Windows 11 Insider Beta Channel

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.4161 (Beta Channel)

New Copilot+ PC experiences

New Microsoft 365 text action in Click to Do
We are beginning to roll out a new text action in Click to Do!
  • Draft with Copilot in Word: Ever stumble across a great idea and wish you could just start writing? With the “Draft with Copilot in Word” Click to Do action, you can. Whether it’s a sentence in an email or a snippet on your screen, just Win + Click on the recognized text and choose the “Draft with Copilot in Word” action. It’ll help you turn that spark into a full draft, fast. No more blank pages. No more writer’s block. Just momentum.
These new Microsoft 365 text actions will begin rolling out over the course of the coming weeks. For “Draft with Copilot in Word” – a Microsoft 365 Copilot subscription is required.

You can learn more about using Click to Do here.

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

New features gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on

Choose what Lock screen widgets appear
After rolling this experience out to Windows Insiders in the EEA, we are now beginning to roll out more widget options on the lock screen as well as support for lock screen widget personalization (previously referred to as “Weather and more”) with Insiders in all regions. You can add, remove, and rearrange lock screen widgets such as Weather, Watchlist, Sports, Traffic, and more. Any widget that supports the small sizing option can be added here. To customize your lock screen widgets, navigate to Settings > Personalization > Lock screen.

FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Desktop Environment > Lock screen.

Multiple dashboards in Widgets
As we continue to evolve the widgets experience, we are also adding support for multiple boards so that you can have more space for your favorite widgets while being able to stay on top of current events with a feed that helps you discover the world around you. With the introduction of the new navigation bar on the left, you can switch between a dedicated widgets dashboard and other integrated dashboards like My feed. Give it a try and let us know what you think using the feedback button at the top of the board. This experience was also previously previewed with Windows Insiders in the EEA.

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

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on

[General]
  • To help you quickly find the right app for opening files, we are trying out showing recommendations from the Microsoft Store app within the “Open with…” dialog. These recommendations are denoted by a Store icon next to apps in the dialog.
[PC Migration]
  • We’re beginning the rollout of a new PC-to-PC migration experience in Windows. You’ll start to see the landing and the pairing page in the Windows Backup app, giving you a first look at what’s coming. In the full experience, you will be able to transfer your files and settings from your old PC to the new one during the PC setup process. Support during the PC setup will be available in a future update. We are releasing in phases for a smooth experience and will provide more details soon.
[Settings]
  • We’ve updated the dialogs for entering your product key, troubleshooting activation, phone activation, and retail demo to match the Windows 11 visuals.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on

[Start menu]
  • There have been some underlying improvements which should help address the issue where clicking your profile picture wasn’t opening the Account Manager for some Insiders after the latest flights. If you’re continuing to experience issues, please file feedback.
[Task Manager]
  • Fixed an issue where after adding the new CPU Utility column, you might notice that System Idle Process always showed as 0.
  • Fixed an issue where the CPU graphs in the Performance page were still using the old CPU utility calculations.
[Narrator]
  • Fixed an issue where the Describe image feature of narrator wasn’t working.
[Voice Access]
  • Fixed an issue where support for more descriptive and flexible language on Copilot+ PCs wasn’t working as expected.
 
Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.4230 (Beta Channel)

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

New features gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on

Quick machine recovery in Settings
We’re excited to introduce a new dedicated settings page for quick machine recovery which can be found under System > Recovery > Quick machine recovery. This update makes it easier for you to manage recovery options directly from Settings, streamlining access to important features that help keep your device running smoothly. Quick machine recovery is designed to help your device recover from widespread boot issues by applying remediations delivered directly from Microsoft.

With the new settings page, you can easily check whether the feature is enabled, configure it to automatically search for available remediations, set how often those checks occur, and choose when your device should restart to apply any necessary fixes.

IT professionals looking to set configuration options for their managed fleets are now also able to leverage the Intune Settings Catalog UI to easily configure quick machine recovery settings as documented as a part of the RemoteRemedationCSP.

FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Recovery and Uninstall > Quick Machine Recovery.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on

[Click to Do (Preview)]
The following changes and improvements are rolling out for Click to Do on Copilot+ PCs:
  • For Windows Insiders using French or Spanish as their primary language on their PC, we’re beginning to roll out Rewrite and its options, including Refine, again for Click to Do.
  • Click to Do can now perform intelligent text actions in German, Italian and Portuguese.
[Phone Link]
The following improvements for Phone Link and phone companion with the Start menu are rolling out to Windows Insiders across all channels:
  • Instantly see notifications from your mobile device apps — grouped by app for easy catch-up, right from your Start menu.
  • Mirror your Android device’s screen with a single click from your Start menu. Simply click on your device’s icon or access the option from the footer menu to quickly launch device screen mirroring.
  • Your iPhone© memories are now accessible from the Start menu. Windows iCloud app users can see recently synced photos and quickly access their iCloud photos all within the Start menu.
[Lock screen]
  • We have temporarily disabled more widget options on the lock screen and support for lock screen widget personalization that began rolling out to all Windows Insiders in the previous Beta Channel flight to address some issues. We are planning to begin rolling this experience out again very shortly.
[Settings]
  • For Windows Insiders on Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PCs with the new agent experience in Settings, we’ve made some improvements to make the search box at the top of Settings more centered.
  • We’re rolling out a new Device Card for Settings Home for Windows Insiders signed in with their Microsoft account and in the U.S. It provides a quick snapshot of your PC’s key specs and usage, right where you need it. From the card, you can jump directly to the Settings > About page to see more detailed information about your PC. The Device Card may also help guide you toward discovering your next Windows PC – so you can shop with ease and confidence when you’re ready. NOTE: We’ve been previewing the Device Card with Windows Insiders with Settings Home on IT-managed PCs signed in with an Entra ID.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on

[Improved Windows Search]
The following fixes are rolling out for improved Windows Search on Copilot+ PCs:

  • Fixed an underlying crash causing semantic indexing to not work for some Insiders in the last couple flights.
[Start menu]
  • Fixed an issue causing Start menu to crash on launch for some Insiders in the latest flights.
[File Explorer]
  • Fixed an issue where if you opened the “…” menu in the File Explorer address bar to show the full list of folders for the current path, the dropdown might be cut off and the bottom of it inaccessible.
  • Fixed an issue which was causing File Explorer to crash doing various actions in the latest flights, including when deleting files for some Insiders.
  • Fixed an issue where the recommended section in File Explorer wasn’t expanding when using the right arrow key.
  • Fixed an issue which could lead to duplicate access keys in the File Explorer context menu.
The following are fixes for AI actions in File Explorer:
  • Fixed the issue where the action result canvas displayed text from left to right for AI actions for Microsoft 365 files when your Windows display language is configured with a right-to-left language.
[Settings]
  • Fixed an underlying issue related to Bluetooth which could cause Settings or Quick Settings to crash on launch for some people.
  • Fixed an issue with Quick Settings where if you clicked the top third of the buttons in the top row, it wouldn’t work.
[Other]
  • Fixed an issue with msftedit.dll which was causing apps like Sticky Notes and Dxdiag to crash in certain cases for people using Hebrew or Arabic display languages.

Fixes for everyone in the Beta Channel

[General]
  • We have mitigated the issue where if Virtualization Based Security is enabled, applications dependent on virtualization, such as VMware Workstation, would lose the ability to run unless the “Windows Hypervisor Platform” Windows optional component is installed on the system.
 
Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.4250 (Beta Channel)

New features gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on

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 prefer to always have your pins expanded by default, you can do so via Settings.

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.

FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Desktop Environment > Start menu.

Screen Curtain in Narrator
The Screen Curtain feature in Narrator is designed to enhance privacy and focus for users who rely on screen reading. When activated, Screen Curtain completely blacks out the display, ensuring that only the user hears what’s on the screen through Narrator, while the visual content remains hidden from view. This is especially useful in public spaces or shared environments, allowing users to read and work with sensitive information without revealing it to others nearby.

How to enable/disable Screen Curtain:
  1. Turn On Narrator using Ctrl + Win + Enter.
  2. Press Caps + Ctrl + C to enable Screen Curtain.
  3. Try using Narrator, while your Screen Curtain is turned on.
  4. Press Caps + Ctrl + C to disable Screen Curtain.
FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Accessibility > Narrator.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on

[Lock screen]
[Windows Search][/B]
  • Today, we rationalize and organize Windows Search settings under Settings > Privacy & security under a “Search permissions” settings page and a “Searching Windows” settings page. We are beginning to roll out a change that brings those two settings pages together so you can easily access to all the Windows Search settings under a single settings page via Settings > Privacy & security > Search. The page is refreshed with a new modern visual for you to clearly browse the settings and control your experiences inside Windows Search, with the items listed in a better order.
[Narrator]
  • We’re introducing a smoother way to discover and learn about Narrator capabilities right from experience. Whether you’re a new user or exploring deeper functionality, Narrator will now guide you through its new features by launching a series of modal windows which contain the details of all the new features and changes in Narrator.
[Input]
  • The Gamepad layout of the Windows touch keyboard has been updated with enhanced controller navigation and improved focus handling for child keys, flyout menus, word suggestions, language switching, settings, and more
  • We have designed a new Gamepad keyboard, optimized for gaming, to support PIN sign-in on the Windows lock screen. It features controller shortcuts for quick PIN entry, along with full controller navigation for users who prefer not to use shortcuts.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on

