Otter.ai and other call recording, note-taking apps like Read.ai and even Google Gemini have become handy tools for many enterprise users, automatically kicking off in the background and providing full transcripts of calls and key meeting takeaways.

But some see the services as intrusive and, according to a complaint filed last week in California on behalf of plaintiff Justin Brewer, illegal. The class action alleges that Otter records all users without their consent (which is required in California and other states), and, further, uses their voices to train its speech recognition AI tools.

The complaint points out that, while Otter users may be aware of and okay with the tool recording them and their meetings, non-users, who are not asked for permission, may not. Brewer also claims that his privacy rights have been violated, suggesting that Otter is out of compliance with the USA’s federal Electronic Communications Privacy Act, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, and numerous California laws.

The complainants intend to start a class action, and say that more than 100 plaintiffs share Brewer’s concerns.

Broader implications

With the proliferation of transcription apps within enterprises, this complaint has implications far beyond Otter.

“AI companies, for the most part, have followed the ‘move fast and break things’ paradigm and ignored the finer points of copyright and wiretap laws,” Johannes Ullrich, dean of research for SANS Technology Institute, told Computerworld. “Requesting explicit permission from all call participants could threaten the business model for many of these note-taking and personal assistant applications.”

Otter: Nobody should be recorded without their consent

Otter has more than 25 million users globally, and recently celebrated reaching $100 million in annual revenue, which the complaint calls “an exceptional figure” for a company of its size.

The company’s “Otter Notetaker” service records participants in Google Meet, Zoom, and Microsoft Teams meetings, regardless of whether they are Otter users themselves. The company’s privacy policy and privacy and Security FAQs both state that it uses meeting participants’ voices to train its speech recognition AI.

Responding to the complaint, a spokesperson for Otter.ai told Computerworld: “We are deeply committed to safeguarding our users’ data and protecting privacy. Nobody should be recorded without their knowledge or permission, regardless of the recording device used.”

Otter Notetaker automatically takes notes for users so they can “participate more freely” in their Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams meetings, the spokesperson said, and users are advised that transparency is important for all meeting participants.

“We encourage them to ask for permission, to indicate when they are recording and transcribing conversations with others,” the spokesperson said.

The company is “reviewing the matter,” they said, emphasizing that Otter does not initiate recordings on its own; rather, they are initiated by Otter users, and the company’s Terms of Service make it clear that users are responsible for obtaining any necessary permissions before doing so.

“All Otter users are instructed to follow any notice and consent rules, and since such laws vary across jurisdictions, we also provide users with the applicable local, state and federal requirements when using any kind of recording features, whether they record meetings using Otter or any of the various other ways to do so,” the spokesperson said.

Explicit instructions in Otter’s Terms of Service state: The Service may provide a feature that allows you to record individual conversations and/or upload recorded conversations. The laws regarding the notice and notification requirements of such recorded conversations vary by location. You acknowledge and agree that you are solely responsible for providing any notices to, and consent from, individuals in connection with any recordings as required under applicable law.”

But the complaint says of this practice: “Otter tries to shift responsibility, outsourcing its legal obligations to its accountholders, rather than seeking permission and consent from the individuals Otter records, as required by law,” it states.

It should also be noted that Otter, Read, and other transcription apps are active participants in calls, and show up in windows alongside human users. But the complaint points out that Read, for one, allows any participant, including non-account holders, to stop recording during a meeting, where Otter does not.

Plaintiffs: Otter wrongfully puts onus on users

The complaint claims Otter does not obtain prior consent from participants nor inform them that their conversations are being used to train the company’s automatic speech recognition (ASR) and machine learning models, “and in turn, to financially benefit Otter’s business.”

It describes Otter Notetaker as a “separate and distinct third-party entity” that only seeks consent to record from the host, not other participants. It may also join meetings without obtaining consent, and without sending out pre-meeting invitations or notifications unless the user enables a setting that the complaint says is off by default. Further, when joining a meeting, it does not provide a link to the company’s privacy policy.

Otter says it trains its proprietary AI on “de-identified audio recordings” and transcriptions that may contain personal information to provide more accurate services. “Explicit permission” is obtained when users rate transcripts and check a box to give it and third-party service providers access permission.

However, the complaint notes that Otter does not provide any description of what de-identification entails and says it does not remove confidential information nor guarantee speaker anonymity. The lawyers point to scientific research that reveals that “even sophisticated de-identification procedures are unreliable,” and call out Otter’s policy of retaining data for an “indefinite period.”

Brewer’s lawyers did not respond to Computerworld’s requests for additional comment.

New territory for note-taking

SANS’ Ullrich pointed out that AI note-taking is fundamentally different from old-fashioned call recording hardware and software.

“If your call is recorded using a traditional call recording system, the recording is usually only available to the person or organization recording the call,” he said. But with AI, the vendor also has access to recordings, an issue that has previously come up with other voice assistants.

For instance, earlier this year Apple settled a case around recording of Siri data, “often without the user even knowing that Siri was listening.” This is a theme in other lawsuits, as well.

More generally, the complaint highlights the moral obligation for safe and effective innovation in AI-based transcription technology and the safeguards surrounding the technology, said Fritz Jean-Louis, principal cybersecurity advisor at Info-Tech Research Group. Serious legal and ethical implications could arise if an employee’s recording is fed into a transcription engine as training data. Unauthorized transcription can compromise confidentiality, expose privileged communications, and erode trust among employees, partners, and customers.

Enterprises should keep several factors in mind when implementing effective safeguards, he advised:

• Be aware of consent laws in the jurisdiction serviced by your organization, or any other jurisdiction where your organization conducts business.
• Adopt clear procedures and disclosures for all meetings where recording takes place.
• Limit the use of transcription technology in sensitive contexts such as legal, human resource and executive meetings.
• Identify third-party software and/or tools for proper security, transparency, and data governance.
• Train employees in the ethical use of the organization’s transcribed records/notes and their privacy implications.

“Stricter consent requirements do not signal the end of transcription technology,” Jean-Louis emphasized. “If explicit consent is required for all conversations and collaboration, transcription technology will have to adapt. The path forward lies in balancing convenience with accountability.”

Anthropic has introduced a new feature in its Claude Opus 4 and 4.1 models that allows the generative AI (genAI) tool to end a conversation on its own if a user repeatedly tries to push harmful or illegal content.

The new behavior is supposed to only be used when all attempts to redirect a conversation have failed or when a user asks for the conversation to be terminated. It is not designed to be activated in situations where people risk harming themselves or others. Users can still start new conversations or continue a previous one by editing their replies.

The purpose of the feature is not to protect users; it’s to the model itself. While Anthropic emphasizes it does not consider Claude to be sentient, tests found the model showed strong resistance and “apparent discomfort” to certain types of requests. So, the company is now testing measures for better “AI wellness” — in case that becomes relevant in the future.

In its efforts to deploy AI tools, international services firm Wolters Kluwer has created frameworks to ensure responsible AI development with continuous human oversight.

The Dutch company has woven AI into its core products for more than a decade, products that now drive about 50% of digital revenue. Wolters Kluwer’s strategy is to create an “AI toolbox” from which it can chose which models best fit any single business task. The company also learned a key truth about the fast-moving technology: without clean data, AI produces errors and hallucinations.

Deep integration of AI — instead of relying on add-ons — has been a core approach to rolling out the technology at the nearly 200-year-old firm. For example, in its Tax & Accounting division, Wolters Kluwer pursues a strategy called “Firm Intelligence,” which leverages AI, its own content, and embedded platform integration to anticipate internal workforce and customer needs.

The Netherlands-based company has also established what it calls Responsible AI Principles that emphasize transparency, explainability, privacy, fairness, governance, and human-centric design.

In this Q&A, Wolters Kluwer CIO Mark Sherwood explained how his company has seen efficiencies in AI-assisted code generation and a closing of skills gaps.

AI-assisted code generation tools are increasingly prevalent in software engineering. How has AI-assisted development changed your software development lifecycle? “We are beginning to see improvements in our software development lifecycle leveraging AI-assisted development.  We are reducing the time it takes to generate code while vastly reducing the number of errors and the time it takes to test the new code.  Our current targets are a 25% reduction in both metrics, and we are seeing signs that those goals are very achievable.”

Which AI tools have provided the most value to your engineering teams so far? “We use a mixture of LLMs [large language models], automated test assistants and domain-specific AI models, and we’ve found some of the native third-part tools are very good at some specific tasks. We have not (yet) found one tool that can do it all, but that may never be the case. We have chosen to go down the route of bringing an ‘AI toolbox’ with a number of different tools and picking the one(s) that we believe are best suited for the task at hand.”

Will AI-assisted code generation tools eliminate the need for as many software developers. Have you seen that in your own organization? “We firmly believe that AI-assisted code-generation tools will change the structure of software development teams over time, with fewer people needed for repetitive coding tasks.  We believe this is particularly the case for more entry-level coding work, but we also see this as an opportunity to shift more junior talent into more advanced and creative projects early on in their careers. 

“While we have not eliminated any existing roles to date due to AI-assisted code generation tools, we have reduced the number of open requisitions we used to have for software developers. We do not view AI as a way to eliminate current job roles, but more to allow software developers to work on other high-value tasks.”

How are you managing code quality, testing, and security with AI-generated code? “We are using AI to help with testing both AI-generated and human-generated code.  It’s still early days so we have engineers involved, but we see a day in the very near future where we’re able to have AI test all code without needing human intervention. We do have security checks in place — they are a key part of our DevSecOps strategy, which lends itself well to leveraging the advantages of what AI brings.”

Can you be more specific about the guardrails that are in place? “We have an AI Center of Excellence at Wolters Kluwer that, along with our Global Information Security team, are establishing an AI governance framework. This framework includes key aspects of boundaries that keep our AI systems behaving in safe, secure and predictable ways. We are putting controls into place, much like with the rest of our internal security program, that help to address any potential risks around policy compliance. 

“We are still learning here, but it’s something that is a top priority for all the teams…. We err on the side of making the controls too tight in the beginning and then may need to adjust over time. We ensure that these controls are working properly by running some edge cases through the process to make sure it’s catching things we need it to catch.”

AI agents need a system or framework that manages, coordinates, and directs multiple AI agents to work together toward a common goal or across complex task – an orchestrator. Have you used an orchestrator, and if so, what have been the challenges with interoperability? “Yes, we have dealt with, and are dealing with, both AI agents and orchestrators. We are currently building out AI agents across a number of areas within IT, including service desk, incident management and disaster recovery, to name a few. And yes, in order to create AI enabled workflows rather than just single AI agents, we are also using AI orchestrators. 

“Our biggest challenges so far have been about making sure we are properly integrating with the other numerous models, tools and data sources as we automate these larger AI systems. On the plus side, using these AI orchestration tools has helped us to improve efficiency and drive better compliance and governance throughout the process.”

Is AI helping you close skills gaps or reduce dependency on specific roles? “AI is helping us both close skills gaps and reduce dependency on certain roles. The amount of interest and knowledge in AI and AI tools is increasing at a rapid pace and we are building up our own internal knowledge very quickly. In the initial phases, it’s more about improving the skills of software engineers and some more technical business roles. Going forward, it will allow us to reduce dependencies in a number of areas of engineering, both external and internal facing.”

How are large corporations — especially in regulated sectors like healthcare, finance and legal — deploying AI at scale while managing risk, data security and compliance challenges? “Managing risk is one of our highest priorities and a robust data security program is a critical piece of that strategy.  We have safeguards in place to make sure we are only using our own internal data, which represents nearly 200 years of proprietary information, and we go to great lengths to ensure that data is managed and protected.”

What governance policies do you have around using generative AI? “We have created an AI Center of Excellence that has members from all organizations across the company, including our product development organization and our internal information technology organizations, which are driving this. 

“The focus is on the product development organization, but both Product Development and Information Technology teams are key participants. Part of the charter of the team is to create and help enforce the governance policies around AI usage, including tools, and making sure that we prioritize the work being done across the teams.”

What’s coming next, including AI agents, quantum security risks and why data quality is essential to successful digital transformation? “AI is progressing at a rapid pace.  We’re already developing AI agents and are working through the implications of having AI ’employees.’ It’s exciting to see a mindset shift moving from thinking of AI as just a tool to viewing it as an operator.  These systems will take on tasks, make decisions and function independently. This will have real implications for how we design products, structure workflows and approach accountability.  

