Hello members of the Microsoft Edge magazine,

After much contemplation, I have made the decision to migrate this magazine, in addition to the other magazines I moderate, to Mbin.

kbin.social is clearly no longer under active development, and in addition to suffering from several technical problems, kbin.social is also suffering from a huge spam problem. As such, from the perspective of both a user of Kbin and a moderator of several magazines, I believe the best way to move forward is to migrate these magazines over to Mbin.

This magazine will be moving over to kbin.run at @MicrosoftEdge

I will continue to check in over here occasionally for the next few weeks, but otherwise from here on out this magazine is considered inactive and will not be fully moderated. Going forward, any new threads or discussions should instead be posted in the new magazine.

Of course if you don’t want to move your account to a different instance, you absolutely do not have to! That’s the beauty of federated social media and ActivityPub. All you have to do is subscribe to the new magazine at @MicrosoftEdge and continue on as usual!

Thanks for all the discussions and contributions y’all have made in these magazines, and I hope to see you over there!

Hello members of the Microsoft Surface magazine,

After much contemplation, I have made the decision to migrate this magazine, in addition to the other magazines I moderate, to Mbin.

kbin.social is clearly no longer under active development, and in addition to suffering from several technical problems, kbin.social is also suffering from a huge spam problem. As such, from the perspective of both a user of Kbin and a moderator of several magazines, I believe the best way to move forward is to migrate these magazines over to Mbin.

This magazine will be moving over to kbin.run at @Surface

I will continue to check in over here occasionally for the next few weeks, but otherwise from here on out this magazine is considered inactive and will not be fully moderated. Going forward, any new threads or discussions should instead be posted in the new magazine.

Of course if you don’t want to move your account to a different instance, you absolutely do not have to! That’s the beauty of federated social media and ActivityPub. All you have to do is subscribe to the new magazine at @Surface and continue on as usual!

Thanks for all the discussions and contributions y’all have made in these magazines, and I hope to see you over there!

Hello members of the Windows Insiders magazine,

After much contemplation, I have made the decision to migrate this magazine, in addition to the other magazines I moderate, to Mbin.

kbin.social is clearly no longer under active development, and in addition to suffering from several technical problems, kbin.social is also suffering from a huge spam problem. As such, from the perspective of both a user of Kbin and a moderator of several magazines, I believe the best way to move forward is to migrate these magazines over to Mbin.

This magazine will be moving over to kbin.run at @windowsinsiders

I will continue to check in over here occasionally for the next few weeks, but otherwise from here on out this magazine is considered inactive and will not be fully moderated. Going forward, any new threads or discussions should instead be posted in the new magazine.

Of course if you don’t want to move your account to a different instance, you absolutely do not have to! That’s the beauty of federated social media and ActivityPub. All you have to do is subscribe to the new magazine at @windowsinsiders and continue on as usual!

Thanks for all the discussions and contributions y’all have made in these magazines, and I hope to see you over there!

Today Microsoft is releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.3566 (KB5037002) to Insiders in the Beta Channel. Details as follows:

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

[Taskbar & System Tray]

• In response to feedback, we are now showing the “show desktop” button by default and users can still manage this by right-clicking on the taskbar and choosing “Taskbar settings” (which opens Settings \> Personalization \> Taskbar directly).

[File Explorer]

• Dragging-and-dropping files with your mouse between breadcrumbs in the File Explorer Address Bar that began rolling out with Build 22635.3420 is now available to all Insiders in the Beta Channel.

Fixes and Improvements for everyone in the Beta Channel

• New! This update improves the Widgets icons on the taskbar. They are no longer pixelated or fuzzy. This update also starts the rollout of a larger set of animated icons.
• New! This update affects Widgets on the lock screen. They are more reliable and have improved quality. This update also supports more visuals and a more customized experience for you.
• This update fixes an issue which was causing Settings to crash when copying out text in the last few flights.
• This update addresses an issue that affects universal printers. The system creates duplicate print queues for them.
• This update adds support for Arm64 .msi files using a Group Policy Object (GPO). You can now use the Group Policy Management Console (GPMC) to add Arm64 .msi files. You can also use a GPO to install these files on Arm64 machines.
• This update affects hypervisor-protected code integrity (HVCI). It accepts drivers that are now compatible.
• This update addresses an issue that occurs when you elevate from a normal user to an Administrator to run an application. When you use a PIN to sign in, the app will not run.
• This update affects Windows Subsystem for Linux 2 (WSL2). Intermittent name resolution fails in a split DNS setup.
• This update addresses an issue that affects the netstat -c It fails to perform effective port exhaustion troubleshooting.
• This update addresses an issue that affects a low latency network. The speed of data on the network degrades significantly. This occurs when you turn on timestamps for a Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) connection.
• This update addresses an issue that affects the Distributed Transaction Coordinator (DTC). A memory leak occurs when it retrieves mappings.
• This update includes quarterly changes to the Windows Kernel Vulnerable Driver Blocklist file, p7b. It adds to the list of drivers that are at risk for Bring Your Own Vulnerable Driver (BYOVD) attacks.
• This update affects the touch keyboard. It makes the Japanese 106 keyboard layout appear as expected when you sign in.
• This update adds a new mobile device management (MDM) policy called “AllowScreenRecorder.” It affects the Snipping Tool. IT admins can use this policy to turn off screen recording in the app.
• This update addresses an issue that affects Bluetooth Advanced Audio Distribution Profile (A2DP) hardware offload. A stop error occurs on PCs that support it.
• This update addresses a memory allocation issue in the Host Networking Service (HNS). The issue causes high memory consumption. It also affects service and pod deployment and scaling.
• This update addresses an issue that affects the container networking Address Resolution Protocol (ARP). It returns the wrong Virtual Subnet ID (VSID) for external ports.
• This update affects media allocations. It improves their memory granularity for some hardware setups. This lowers overcommitment. Also, performance is more efficient.
• This update addresses an issue that affects an accelerator backing store management path. A memory leak occurs that affects some devices.
• This update addresses an issue that affects Windows Local Administrator Password Solution (LAPS). Its Post Authentication Actions (PAA) do not occur at the end of the grace period. Instead, they occur at restart.
• This update addresses a race condition that might stop a machine from starting up. This occurs when you set up a bootloader to start up multiple OSes.
• This update makes Country and Operator Settings Asset (COSA) profiles up to date for some mobile operators.
• This update addresses an issue that affects the Resilient File System (ReFS). A high load might make the system unresponsive. Also, signing in might be slow.
• This update addresses an issue that affects Settings. It stops responding when you dismiss a flyout menu.
• This update addresses an issue that affects Protected Process Light (PPL) protections. You can bypass them.

