shutting down via the Start menu wasn’t working for some Insiders (unexpectedly rebooting instead), and as such are removing this from the known issues list. If you are continuing to encounter this issue with the latest updates, please report it in the Feedback Hub.
  • Fixed a high hitting Windows Security app crash.
  • Updated the Exclusions page in the Windows Security app so that file paths now make better use of the available space rather than truncating when space is still available.
  • Fixed an underlying issue which was causing a crash when trying to delete ports in printui /s.
  • Fixed an issue causing printing to not work from UWP apps for some Insiders in the last 2 flights.
 
Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 25158

ISOs for this build can be downloaded here.

More dynamic Widgets content to your taskbar with notification badging for Widgets are being rolled out. When you open the Widgets board a banner will appear at the top of the board providing more information on what triggered the notification badge. Note:
[We are beginning to roll those features out, so the experience isn’t available to all Insiders just yet as we plan to monitor feedback and see how it lands before pushing it out to everyone.]

FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Desktop Environment > Widgets.
Click to expand...

Changes and Improvements

[General]
  • Thank you to all the Insiders who gave us feedback on our first exploration of lightweight interactive content on the Windows desktop! Starting with this week’s flight, we are concluding this initial exploration, so if you received this experience, it will be removed on your next reboot.
  • As described in our in our blog post here, Windows Insiders who use the Dev Channel may get to try out new ideas, longer lead features, and experiences that are intended to help validate concepts. Starting with this build, some devices will receive different visual treatments for search on the taskbar. We are excited to learn from your feedback on this, so please use the Feedback Hub to provide feedback if you receive this experiment. NOTE: A reboot is required after updating to this build to trigger this experience but please note that not all Windows Insiders will have this experience enabled even after reboot.
[DNS over TLS]
  • DNS over TLS testing is now available for Windows DNS client query protection. DoT is another protocol in addition to DNS over HTTPS (DoH) which is already supported in Windows 11 and Windows Server 2022. For setup instructions, see this Windows Networking blog post. The setup requires command line use and is recommended for advanced networking users.
[Input]
  • The Nyala font has been updated to support syllables for the Gurage language orthography from the Ethiopic Extended-B Unicode range. Also revised and replaced Ethiopic kerning to fix gaps and errors in earlier implementation improving the overall texture of text in Ethiopic languages.
Fixes

[General]
  • Fixed an issue causing some Insiders to experience bugchecks with error message KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED in NetAdapterCx.sys in recent flights.
  • Fixed an issue which was leading some PCs hanging at black screen when resuming from a low power state in recent flights.
  • Fixed an issue believed to generally be impacting performance across Windows shell experiences in the last few flights.
  • Fixed an issue where the Mica material and Acrylic blur effect was rendering incorrectly in OS surfaces like the Start menu, Notification Center and other areas sometimes in recent flights.
[File Explorer]
  • Fixed an issue where closing command bar flyouts could in some rare cases crash explorer.exe.
  • Fixed an issue which could lead to explorer.exe crashing when navigating through File Explorer with OneDrive enabled.
  • CTRL + F4 should work to close the current tab now.
  • Opening a zipped folder in a new tab should no longer have a blank tab name.
  • If focus is on the tab row, CTRL + W will no longer unexpectedly close two tabs instead of just the tab in focus.
  • Fixed an issue where CTRL + Tab wouldn’t cycle in the correct order after rearranging tabs.
  • We made some adjustments so when using “Show full path in title”, the folder name is always visible in the tab at the top of File Explorer.
[Taskbar]
  • Fixed an underlying issue which could lead to pinned app icons getting stuck on the taskbar after uninstalling the app in recent flights.
  • Fixed a high hitting explorer.exe crash in the last few flights related to loading Widgets.
 
Camera App Refresh and Media Player Update for Windows Insiders

Camera (version 2022.2206.2.0)

The Camera app has been updated to match the beautiful new look and feel of Windows 11. In addition to the existing support for camera, video, document, and whiteboard capture modes, we are excited to introduce QR code and barcode scanning as well.

FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Apps > Camera.

Media Player (version 11.2206.30.0)

Back in March, we introduced CD playback support to Media Player. With the latest update, we are adding support for CD ripping as well. Supported formats in this release include AAC, WMA, FLAC, and ALAC.

FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Apps > Media Player.

We are also beginning to roll out an update to the Movies & TV app in version 10.22061 and higher to Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel.
  • Native Arm64 support: We’ve improved the Movies & TV experience on Arm64 devices. You’ll see faster and better performance when you use the app.
  • Local video playback migrating to Media Player: We are migrating video file type associations from Movies & TV to Media Player. This migration will only impact file types that are already associated with Movies & TV and only after you open Movies & TV for the first time.
 
Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 25163

What's New

Taskbar Overflow: Your taskbar will automatically transition into this new overflow state when it has hit its maximum capacity. In this state, taskbar will offer an entry point to an overflow menu that allows you to view all your overflowed apps in one space. The overflow menu will contain many of the current taskbar behaviors users are familiar with, such as supporting pinned apps, jump list, and extended UI. After invoking overflow, the menu will quietly dismiss once you click outside of it or navigate to an application. FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Desktop Environment > Taskbar.

