Windows 11 Insider Experimental Preview Build 26340.9596

Release date: 2 October 2026

Changes and improvements gradually being rolled out

We've updated Windows text shaping support for Unicode 17.0, helping Windows correctly display and shape newly encoded characters and scripts. Unicode 17.0 added 4,803 characters, including support for four newly encoded scripts: Beria Erfe, Sidetic, Tai Yo, and Tolong Siki.
These updates help keep Windows text support current as the Unicode Standard evolves and improve support for languages and writing systems used by people around the world.

Address Bar now supports '~' , making it quicker to navigate directly to your user profile folder and subfolders (e.g., "~\AppData").

We're making performance improvements to the Settings home page, which should result in reduced loading times in certain scenarios.

We're adding a new entry point for Cloud Rebuild under Settings > System > Recovery, making it easier to access the feature from Settings.

We're investigating an issue causing some Insiders to be unable to install the latest updates and see error 0x80073712. We believe this issue is related to having Windows Sandbox installed. As a workaround, try disabling Windows Sandbox.

Updates are based on Windows 11, version 26H2 via an enablement package (Build 26340.9596).
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.