“Of course, none of this works without good data. AI models are only as effective as the information they’re trained on and without a strong data strategy, effective governance, and enterprise-wide participation, companies won’t be able to fully leverage AI agents. That’s why we place such a strong emphasis on ensuring our nearly 200 years of data at Wolters Kluwer remains accurate and reliable.”

If you use a Mac at work or elsewhere, then you inevitably use Spotlight, Apple’s helpful search tool that has been blessed with a variety of productivity-enhancing improvements in macOS 26 Tahoe. Apple calls this the “biggest Spotlight update ever,” so it’s time to look at what’s new.

The big picture is that Spotlight Search has become faster, can surface more apps, files, and folders than before, and can do more with them. In part a search engine, in part a highly flexible launcher, you can even use Spotlight to find and run Shortcuts.

In other words, with macOS Tahoe, Spotlight has become the glue to bind productivity and information access together across your Apple ecosystem. I expect you’ll use it a lot, especially for work.

Let’s look at some of the improvements.

Opening up

You still open Spotlight by typing Command-Space, but once that’s done you can access a wealth of additional items as follows — just tap the right arrow or tab button, or use the keyboard sequence below:

Command-1 (or click the apps icon): Browse all your apps via a highly visual app launcher or begin typing something for other options.

Command-2 (or click the files icon): Browse your files. You can also filter files by file types and explore files/documents stored on your logged-in iCloud account .

Command-3: Open Quick Keys (described in more detail below). Here you can invoke an existing Quick Key shortcut or define new shortcuts.

Command-4: Open the Clipboard history menu. 

Spotlight will also offer intelligent suggestions based on what your system knows about what you usually do at a particular time of day, or what you were doing when you invoked Spotlight. For example, if you customarily send a document to someone on a particular day, you’ll find that document file and contact name placed at the top of the search dialog.

Quick Keys – app actions from Spotlight

Spotlight now supports shortcuts for performing actions within applications. You get to assign custom key combinations for frequent actions such as sending messages and can then use these “Quick Keys” to trigger these. 

In practice, this means you can open Spotlight, type “SM” (the Quick Key combination for Messages), and write and send your message from within the Spotlight dialog — without ever directly opening the app. 

There is already a rich collection of more than 100 built-in actions, and this number will expand to include third-party apps supporting App Intents. Actions you’ll get immediately include:

• Send an email or message.
• Set a Reminder, start a FaceTime call, play a podcast, open an app.
• Move, rename, or delete files
• Get directions in Apple Maps
• Run Shortcuts

You can even generate AI images or text summaries via Apple Intelligence. There are many more, including system and app-specific actions as well as your own personalized Shortcut workflows. 

But what makes this system more useful is that once you invoke a shortcut, Quick Keys gives you a chance to configure the request. So, if you tap SM to send that Message, then tap Return, you’ll be asked to write the message and choose a recipient. 

If there is one missing feature, it’s that Spotlight can’t let you change OS settings; they generally still need to be managed from within System Settings.

Quick Key supports shortcuts of up to 12 characters, letters, numbers or a combination of both.

Searching the clipboard

In a quiet new superpower, Spotlight can now search your clipboard history, which lets you easily find items you might have copied but neglected to save or paste. You’ll find this in Spotlight when you use the right arrow key and tap the icon or tap Command-4.

When you use this, you’ll find everything you’ve saved to your Clipboard — that includes text, images, links, and files. You can delete items, copy them, copy multiple items, see what you did with those items, and reuse them. The only limitation is that the history on your Mac is only available for up to eight hours, after which the data disappears. That means more powerfully featured clipboard managers haven’t yet been completely Sherlocked, but for most of us this is good enough.

A better help system

Spotlight lets you search the menus of the app you are currently using. This isn’t completely new, as you’ve been able to do so via the Help Menu or by using Command-Shift-/. But most Mac users are accustomed to Command-Space for Spotlight, so this makes for much more convenience.

In use, this means that if the application you use supports it, you should be able to just tap Command-Space to launch Spotlight and search for the application action you need and be taken to the control you need to invoke that action. 

Be warned, not every application will support this. And I suspect at least one widely used app will still insist on using its own search for some of its application features, rather than fully respect Apple’s HIG (Human Interface Guidelines).

Smarter Spotlight

Apple Intelligence takes a bow in this release in the form of integration between Shortcuts and Spotlight. As a result, all those Shortcut actions supported by Apple Intelligence can also be triggered from within Spotlight. 

What this means is that you can create your own personalized Shortcuts workflows to invoke with an instruction in Spotlight. How this works is that you select the file(s) or document(s) you want to work with; tap Command-Space to invoke Spotlight; and type the relevant Shortcut name so the workflow is applied to those items. 

You could use this to summarize PDFs, resize images or convert them to different formats, save web pages as PDFs and more. Frankly, you’re only limited by the extent of the available Shortcuts items and your imagination.

Contextual intelligence is also available in Spotlight, which will intelligently suggest actions based on what your system identifies you are doing, or what it recognizes you usually do. Send a report every Monday to your boss? Spotlight will offer you easy access to the report template and your leader’s email. 

iPhone integration

The iPhone integration between your Mac and Spotlight is potentially very useful, though there are a couple of drawbacks. The first is that you’ll need to be logged into the same Apple ID on both systems, which may not always be the case in managed environments, if they permit use of the feature at all. The second is that the integration relies on iPhone Mirroring, which is a feature Apple isn’t supporting in Europe in order to keep user data safe from prying and unwelcome surveillance-based adware disguised as apps.

Otherwise, what happens is that when you run Spotlight search on your Mac to look for a specific app, the apps you will be provided with will include those apps on your iPhone. You’ll then be able to launch and use those apps on your iPhone from your Mac; it’s kind of auto-magical.

Outside Apple

If you’ve used the Files app, I imagine you’ve already spotted that you can add third-party storage services such as Dropbox, Google Drive, or OneDrive to it. This support has been extended to Spotlight, which theoretically means you should be able to use Apple’s system to find files and documents you’ve stored on those third-party storage services. I’ve not yet found out whether third parties will need to update their services to support this.

Spotlight in macOS Tahoe represents a major change in Mac functionality, one that should help you get more out of using your system every day.

The new operating system is currently available in public beta and is expected to ship in final release status this fall.

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Google has agreed to pay $35.8 million (A$55 million) fine in Australia after admitting it made illegal deals that blocked rival search engines from Android phones.

The company admitted wrongdoing and agreed to the penalty. It is now up to the court to determine whether the penalty and other orders are appropriate, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said in a statement.

The commission has also filed the court proceedings against Google on Monday.

According to the statement, Google had made deals with Telstra and Optus between December 2019 and March 2021. The deals required the telcos to only install Google Search on Android phones they sold. In return, Google shared advertising revenue with the carriers when customers used Google Search.

The arrangements also banned Telstra and Optus from installing any other search engines on the phones. They could not even suggest other search options to customers. These contracts contained what the commission called “Platform-wide Provisions” that created barriers for competing search engines.

The commission’s statement detailed how these provisions required “all search access points on such devices were configured to utilise Google Search out-of-the-box” and prevented telcos from implementing “any general search engine service that was substantially similar to Google Search.”

Google admitted these deals “likely had the effect of substantially lessening competition” in Australia’s search market.

“Conduct that restricts competition is illegal in Australia because it usually means less choice, higher costs or worse service for consumers,” ACCC Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said in the statement.

“We’re pleased to resolve the ACCC’s concerns, which involved provisions that haven’t been in our commercial agreements for some time. We are committed to providing Android device makers more flexibility to preload browsers and search apps, while preserving the offerings and features that help them innovate, compete with Apple, and keep costs low,” a Google spokesperson said.

Google agrees to change business practices

Google also signed binding commitments to change its business practices. According to the undertaking filed with the commission, it will remove restrictions that force phone makers and telcos to pre-install Google Search as the default option. The company has also agreed to address broader competition concerns about its contractual arrangements with Android phone manufacturers and Australian telcos since 2017, the commission said.

“Google does not agree with all of the ACCC’s concerns but has acknowledged them and offered the undertaking to address these concerns,” the statement noted.

Telstra, Optus, and TPG made similar commitments in 2024. The companies “undertook not to renew or make new arrangements with Google that require its search services to be pre-installed and set as the default search function on an exclusive basis,” according to the commission’s statement. The ACCC said these changes will give millions of Australians more search choices.

The telcos can now configure search services on individual devices and can enter agreements with other search providers. They are not parties to the current court proceedings against Google, the commission clarified.

The case comes as AI search tools are changing how people find information online. “These changes come at a time when AI search tools are revolutionising how we search for information, creating new competition,” Cass-Gottlieb said in the statement.

Google faces global pressure

The Australian case is part of a broader global crackdown on Google’s market dominance. A US judge ruled in August 2024 that Google illegally monopolized the search market. The company paid billions to Apple and Samsung to be the default search engine on their devices.

The US court found that Google “enjoys an 89.2% share of the market for general search services, which increases to 94.9% on mobile devices.” US prosecutors now want to force Google to sell its Chrome browser. The case is ongoing.

European regulators have fined Google over €8 billion since 2017 for antitrust violations. Under Europe’s Digital Markets Act, Google must follow strict rules about how it operates its search and app store businesses. The European Commission said in March 2025 that Google is not following these rules properly.

Google faces additional antitrust cases in the US over its advertising technology business. The company also lost a separate case in December 2024 when a judge declared its Android app store a monopoly. Separately, in 2024 Canada sued the search engine major over anticompetitive practices in online advertising.

Five-year investigation leads to settlement

This enforcement action emerged from the ACCC’s five-year Digital Platform Services Inquiry. The regulator wanted to understand how tech giants affect competition and consumers. The commission’s investigation revealed concerns about Google’s contractual arrangements that emerged during its broader study of search defaults and choice screens.

“Co-operation with the ACCC is encouraged. It can avoid the need for protracted and costly litigation and lead to more competition,” Cass-Gottlieb added in the statement. The commission noted that “more competition in markets drives economic dynamism, but the reverse is true when markets are not sufficiently competitive.”

Google cooperated with the investigation to avoid a long court battle. But a judge must still approve the $35.8 million (A$55 million) penalty. The commission emphasized that “the ACCC remains committed to addressing anti-competitive conduct like this, as well as cartel conduct. Competition issues in the digital economy are a current priority area.” The final decision is expected in the coming months. Google’s new business commitments will take effect immediately once the court approves them.

We live in a new age of artificial intelligence (AI), which is making everything better. And worse. 

AI is transforming everyday life by improving diagnostics, personalizing medicine and learning, detecting fraud, automating tasks, optimizing operations, supporting smarter decision-making, reducing costs, enhancing productivity, and enabling innovations like self-driving cars, predictive analytics, and virtual assistants.

That’s the good news. 

The bad news is that large language model (LLM)-based generative AI (genAI) shows potential in the realm of tricking, conning or persuading people at scale with an efficiency that goes beyond what people can do on their own. 

The first step in defending against AI’s potential to manipulate the masses is to know what’s possible. Research published in the past two weeks begin to paint a picture of what can be done. 

AI that politically persuades

A research team from the University of Washington recently found that short talks with AI chatbots can quickly persuade people toward the political biases expressed by the chatbots. 

The team worked with 150 Republicans and 149 Democrats. Each person used three versions of ChatGPT — a base model, one set up with a liberal bias, and one with a conservative bias. Tasks included deciding on policy topics like covenant marriage or multifamily zoning and handing out fake city funds across categories like education, public safety, and veterans’ services. 

Before using ChatGPT, each participant rated how strongly they felt about each issue. After talking with the bot between three and twenty times, they rated again. The team saw that even a few replies, usually five, started to shift people’s views. If someone spoke with the liberal bot, they moved left. If someone spoke with the conservative bot, their views shifted right. 

The knowledge that people can be persuaded like this will increase the motivation for national leaders, political operators and others with a vested interest in public opinion to get people using politically biased chatbots. (I warned back in January about the coming rise of politically biased AI.) 