Improved Nearby Sharing: The discovery of devices under nearby share when sharing a local file from the desktop, File Explorer, Photos, Snipping Tool, Xbox, and other apps that use the built-in Windows share window has been enhanced by using UDP (Network needs to be set to private) along with Bluetooth to discover nearby devices. You will now be able to discover and share to more devices including desktop PCs. FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Files, Folders, and Online Storage > File sharing.

Share Local Files to OneDrive: When sharing a local file from the desktop, File Explorer, Photos, Snipping Tool, Xbox, and other apps that use the built-in Windows share window, you can choose OneDrive as a target to directly upload the file to OneDrive and share it further along with access control options. All this can be done right from sharing local files in File Explorer without any context switches or opening the OneDrive app. (Please note this feature is currently only available for Microsoft accounts. A user will need to switch to their Microsoft account via the top right profile icon in the share window if logged in via AAD. AAD support will be added in a future update.) FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Files, Folders, and Online Storage > File sharing.

Fixes

[File Explorer]
  • Fixed an explorer.exe crash when dragging tabs around.
  • Did some work to fix a memory leak when using tabs with File Explorer.
  • Fixed an issue where the preview thumbnail for File Explorer in the taskbar, ALT + Tab, and Task View might show the title of an adjacent tab and not the currently selected one.
  • If “Show all folders” is enabled, the dividers in File Explorer’s navigation pane should no longer show. With this change, it should also address the issues where dividers were unexpectedly showing in some other folder pickers.
  • Fixed an issue where Narrator wasn’t reading out the titles of tabs as focus moved through them.
  • Fixed an issue where a closed tab might appear again in File Explorer after you dragged File Explorer across your monitors.
  • Fixed an issue where the tab row might unexpectedly expand vertically, covering the command bar contents.
  • Removable drives should no longer unexpectedly be displayed in a section by themselves in the navigation pane, which was breaking up the section with This PC and Network.
  • Fixed an issue where the add new tab button wasn’t clearly visible when using Aquatic or Desert contrast themes.
  • The add new tab button shouldn’t overlap with the minimize button in the title bar when using text scaling with a lot of tabs open anymore.
[Taskbar]
  • Fixed a rare explorer.exe crash that could happen while on a Microsoft Teams call, related to sharing windows from the taskbar.
[Settings]
  • Made a change to help fix an issue where using Windows Spotlight on the desktop might revert to a solid color background.
  • Improved the padding around the uninstall button when using Apps > Installed Apps in grid view.
  • Fixed a couple issues that could lead to Quick Settings crashing on launch.
[Input]
  • Fixed an issue which was leading to certain apps freezing after a copy action if Suggested Actions was enabled.
[Other]
  • Fixed a high hitting crash impacting suggested actions reliability.
 
Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 25169

This build includes a lockdown feature for IT administrators and some improvements including a brand-new Windows Spotlight theme.

What’s new

Multi-App Kiosk Mode

Multi-app kiosk mode is a lockdown feature for Windows 11 that allows an IT administrator to select a set of allowable apps to run on the device, while all other functionalities are blocked. This enables you to create multiple different apps and access configurations for different user types, all on a single device.

Some lockdown customizations include:
  • Limiting access to Settings, except selected pages (e.g., Wi-Fi and screen brightness)
  • Lock down the Start menu to show only allowed apps.
  • Block toasts and pop-ups that lead to unwanted UI.
Multi-app kiosk mode is ideal for scenarios in which multiple people need to use the same device. This can include frontline workers and retail scenarios, education and test taking.

Currently, multi-app kiosk mode can be enabled using PowerShell and WMI Bridge, with support for Intune/MDM and provisioning package configuration coming soon.

To configure using WMI, follow these instructions. Using the Windows 10 sample XML will enable the feature, but will result in an empty Start menu. To populate the Start menu with your apps, follow these instructions to generate the list of pinned apps, then add it to your XML file after closing the StartLayout section.

FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Security and Privacy > Device Lockdown

Changes and Improvements

[General]

  • The changes noted here in this previous blog post on changes to how IT admins enroll devices in the Windows diagnostic data processor configuration option are now included in this build (Build 25169 and higher). A reminder that if the documented changes are not acceptable, it is recommended to pause flighting.
[Windows Spotlight]
  • You can now enable Windows Spotlight on the desktop via a brand-new Windows Spotlight theme now included in the latest builds in the Dev Channel under Settings > Personalization and Settings > Personalization > Themes. Additionally, you can make your own custom themes with Windows Spotlight’s rotating images as well.
[Input]
  • We have updated the U.S. English (EN-US) handwriting model to be faster and more accurate. Use the updated Handwriting Panel for ink-to-text and let us know what you think.
[Settings]
  • Settings now supports managing apps which were earlier only supported from Control Panel. This includes uninstallation of apps which have inter-dependencies (e.g., Steam and gaming apps running on Steam), repair and modifying of Win32 apps.
[Windows Security]
  • The Windows Security app version is now displayed in Windows Security settings under About.
Fixes

[File Explorer]
  • Fixed an issue leading to the Azure Information Protection context menu entry unexpectedly showing with the name Microsoft.Azip.RightClick after an upgrade.
[Taskbar]
  • Fixed an explorer.exe crash that was preventing taskbar from loading when launching Microsoft Teams meetings sometimes.
  • Fixed a couple explorer.exe crashes some Insiders were experiencing related to taskbar overflow.
 
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