[General]
  • This build should fix an underlying issue in the previous flight which was causing input to not work for some Insiders, including when typing into Search, and with the Chinese pinyin IME candidate window, clipboard history, and the emoji panel.
[Recall (Preview)]

The following fixes are rolling out for Recall on Copilot+ PCs:
  • Fixed an issue causing Recall to crash for some Insiders in the last couple flights.
[Taskbar]
  • Fixed an issue where in some cases taskbar icons might appear small even though the setting to show smaller taskbar buttons was configured as “never”.
[File Explorer]
  • Fixed an issue where restoring a File Explorer search result from Recall would open File Explorer but not show your search string.
[Windowing]
  • Fixed an issue where ALT + Tabbing out of a full screen game could lead to other windows freezing (like Windows Terminal).
[Login and lock]
  • Fixed an issue causing the lock screen to crash for some Insiders in the previous flight.
[Graphics]
  • Fixed an issue causing some displays to be unexpectedly green after the latest flights.
[Settings]
  • Fixed an underlying issue which could lead to the Settings window hanging and no longer responding to input or resizing unless you closed and reopened it.
  • Fixed an issue in System > Display, where if UAC was set to Always Notify and you tried to click the button to do color calibration for your display and cancelled, it would crash Settings.
  • Fixed an issue in System > Display, where a chevron might display for Brightness even if there were no additional settings to display.
  • Fixed an issue where if you changed to a custom mouse cursor in Accessibility > Mouse pointer and touch, it could make Settings crash.

Fixes for everyone in the Beta Channel

[Graphics]
  • We fixed the issue where you might see severe discoloration when connecting your PC to some older Dolby Vision displays.
 
Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.4441 (Beta Channel)

New Copilot+ PC experiences

New Recall export experience for Windows Insiders in the EEA
Windows Insiders in the European Economic Area will now have the option to export their Recall snapshots to be shared with third-party apps and websites. When you open Recall for the first time and opt into saving snapshots, you will be shown your unique Recall export code. The Recall export code will be needed if you ever choose to export your Recall snapshots to share with a trusted app or website in the future.

Recall and its export experience are protected by a robust set of security and privacy features outlined here. All exported snapshots are encrypted, require Windows Hello authentication to export, and can only be decrypted with your export code.

Following industry best practices, we only show the export code once during initial set up to ensure that you and only you have control over exporting your data. Microsoft does not have access to your export code and cannot help you recover it if it is lost.

If you lose your export code or if you suspect someone has unauthorized access to your export code, you should reset Recall. Resetting Recall will delete all your snapshots and reset all your settings for Recall. After you reset, a new code will be generated when you turn on saving snapshots again.

After setup, you can start an export from Settings > Privacy & Security > Recall & Snapshots > Advanced Settings at any time. You will need to authenticate with Windows Hello to start an export. There are there are two options for exporting:
  • Export past snapshots: A single export of all your Recall snapshots from the last 7 days, last 30 days, or all your snapshots.
  • Export snapshots from now on: Starts a continuous export of your snapshots from the time you turn on this setting until you turn it off or reset Recall.
For more information about how to export snapshots from Recall, see Export Recall snapshots.

Exported snapshots will be encrypted. If you wish to share those snapshots with a third-party app or website, you will need to provide your Recall export code and exported snapshots folder path so that the third-party app or website can access the information. Developer documentation will be coming at a later date.

For managed devices, IT admins can configure Recall export using the AllowRecallExport policy or corresponding Group Policy setting. This policy allows organizations to choose if they want to allow users to export their Recall snapshots. For managed devices, exporting is disabled by default. Export of Recall and snapshot information is a user-initiated process and is per user. IT admins or other users can't initiate an export on behalf of end users.

Please note that all Windows Insiders in the EEA who already have Recall setup and running on their Copilot+ PCs will see their Recall data reset after installing this build.

FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Desktop Environment > Recall or through in-experience links.