Known issues

[General]

• We are investigating an issue where Internet Information Services (IIS) and Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) may not work after installing this update.

[Copilot in Windows] Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who have the updated Copilot in Windows experience that introduces the ability for Copilot to act like a normal application window may see the following known issues:

• We are aware of reports by Insiders in the Canary and Dev Channels that Copilot is auto-launching unexpectedly after restarting their PCs. We hope to have a fix for this issue soon and is unrelated to the auto-launching experience we tried out with Insiders in the Canary and Dev Channels in early February which we stopped rolling out in March.
• Voice access does not work reliably with the updated Copilot in Windows experience that introduces the ability for Copilot to act like a normal application.
• Using Windows Ink to write in Copilot will not work with the updated Copilot in Windows experience.

[Widgets] Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who have the new position for the Widgets entry-point on left-aligned taskbars may see the following known issues:

• Swipe invocation for Widgets may not work if taskbar is center-aligned instead of left-aligned.
• Unpinning Widgets from the taskbar may not work if taskbar is center-aligned instead of left-aligned.
• The Widgets board is incorrectly positioned when Copilot is in side-by-side mode.
• Turning on/off Widgets in taskbar settings may refresh the taskbar.

Today Microsoft is releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200 to Insiders in the Canary Channel. Details as follows:

(Note the .5001 after the build number does not mean anything relevant to Windows Insiders and we will continue to use the primary build number for these flight blog posts.)

With the Canary Channel moving to a higher build number, the window closes on being able to switch to the Dev Channel without doing a clean-install of Windows. If you haven’t switched channels yet, you can still do so BEFORE taking Build 26200.

Developers, please note that for a short period of time, we will not be releasing a SDK for builds we flight to the Canary Channel.

Changes and Improvements

[General]

• [REMINDER] As we’ve been mentioning previously that would happen, the build watermark at the lower right-hand corner of the desktop has returned.

[Widgets]

• We are also making some improvements to the Widgets button on the taskbar so that the icons on the taskbar are clearer and we are rolling out a larger set of animated icons too.
• As part of the Widgets board improvements that we began rolling out with Build 26090 a few weeks ago (which are now also rolling out to Insiders in the Dev Channel), we are introducing the ability for developers to send notifications to the taskbar button with their custom dashboards for the Widgets board. Developers can check out this documentation on how to implement this capability with their Widgets dashboards. To manage notifications from multiple dashboards, Widgets is also providing more granular control over what content shows on the Widgets button on the taskbar. You can go to Widgets Settings \> Notifications and enable or disable taskbar notifications from individual dashboards. NOTE: These changes are only initially available to Windows Insiders in the European Economic Area (EEA).

[Taskbar & System Tray]

• After trying out a different design for the energy saver icon in system tray a few months ago for PCs that are plugged in and do not have batteries (such as desktop PCs), we reverted the design back to the leaf icon a few builds ago. (This change is also present in Build 26100.)

Energy saver icon shown on the system tray for PCs that do not have batteries.

Fixes for known issues

[Taskbar & System Tray]

• Fixed an issue that caused a dead zone you couldn’t click inside of next to the notification center.
• Fixed an issue that was causing the page icons in quick settings to not work in secondary settings pages.
• Fixed an issue where keyboard focus wasn’t shifting to the top item of the new page correctly after switching pages in quick settings.

[Input]

• Fixed a tabtip.exe crash, which could impact the ability to input text.

[Windowing]

• Fixed an issue which could cause RemoteApp windows to get cut off when using 200% scaling.

[Multiple Desktops]

• Fixed an issue where the option to set a different wallpaper on each desktop wasn’t working.