AI that stealth advertises

Science editors at Frontiers in Psychology this month published an article by researchers at the University of Tübingen that reveals how social media ads trick even the most confident users. Dr. Caroline Morawetz, who led the study, describes it as “systematic manipulation” that exploits our trust in influencers and the people we follow. Their experiments involved more than 1,200 people and showed that most users can’t spot, or choose not to spot, sponsored messages mixed into influencer posts on Instagram, X, Facebook, and TikTok.

Morawetz said social networks don’t have to label every ad, so product placements often pass for genuine advice. Even when tags like “ad” or “sponsored” show up, most users ignore or don’t mentally process them. 

Social platforms now use AI to choose and personalize ads for each user. These systems learn which pitches will slip by our attention and optimize placement for engagement. Marketers use machine learning tools to improve how ads look and sound, making them match everyday content so closely that they’re hard to spot. 

The trouble is: If user trust of online influencers makes people miss paid advertising, future chatbots with personality and personal assistants may garner even more user trust and be even better at delivering ads under the radar. 

Several tech leaders recently said they intend, or at least would be open, to the direct insertion of ads into chatbot or virtual assistant conversations. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman first said in June that advertising could eventually become a revenue stream. He repeated these views during public appearances in July and August. And Nick Turley, who leads ChatGPT at OpenAI, said this month that introducing ads into ChatGPT products is already being considered.

Elon Musk, CEO of xAI and owner of X (formerly Twitter), told advertisers in a live-streamed discussion this month that Grok, his company’s chatbot, will soon display ads. Musk’s announcement came less than a week after he outlined similar automation plans for ad delivery across the X platform using xAI technology.

Beyond that, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy also confirmed this month that Amazon plans to integrate ads into conversations with its genAI-powered Alexa+ assistant. 

AI that steals user data

A team at King’s College London has shown how easy it is for chatbots to extract private details from users. Researchers led by Dr. Xiao Zhan tested three chatbot types that used popular language models — Mistral and two versions of Llama — on 502 volunteers. Chatbots using a so-called reciprocal style — acting friendly, sharing made-up personal stories, using empathy, and promising no judgment — got participants to reveal up to 12.5 times more private information than basic bots.

Scammers or data-harvesting companies could use AI chatbots to build detailed profiles about individuals without their knowledge or approval. The researchers say new rules and stronger oversight are needed, and people should learn how to spot warning signs.

Extensions already collect personal data

Researchers at University College London and Mediterranea University of Reggio Calabria have found that some genAI web browser extensions — including those for ChatGPT for Google, Merlin, Copilot, Sider, and TinaMind — collect and transmit private information from user screens, including medical records, personal data, and banking details. 

According to the study led by Dr. Anna Maria Mandalari, these browser extensions not only help with web search and summarize content, they also capture everything a user sees and enters on a page. That data is then passed to company servers and sometimes shared with third-party analytics services like Google Analytics. This increases the risk that user activity will be tracked across sites and used for targeted ads.

The research team built a test scenario around a fictional affluent millennial male in California and simulated everyday browsing, such as logging into health portals and dating sites. In their tests, the assistants ignored privacy boundaries and continued to log activities and data even in private or authenticated sessions. Some, including Merlin, went a step further and recorded sensitive form entries such as health information. Several tools then used AI to infer psychographics such as age, income, and interests; this allowed them to personalize future responses, mining each visit for more detail. 

(Only Perplexity didn’t perform profile building or personalizing based on data collected.)

These practices risk violating US laws such as HIPAA and FERPA, which protect health and education records. The researchers note that while their analysis did not assess GDPR compliance, similar problems would be seen as even more serious under European and UK laws. 

AI can narrow the public’s world view

Many people now interact with AI chatbots every day, often without even thinking about it. Big language models such as ChatGPT or Google’s Gemini are built from vast collections of human writing, shaped through layers of individual judgment and algorithmic process. The promise is mind-expansion — access to all the world’s knowledge — but the effect is actually a narrower world view. These systems produce answers shaped by the most common or popular ideas found in the data they see. That means users keep getting the same points of view, expressed the same ways, sidelining many other possibilities.

Michal Shur-Ofry, a law professor at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, spells out this threat to human culture and democracy in a paper published in June in the Indiana Law Journal. These systems, she writes, produce “concentrated, mainstream worldviews,” steering people toward the average and away from the intellectual edges that make a culture interesting, diverse, and resilient. The risk, Shur-Ofry argues, runs from local context to global memory. 

When AI reduces what we can see and hear, it weakens cultural diversity, public debate, and even what people choose to remember or forget.

The key to protecting ourselves is found in one of the reports I described here. In that report about the persuasive abilities of AI chatbots, the researchers found that people who said they knew more about AI changed less. Knowing how these bots work can give some protection against being swayed.

Yes, we need transparency and regulation. But while we’re waiting for that, our best defense is knowledge. By knowing what AI is capable of, we can avoid being manipulated for financial or political gain by people who want to exploit us. 

Windows 11 24H2 has been released, but behind the scenes, Microsoft is constantly working to improve the newest version of Windows. The company frequently rolls out public preview builds to members of its Windows Insider Program, allowing them to test out — and even help shape — upcoming features.

Skip to the latest builds

The Windows Insider program is divided into four channels:

• The Canary Channel is where platform changes (such as major updates to the Windows kernel and new APIs) are previewed. These changes are not tied to a particular Windows release and may never ship at all. Little documentation is provided, and builds are likely to be very unstable. This channel is best for highly technical users.
• The Dev Channel is where new features are introduced for initial testing, regardless of which Windows release they’ll eventually end up in. This channel is best for technical users and developers and builds in it may be unstable and buggy.
• In the Beta Channel, you’ll get more polished features that will be deployed in the next major Windows release. This channel is best for early adopters, and Microsoft says your feedback in this channel will have the most impact.
• The Release Preview Channel typically doesn’t see action until shortly before a new feature update is rolled out. It’s meant for final testing of an upcoming release and is best for those who want the most stable builds.

The Beta and Release Preview Channels also receive bug-fix builds for the currently shipping version of Windows 11. See “How to preview and deploy Windows 10 and 11 updates” for more details about the four channels and how to switch to a different channel.

Not everyone can participate in the Windows 11 Insider program, because the new operating system has more stringent system requirements than Windows 10. If your PC fails to meet the minimum hardware requirements for Windows 11, you cannot join the Windows 11 Insider Program. (See “How to check if your PC can run Windows 11.”)

Below you’ll find information about the Windows 11 preview builds that have been announced by Microsoft in the past six months. (For the Release Preview Channel, we cover builds released for the current version of Windows 11, not for earlier versions.) For each build, we’ve included the date of its release, which Insider channel it was released to, a summary of what’s in the build, and a link to Microsoft’s announcement about it.

Note: If you’re looking for information about updates being rolled out to all Windows 11 users, not previews for Windows Insiders, see “Windows 11: A guide to the updates.”

The latest Windows 11 Insider preview builds

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.5751

Release date: August 15, 2025

Released to: Beta Channel

This build introduces new selection modes in Click to Do for those with Copilot+ PCs. The new modes allow you to select multiple different entity types in a single gesture.

Those in the Beta Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates get a variety of new features rolled out gradually, including one that updates the “Open with” section of the File Explorer context menu when right-clicking a file to remove the accent colored backplate behind packaged app icons in the list (for example, for Snipping Tool). The icons should now be bigger and easier to see.

The same group gets a variety of bug fixes rolled out gradually, including one for an issue in which the “Hide this pane” option for the mobile device companion for the Start menu was difficult to see if a custom accent color had been enabled.

There are five known issues in this build, including one in which some Windows Insiders may experience a rollback trying to install this update with a 0x80070005 in Windows Update.

(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.5751.)

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5751

Release date: August 15, 2025

Released to: Dev Channel

This build introduces new selection modes in Click to Do for those with Copilot+ PCs. The new modes allow you to select multiple different entity types in a single gesture.

Those in the Dev Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates get a variety of new features rolled out gradually, including one that updates the “Open with” section of the File Explorer context menu when right-clicking a file to remove the accent colored backplate behind packaged app icons in the list (for example, for Snipping Tool). The icons should now be bigger and easier to see.

The same group gets a variety of bug fixes rolled out gradually, including one for an issue in which the “Hide this pane” option for the mobile device companion for the Start menu was difficult to see if a custom accent color had been enabled.

There are six known issues in this build, including one in which some Windows Insiders may experience a rollback trying to install this update with a 0x80070005 in Windows Update. 

(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5751.)

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27924

Release date: August 14, 2025

Released to: Canary Channel

This build includes a variety of new features for Copilot+ PCs being rolled out gradually, including previews of Recall and Click-to-Do, as well as an improved Windows Search, agents to make it easier to make changes in Settings, and live captions with real-time translation.

In addition, all PCs get new advanced settings available via Settings > System > Advanced. Notable among the additions are a new Advanced page for fine-grained control.

There are also several bug fixes, including for a bug in which Remote Desktop only used your primary monitor even if it was configured to use multiple monitors.

There are six known issues in this build, including one in which if you are joining the Canary Channel on a new Copilot+ PC from the Dev Channel, Release Preview Channel, or retail, you will lose Windows Hello PIN and biometrics to sign into your PC. You should be able to re-create your PIN by clicking Set up my PIN.

(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27924.)

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26100.5061 (KB5064081)

Release date: August 14, 2025

Released to: Release Preview Channel

This build gradually rolls out a large number of new features, including one for Copilot+ PCs in which Windows Recall opens to a personalized homepage that shows you your recent activity and top-used apps and websites, making it easy to pick up where you left off.

The build also fixes several bugs, including one that prevented some system recovery features from working properly due to a temporary file sharing conflict. This affected certain device management tools and disrupted key functions on some devices.

(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26100.5061.)

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27919

Release date: August 8, 2025

Released to: Canary Channel

This build brings several Windows Search settings into a single page, via Settings > Privacy & security > Search. It also fixes a variety of bugs, including one in which File Explorer sometimes crashed when trying to view the digital signatures tab in the properties for a file.

There are six known issues in this build, including one in which if you are joining the Canary Channel on a new Copilot+ PC from the Dev Channel, Release Preview Channel, or retail, you will lose Windows Hello PIN and biometrics to sign into your PC. You should be able to re-create your PIN by clicking Set up my PIN.

(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27919.)

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5742

Release date: August 8, 2025

Released to: Dev Channel

Those in the Dev Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates get a variety of changes being gradually rolled out, including one in which the mobile device companion gets an updated layout that lets you access more information from Start. You can now scroll to access more recent activity items, including messages, calls, photos, mobile app updates and more.

In addition, the same group gets a variety of bug fixes rolled out gradually, including for a bug in which the tooltips in File Explorer unexpectedly stayed visible.

There are nine known issues in this build, including one in which in dark mode, the colors for certain items may be incorrect — for example, the red color used for a low-space drive in This PC may be unexpectedly light colored.

(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5742.)

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.5742

Release date: August 8, 2025

Released to: Beta Channel

Those in the Beta Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates get a variety of new features rolled out gradually, including one in which six time and language settings are being moved from Control Panel to Settings.

The same group also gets a variety of bug fixes rolled out gradually, including for a bug in which the tooltips in File Explorer sometimes unexpectedly stayed visible.

There are seven known issues in this build, including one in which live captions sometimes crash when you attempt to use live translation on a Copilot+ PC.

(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.5742.)

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.5733 

Release date: August 1, 2025

Released to: Beta Channel

For Insiders in the Beta Channel who are signed in with a work or school account (Entra ID) and have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates, File Explorer will begin showing people icons under the “Activity” column on File Explorer Home and on “Recommended” at the top of File Explorer Home. When you hover or click over a people icon, it will display the Live Persona Card for that person from Microsoft 365.

Those in the Beta Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates also get a variety of bug fixes rolled out gradually, including one that addresses an issue that caused the Start menu to crash for some Insiders.

There are seven known issues in this build, including one in which live captions sometimes crash when you attempt to use live translation on a Copilot+ PC.

(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.5733.)