New features gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on

Bringing back the bigger clock with seconds option in notification center
We're excited to announce that we're starting to roll out a highly requested feature from Windows 10, the option to show a bigger clock with seconds above the date and calendar in notification center.

To turn this option on, go to Settings > Time & language > Date & time and flip the switch for Show time in the Notification Center.

FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Desktop Environment > Clock and Calendar Flyout.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on

[Recall (Preview)]
The following changes and improvements are rolling out for Recall on Copilot+ PCs:
  • We are adding the ability to reset Recall and all its data. You will now see an advanced settings page under Settings > Privacy & Security > Recall & Snapshots. Under this new advanced settings page, we have included a reset button that will delete all your snapshots and reset your settings for Recall.
  • On new Copilot+ PCs, the default value for maximum storage duration for Recall snapshots has changed from unlimited to 90 days. The user can update this at any time in settings.
  • We are now providing teaching tips for Recall features. These tips provide more information and guide you through the Recall experience.
[Click to Do (Preview)]
The following changes and improvements are rolling out for Click to Do on Copilot+ PCs:

We are beginning to roll out two new actions in Click to Do!

Ask Microsoft 365 Copilot: Windows Insiders with a Copilot+ PC using Click to Do can now use a new action, Ask Microsoft 365 Copilot, to send text or images to Microsoft 365 Copilot and have it address your queries. The Ask Microsoft 365 Copilot action will require a Microsoft 365 license and respect your organization's privacy policies.

Send a message with Teams or Schedule a meeting with Teams: Click to Do is adding a new capability that enables you to take actions from an email address. These new actions make light work of connecting with a coworker or friend through Microsoft Teams. Have a question that you need an answer to? With just a couple clicks, you can easily send a Teams message. If you need to really talk something out, you can find time with your contacts and schedule a meeting. These new skills are provided when selecting any email address recognized by Click to Do on your screen, where you can then choose the "Schedule a meeting with Teams" or "Send a message with Teams" action and stay in the flow. Microsoft Teams version 25153.1002.3699.5695 and higher is required.

[File Explorer]
  • We have added dividers to the top-level icons that show at the top (or bottom) of the File Explorer context menu.
  • [Voice access]
  • We are re-introducing Chinese support for voice access and adding Japanese support. You can now use Voice access to navigate, dictate, and interact with Windows using voice commands in Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, and Japanese. Japanese support is still a work-in-progress and may have some issues.
[Windows Share]
  • When you share a OneDrive cloud file by right-clicking to share on the file – new options for sharing that link through other apps will be provided under "Share using" when the "Copy link" button is clicked. This experience is rolling out to Windows Insiders signed in with their Microsoft accounts not in the EEA.
[Settings]
  • The search box in Settings will now be located at the top center to deliver a more consistent and better search experience. The improved search experience and agent integration are available only on Copilot+ PCs.
  • We've updated the Windows activation and expiration dialogs match the Windows 11 visuals. These dialogs now appear as notification toasts in Windows, prompting you to take action if action is required. We have also made improvements to the messaging under Settings > System > Activation as well.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Beta Channel with toggle on

[Recall (Preview)]
The following fixes are rolling out for Recall on Copilot+ PCs:
  • Fixed an issue causing Recall to crash for some Insiders in the last couple flights.
[File Explorer]
  • Fixed an issue when opening folders starting from outside of File Explorer, where File Explorer would open it in a new tab, but the tab wasn't put in focus.
  • Fixed a memory leak impacting some people when navigating through File Explorer folders, impacting performance and reliability over time.
  • We've done some more work to improve the performance of extracting archive files – this will particularly help in the case of copy pasting large numbers of files out of large 7z or .rar archives.
[Start menu]
  • Fixed an issue for Insiders with the new Start menu, where it was displaying in the wrong direction when using an Arabic or Hebrew display language.
  • Fixed an issue for Insiders with the updated Start menu, where the Move to front / Move right / Move left options from the context menu for pinned apps weren't working.
[Settings]
  • Fixed an underlying issue which was causing some Insiders to see the Settings navigation pane entries in English rather than their preferred language in the last couple flights.
[Other]
  • Fixed an underlying issue which was causing fonts in certain app menu items to unexpectedly appear corrupted or overlapped for some people. This also impacted typing in Word – where when using Hebrew a period may unexpectedly show as a 3, and in Thai typing space may show a 2.
  • Fixed an issue where running a script on a remote SMB share might take an unexpectedly long time if the share was an older Windows Server version like
 

Has Sysnative Forums helped you? Please consider donating to help us support the site!

Back
Top