Known issues

[General]

• [IMPORTANT NOTE] We are investigating reports that some Windows Insiders in the Canary and Dev Channels are stuck on Build 26040 or Build 23620. The investigation is ongoing, however if you are impacted by this and really want to get onto the latest build in the Canary or Dev Channel today – you can download the latest ISO and do a clean install and opt your device back into flighting in the Canary or Dev Channels.

[Copilot in Windows]

• [NEW] We are aware of reports by Insiders in the Canary, Dev, and Beta Channels that Copilot is auto-launching unexpectedly after restarting their PCs. We hope to have a fix for this issue soon and is unrelated to the auto-launching experience we tried out with Insiders in the Canary and Dev Channels in early February which we stopped rolling out in March.
• Voice access does not work reliably with the updated Copilot in Windows experience that introduces the ability for Copilot to act like a normal application.
• Using Windows Ink to write in Copilot will not work with the updated Copilot in Windows experience that introduces the ability for Copilot to act like a normal application window.

Today Microsoft is releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.3500 (KB5036985) to Insiders in the Beta Channel. Details as follows:

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

[Start menu]

• This update starts the roll out of the new account manager on Start menu. When you sign in with a Microsoft account, the new design gives you a quick glanceable view of your account benefits and makes it easy to manage account settings.

New account manager experience on the Start menu showing account settings and an action needed that needs to be taken to secure your Microsoft account.

[Windows Share]

• If your Microsoft account uses a Gmail address, you can now send email to yourself from Windows share window and receive it in your Gmail account.

Example Gmail option to email yourself in the Windows share window highlighted in a red box.

[Settings]

• To ensure you don’t lose access to your Microsoft account, we’re beginning to roll out a new banner with a “Add now” button under Settings \> Account for adding a recovery email address if you haven’t added one for your Microsoft account yet. This will only show if you are signed in with a Microsoft account.
• We are introducing a new Game Pass recommendation card on the Settings homepage. The Game Pass recommendation card on Settings Homepage will be shown to you if you actively play games on your PC. As a reminder – the Settings homepage will be shown only on the Home and Pro editions of Windows 11 and if you’re signed into Windows with your Microsoft account.

New Game Pass recommendation card highlighted in a red box on the Settings homepage.

New features rolling out for everyone in the Beta Channel

Widgets Board Improvements

We are introducing a new navigation bar on the left allowing you to switch between a dedicated widgets dashboard and other integrated dashboards like Discover. As part of this change, we are introducing the ability for developers to send notifications to the taskbar button with their custom dashboards for the Widgets board. Developers can check out this documentation on how to implement this capability with their Widgets dashboards. To manage notifications from multiple dashboards, Widgets is also providing more granular control over what content shows on the Widgets button on the taskbar. You can go to Widgets Settings \> Notifications and enable or disable taskbar notifications from individual dashboards. NOTE: These changes are only initially available to Windows Insiders in the European Economic Area (EEA).

We’ve added a new Navigation Pane on the left that allows you to switch to My Widgets dashboard.

A full widgets only experience from your favorite apps and services.

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

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to everyone in the Beta Channel

[Widgets]

• We are making some improvements to the Widgets button on the taskbar so that the icons on the taskbar are clearer and we are rolling out a larger set of animated icons too.

Known issues

[General]

• We are investigating an issue where Internet Information Services (IIS) and Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) may not work after installing this update.
• [NEW] We’re working on the fix for an issue causing Settings to crash when copying text in certain cases. As a workaround, please use the extract text option in Snipping Tool for the time being if you are impacted.

[Copilot in Windows] Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who have the updated Copilot in Windows experience that introduces the ability for Copilot to act like a normal application window may see the following known issues:

• [NEW] We are aware of reports by Insiders in the Canary, Dev, and Beta Channels that Copilot is auto-launching unexpectedly after restarting their PCs. We hope to have a fix for this issue soon and is unrelated to the auto-launching experience we tried out with Insiders in the Canary and Dev Channels in early February which we stopped rolling out in March.
• Voice access does not work reliably with the updated Copilot in Windows experience that introduces the ability for Copilot to act like a normal application.
• Using Windows Ink to write in Copilot will not work with the updated Copilot in Windows experience.

[Widgets]

• [NEW] We’re working on the fix for an issue causing Widgets to crash for some Insiders when interacting with the Widgets board.

Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who have the new position for the Widgets entry-point on left-aligned taskbars may see the following known issues:

• Swipe invocation for Widgets may not work if taskbar is center-aligned instead of left-aligned.
• Unpinning Widgets from the taskbar may not work if taskbar is center-aligned instead of left-aligned.
• The Widgets board is incorrectly positioned when Copilot is in side-by-side mode.
• Turning on/off Widgets in taskbar settings may refresh the taskbar.

Today Microsoft is introducing the ability to send an image from the Photos app to Microsoft Designer, a cloud based graphic design app that helps you create professional quality social media posts, invitations, digital postcards, graphics, and new visuals with the power of generative AI. This update is available on Windows 11 to start, and is currently limited to users within the US, UK, Australia, Ireland, India, and New Zealand. We are starting to roll this out to Insiders in the Canary and Dev channels.

