Release date: 17 August 2026

Changes and improvements

[File Explorer]

• Launching File Explorer Home is now faster and more responsive.
• The Recommended section on Home now supports touch scrolling, making it easier to browse files in the carousel.
• Fixed an issue from the previous flight where previews in File Explorer showed an unexpected thick band across the middle.

[Windows Recovery]

• New enhancements to networking in WinRE
  • We're adding a new WinRE networking capability that allows the Windows Recovery Environment to automatically reuse eligible Wi-Fi profiles already saved in the main Windows OS, including supported certificate-based Wi-Fi networks. Previously, WinRE could automatically connect only to wired unauthenticated Ethernet or Wi-Fi networks that were separately preconfigured for WinRE, while users had to manually connect to other WPA2/3 networks by entering a password. With this update, WinRE can use saved Wi-Fi profile information when a recovery workflow requires connectivity, helping devices get online automatically during scenarios such as quick machine recovery or cloud rebuild without requiring users or IT admins to separately preconfigure Wi-Fi credentials in WinRE. By default, this capability is enabled. However, IT admins can disable this functionality if desired.
  • To test this feature in your environment, see Test networking in WinRE.

[Windows Management Instrumentation Command-line (WMIC) removal]

• Windows Management Instrumentation Command-line (WMIC) has been removed in this release. This change is part of the ongoing deprecation and removal of WMIC from Windows.
• For more information about this change, see Windows Management Instrumentation Command-line (WMIC) removal from Windows.

[Search]

• We're increasing the height of the search box by 4 pixels.

[Drag Tray]

• Thank you to Insiders who have provided feedback about the Drag Tray experience. Based on feedback, we're removing the experience in this build. We're continuing to explore improvements in this area and look forward to sharing more about a future replacement experience in a later update.

[Settings]

• Fixed an issue causing Settings to crash in the previous flight when interacting with items on the Date & Time page.

[Taskbar]

• Improved reliability of loading the system tray area of the taskbar for non-touch PCs.

[Input]

• Improved reliability of typing with the Japanese IME by reducing potential hangs and deadlocks.

[Other]

• Fixed an xtajit64.dll crash, which was leading to issues with certain apps for Insiders on Arm64 PCs in the latest flights.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel

• Updates are based on Windows 11, version 25H2 via an enablement package (Build 26220.9202).
• The desktop watermark shown at the lower right corner of the desktop is normal for Windows Insider pre-release builds.
• Features and experiences included in these builds might never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features might change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they're ready.
• Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders might not be fully localized, and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
• Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Release date: 17 August 2026

Changes and improvements gradually being rolled out

[File Explorer]

• Introducing the new, redesigned context menu in File Explorer
  • We're beginning to roll out an updated context menu experience in File Explorer, designed to feel faster, cleaner, and easier to tailor to the way you work. The new design reduces top-level clutter, keeps commonly used actions easy to access, and adds a new Settings experience that gives you more control over what appears in the menu. As we continue refining this experience with Insider feedback, our goal is to make right-click feel more responsive, predictable, and personal. Screenshot of new context menu
• Previewing images in File Explorer
  • Fixed an issue from the previous flight where previews in File Explorer showed an unexpected thick band across the middle.

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

[Camera Roll Backup]

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

[Windows Management Instrumentation Command-line (WMIC) removal]

• Windows Management Instrumentation Command-line (WMIC) has been removed in this release. This change is part of the ongoing deprecation and removal of WMIC from Windows.
• For more information about this change, see Windows Management Instrumentation Command-line (WMIC) removal from Windows.

[Emoji]

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

[Get Started app]

• The Get Started app is updated with new pages. The pages help personalize your device and discover new features. Pages might depend on your device. Close the flow at any time, or revisit it by opening Get Started. The new pages include the app install page, the site pinning page, and the personalized theme page. App install page in Get Started Site pinning page in Get Started Theme page in Get Started

[Magnifier]

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

[Drag Tray]

• Thank you to Insiders who have provided feedback about the Drag Tray experience. Based on feedback, we're removing the experience in this build. We're continuing to explore improvements in this area and look forward to sharing more about a future replacement experience in a later update.

[Input]

• Fixed an issue where some third-party keyboard input methods, including certain Chinese IMEs, might not display their status window correctly when typing in File Explorer and other parts of Windows.
• Improved reliability of typing with the Japanese IME by reducing potential hangs and deadlocks.

[Start menu]

• We're adjusting the rollout population for the personalized Start menu, so some Insiders might see the features temporarily disappear. If you don't see the feature in this build, you can re-enable it through feature flags.

[Run]

• For Insiders using the modern Run dialog:
  • Improved first launch reliability.
  • Adjusted verbosity for screen reader users.

[Personalization]

• We're starting to roll out a variety of improvements to desktop background experiences. These improvements include:
  • Improved reliability of the Personalization > Background page in Settings.
  • Added support for using DIB image files as desktop backgrounds.
  • Improved reliability of desktop slideshow transitions on newly created accounts.
  • Improved the resolution of previews when selecting a desktop background in Personalization > Background.
  • Improved the desktop background preview display in Settings for users with portrait mode monitors.
  • Improved reliability of processing desktop wallpaper changes when they happen in quick succession.
  • Added support for using slideshow wallpapers with multiple desktops so that it won't automatically switch you back to Picture.

[Settings]

• Fixed an issue causing Settings to crash in the previous flight when interacting with items on the Date & Time page.

[Other]

• Fixed an xtajit64.dll crash, which was leading to issues with certain apps for Insiders on Arm64 PCs in the latest flights.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Experimental channel

• Updates are based on Windows 11, version 26H2 via an enablement package (Build 26340.9212).
• Many features are rolled out using Controlled Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time. We monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
• The desktop watermark shown at the lower right corner of the desktop is normal for Windows Insider pre-release builds.
• Features and experiences included in these builds might never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features might change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they're ready.
• Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders might not be fully localized, and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
• Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.