Windows 11 Insider Release Preview Build 28000.2605

Release date: 20 July 2026

[Update 20 July 2026: Corrected build number]

These release notes are for Windows 11 Build 28000.2605 in the Release Preview Channel.

This update is available through two release phases: gradual rollout and normal rollout. A gradual rollout delivers an update in phases, so features reach devices over time instead of all at once, meaning availability varies by device. A normal rollout is the broad release of features to all eligible devices at the same time.

Gradual rollout

This section covers new features and enhancements delivered gradually to Windows 11 PCs. Availability might vary by device.

  • [Windows Update] New! A calendar experience in Settings > Windows Update lets you pause updates by choosing an end date, for up to 35 days. You can extend the pause by selecting a different end date and re-pause updates as needed. For more information, see Pause updates in Windows.

  • [Widgets] New! A quieter, more focused Widgets experience helps reduce interruptions and improves default settings and notification controls:

    • Reduce distractions: Widgets no longer open on hover. Notifications and taskbar badges are minimized by default.
    • Simpler: Open to the Widgets dashboard by default on first use.
    • Customize: Configure Widgets by selecting Settings in the navigation bar, then changing any default setting.
    • Stay informed: Dashboard icons show the number of alerts, and badges clear automatically when you leave a dashboard.
    • Adjusted defaults: Some default settings are preserved based on usage, while others adjust to reduce interruptions.
    • Performance improvements: This update provides improved reliability, responsiveness, and visual quality across the Widgets experience.

  • [Accessibility] New! This update makes your screen easier to see and customizes your zoom experience:

    • Screen tint: Apply a full-screen color overlay to help reduce eye strain and improve readability. Choose from preset tint options, adjust the intensity, or turn it on automatically. Find this feature in Settings > Accessibility.
    • Magnifier: Enter a zoom percentage directly and change it in increments in the Magnifier window for more precise, flexible control.
    • Magnifier settings menu: You can now modify zoom increments directly from the Magnifier bar instead of navigating to Windows Settings each time.

  • [File Explorer]

    • New! When you hover over a file in File Explorer Home, commands such as Open file location and Ask Copilot appear as quick actions. This experience is now supported for work and school accounts (Entra ID).
    • Improves the speed and performance of File Explorer launch.
    • This update improves File Explorer responsiveness when mounting disk images.
    • The address bar now supports paths containing double backslashes and quotation marks (for example, C:\Users\user or "C:\Users\user"), improving compatibility with a wider range of inputs.
    • The address bar suggestion dropdown is more reliable and now consistently closes after an item is selected.
    • This update addresses an issue on File Explorer Home where OneDrive files could appear duplicated in the Favorites section.
    • This update includes several refinements to the Rename experience:
      • Addresses an issue where text was repeatedly selected when renaming items in folder views.
      • Addresses an issue where case-only name changes were not immediately reflected in folder views for items stored locally or in the cloud.

  • [Bluetooth] This update improves reliability and performance when connecting to and using Bluetooth devices:

    • New! Windows now keeps the microphone mute state in sync between the audio mixer and the Hands-Free Profile (HFP) for a more consistent experience with Bluetooth headphones that have mute buttons or indicators.
    • Accessory compatibility workarounds: Improves compatibility with specific Bluetooth audio devices, helping AirPods appear faster in pairing mode and improving microphone reliability on Beats Studio Pro headphones.
    • Bluetooth audio stability:
      • Improves overall Windows stability with certain PC manufacturer drivers (error code 0x9F).
      • Improves Bluetooth reliability for voice calls when using Classic Audio devices with the Hands-Free Profile (HFP).
      • Reduces time for LE Audio accessories to start playing audio while using the microphone.
    • Device management: Windows no longer shows a Remove failed message when attempting to remove Bluetooth devices if the Bluetooth radio is unavailable or has changed since pairing.
    • Settings experience: Improves stability when using the Bluetooth & devices settings page for a smoother, more consistent experience.
    • Connection reliability and responsiveness:
      • Reduces the time it takes for classic Bluetooth audio devices to reconnect after Windows resumes from hibernation.
      • Improves reliability when LE Audio accessories disconnect, such as when another device (for example, a phone) connects.
      • Improves reliability of LE Audio streaming after a connection is lost and restored.

  • [Bluetooth and Phone Link] This update improves audio routing for calls made through a connected phone:

    • When an outgoing call is dialed from a paired phone, audio remains on the phone while ringing and transfers to the PC only when the call is answered from the PC.
    • When Do Not Disturb is enabled on Windows, incoming call audio from a paired phone no longer rings on the PC.

  • [Voice access and voice typing] New! You can now use voice access and voice typing in French, German, and Spanish. As you speak, your PC improves your text in real time. It corrects grammar, punctuation, and recognition errors, and helps improve clarity, even in the presence of background noise. This makes dictation smoother and reduces the need for manual edits.

  • [Audio] This update improves the reliability of the inbox HD Audio driver.

  • [Taskbar] This update improves the reliability of opening the Start menu when selecting the left edge of the taskbar when icons are left-aligned.

  • [Networking]

    • This update includes networking improvements for virtualized environments. Confidential Virtual Machines (CVMs) now use SR-IOV hardware acceleration by default for improved network throughput, and a configuration issue in nested Hyper-V virtualization network setup has been corrected to ensure reliable VM network provisioning.
    • This update improves the reliability of the Windows networking stack. It reduces bug checks (blue screen errors) related to Wi-Fi power and improves cellular (WWAN) connectivity, including support for IPv6 VPNs. Compatibility with third-party VPN software and SR-IOV configurations on server hardware is also improved. Network adapter settings and bindings are now preserved across OS upgrades.