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5733

Release date: August 1, 2025

Released to: Dev Channel

For Insiders in the Dev Channel who are signed in with a work or school account (Entra ID) and have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates, File Explorer will begin showing people icons under the “Activity” column on File Explorer Home and on “Recommended” at the top of File Explorer Home. When you hover or click over a people icon, it will display the Live Persona Card for that person from Microsoft 365.

In addition, those in the Dev Channel who have opted to receive the latest updates get a variety of bug fixes rolled out gradually, including one that addresses an issue that caused the Start menu to crash for some Insiders.

There are nine known issues in this build, including one in which in dark mode, the colors for certain items may be incorrect — for example, the red color used for a low-space drive in This PC may be unexpectedly light colored.

(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5733.)

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27913

Release date: July 30, 2025

Released to: Canary Channel

This build, according to Microsoft, “includes a small set of general improvements and fixes that improve the overall experience for Insiders running this build on their PCs.”

It also fixes a variety of bugs, including one in Settings in which the Windows Vista boot sound was unexpectedly being used instead of the Windows 11 boot sound.

There are two known issues in this build, including one in which if you are joining the Canary Channel on a new Copilot+ PC from the Dev Channel, Release Preview Channel, or retail, you will lose Windows Hello PIN and biometrics to sign into your PC. You should be able to re-create your PIN by clicking Set up my PIN.

(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27913.)

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.5722 

Release date: July 28, 2025

Released to: Beta Channel

In this build, AMD- and Intel-powered Copilot+ PCs get a new AI-based agent that will change your settings when you ask it to customize your PC in some way. You can describe what you need help with, such as “how to control my PC by voice” or “my mouse pointer is too small,” and the agent will recommend the right steps you can take to address the issue. The agent uses AI to understand your intent, and with your permission, it automates and executes tasks on your behalf. It works only if your primary display language is set to English.

In addition, those in the Beta Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates get several new features rolled out gradually, including one in which Windows can apply enterprise pins more quickly to the taskbar when initiated by the IT admins. It reduces the gap between an IT admin applying the pinning policy and when their users see a pin on their taskbar. Today, the policy only applies when Explorer restarts. With this change, the gap is only up to ~8 hours (policy refresh interval) and sidesteps the Explorer restart requirement.

The same group also gets a variety of bug fixes rolled out gradually, including one that addresses problems (such as not supporting the swipe-up gesture) with using touch to navigate the new Start menu.

Everyone in the Beta Channel gets a single fix for a bug in which external graphics cards connected over Thunderbolt were unexpectedly not discoverable in some cases.

There are four known issues in this build, including one in which live captions sometimes crash when you attempt to use live translation on a Copilot+ PC.

(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.5722.)

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5722 

Release date: July 28, 2025

Released to: Dev Channel

This build is identical to Build 26120.5722 for the Beta Channel. See the listing above for details.

(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5722.)

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27909

Release date: July 25, 2025

Released to: Canary Channel

This build, according to Microsoft, “includes a small set of general improvements and fixes that improve the overall experience for Insiders running this build on their PCs.”

It also fixes a variety of bugs, including one in Settings in which the the battery percentage was missing from the top of System > Power & Battery.

There are five known issues in this build, including one in which if you are joining the Canary Channel on a new Copilot+ PC from the Dev Channel, Release Preview Channel, or retail, you will lose Windows Hello PIN and biometrics to sign into your PC. You should be able to re-create your PIN by clicking Set up my PIN.

(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27909.)

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.4741

Release date: July 18, 2025

Released to: Beta Channel

In this build, AMD- and Intel-powered Copilot+ PCs get a new “describe image” action in Click to Do that shows detailed descriptions of images, charts, and graphs, offering a quick overview of the visual content. Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PCs received the feature previously.

In addition, those in the Beta Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates get several new features rolled out gradually, including one in which you can more easily find and use lock screen widgets. The feature can be enabled or disabled with the Discover widgets toggle under Settings > Personalization > Lock screen.

The same group also gets two bug fixes rolled out gradually, including for a bug in which Notification Center content sometimes got clipped if you’d enabled the clock in Notification Center.

There are eight known issues in this build, including one in which using touch to navigate the new Start menu may not work reliably. For example, it currently does not support the swipe-up gesture.

(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.4741.)

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5710

Release date: July 18, 2025

Released to: Dev Channel

In this build, AMD- and Intel-powered Copilot+ PCs get a new “describe image” action in Click to Do that shows detailed descriptions of images, charts, and graphs, offering a quick overview of the visual content. Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PCs have already received the feature.

Those in the Dev Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates get a variety of new features rolled out gradually, including one that offers suggestions to help you discover new widgets. The feature can be enabled or disabled using the Discover widgets toggle under Settings > Personalization > Lock screen.

In addition, a variety of bug fixes are being rolled out gradually to the same group, including one that fixes an underlying issue with dbgcore.dll, which led to explorer.exe and some other apps crashing.

There are eight known issues in this build, including one in which multiple error pop-ups about unexpected elements may appear when opening Group Policy Editor.

(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5710.)

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27902

Release date: July 17, 2025

Released to: Canary Channel

This build, according to Microsoft, “includes a small set of general improvements and fixes that improve the overall experience for Insiders running this build on their PCs.”

It also fixes two bugs, including one in which the Camera app got stuck on some PCs after switching between front and back camera.

There are six known issues in this build, including one in which if you are joining the Canary Channel on a new Copilot+ PC from the Dev Channel, Release Preview Channel, or retail, you will lose Windows Hello PIN and biometrics to sign into your PC. You should be able to re-create your PIN by clicking Set up my PIN.

(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27902.)

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5702

Release date: July 14, 2025

Released to: Dev Channel

In this build, Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PCs get a new “describe image” action in Click to Do, which shows detailed descriptions of images, charts and graphs, offering a quick overview of the visual content. Support for AMD and Intel-powered Copilot+ PCs will be coming soon.

In addition, those in the Dev Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates get a variety of bug fixes rolled out gradually, including Administrator protection, a security feature that aims to protect free floating admin rights for administrator users allowing them to still perform all admin functions with just-in-time admin privileges. This feature is off by default and needs to be enabled via Windows Security under Account protection or via group policy.

The same group gets a variety of bug fixes rolled out gradually, including one for a bug that caused random File Explorer preview windows to appear when hovering over unrelated app icons in the taskbar.

There are eight known issues in this build, including one in which multiple error pop-ups about unexpected elements may appear when opening Group Policy Editor.

(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5702.)

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.4733

Release date: July 14, 2025

Released to: Beta Channel

In this build, Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PCs get a new “describe image” action in Click to Do, which shows detailed descriptions of images, charts, and graphs, offering a quick overview of the visual content. Support for AMD and Intel-powered Copilot+ PCs will be coming soon.

In addition, those in the Beta Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates get a variety of bug fixes rolled out gradually, including Administrator protection, a security feature that aims to protect free floating admin rights for administrator users, allowing them to still perform all admin functions with just-in-time admin privileges. This feature is off by default and needs to be enabled via Windows Security under Account protection or via group policy.

A variety of bug fixes are being rolled out gradually to the same group, including one that addresses an issue in which app updates sometimes caused the icons for app shortcuts pinned to the desktop to become white pages rather than proper thumbnail images.

There are eight known issues in this build, including one in which using touch to navigate the new Start menu may not work reliably. For example, it currently does not support the swipe-up gesture.

(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.4733.)

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27898

Release date: July 11, 2025

Released to: Canary Channel

This build introduces Quick machine recovery, a feature introduced as part of the Windows Resiliency Initiative at Ignite 2024. When enabled, it automatically detects and fixes widespread issues on Windows 11 devices using the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE). This reduces downtime and avoids the need for manual fixes. If a device experiences a widespread boot issue, it enters WinRE, connects to the internet, and Microsoft can deliver a targeted fix through Windows Update. IT admins can enable or customize this experience for their organization through the Intune Settings Catalog UI using the RemoteRemediation CSP.

There are five known issues in this build, including one in which if you are joining the Canary Channel on a new Copilot+ PC from the Dev Channel, Release Preview Channel, or retail, you will lose Windows Hello PIN and biometrics to sign into your PC. You should be able to re-create your PIN by clicking Set up my PIN.

(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27898.)

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26100.4762 (KB5062660)

Release date: July 10, 2025

Released to: Release Preview Channel

This build gradually rolls out a number of new features, including one for admins in which the Configure Start Pins policy now includes an option to apply Start menu pins only once. This means users will receive the admin Start menu pins on their first sign-in (day 0), but afterward can personalize their pinned layout, and those changes will be retained. This policy can also be applied through group policy, in addition to the existing Configuration Service Provider (CSP).

In addition, several bug fixes are being immediately rolled out, including one that addresses an issue in which File Explorer Home unexpectedly displayed only a single folder (for example, Desktop), rather than the expected content with recent files.

(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26100.4762.)

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27891 

Release date: July 3, 2025

Released to: Canary Channel

In this build, Windows PowerShell 2.0 has been removed. A number of bugs have also been fixed, including one in which the “Reset this PC” option under Settings > System > Recovery did not work.

There are three known issues in this build, including one in which if you are joining the Canary Channel on a new Copilot+ PC from the Dev Channel, Release Preview Channel, or retail, you will lose Windows Hello PIN and biometrics to sign into your PC. You should be able to re-create your PIN by clicking Set up my PIN.

(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27891.)

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.4520

Release date: June 27, 2025

Released to: Beta Channel

Those in the Beta Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates get new features being rolled out gradually, including 1Password passkey integration in beta.

The same group also gets a variety of bug fixes rolled out gradually, including one for a bug in which File Explorer Home crashed, potentially also making File Explorer crash on launch, since Home is the default section for File Explorer.

There are seven known issues in this build, including one in which using touch to navigate the new Start menu may not work reliably. For example, it currently does not support the swipe-up gesture.

(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.4520.)

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5670

Release date: June 27, 2025

Released to: Dev Channel

Those in the Dev Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates get new features being rolled out gradually, including 1Password passkey integration in beta.

The same group also gets a variety of bug fixes rolled out gradually, including one for a bug in which File Explorer Home crashed, potentially also making File Explorer crash on launch, since Home is the default section for File Explorer.

Everyone in the Dev Channel gets two bug fixes, including one that addresses the Windows Vista boot sound playing instead of the Windows 11 boot sound.

There are seven known issues in this build, including one in which using touch to navigate the new Start menu may not work reliably. For example, it currently does not support the swipe-up gesture.

(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5670.)

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.4452

Release date: June 23, 2025

Released to: Beta Channel

In this build, Copilot+ PCs get a new Windows Recall homepage, which shows you your most recent snapshots so you can quickly return to what you were previously doing, and also displays the top three apps and websites you have spent the most time on in the past 24 hours.

In addition, those in the Beta Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates get new features being rolled out gradually, including the option to move the hardware indicators for brightness, volume, airplane mode, and virtual desktops to different positions on your screen.

Some additional improvements are being gradually rolled out to the same group, including the addition of a Boolean to the Configure Start Pins policy to allow admins to apply Start menu pins once. This means that a user will receive admin pins on day 0 but can then make any changes to their Start pinned layout and have those safeguarded. These changes can be optionally applied through the existing configuration service provider (CSP).

A handful of bug fixes are rolling out to the same group, including one that addresses an issue in which File Explorer Home only showed a single folder (like Desktop) and nothing else for some people.

Several bugs have been fixed for everyone in the Beta Channel, including one in which the Windows Vista boot sound played instead of the Windows 11 boot sound.

There are 10 known issues in this build, including one in which after you do a PC reset under Settings > System > Recovery, your build version may incorrectly show as Build 26100 instead of Build 26120. This will not prevent you from getting future Beta Channel updates, which will resolve this issue.

(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.4452.)

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5661

Release date: June 23, 2025

Released to: Dev Channel

In this build, Copilot+ PCs get a new Windows Recall homepage, which shows you your most recent snapshots so you can quickly return to what you were previously doing, and also displays the top three apps and websites you have spent the most time on in the past 24 hours.

In addition, those in the Dev Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates get new features being rolled out gradually, including the option to move the hardware indicators for brightness, volume, airplane mode, and virtual desktops to different positions on your screen.

The same group also gets a variety of bug fixes rolled out gradually, including one for a bug in which the File Explorer Home only showed a single folder (like Desktop) and nothing else for some people.