Photos app integration with Designer

We’re adding a new way to unlock the creative potential of your images through Designer. Simply click the Designer button in the title bar when viewing a single image in the Photos app, and your image will open Designer in the default web browser.

Send an image from Photos to Designer.

Once in Designer, you can apply templates, add visuals, and use AI tools to help you personalize your photo further. For example, try using AI to generate a new custom background for your photo using these simple steps:

• With your photo selected, click on “Remove background” in the toolbar.
• Click Visuals in the left pane and select Generate to create a custom image background from a prompt.
• Click on the desired generated image to insert it on the canvas.
• From the toolbar, select Set as background to place the generated image behind your photo.

Designer editing experience showing swapping the background.

To get the latest Photos experience, update your app to version number 2024.11040.16001.0 or higher. Sign in with a free personal Microsoft account to try Designer’s generative AI features currently in preview, as well as share your creations. We appreciate your comments and suggestions, so please share your feedback with us!

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

Today Microsoft is releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.3430 (KB5036992) to Insiders in the Beta Channel. Details as follows:

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

[Copilot in Windows]

• Starting with Build 22635.3286, we began rolling out a new experience for Copilot in Windows that helps showcase the ways that Copilot can accelerate and enhance your work. We’re making an improvement to this experience. Now when you copy both text or image files, the Copilot icon will change appearance and animate to indicate that Copilot can help. When you hover your mouse over the Copilot icon, it will provide a menu of actions that you can take, such as creating a similar image or analyzing an image. If you select an action on the menu, it will launch Copilot with the action ready-to-go.

Copilot actions you can take when you mouse over the Copilot icon on the taskbar after copying an image.

[Windows Share]

• We are beginning to roll out again the ability to share directly to specific Microsoft Teams Channels and group chats directly within the Windows share window if you’re signed in with a Microsoft Entra ID. This originally rolled out with Build 22635.2776 but was temporarily disabled to fix some issues.

Known issues

[General]

• We are investigating an issue where Internet Information Services (IIS) and Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) may not work after installing this update.

[Widgets]

Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who have the new position for the Widgets entry-point on left-aligned taskbars may see the following known issues:

• Swipe invocation for Widgets may not work if taskbar is center-aligned instead of left-aligned.
• Unpinning Widgets from the taskbar may not work if taskbar is center-aligned instead of left-aligned.
• The Widgets board is incorrectly positioned when Copilot is in side-by-side mode.
• Turning on/off Widgets in taskbar settings may refresh the taskbar.

The Check Performance command Microsoft introduced in Excel for the web last September is now available in Excel for Windows. Check it out and quickly address unnecessary formatting and other metadata to make your worksheets more performant.

Today Microsoft is releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26100 to Insiders in the Canary and Dev Channels. Details as follows:

The Canary and Dev Channels receiving the same builds is only temporary. During the times in which the Canary and Dev Channels are on the same builds (e.g. Build 26100), the window is open for Insiders in the Canary Channel to switch to the Dev Channel. In the near future, the Canary Channel will jump to higher build numbers and the window will be closed so make your choice on which channel to be in soon!

NOTE: Some features may begin rolling out to the Canary Channel first before the Dev Channel even if the two channels have the same build.

Changes and Improvements in Build 26100

[General]

• [REMINDER] The build watermark at the lower right-hand corner of the desktop is not present in this build and will return in future Insider Preview builds. This is part of our normal process preparing Windows 11, version 24H2 for releasing to customers later this year – but does not mean we’re done. Windows 11, version 24H2, will be this year’s annual feature update. As mentioned here, Windows 11 will have an annual feature update cadence that releases in the second half of the calendar year.

Fixes for known issues

[General]

• Made another fix to address the issue causing shutdown and hibernate to not work in the latest builds.
• Fixed an issue resulting in some Insiders seeing error 0x80240067 when trying to download app updates from Microsoft Store or Windows updates in Settings in the latest builds.

[Copilot in Windows]

• With the updated Copilot in Windows experience that introduces the ability for Copilot to act like a normal application window, we have fixed the issue that prevented the ability to bring focus to the “…” or refresh buttons within Copilot when using a keyboard (ex: by using tab to cycle through buttons).

[Windowing]

• Fixed a DWM crash impacting some Insiders in the latest flights (this could result in you seeing your screen flash black).

Known issues

[General]

• [IMPORTANT NOTE] We are investigating reports that some Windows Insiders in the Canary and Dev Channels are stuck on Build 26040 or Build 23620. The investigation is ongoing, however if you are impacted by this and really want to get onto the latest build in the Canary or Dev Channel today – you can download the latest ISO here and do a clean install and opt your device back into flighting in the Canary or Dev Channels.

[Copilot in Windows]

• Voice access does not work reliably with the updated Copilot in Windows experience that introduces the ability for Copilot to act like a normal application.
• Using Windows Ink to write in Copilot will not work with the updated Copilot in Windows experience that introduces the ability for Copilot to act like a normal application window.
• When Copilot in Windows is docked and resized to a large width, Copilot does not always fill the width of the panel. Resizing Copilot usually fixes this issue.

We are beginning to roll out a preview version of the Photos app built with the Windows App SDK (WASDK) to Windows Insiders in the Canary and Dev Channels on Windows 11. This change moves Photos to the latest Windows app development platform, with modern UI and other quality and performance improvements.