  • [Printing] New! New printer installations use Internet Printing Protocol (IPP) by default when supported, simplifying setup and improving reliability. For details about third-party driver deprecation, see End of servicing plan for third-party printer drivers on Windows. To control this behavior, use the toggle in Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Printers & scanners > Default install printers using Windows Ready Print. For more information, see Introducing Windows Ready Print and modernized driver selection.

  • [Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL)] This update improves usage of WSL in mirrored networking mode with VPNs.

  • [Display and graphics]

    • Improves the reliability of rendering content while scrolling for certain apps spanning multiple monitors.
    • Improves the reliability and persistence of applying color profiles.

  • [Location services] This update changes how some location settings are displayed in Settings > Privacy & Security > Location to improve clarity. When location services are turned off, settings such as Default location and Allow location override don't immediately apply, since location information is not given to apps or services. These settings are now grayed out when location services are off to reduce confusion over when they take effect.

  • [Search] This update improves the reliability of setting Search-related group policies.

  • [Input]

    • New! You can now customize the size of the right-click zone in Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Touchpad. Choose from Default, Small, Medium, or Large to control how much of the bottom-right corner responds to a single-finger right-click. This setting is only available on touchpads with a pressable surface. If your device manufacturer provides customization through their own app, a Custom option appears to reflect those settings.
    • This update improves recognition of English characters when using Japanese handwriting.

  • [General performance] Improves the time to shut down Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS) when you turn off your PC.

  • [General reliability] This update improves the reliability of explorer.exe. It addresses issues on the sign-in and lock screens related to third-party credential providers, reduces the probability of taskbar icons appearing as blank gray placeholders, and improves navigation to Home in File Explorer during OneDrive sync. It also improves explorer.exe reliability when switching between desktops, enhances app launch with shell extensions, and improves reliability when using acrylic blur effects in the Start menu, Settings, and lock screen.

  • [Apps] Resolves an issue where some installers and applications could show unexpected elevation (UAC) prompts after installing KB5089549.

  • [Remote Desktop] This update refreshes the dialog design when you enable Remote Desktop in Settings > System > Remote Desktop.

  • [Graphics Kernel] Improves memory-management policy that allows PCs with more than 32 GB of installed memory to run larger local AI models.

Normal rollout

This non-security update includes quality improvements. The following summary outlines key issues addressed by the update after you install it. Also included are available new features. The bold text within the brackets indicates the item or area of the change.

  • [Start menu]

    • This update improves the reliability of Start menu view preferences, ensuring your selected view is retained.
    • This update improves keyboard navigation when keyboard focus is set to the apps list within Start menu.

  • [Voice typing] Fluid dictation is now off by default for new users. A teaching tip is also available when the feature is used for the first time.

  • [Accessibility] This update improves the Magnifier experience on touch-enabled devices. The horizontal and vertical touch bars used to pan the magnified view are now off by default, so they no longer obstruct magnified content. If you use touch to pan, you can turn the bars back on in Settings > Accessibility > Magnifier.

  • [Windows Hello] New! Windows Hello Enhanced Sign-in Security (ESS) now supports peripheral fingerprint sensors. This update extends this secure sign-in option beyond devices with built-in fingerprint sensors to include desktops and other Windows 11 PCs, including Copilot+ PCs. To get started, plug in a supported ESS fingerprint reader, go to Settings > Accounts > Sign-in options, and follow the prompts to enroll. This feature was previously disclosed in January 2026 (KB5074105) and is now beginning to roll out.

  • [Fonts]

    • This update restores support for Unicode variation sequences in the Myanmar Text font.
    • This update improves character shaping and rendering for Mongolian Baiti font, providing more accurate and consistent text display.

  • [Account control] This update refreshes the design of Start menu account control and adds a badge that displays your subscription status. To view account control, open Start menu and select your account picture in the lower-left corner. This experience is available for users signed in with a Microsoft account.

  • [Taskbar] This update improves reliability of loading the system tray area of the taskbar.

  • [AI component] This update allows you to remove the Image Generation AI component from supported Copilot+ PCs where the component is installed.

  • [Windows Setup] This update adds a parental controls notice during Windows setup that highlights available family safety features.

  • [Power and battery]

    • Changes to global power settings such as display, sleep, hibernate timeouts, power/sleep button, and lid-close actions from Settings are now applied to all power plans. This should help improve persistence of chosen settings.
    • This update improves reliability of power settings by applying changes made in Settings to all power plans. This includes display, sleep, hibernate, power button, sleep button, and lid-close settings, helping ensure your preferences are consistently maintained.

  • [Windows Update]

    • This update improves calculation of update progress progression in Windows Update Settings.
    • This update includes changes to update cleanup logic to improve system performance immediately following an update.

  • [Sounds] This update improves system sounds when using Windows in dark mode.

  • [Date and time] This update improves detection for triggering time zone change notifications.

  • [Network] This update improves the reliability of DHCP renewals in a few scenarios, particularly in the case of NACKs received from the DHCP server, as well as on devices that use Modern Standby.

  • [Print] This update improves print time performance (page per minute) for IPPS (Internet Printing Protocol Secure) printers.

  • [Clipboard] This update improves clipboard reliability in some Remote Desktop and Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) scenarios.

  • [Battery] This update restores the ability to set a threshold for when energy saver should enable within Settings > System > Power & battery.

  • [General reliability]

    • This update improves explorer.exe reliability, including when opening jump lists and recent files, when sharing files and folders, and when using Task View and multiple desktops.
    • This update improves reliability of the Windows sign-in and lock screens, especially when system memory is low. It also improves reliability of Start menu and taskbar during startup.

1 Feature availability varies by device and market.

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