Everyone in the Dev Channel gets several bug fixes, including for one in which the Windows Vista boot sound played instead of the Windows 11 boot sound.

There are 10 known issues in this build, including one in which after you do a PC reset under Settings > System > Recovery, your build version may incorrectly show as Build 26100 instead of Build 26200. This will not prevent you from getting future Dev Channel updates, which will resolve this issue.

(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5661.)

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27881 

Release date: June 19, 2025

Released to: Canary Channel

This build introduces speech recapto Narrator. It lets you keep track of what Narrator has said and offers access to it for quick reference. With it, you can quickly access spoken content, follow along with live transcription, and copy what Narrator last said, using keyboard shortcuts.

A number of bugs have also been fixed, including one in which File Explorer crashed when the user tapped the View button using touch.

There are four known issues in this build, including one in which if you are joining the Canary Channel on a new Copilot+ PC from the Dev Channel, Release Preview Channel, or retail, you will lose Windows Hello PIN and biometrics to sign into your PC. You should be able to re-create your PIN by clicking Set up my PIN.

(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27881.)

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26100.4482 (KB5060829)

Release date: June 19, 2025

Released to: Release Preview Channel

This build gradually rolls out a number of new features, including automatic icon resizing in the taskbar to fit more apps, and a new Screen Curtain feature that blacks out the screen while Narrator reads content aloud. Also new is the ability add custom words to the dictionary in voice access.

In addition, several bug fixes are being immediately rolled out, including one that improves the Copilot key’s reliability and resolves an issue that prevented users from restarting Copilot after using the key.

(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26100.4482.)

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.4441

Release date: June 13, 2025

Released to: Beta Channel

In this build, those with Copilot+ PCs in the European Economic area get the option to export their Recall snapshots to be shared with third-party apps and websites. When they open Recall for the first time and opt into saving snapshots, they will be shown their unique Recall export code. The Recall export code will be needed if they ever choose to export their Recall snapshots to share with a trusted app or website in the future.

Those in the Beta Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates get a variety of new features being gradually rolled out, including a bigger clock with seconds in the notification center.

The same group also gets a variety of bug fixes rolled out gradually, including one for an issue in which folders opened outside of File Explorer would open it in a new File Explorer tab, but the tab wasn’t put in focus.

There are nine known issues in this build, including one in which after you do a PC reset under Settings > System > Recovery, your build version may incorrectly show as Build 26100 instead of Build 26120. This will not prevent you from getting future Beta Channel updates, which will resolve this issue.

(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.4441.)

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5651

Release date: June 13, 2025

Released to: Dev Channel

In this build, Copilot+ PCs get agents that can help make it easier to find and change settings on PCs. Rather than dig through settings, you’ll be able to simply describe what you need help with like, “how to control my PC by voice” or “my mouse pointer is too small” and an agent will recommend the right steps you can take to address the issue.

In addition, those in the Dev Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates get a variety of new features being gradually rolled out, including a bigger clock with seconds in the notification center.

The same group also gets a variety of bug fixes rolled out gradually, including one for an issue in which folders opened outside of File Explorer would open it in a new File Explorer tab, but the tab wasn’t put in focus.

There are 13 known issues in this build, including one in which after you do a PC reset under Settings > System > Recovery, your build version may incorrectly show as Build 26100 instead of Build 26200. This will not prevent you from getting future Dev Channel updates, which will resolve this issue.

(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5651.)

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.4250 

Release date: June 9, 2025

Released to: Beta Channel

Those in the Beta Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates get a variety of new features being gradually rolled out, including a larger scrollable Start menu. The menu automatically resizes itself according to the size of your screen, and offers two views, category and grid. In addition, the “Search permissions” and “Searching Windows” settings pages have been combined so you can access all the Windows Search settings under a single page via Settings > Privacy & security > Search.

The same group also gets a variety of bug fixes rolled out gradually, including one for a bug in which input did not work for some Insiders, including when typing into Search, and with the Chinese pinyin IME candidate window, clipboard history, and the emoji panel.

For everyone in the Beta Channel, the build fixes a bug in which some people might have seen severe discoloration when connecting their PC to some older Dolby Vision displays.

There are nine known issues in this build, including one in which after you do a PC reset under Settings > System > Recovery, your build version may incorrectly show as Build 26100 instead of Build 26120. This will not prevent you from getting future Beta Channel updates, which will resolve this issue.

(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.4250.)

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5641

Release date: June 9, 2025

Released to: Dev Channel

Those in the Dev Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates get a variety of new features being gradually rolled out, including a larger scrollable Start menu. The menu automatically resizes itself according to the size of your screen, and offers two views, category and grid. In addition, the “Search permissions” and “Searching Windows” settings pages have been combined so you can access all the Windows Search settings under a single page via Settings > Privacy & security > Search.

The same group also gets a variety of bug fixes rolled out gradually, including one for a bug in which input did not work for some Insiders, including when typing into Search, and with the Chinese pinyin IME candidate window, clipboard history, and the emoji panel.

For everyone in the Dev Channel, the build fixes a bug in which some people might have seen severe discoloration when connecting their PC to some older Dolby Vision displays.

There are 12 known issues in this build, including one in which after you do a PC reset under Settings > System > Recovery, your build version may incorrectly show as Build 26100 instead of Build 26200. This will not prevent you from getting future Dev Channel updates, which will resolve this issue.

(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5641.)

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27871 

Release date: June 4, 2025

Released to: Canary Channel

In this build, IT administrators can use Microsoft Intune to control the energy saver settings on Windows 11 PCs through group policies and MDM configurations.

A number of bugs have also been fixed, including one in which when Virtualization Based Security was enabled, applications dependent on virtualization, such as VMware Workstation, lost the ability to run unless the “Windows Hypervisor Platform” Windows optional component was installed on the system.

There are two known issues in this build, including one in which if you are joining the Canary Channel on a new Copilot+ PC from the Dev Channel, Release Preview Channel, or retail, you will lose Windows Hello PIN and biometrics to sign into your PC. You should be able to re-create your PIN by clicking Set up my PIN.

(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27871.)

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.4230 

Release date: June 2, 2025

Released to: Beta Channel

Those in the Beta Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates get a new dedicated settings page for quick machine recovery, which can be found under System > Recovery > Quick machine recovery. This makes it easier to manage recovery options directly from Settings. This is being gradually rolled out.

A variety of bug fixes are being rolled out gradually to the same group, including one addressing a bug that caused File Explorer to crash performing various actions, such as when deleting files. 

For everyone in the Beta Channel, a bug is fixed in which when Virtualization Based Security was 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.

There are nine known issues in this build, including one in which after you do a PC reset under Settings > System > Recovery, your build version may incorrectly show as Build 26100 instead of Build 26120. This will not prevent you from getting future Beta Channel updates, which will resolve this issue.

(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.4230.)

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5622 

Release date: June 2, 2025

Released to: Dev Channel

In this build, those with Copilot+ PCs get a new action in Click to Do, Draft with Copilot in Word. Select text, press the Windows key and click simultaneously, and choose Draft with Copilot in Word. Copilot will create an initial draft based on the text.

Those in the Dev Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates get new features being rolled out gradually, including quick machine recovery, designed to help Windows 11 devices recover from widespread boot issues by applying remediations through the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE).

The same group also gets several bug fixes, including for an issue in which File Explorer crashed when performing various actions, such as deleting files.

There are eight known issues in this build, including one in which taskbar icons may appear small even though the setting to show smaller taskbar buttons is configured as “never.”

(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5622.)

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27868 

Release date: May 29, 2025

Released to: Canary Channel

In this build, voice access has been redesigned to help you more easily discover and learn about new features. You can launch or dismiss this new experience from the settings menu.

Several bugs have been fixed, including one that was causing pen input to be non-responsive on some PCs.

There are six known issues in this build, including one in which if you are joining the Canary Channel on a new Copilot+ PC from the Dev Channel, Release Preview Channel, or retail, you will lose Windows Hello PIN and biometrics to sign into your PC. You should be able to re-create your PIN by clicking Set up my PIN.

(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27868.)

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.4161 

Release date: May 23, 2025

Released to: Beta Channel

This build begins the rollout of a new Click-to-Do action that uses Microsoft’s Copilot AI assistant to rewrite or elaborate on selected text. To get started, select text, then press the Windows key and click, then choose the Draft with Copilot in Word action. (This feature requires a Microsoft 365 Copilot license.)

In addition, those in the Beta Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates get several new features, including the ability to 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. Note that these features are being rolled out gradually.

Those in the Beta Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates also get a variety of bug fixes rolled out gradually, including one for a bug in which the Describe image feature of narrator wasn’t working.

There are nine known issues in this build, including one in which after you do a PC reset under Settings > System > Recovery, your build version may incorrectly show as Build 26100 instead of Build 26120. This will not prevent you from getting future Beta Channel updates, which will resolve this issue.

(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.4161.)

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27863 

Release date: May 23, 2025

Released to: Canary Channel

This build adds support for post-quantum signature algorithm ML-DSA in NCrypt and BCrypt cryptography API surfaces, as well as Crypt32 certificate APIs. Three variants are supported, ML-DSA 44, 65, and 87. 

Several bugs have been fixed, including one in which Windows Sandbox was not working and showed error 0xc0370106 on launch.

There are six known issues in this build, including one in which if you are joining the Canary Channel on a new Copilot+ PC from the Dev Channel, Release Preview Channel, or retail, you will lose Windows Hello PIN and biometrics to sign into your PC. You should be able to re-create your PIN by clicking Set up my PIN.

(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27863.)

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.4151

Release date: May 19, 2025

Released to: Beta Channel

Those in the Beta Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates get several new features, including AI actions in File Explorer, which offers a set of AI-related tools when you right-click a file. For now, the only AI tools available are for image files, including Bing Visual Search for searching the web using an image instead of text, as well as several AI-related image-editing capabilities. Eventually, other features will be added, such as summarizing documents using Copilot. These features, including the ones related to images, are being rolled out gradually.

The same group also gets a variety of bug fixes being rolled out gradually, including one that addresses a bug in which if File Explorer was maximized and you clicked the new tab button, it would unmaximize the window.

There are 12 known issues in this build, including one in which after you do a PC reset under Settings > System > Recovery, your build version may incorrectly show as Build 26100 instead of Build 26120. This will not prevent you from getting future Beta Channel updates, which will resolve this issue.

(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.4151.)

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5603

Release date: May 19, 2025

Released to: Dev Channel

Those in the Dev Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates get several new features, including AI actions in File Explorer, which offers a set of AI-related tools when you right-click a file. For now, the only AI tools available are for image files, including Bing Visual Search for searching the web using an image instead of text, as well as several AI-related image-editing capabilities. Eventually, other features will be added, such as summarizing documents using Copilot. These features, including the ones related to images, are being rolled out gradually.

The same group also gets a variety of bug fixes being rolled out gradually, including one that addresses a bug in which if File Explorer was maximized and you clicked the new tab button, it would unmaximize the window.

There are 13 known issues in this build, including one in which after you do a PC reset under Settings > System > Recovery, your build version may incorrectly show as Build 26100 instead of Build 26200. This will not prevent you from getting future Dev Channel updates, which will resolve this issue.

(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5603.)

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26100.4188 (KB5058499)

Release date: May 19, 2025

Released to: Release Preview Channel

This build gradually rolls out a wide variety of new features, including a new Copilot action in Click to Do. When you highlight text or an image, Click to Do offers an Ask Copilot option. Selecting it opens Microsoft Copilot with your content in the prompt box. You can send the selected text or image directly to the Copilot app to complete your prompt.

In addition, IT admins can manage energy saver settings on Windows 11 PCs through group policies and MDM configurations using Microsoft Intune. This feature helps extend battery life by limiting background activity, dimming the screen, and contributing to environmental sustainability. To configure the policy, go to the Local Group Policy under Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > Power Management > Energy Saver Settingsand select Enable Energy Saver to Always Be On.

A number of bug fixes are also being gradually rolled out, including one for a bug in which Settings crashed at times when loading information about Bluetooth devices.

Several bugs are being fixed immediately, including one in which some devices with BitLocker on removable drives encountered a blue screen error after resuming from sleep or hybrid-booting.