All the current Photos app features and functionality is still present in this version. However, given the extensive changes, this version may be a little rough around the edges as we continue to polish the experience. To get this experience, Windows Insiders on Windows 11 in the Canary and Dev channels can update the Photos app to version number 2024.11040.1002.0.

We appreciate your comments and suggestions, so please share your feedback with us!

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

To learn more about Windows App SDK, please visit: Build desktop Windows apps with the Windows App SDK – Windows apps | Microsoft Learn.

Imagine stepping into a 3D digital world where you can meet and collaborate with others as if you’re all in the same room. Whether you’re using a computer, or fancy VR gear, Mesh works everywhere.

Today Microsoft is releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.3420 (KB5035953) to Insiders in the Beta Channel. Details as follows:

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

New position for the Widgets entry-point on left-aligned taskbars

We’re beginning to roll out a new position for the Widgets entry-point on left-aligned taskbars. The taskbar entry-point will move to the left of the systems tray and will be wider so you can see richer content from Widgets on your taskbar. When you launch the Widgets board, it will fly out from the right side instead of the left side.

The Widgets entry-point at its new position to the left of system tray on a left-aligned taskbar.

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

[File Explorer]

• In response to feedback from Windows Insiders, drag-and-drop files with your mouse functionality between breadcrumbs is now available in the File Explorer Address Bar. We are beginning to roll this out today, so not all Insiders in the Beta Channel will see it right away.

[Windows Share]

• Users will be able to now generate QR codes for URLs and cloud file links through the Windows share window to seamlessly share webpages and files across their devices. To try this out in Microsoft Edge, just click the share button in the Edge toolbar and choose “Windows share options”.

Option to generate a QR code to share a URL through the Windows share window.

• To prevent accidentally closing the Windows share window, clicking outside the Windows share window will no longer close it. To close the Windows share window, just press the close button at the top right corner.

[Windows Backup]

• If you have both Personalization and Other Windows settings toggled on under Settings \> Accounts \> Windows backup, many of your sound settings (including chosen sound scheme) will be backed up which can be restored via the Windows Backup app.
• We’re beginning to roll out the ability to sign-in with your Microsoft account (MSA) directly within the Windows Backup app to save backups to your account.

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

[File Explorer]

• Fixed an issue causing File Explorer to crash on launch for a small number of Insiders in the previous flight.

[Multiple Desktops]

• Fixed an issue where the option to set a different wallpaper on each desktop wasn’t working.

[Search]

• Fixed an issue which could potentially result in no app results showing in search anymore.

[Task Manager]

• Fixed an issue where Task Manager was holding onto process handles sometimes, leading to processes not stopping when you closed apps if you’d had Task Manager open.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to everyone in the Beta Channel

*[Copilot in Windows]\

• You can ask Copilot in Windows (in preview) for help ten times when you sign in to Windows using a local account. After that, you must sign in using a Microsoft account (MSA) or a Microsoft Entra ID account (formerly Azure Active Directory (Azure AD)). To sign in, use the link in the dialog that appears in Copilot in Windows. If you do not sign in, some Copilot features might not work. To learn more, see Welcome to Copilot in Windows and Manage Copilot in Windows.

[Lock screen]

• This update adds Weather and more to your lock screen. Stay informed and efficient with dynamic updates that bring finance, traffic, and sports to your Lock screen, alongside weather. The card design has been improved with acrylic blur, card size, spacing, and font optimizations. To turn on this feature, go to Settings \> Personalization \> Lock screen. To learn more, see Personalize your lock screen. Note this feature might not be available to all users because it will roll out gradually.

Finance, traffic, and sports content along with weather on the Lock screen.