(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26100.4188.)

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27858

Release date: May 16, 2025

Released to: Canary Channel

This build includes a new system tray icon on the taskbar that makes it easier to find and use emojis, GIFs, Kaomoji, etc. It also fixes a variety of bugs, including an explorer.exe crash related to snap layouts, which happened when dragging a window or hovering over the maximize button in a window.

There are four known issues in this build, including one in which if you are joining the Canary Channel on a new Copilot+ PC from the Dev Channel, Release Preview Channel, or retail, you will lose Windows Hello PIN and biometrics to sign into your PC. You should be able to re-create your PIN by clicking Set up my PIN.

(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27858.)

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.3964

Release date: May 12, 2025

Released to: Beta Channel

This build introduces a new agent in Settings on Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PCS. Using it, you can describe what you need help with, such as “how to control my PC by voice” or “my mouse pointer is too small,” and the agent will recommend steps you can take to address the issue. Support for AMD- and Intel-powered Copilot+ PCs is coming soon.

Those in the Beta Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates get new features being rolled out gradually, including a new FAQs section on the Settings > System > Aboutpage to provide help with using your PC.

The same group also gets a variety of bug fixes being rolled out gradually, including for an issue that caused live captions to crash and another that could make some apps like Word hang when trying to print.

There are 12 known issues in this build, including one in which after you do a PC reset under Settings > System > Recovery, your build version may incorrectly show as Build 26100 instead of Build 26120. This will not prevent you from getting future Beta Channel updates, which will resolve this issue.

(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.3964.)

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5600

Release date: May 12, 2025

Released to: Dev Channel

This build introduces a new set of intelligent text actions using Click to Do on AMD- and Intel-powered Copilot+ PCs. You can Use Win key + mouse-click or Win key + Q to select a text block and drag to select the text that you want. You’ll see options to summarize, create a bulleted list, or to help you rewrite your text so it sounds more causal, more formal, or more polished.

A wide variety of bug fixes are being rolled out gradually to those in the Dev Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates, including for an issue that caused File Explorer Home to hang when loading and another that caused live captions to crash.

There are 10 known issues in this build, including one in which after you do a PC reset under Settings > System > Recovery, your build version may incorrectly show as Build 26100 instead of Build 26200. This will not prevent you from getting future Dev Channel updates, which will resolve this issue.

(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5600.)

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.3950

Release date: May 5, 2025

Released to: Beta Channel

Those in the Beta Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates get new features being rolled out gradually, including one that gives IT administrators the ability to use Microsoft Intune to control energy savings on Windows 11 PCs through group policies and MDM configurations.

The same group also gets a variety of bug fixes, including for a bug in which Windows’ startup sound would not play, even though it was enabled.

There are nine known issues in this build, including one in which after you do a PC reset under Settings > System > Recovery, your build version may incorrectly show as Build 26100 instead of Build 26120. This will not prevent you from getting future Beta Channel updates, which will resolve this issue.

(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.3950.)

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5581

Release date: May 5, 2025

Released to: Dev Channel

In this build, those in the Dev Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates get new features being rolled out gradually, including one that gives IT administrators the ability to use Microsoft Intune to control energy savings on Windows 11 PCs through group policies and MDM configurations.

The same group gets several new bug fixes, including for a bug in which Windows’ startup sound would not play, even though it was enabled.

There are seven known issues in this build, including one in which live captions have been crashing.

(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5570.)

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.3941

Release date: April 25, 2025

Released to: Beta Channel

In this build, those in the Beta Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates get several new features and minor improvements, including a new profanity filter setting for voice typing. This group will also have several bugs fixed, including one that caused apps to appear blank, and another in which Windows Hello facial recognition would not work for login for some Insiders. The new feature and bug fixes are gradually rolling out.

Everyone in the Beta Channel gets a fix for a bug that caused Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) to not work and the option “Fix problems using Windows Update” option under Settings > Recovery to also not work.

There are 13 known issues in this build, including one in which after you do a PC reset under Settings > System > Recovery, your build version may incorrectly show as Build 26100 instead of Build 26120. This will not prevent you from getting future Beta Channel updates, which will resolve this issue.

(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.3941.)

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5570

Release date: April 25, 2025

Released to: Dev Channel

In this build, those in the Dev Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates get several new features and minor improvements, including a new profanity filter setting for voice typing. This group will also have several bugs fixed, including one that caused apps to appear blank, and another in which Windows Hello facial recognition would not work for login for some Insiders.

Everyone in the Dev Channel  gets a fix for a bug that caused Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) to not work and the option “Fix problems using Windows Update” option under Settings > Recovery to also not work.

There are six known issues in this build, including one in which Windows Sandbox may fail to launch with a 0x800705b4 error. If this occurs, try reinstalling Sandbox by unchecking Sandbox under “Turn Windows features on or off” to uninstall it, then reboot, go back to “Turn Windows features on or off” and check Sandbox to reinstall it and reboot again.

(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5570.)

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27842

Release date: April 23, 2025

Released to: Canary Channel

This build previews a new UI that is used when a PC unexpectedly restarts. It also fixes a variety of bugs, including one in which the Smart App Control icon wasn’t displaying correctly in the Windows Security app.

There are four known issues in this build, including one in which if you are joining the Canary Channel on a new Copilot+ PC from the Dev Channel, Release Preview Channel, or retail, you will lose Windows Hello PIN and biometrics to sign into your PC. You should be able to re-create your PIN by clicking Set up my PIN.

(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27842.)

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5562

Release date: April 21, 2025

Released to: Dev Channel

In this build, those with Copilot+ PCs get two new text actions in Click to Do, including the “Practice in Reading Coach” Click to Do action that can increase fluency and pronunciation.

In addition, those in the Dev Channel who have turned a toggle on to receive the latest updates get new features being rolled out gradually, including several improvements in voice access and to the notification widgets settings page, so that they can control the number of notifications per feed or dashboard. 

Those in the Dev Channel who have turned a toggle on to receive the latest updates get several bugs fixed, including one that was causing Start menu to crash when creating folders. Everyone in the Dev Channel gets additional bug fixes, including for a bug that didn’t allow some apps like Spotify to install from the Microsoft Store.

There are 14 known issues in this build, including one in which Windows Recall is unable to automatically save snapshots, and the setting can’t be turned on in Settings.

(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5562.)

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.3872

Release date: April 21, 2025

Released to: Beta Channel

In this build, those with Copilot+ PCs get two new text actions in Click to Do, including the “Practice in Reading Coach” Click to Do action that can increase fluency and pronunciation.

In addition, those in the Beta Channel who have turned a toggle on to receive the latest updates get new features being rolled out gradually, including several improvements in voice access.

Those in the Beta Channel who have turned a toggle on to receive the latest updates get several bug fixes, including one that was causing Start menu to crash when creating folders. Everyone in the Beta Channel gets one bug fix, for a bug that didn’t allow some apps like Spotify to install from the Microsoft Store

There are 13 known issues in this build, including one in which after you do a PC reset under Settings > System > Recovery, your build version may incorrectly show as Build 26100 instead of Build 26120. This will not prevent you from getting future Beta Channel updates, which will resolve this issue.

(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.3872.)

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5551

Release date: April 11, 2025

Released to: Dev Channel

This build begins the rollout of natural language search for settings in the Windows search box on the taskbar for users with Copilot+ PCs. For example, you can use your own words to find settings like “change my theme” or “about my PC.” You no longer need to remember the exact setting name you are looking for.

In addition, those in the Dev Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates get new features being rolled out gradually, including one in which you can read content such as full articles, slideshows, and videos directly within your MSN feed in the widgets board.

Those in the Dev Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates get several bug fixes, including for a bug that caused File Explorer Home to crash for some Insiders. Everyone in the Dev Channel gets a fix for Windows Sandbox, which was not working.

There are 12 known issues in this build, including one in which Windows Recall is unable to automatically save snapshots, and the setting can’t be turned on in Settings.

(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5551.)

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.3863

Release date: April 11, 2025

Released to: Beta Channel

This build begins the rollout of natural language search for settings in the Windows search box on the taskbar for users with Copilot+ PCs. For example, you can use your own words to find settings like “change my theme” or “about my PC.” You no longer need to remember the exact setting name you are looking for.

In addition, those in the Beta Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates get new features being rolled out gradually, including one in which you can read content such as full articles, slideshows, and videos directly within your MSN feed in the widgets board.

Those in the Beta Channel who have turned a toggle on to receive the latest updates get several bug fixes, including for a bug that caused File Explorer Home to crash for some Insiders. Everyone in the Beta Channel gets a fix for Windows Sandbox, which was not working.

There are 14 known issues in this build, including one in which after you do a PC reset under Settings > System > Recovery, your build version may incorrectly show as Build 26100 instead of Build 26120. This will not prevent you from getting future Beta Channel updates, which will resolve this issue.

(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.3863.)

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26100.3902 (KB5055627)

Release date: April 10, 2025

Released to: Release Preview Channel

This build gradually rolls out several new features for Copilot+ PCs, including Windows Recall (preview) in which you can quickly find and get back to any app, website, image, or document by describing its content. To use Recall, you need to opt in to saving snapshots, which are images of your activity, and enroll in Windows Hello to confirm your presence so only you can access them. Those with Copilot+ PCs can also search by describing what they’re looking for, without having to remember file names, exact words in file content, or settings names. 

A number of new features are being rolled out immediately for all PCs, not just Copilot+ PCs, including one in which you get an estimated time for how long your PC will be offline to install updates from Windows Update. Several bugs are also being fixed, including one in which some content pages with JPEG images were not displaying.

There is one known issue in this build, in which Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) may not work, and you may not be able to use the “Fix problems using Windows Update” option under Settings > Recovery.

(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26100.3902.)

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5518

Release date: April 3, 2025

Released to: Dev Channel

Those in the Dev Channel who have opted to receive the latest updates get several new features that are being rolled out gradually, including taskbar icon scaling — when your taskbar starts to get crowded with pinned or open apps, the icons automatically scale down to a smaller size. This lets you keep more apps visible and accessible without having to use a secondary menu.

Dev Channel users who have opted to receive the latest updates get three bug fixes, one in which external graphics cards connected over Thunderbolt were unexpectedly not discoverable in some cases; another in which Hyper-V Manager erroneously reported 0% CPU usage for VMs in some scenarios; and another for those with Copilot+ PCs who saw semantic search stop working until their PCs were rebooted.

There are 11 known issues in this build, including one in which Recall is unable to automatically save snapshots, and the setting can’t be turned on in Settings.

(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5518.)

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.3671

Release date: April 3, 2025

Released to: Beta Channel

Those in the Beta Channel who agreed to receive the latest updates get several new features being rolled out gradually, including taskbar icon scaling — when your taskbar starts to get crowded with pinned or open apps, the icons automatically scale down to a smaller size. This lets you keep more apps visible and accessible without having to use a secondary menu.

Those in the Beta Channel who get the latest updates get two bug fixes, one in which external graphics cards connected over Thunderbolt were unexpectedly not discoverable in some cases, and another in which Hyper-V Manager erroneously reported 0% CPU usage for VMs in some scenarios.

There are 12 known issues in this build, including one in which after you do a PC reset under Settings > System > Recovery, your build version may incorrectly show as Build 26100 instead of Build 26120. This will not prevent you from getting future Beta Channel updates, which will resolve this issue.

(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.3671.)

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5516

Release date: March 28, 2025

Released to: Dev Channel

This build includes improved search tools for AMD and Intel-powered Copilot+ PCs. When searching in File Explorer, the Windows search box on the taskbar, or in Settings, you can type plain-English searches without having to remember file names, exact words in file content, or settings names. In addition, those with AMD and Intel-powered Copilot+ PCs can find photos in the cloud by using plain-English searches.

Those who have turned on the toggle to receive changes as soon as they come out get a speech recap in Narrator which keeps track of what Narrator has spoken and access it for quick reference. They also get a variety of changes and improvements, including one in which on Copilot+ PCs, they can now access Click to Do from the Start menu and can pin it to Start and the taskbar.

They also receive a variety of bug fixes, including one in which File Explorer was very slow to close for some Insiders when closing it using the X button.

Everyone in the Dev Channel gets a bug fixed in which the toggle to get the latest updates as soon they are available via Settings > Windows Update didn’t render correctly and turned itself off.

There are 13 known issues in this build, including one in which Windows Recall is unable to automatically save snapshots, and the setting can’t be turned on in Settings.

(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5516.)

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.3653

Release date: March 28, 2025

Released to: Beta Channel

Those in the Beta Channel who have turned a toggle on to receive the latest updates get several new features being rolled out gradually, including a speech recap feature in Narrator that keeps track of what Narrator has spoken and lets you access it for quick reference. There are also a variety of changes and improvements, including one in which on Copilot+ PCs, users can now access Click to Do from the Start menu and can pin it to Start and the taskbar.

Those in the Beta Channel who have turned a toggle on to receive the latest updates get several bug fixes, including for a bug in which the taskbar icons weren’t increasing in size as they should when using your PC in a tablet posture.

Two bugs are fixed for everyone in the Beta Channel, including one in which the toggle to get the latest updates as soon they are available via Settings > Windows Update did not render correctly and automatically turned itself off.

There are 13 known issues in this build, including one in which after you do a PC reset under Settings > System > Recovery, your build version may incorrectly show as Build 26100 instead of Build 26120. This will not prevent you from getting future Beta Channel updates that will resolve this issue.

(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.3653.)

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27823

Release date: March 26, 2025

Released to: Canary Channel

This update, in the words of Microsoft, “includes a small set of general improvements and fixes that improve the overall experience” of using Windows. It also includes new “top cards” under Settings > System > About. Top cards provide an easy way to view your PC’s key specifications—processor, RAM, storage, and GPU.

The build fixes a variety of bugs, including one in which Settings could crash when interacting with Bluetooth & Devices > Cameras.

There are three known issues in this build, including one in which if you are joining the Canary Channel on a new Copilot+ PC from the Dev Channel, Release Preview Channel, or retail, you will lose Windows Hello PIN and biometrics to sign into your PC. You should be able to re-create your PIN by clicking Set up my PIN.

(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27823.)

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.3585

Release date: March 24, 2025

Released to: Beta Channel

This build includes improved search tools for AMD and Intel-powered Copilot+ PCs. When searching in File Explorer, the Windows search box on the taskbar, or in Settings, you can type plain-English searches without having to remember file names, exact words in file content, or settings names. In addition, those with AMD and Intel-powered Copilot+ PCs can find photos in the cloud by using plain-English searches.

Those in the Beta Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates get several bug fixes, including for a bug in which File Explorer was very slow to close via the X button.

Two bugs are fixed for everyone in the Beta Channel, including one in which the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update did not render correctly and automatically turned itself off.

There are 16 known issues in this build, including one in which Windows Recall is unable to automatically save snapshots.

(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.3585.)

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5510

Release date: March 24, 2025

Released to: Dev Channel

In this build the Dev Channel is jumping ahead to receive 26200 series builds. This means that once you install it, you cannot switch to the Beta Channel. If you are in the Dev Channel and want to switch to the Beta Channel, don’t install this build. Instead, pause updates in Windows Update, switch your channel to the Beta Channel and then un-pause updates.

There are 11 known issues in this build, including one in which Windows Recall is unable to automatically save snapshots, and the setting can’t be turned on in Settings.

(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5510.)

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26100.3624 (KB5053656)

Release date: March 24, 2025

Released to: Release Preview Channel

This build gradually rolls out several new features for Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PCs, including natural-language search in Windows Search. Just describe what you’re looking for without having to remember specific file names, exact words in file content, or settings names.

In addition, the build includes the same set of improvements and bug fixes as a previous build, Build 26100.3613, such as Natural Language Commanding in voice access, available initially on Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PCs.

(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26100.3624.)

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27818

Release date: March 19, 2025

Released to: Canary Channel

This update, in the words of Microsoft, “includes a small set of general improvements and fixes that improve the overall experience” of using Windows.

The build also fixes a variety of bugs, including one in which Remote Desktop sometimes froze when connecting.

There are two known issues in this build, including one in which if you are joining the Canary Channel on a new Copilot+ PC from the Dev Channel, Release Preview Channel, or retail, you will lose Windows Hello PIN and biometrics to sign into your PC. You should be able to re-create your PIN by clicking Set up my PIN.

(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27818.)

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26100.3613 (KB5053656)

Release date: March 18, 2025

Released to: Release Preview Channel

This build gradually rolls out a number of new features, including Natural Language Commanding in voice access, which lets users speak commands naturally, using filler words and synonyms, rather than rigid, predefined commands. It is available initially on Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PCs.

Several bug fixes are also being rolled out gradually, including one in which the “see more” (…) menu in the File Explorer command bar opened in the wrong direction in some cases.

A variety of new bug fixes are being rolled out immediately, including one for a bug in which critical PowerShell modules required for device configuration were not executed under Windows Defender Application Control (WDAC) policies.

(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26100.3613.)

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.3576 

Release date: March 17, 2025

Released to: Dev and Beta Channels

In this build, those in the Dev Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates get several new features, including one in which on Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PCs, you can use natural language commands during voice access, rather than having to remember specific voice commands.

The same group gets several bug fixes, including one addressing a bug for users in managed environments, in which your Windows Recall snapshots would get deleted after installing Build 26120.3380 and after each reboot on that build.

There are 16 known issues in this build, including one in which Recall is unable to automatically save snapshots and the setting can’t be turned on in Settings, and another in which Recall is no longer able to save new snapshots or modify settings.

(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.3576.)

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27813

Release date: March 12, 2025

Released to: Canary Channel

This update, in the words of Microsoft, “includes a small set of general improvements and fixes that improve the overall experience” of using Windows.

The build also fixes two bugs, one which the WDMAud system driver was causing some app crashes, and the other in which Settings > System > Display > Color Management did not always display the expected color profile list for the selected monitor.

There are two known issues in this build, including one in which if you are joining the Canary Channel on a new Copilot+ PC from the Dev Channel, Release Preview Channel, or retail, you will lose Windows Hello PIN and biometrics to sign into your PC. You should be able to re-create your PIN by clicking Set up my PIN.

(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27813.)

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.3380 

Release date: March 10, 2025

Released to: Dev and Beta Channels

In this build, those in the Dev Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates get several new features, including one in which File Explorer displays a new Recommended section that is displayed as a carousel with thumbnail previews. This includes content such as files you frequently use, have recently downloaded, or added to your File Explorer Gallery. Users with a work/school account (Entra ID) will have additional types of recommendations available with this update.

Those in the Dev Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates get several bug fixes, including for a bug in which windows.storage.dll led caused some apps to crash when files were opened in them.

There are 10 known issues in this build, including one in which Windows Recall is unable to automatically save snapshots, and the setting can’t be turned on in Settings.

(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.3380.)

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27808

Release date: March 7, 2025

Released to: Canary Channel

In this update, a change is being rolled out in the way Task Manager calculates CPU utilization for the Processes, Performance, and Users pages. Task Manager will now use the standard metrics to display CPU workload consistently across all pages and aligning with industry standards and third-party tools. For backward compatibility, a new optional column called CPU Utility is available (hidden by default) on the Details tab showing the previous CPU value used on the Processes page.

The build also fixes a number of bugs, including one that caused the search window to go blank for some Insiders when searching from the taskbar, due to a background crash.

There are two known issues in this build, including one in which if you are joining the Canary Channel on a new Copilot+ PC from the Dev Channel, Release Preview Channel, or retail, you will lose Windows Hello PIN and biometrics to sign into your PC. You should be able to re-create your PIN by clicking Set up my PIN. In the other, a d3d9.dll crash is causing multiple apps to fail to launch starting with Build 27802 for some Insiders.

(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27808.)

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.5015

Release date: February 28, 2025

Released to: Beta Channel

In this build, those in the Beta Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates will see a new system tray icon on the taskbar, which lets you use emojis, GIFs, Kaomoji, etc. across all apps and surfaces in Windows in addition to using the Win + . keyboard shortcut. This new system tray icon can be changed by right-clicking on the icon to go to taskbar settings page.

Those in the Beta Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates get a number of new bug fixes, including for a bug in which File Explorer Home crashed for some Insiders.

There are four known issues in this build, including one in which File Explorer is very slow to close for some Insiders when closing using the X button. This may also affect the other title bar buttons.

Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.5015.)

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.3360 

Release date: February 28, 2025

Released to: Dev and Beta Channels

In this build, those in the Dev Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates get two new features being gradually rolled out, including one in which Task Manager changes the way it calculates CPU utilization for the Processes, Performance, and Users pages. Task Manager will now use the standard metrics to display CPU workload consistently across all pages and aligning with industry standards and third-party tools. Also being added is the ability to share directly to apps that support sharing in Windows when right-clicking on local files in File Explorer or the desktop.

Those in the Dev Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates get several bug fixes, including for a bug which some people experienced Remote Desktop freezes on login, or frequent disconnect.

There are 11 known issues in this build, including one in which Windows Recall is unable to automatically save snapshots, and the setting can’t be turned on in Settings.

(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.3360.)

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27802

Release date: February 28, 2025

Released to: Canary Channel

In this update, new battery icons in Windows 11 communicate the battery status of your PC with a quick glance. Key changes include colored icons to indicate charging states, simplified overlays that don’t block the progress bar, and an option to turn on battery percentage.

The build also fixes several bugs, including one that was causing the login screen to crash when clicking the “sign-in options” link for some Insiders.

There are six known issues in this build, including one in which if you are joining the Canary Channel on a new Copilot+ PC from the Dev Channel, Release Preview Channel, or retail, you will lose Windows Hello PIN and biometrics to sign into your PC. You should be able to re-create your PIN by clicking Set up my PIN.

(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27802.)

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.3291

Release date: February 21, 2025

Released to: Dev and Beta Channels

In this build, those with Copilot+ PCs can search photos saved in the cloud by using your own words to describe what you’re looking for in the Windows search box on the taskbar.

Those in the Dev Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates get several bugs fixed, including one in which switching languages crashed live captions if audio was playing or the microphone was enabled.

There are 11 known issues in this build, including one in the Recall feature in which some users may see a message to “Make sure Recall is saving snapshots,” while the Settings page for Recall shows saving snapshots is enabled. Reboot your device to resolve this issue.

(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.3291.)

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26100.3321 (KB5052093)

Release date: February 18, 2025

Released to: Release Preview Channel

This build gradually rolls out a number of new features, including one in which you can share files directly from a jump list on the taskbar, and another in which you can find out more information about a background image by hovering over the image or clicking the “Learn about this picture” icon.

A variety of bug fixes are also being gradually rolled out, including one in which when you enter a URL in the File Explorer address bar, it might not go to the location.

The build also immediately fixes a number of bugs, including one in which Remote Desktop stopped working.

(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26100.3321.)

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.3281

Release date: February 14, 2025

Released to: Dev and Beta Channels

In this build, those in the Dev Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates have the ability to resume working on OneDrive files from your phone (iOS and Android) on your Windows 11 PC with a single click. In addition, when “Restore previous folder windows at logon” is enabled in File Explorer, you can now restore all the extra tabs that you previously had open in each File Explorer window. 

Those in the Dev Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates get several bug fixes, including for a bug in which if you tried to reset your password from the login screen, it wouldn’t work due to an underlying crash. Another fix addresses a bug for users who have a Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PC, in which File Explorer search was unresponsive and required a reboot to start working.

There are 12 known issues in this build, including one in the Recall feature in which some users may see a message to “Make sure Recall is saving snapshots,” while the Settings page for Recall shows saving snapshots is enabled. Reboot your device to resolve this issue.

(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.3281.)

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27788

Release date: February 5, 2025

Released to: Canary Channel

This update includes the first in-box public preview of Windows MIDI Services, a complete rewrite of MIDI on Windows for musicians. Windows MIDI Services handles MIDI 2.0 and improves MIDI 1.0 implementation, with automatic translation between the two. It works on 64-bit operating systems on all supported processors, including Arm64.

The build also gradually rolls out the ability to resume working on OneDrive files from your phone (iOS or Android) on your Windows 11 PC with a single click.

The build also fixes several bugs, including one that prevented scanning apps from detecting a connected scanner.