Fixes for everyone in the Beta Channel

• New! This update affects Windows Hello for Business. IT admins can now use mobile device management (MDM) to turn off the prompt that appears when users sign in to an Entra-joined machine. To do this, they can turn on the “DisablePostLogonProvisioning” policy setting. After a user signs in, provisioning is off for Windows 10 and Windows 11 devices.
• New! This update improves the Remote Desktop Session Host. You can now set up its “clipboard redirection” policy to work in a single direction from the local computer to the remote computer. You can also reverse that order.
• This update addresses an issue that affects the Combine taskbar buttons and hide labels The app labels in the taskbar sometimes do not have the correct length, which cuts off the label text. This occurs when this setting is set to “When taskbar is full” or “Never.”
• This update addresses an issue that affects certain Neural Processing Units (NPU). They do not show in Task Manager.
• This update addresses an issue that affects a network resource. You cannot access it from a Remote Desktop session. This occurs when you turn on the Remote Credential Guard feature and the client is Windows 11, version 22H2 or higher.
• This update addresses an issue that affects Windows Defender Application Control (WDAC). It prevents a stop error that occurs when you apply more than 32 policies.
• This update addresses a deadlock issue in CloudAP. It occurs when different users sign in and sign out at the same time on virtual machines.
• This update addresses an issue that affects the Group Policy service. It fails after you use exe to apply an audit policy to the system.
• This update addresses an issue that affects the Settings app. It stops responding when you use it to remove Bluetooth devices.
• This update addresses an issue that affects Notepad. It fails to print to certain Internet Printing Protocol (IPP) printers when you use a print support app.
• This update addresses an issue that affects dsamain.exe. When the Knowledge Consistency Checker (KCC) runs evaluations, it stops responding.
• This update addresses an issue that stops some apps and features from being available. This occurs after you upgrade to Windows 11.
• This update affects MSIX applications. It helps their UI to localize correctly for all languages when you upgrade your OS.
• This update addresses an issue that affects the Microsoft Message Queue (MSMQ) PowerShell module. It does not load.
• This update addresses an issue that affects the existing AppLocker rule collection enforcement mode. It is not overwritten when rules merge with a collection that has no rules. This occurs when the enforcement mode is set to “Not Configured.”
• This update addresses an issue that affects Transport Layer Security (TLS), version 1.3. It causes Azure App Services to fail. This occurs when the web server attempts to connect to a third-party Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) server.
• This update addresses an issue that affects the touch keyboard and the candidate window for the Japanese and Chinese Input Method Editors (IME). They do not show after you come out of Modern Standby. To learn more, see Microsoft Japanese IME and What is Modern Standby.
• This update addresses an issue that affects some wireless headphones. Bluetooth connections are not stable. This occurs on devices that have firmware from April 2023 and later.
• This update addresses an issue that affects USB audio. It fails on some processors. This occurs after you pause, play, or resume from sleep.
• This update supports DST changes in To learn more, see Interim guidance for Kazakhstan time zone changes 2024.
• This update supports DST changes in To learn more, see Interim guidance for Samoa DST changes 2021.
• This update supports daylight saving time (DST) changes in Greenland. To learn more, see Greenland 2023 time zone update now available.
• This update supports daylight saving time (DST) changes in To learn more, see Interim guidance for DST changes announced by Palestinian Authority for 2024, 2025.
• This update addresses an issue that affects Secure Launch. It does not run on some processors.
• This update addresses a reliability issue. It affects a Virtual Remote App product when you use a custom shell to open it.
• This update addresses an issue that affects Containers that you create or deploy. Their status does not progress past “ContainerCreating.”
• This update makes Country and Operator Settings Asset (COSA) profiles up to date for some mobile operators.
• This update addresses an issue that affects the COM+ component. Some applications that depend on it stop responding.
• This update addresses an issue that affects the time service. You can configure it using mobile device management (MDM) or a Group Policy Object (GPO). But the Windows Settings app does not match what you have configured.
• This update addresses an issue that occurs when you use LoadImage() to load a top-down bitmap. If the bitmap has a negative height, the image does not load and the function returns NULL.

Known issues

[General]

• We are investigating an issue where Internet Information Services (IIS) and Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) may not work after installing this update.

[File Explorer]

• [NEW] Using Shift + F10 will unexpectedly open Show More Options in the File Explorer context menu in this build.

[Widgets] Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel who have the new position for the Widgets entry-point on left-aligned taskbars may see the following known issues:

• [NEW] Swipe invocation for Widgets may not work if taskbar is center-aligned instead of left-aligned.
• [NEW] Unpinning Widgets from the taskbar may not work if taskbar is center-aligned instead of left-aligned.
• [NEW] The Widgets board is incorrectly positioned when Copilot is in side-by-side mode.
• [NEW] Turning on/off Widgets in taskbar settings may refresh the taskbar.

Today Microsoft is releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26090 to Insiders in the Canary and Dev Channels. Details as follows:

What’s new in Build 26090

Widgets board improvements

We are restarting the rollout of the Widgets board improvements that originally began rolling out with Build 26058 to Windows Insiders in the Canary Channel. Those improvements include introducing a new navigation bar on the left allowing you to switch between a dedicated widgets dashboard and other integrated dashboards like Discover. Give it a try and let us know what you think using the feedback button at the top of the board.

We’ve added a new Navigation Pane on the left that allows you to switch to My Widgets dashboard.

A full widgets only experience from your favorite apps and services.

[We are beginning to roll this out to Windows Insiders in the Canary Channel today, so the experience isn’t available to all Insiders just yet.]

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

More Server Message Block (SMB) protocol changes

Starting with Build 26085 and higher, we are introducing the following Server Message Block (SMB) protocol changes for QUIC, signing, and encryption.

SMB over QUIC client disable: Administrators can now disable the SMB over QUIC client with Group Policy and PowerShell. To disable SMB over QUIC using PowerShell, run the following command in an elevated console:

• Set-SmbClientConfiguration -EnableSMBQUIC $false

To disable SMB over QUIC using Group Policy, use GPMC.MSC or GPEDIT.MSC to configure the following setting:

• Computer Configuration \\ Administrative Templates \\ Network \\ Lanman Workstation \\ Enable SMB over QUIC

SMB over QUIC client connection auditing: Successful SMB over QUIC client connection events are now written to the event log to include the QUIC transport. You can view these events using EVENTVWR.MSC under the following path:

• Applications and Services Logs \\ Microsoft \\ Windows\\ SMBClient \\ Connectivity (Event ID: 30832)

SMB signing and encryption auditing: Administrators can now enable auditing of the SMB server and client for support of SMB signing and encryption. This shows if a third-party client or server doesn’t support SMB encryption or signing. You can configure these settings with PowerShell and Group Policy. To configure SMB client or server signing or encryption auditing using Group Policy, use GPMC.MSC or GPEDIT.MSC to configure the following settings:

• Computer Configuration \\ Administrative Templates \\ Network \\ Lanman Workstation \\ Audit server does not support encryption
• Computer Configuration \\ Administrative Templates \\ Network \\ Lanman Workstation \\ Audit server does not support signing
• Computer Configuration \\ Administrative Templates \\ Network \\ Lanman Server \\ Audit client does not support encryption
• Computer Configuration \\ Administrative Templates \\ Network \\ Lanman Server \\ Audit client does not support signing

To disable SMB over QUIC using PowerShell, run the following command in an elevated console:

• Set-SmbClientConfiguration -AuditServerDoesNotSupportEncryption $true
• Set-SmbClientConfiguration -AuditServerDoesNotSupportSigning $true
• Set-SmbServerConfiguration -AuditClientDoesNotSupportEncryption $true
• Set-SmbServerConfiguration -AuditClientDoesNotSupportSigning $true

You can view these events using EVENTVWR.MSC under the following paths:

• Applications and Services Logs \\ Microsoft \\ Windows\\ SMBClient \\ Audit (Event ID: 31998 and Event ID: 31999)
• Applications and Services Logs \\ Microsoft \\ Windows\\ SMBServer \\ Audit (Event ID: 3021 and Event ID: 3022)

For more information on SMB over QUIC in Windows and Windows Server Insider Preview builds, review https://aka.ms/SMBoverQUICServerand https://aka.ms/SmbOverQuicCAC.

For more information on SMB signing and encryption in Windows and Windows Server Insider Preview builds, review https://aka.ms/SmbSigningRequired and https://aka.ms/SmbClientEncrypt.

Changes and Improvements

[General]

• The build watermark at the lower right-hand corner of the desktop is not present in this build and will return in future Insider Preview builds. This is part of our normal process for preparing Windows 11, version 24H2 for release to customers later this year – but does not mean we’re done. Windows 11, version 24H2, will be this year’s annual feature update. As mentioned here, Windows 11 will have an annual feature update cadence that releases in the second half of the calendar year.

[Copilot in Windows]

• You can ask Copilot in Windows (in preview) for help ten times when you sign in to Windows using a local account. After that, you must sign in using a Microsoft account (MSA) or a Microsoft Entra ID account (formerly Azure Active Directory (Azure AD)). To sign in, use the link in the dialog that appears in Copilot in Windows. If you do not sign in, some Copilot features might not work. To learn more, see Welcome to Copilot in Windows and Manage Copilot in Windows.

[Settings]

• The redesigned version of the Delivery Optimization settings page under Settings \> Windows Update \> Advanced options \> Delivery Optimization that was first introduced in Build 25987 has been reverted to the previous design starting with Build 26085. We plan to bring back this redesigned settings page in a future flight after fixing some bugs. Thanks to Insiders for all the feedback on this!

Fixes for known issues

[General]

• Fixed an issue which was causing video stutters in some apps (and possibly impacting FPS in some games) in the previous flight.

[Taskbar & System Tray]

• Fixed an explorer.exe crash that was impacting taskbar reliability.

[File Explorer]

• Fixed an issue causing some Insiders to see File Explorer unexpectedly using the previous design and have no tabs in the latest builds.

[Task Manager]

• Fixed an issue where Task Manager was holding onto process handles sometimes, leading to processes not stopping when you closed apps if you’d had Task Manager open.

[Windowing]

• Fixed an underlying issue which was causing the bottom half of secondary monitors to be unusable sometimes in recent builds (app windows wouldn’t maximize to that area).
• Fixed an explorer.exe crash which was happening for some Insiders recently when dragging windows.

Known issues

[General]

• [IMPORTANT NOTE] We are investigating reports that some Windows Insiders in the Canary and Dev Channels are stuck on Build 26040 or Build 23620. The investigation is ongoing, however if you are impacted by this and really want to get onto the latest build in the Canary or Dev Channel today – you can download the latest ISO here and do a clean install and opt your device back into flighting in the Canary or Dev Channels.
• [NEW] We’ve seen some Insiders report that shutdown is still not working on their PCs after Build 26085 and are working on a fix.

[Copilot in Windows]

• Voice access does not work reliably with the updated Copilot in Windows experience that introduces the ability for Copilot to act like a normal application.
• Using Windows Ink to write in Copilot will not work with the updated Copilot in Windows experience that introduces the ability for Copilot to act like a normal application window.
• When Copilot in Windows is docked and resized to a large width, Copilot does not always fill the width of the panel. Resizing Copilot usually fixes this issue.
• With the updated Copilot in Windows experience that introduces the ability for Copilot to act like a normal application window, you may not be able to bring focus to the “…” or refresh buttons within Copilot when using a keyboard (ex: by using tab to cycle through buttons).

The March 2024 non-security preview release is now available for Windows 11.

Many features released with last month’s Windows configuration update are enabled by default in this update.

Windows 11 release notes:

• Version 22H2 & 23H2 (KB5035942): https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/5035942

Highlights for Windows 11, versions 22H2 and 23H2:

• You can ask Copilot in Windows (in preview) for help ten times when you sign in to Windows using a local account. After that, you must sign in using a Microsoft account (MSA) or a Microsoft Entra ID account.
• This update adds more content to your lock screen. Sports, traffic, and finance content will appear along with weather.

Highlights for Windows 11, versions 22H2:

• This update affects Windows Hello for Business. IT admins can now use mobile device management (MDM) to turn off the prompt that appears when users sign in to an Entra-joined machine.

Software version 2023.501.189 is now available for Surface Duo 2 users.

Changelog:

• Addresses scenarios outlined in the Android Security Bulletin – March 2024.

Today Microsoft is releasing Windows 11 Builds 22621.3371 and 22631.3371 (KB5035942) to Insiders in the Release Preview Channel on Windows 11, version 22H2 (Build 22621) and version 23H2 (Build 22631). Details as follows:

This update includes the following features and improvements:

• New! This update adds more content to your lock screen. In addition to weather, sports, traffic, and finance content will appear. To turn on this feature, go to Settings \> Personalization \> Lock screen. Note this feature might not be available to all users because it will roll out gradually.
• New! This update turns on the Autopilot 2.0 feature.
• New! This update affects Windows Hello for Business. IT admins can now use mobile device management (MDM) to turn off the prompt that appears when users sign in to an Entra-joined machine. To do this, they can turn on the “DisablePostLogonProvisioning” policy setting. After a user signs in, provisioning is off for Windows 10 and Windows 11 devices.
• New! This update improves the Remote Desktop Session Host. You can now set up its “clipboard redirection” policy to work in a single direction from the local computer to the remote computer. You can also reverse that order.
• This update supports daylight saving time (DST) changes in Greenland. To learn more, see Greenland 2023 time zone update now available.
• This update supports DST changes in Kazakhstan. To learn more, see Interim guidance for Kazakhstan time zone changes 2024.
• This update supports DST changes in Samoa. To learn more, see Interim guidance for Samoa DST changes 2021.
• This update affects MSIX applications. It helps their UI to localize correctly for all languages when you upgrade your OS.
• This update addresses an issue that affects the COM+ component. Some applications that depend on it stop responding.
• This update addresses an issue that stops some apps and features from being available. This occurs after you upgrade to Windows 11.
• This update addresses a deadlock issue in CloudAP. It occurs when different users sign in and sign out at the same time on virtual machines.
• This update addresses an issue that affects a network resource. You cannot access it from a Remote Desktop session. This occurs when you turn on the Remote Credential Guard feature and the client is Windows 11, version 22H2 or higher.
• This update addresses an issue that affects Containers that you create or deploy. Their status does not progress past “ContainerCreating.”
• This update addresses an issue that affects the time service. You can configure it using mobile device management (MDM) or a Group Policy Object (GPO). But the Windows Settings app does not match what you have configured.
• This update addresses an issue that affects certain Neural Processing Units (NPU). They do not show in Task Manager.
• This update addresses an issue that affects the touch keyboard and the candidate window for the Japanese and Chinese Input Method Editors (IME). They do not show after you come out of Modern Standby. To learn more, see Microsoft Japanese IME and What is Modern Standby.
• This update addresses an issue that occurs when you use LoadImage() to load a top-down bitmap. If the bitmap has a negative height, the image does not load and the function returns NULL.
• This update addresses an issue that affects the Settings app. It stops responding when you use it to remove Bluetooth devices.
• This update makes Country and Operator Settings Asset (COSA) profiles up to date for some mobile operators.
• This update addresses an issue that affects Notepad. It fails to print to certain Internet Printing Protocol (IPP) printers when you use a print support app.
• This update addresses an issue that affects USB audio. It fails on some processors. This occurs after you pause, play, or resume from sleep.
• This update addresses an issue that affects Windows Defender Application Control (WDAC). It prevents a stop error that occurs when you apply more than 32 policies.
• This update addresses an issue that affects the existing AppLocker rule collection enforcement mode. It is not overwritten when rules merge with a collection that has no rules. This occurs when the enforcement mode is set to “Not Configured.”
• This update addresses an issue that affects the Group Policy service. It fails after you use LGPO.exe to apply an audit policy to the system.
• This update addresses an issue that affects Secure Launch. It does not run on some processors.
• This update addresses an issue that affects the Combine taskbar buttons and hide labels setting. The app labels in the taskbar sometimes do not have the correct length, which cuts off the label text. This occurs when this setting is set to “When taskbar is full” or “Never.”
• This update addresses a reliability issue. It affects a Virtual Remote App product when you use a custom shell to open it.
• This update addresses an issue that affects some wireless headphones. Bluetooth connections are not stable. This occurs on devices that have firmware from April 2023 and later.
• This update addresses an issue that affects Transport Layer Security (TLS), version 1.3. It causes Azure App Services to fail. This occurs when the web server attempts to connect to a third-party Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) server.
• This update addresses an issue that affects dsamain.exe. When the Knowledge Consistency Checker (KCC) runs evaluations, it stops responding.
• This update addresses an issue that affects the Microsoft Message Queue (MSMQ) PowerShell module. It does not load.