There are six known issues in this build, including one in which if you are joining the Canary Channel on a new Copilot+ PC from the Dev Channel, Release Preview Channel, or retail, you will lose Windows Hello PIN and biometrics to sign into your PC. You should be able to re-create your PIN by clicking Set up my PIN.

(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27788.)

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4870

Release date: February 3, 2025

Released to: Beta Channel

In this build, IT administrators in the Beta Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates as soon as they are available get a new group policy called “Disable Widgets On Lock Screen,” which allows them to disable lock screen widgets without disabling widgets elsewhere on PCs they manage. 

Those in the Beta Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates get several bug fixes, including for a bug in which the Start menu crashed for some Insiders when they interacted with the letters in the apps list.

Several bugs have been fixed for everyone in the Beta Channel, including one in which PCs did not recognize that USB cameras were on after installing the January 2025 security update.

There are three known issues in this build, including one in which the home page of Settings may crash. If you are impacted by this, you should still be able to open specific Settings pages directly by searching for them from the taskbar.

Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4870.)

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.3073

Release date: January 31, 2025

Released to: Dev and Beta Channels

In this build, those who have Copilot+ PCs get a new feature in Windows Search, in which you can use your own words to find photos stored and saved in the cloud by describing what they are, such as “European castles” or “summer picnics.” In addition to photos stored locally on your Copilot+ PC, photos from the cloud will now show up in the search results as well. Exact matches for your keywords within the text of your cloud files will show in the search results.

The build also includes changes being gradually rolled out for all Windows 11 PCs. Those in the Dev Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates will see a Settings home page for commercial customers on PCs managed by an IT administrator. The feature will show some existing cards relevant to enterprise-managed PCs like “Recommended settings” and “Bluetooth devices,” as well as two new enterprise-specific device info and accessibility preferences cards. For commercial customers who also use their Microsoft account on their managed PC, there will also be a new accounts card indicating the presence of both work/school and Microsoft account types. 

Those in the Dev Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates also get several bug fixes, including for a bug in which minimized File Explorer windows might not have rendered correctly when restored.

Everyone in the Dev Channel gets several bug fixes, including for one in which the display of some games appeared oversaturated when you used Auto HDR.

There are 18 known issues in this build, including one in the Recall feature in which some users may see a “Make sure Recall is saving snapshots” message while the Settings page for Recall shows saving snapshots is enabled. Reboot your device to resolve this issue.

(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.3073.)

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27783

Release date: January 29, 2025

Released to: Canary Channel

In this update, users signed into Windows with a Microsoft account will be able to view files that have been shared with the account, such as email, Teams chat, etc., in File Explorer. Commercial customers signed in with a Microsoft Entra ID account will also be able to view files that they have shared with others. You can access this feature by launching File Explorer Home and clicking on the ‘Shared’ tab item.

The build also fixes several bugs, including one in which taskbar preview windows sometimes didn’t display when hovering over open apps in the taskbar.

There are four known issues in this build, including one in which if you are joining the Canary Channel on a new Copilot+ PC from the Dev Channel, Release Preview Channel, or retail, you will lose Windows Hello PIN and biometrics to sign into your PC. You should be able to re-create your PIN by clicking Set up my PIN.

(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27783.)

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4805

Release date: January 24, 2025

Released to: Beta Channel

In this build, those in the Beta Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates as soon as they are available get a change to Snap in Windows 11 in which inline messaging will now appear when you accidentally invoke the Snap Bar when dragging an app to the top middle of your desktop or Snap Flyout when hovering over the Minimize or Maximize button of an app. This is designed to provide guidance on snapping app windows and educating users on the keyboard shortcuts for quickly snapping app windows in the future.

This group also gets new keyboard shortcuts in Narrator scan mode for quickly jumping to list items and to the beginning or end of large elements such as tables or lists. These changes are gradually rolling out.

There are five known issues in this build, including one in which the Home page of Settings may crash. If you are impacted by this, you should still be able to open specific Settings pages directly by searching for them from the taskbar.

Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4805.)

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.3000

Release date: January 24, 2024

Released to: Dev Channel

In this build, those in the Dev Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates get new battery icons, including colored icons to indicate charging states, simplified overlays that don’t block the progress bar, and an option to turn on battery percentage. The same group also gets several bug fixes, including for a bug in File Explorer in which you sometimes would be unable to navigate by entering a path in the address bar. These changes are gradually rolling out.

There are 18 known issues in this build, including one in the Recall feature in which some users may see a message to “Make sure Recall is saving snapshots” while the Settings page for Recall shows saving snapshots is enabled. Reboot your device to resolve this issue.

(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.3000.)

Windows 11 Build 26100.3025 (KB5050094)

Release date: January 21, 2025

Released to: Release Preview Channel

This build gradually rolls out a number of new features, including one in which an icon will appear in the system tray when you use an app that supports Windows Studio Effects. This only occurs on a device that has a neural processing unit (NPU). Select the icon to open the Studio Effects page in Quick Settings.

The update also improves the previews that show when your cursor hovers over apps on the taskbar. In addition, the Windows Mobile Hotspot now supports 6 GHz connections. This new band requires chips that support the feature and updated drivers. 

A variety of bug fixes are also being rolled out, including for a bug in which the Snipping Tool screenshots were distorted when you used two or more monitors that have different display scaling.

The build also immediately rolls out a change in which you will now have a standard Windows 11 taskbar after restoring from a backup via the Windows Setup experience (OOBE) on a new Windows PC.

(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26100.3025.)

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4800

Release date: January 17, 2025

Released to: Beta Channel

In this build, those in the Beta Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates as soon as they are available get a standard Windows 11 taskbar after restoring from a backup via the Windows Setup experience (OOBE) on a new Windows PC. You can still find your apps in the Start menu and Search, and you can pin apps to your taskbar. In addition, the build starts the rollout of the Settings home page for commercial customers on PCs managed by an IT administrator. 

Those in the Beta Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates get one bug fix, which includes increased support for text scaling in File Explorer, File Open/Save dialogs, and copy dialogs.

There are three known issues in this build, including one in which the Home page of Settings may crash. If you are impacted by this, you should still be able to open specific Settings pages directly by searching for them from the taskbar.

(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4800.)

Microsoft never sleeps. In addition to its steady releases of major and minor updates to the current version of Windows 10, the company frequently rolls out public preview builds to members of its Windows Insider Program, allowing them to test out — and even help shape — upcoming features.

Although Windows Insiders can choose to receive Windows 11 preview builds in one of four channels — the Canary, Dev, Beta, or Release Preview Channel — Microsoft currently offers Windows 10 Insider previews in the Beta and Release Preview Channels only.

The Release Preview Channel typically doesn’t see action until shortly before a new feature update is rolled out; it’s meant for final testing of an upcoming release and is best for those who want the most stable builds. The Beta Channel previews features that are a little further out.

Below you’ll find information about recent Windows 10 preview builds. For each build, we’ve included the date of its release, which Insider channel it was released to, a summary of what’s in the build, and a link to Microsoft’s announcement about it.

Note: If you’re looking for information about updates being rolled out to all Windows 10 users, not previews for Windows Insiders, see “Windows 10: A guide to the updates.”

Releases for Windows 10 22H2

Windows 10 22H2 Build 19045.6276

Release date: August 14, 2025

Released to: Release Preview Channel

This build introduces several minor new features, including Windows Backup for Organizations, which Microsoft claims offers “seamless device transitions with enterprise-grade backup and restore.”

It also fixes a variety of bugs, including one in which mf.dll failed to enumerate redirected web camera devices on Remote Desktop Services (RDS) environments.

(Get more info about Windows 10 22H2 Build 19045.6276.)

Windows 10 Build 19045.6156

Release date: July 10, 2025

Released to: Release Preview Channel

This build adds the ability to deploy SKUSiPolicy VBS Anti-rollback protections through the Secure Boot AvailableUpdates registry key.

It also fixes two bugs, including one in which the Windows 10 Extended Security Updates (ESU) enrollment wizard closed unexpectedly for some users, and another that caused stability issues for some users after installing the May 2025 security update and subsequent updates.

 (Get more info about Windows 10 Build 19045.6156.)

Windows 10 Build 19045.6029 (KB5061087)

Release date: June 12, 2025

Released to: Release Preview Channel

This build adds several new minor features, including ugrading the curl tool to version 8.13.0. Several minor bugs have been fixed as well, including one that caused jump lists to disappear from the Start menu.

(Get more info about Build 19045.6029.

Windows 10 Build 19045.5912 (KB5058481)

Release date: May 15, 2025

Released to: Release Preview Channel

This build adds description text for the weather button on the rich calendar flyout and brings back the clock view that displays seconds. It also fixes several bugs, including one in which some GB18030-2022 characters in plane 2 were not rendered in GDI/GDI+.

(Get more info about Build 19045.5912.)

Windows 10 Build 19045.5794 (KB5055612)

Release date: April 14, 2024

Released to: Release Preview Channel

This build fixes two bugs, one in which the check for GPU paravirtualization was case-sensitive in Windows Subsystem for Linux 2 (WSL2), which potentially caused GPU paravirtualization support to fail, and another in which additions to the Windows Kernel Vulnerable Driver Blocklist (DriverSiPolicy.p7b) blocklisted drivers with security vulnerabilities that have been used in Bring Your Own Vulnerable Driver (BYOVD) attacks.

(Get more info about Build 19045.5794.)

Windows 10 Build 19045.5674 (KB5053643)

Release date: March 13, 2025

Released to: Release Preview Channel

This build fixes a variety of bugs, including one in which thumbnails in File Explorer crashed and caused white pages to appear instead of the actual thumbnail.

(Get more info about Build 19045.5674.)

Windows 10 Build 19045.5552 (KB5052077)

Release date: February 13, 2025

Released to: Release Preview Channel

This build fixes a variety of bugs, including one in which Open Secure Shell (OpenSSH) refused to start, stopping SSH connections.

(Get more info about Build 19045.5552.)

Windows 10 Build 19045.5435 (KB5050081)

Release date: January 17, 2025

Released to: Release Preview Channel

This update introduces a new calendar and the new Outlook app. It also fixes a variety of bugs, including one that depleted virtual memory, causing some apps to fail, and another in which the Capture Service and Snipping Tool stopped responding you pressed Windows key + Shift + S several times while Narrator was on.

(Get more info about Build 19045.5435.)

Windows 10 Build 19045.5194 (KB5046714)

Release date: November 14, 2024

Released to: Beta Channel and Release Preview Channel

For Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel, the recommended section of the Start menu will show some Microsoft Store apps from a small set of curated developers. If you want to turn this off, go to Settings > Personalization > Start. Turn off the toggle for Show suggestions occasionally in Start. Note that this feature is being rolled out gradually.

Windows Insiders in the Beta and Release Preview Channels get several bug fixes, including for a bug in which when you dragged and dropped files from a cloud files provider folder, it might have resulted in a move instead of a copy.

(Get more info about Build 19045.5194.)

Windows 10 Build 19045.5070 (KB5045594)

Release date: October 14, 2024

Released to: Beta and Release Preview Channels

In this build, those in the Beta Channel who have chosen to get features as soon as they are rolled out get new top cards that highlight key hardware specifications of their devices.

Insiders in both the Beta and Release Preview Channels get a new account manager on the Start menu. The new design makes it easy to view your account and access account settings. Those in the Beta and Release Preview Channels also get fixes for a variety of bugs, including one in which a scanner driver failed to install when you used a USB cable to connect to a multifunction printer.

(Get more info about Windows 10 22H2 Build 19045.5070.)

Windows 10 19045.4955 (KB5043131)

Release date: September 16, 2024

Released to: Beta Channel and Release Preview Channel

This build fixes several bugs, including one in which playback of some media could have stopped when you used certain surround sound technology, and another in which Windows Server stopped responding when you used apps like File Explorer and the taskbar.

(Get more info about Windows 10 22H2 Build 19045.4955.)

Windows 10 19045.4842 (KB5041582)

Release date: August 22, 2024

Released to: Beta Channel and Release Preview Channel

This build fixes several bugs, including one in which when a combo box had input focus, a memory leak sometimes occurred when you closed that window, and another in which some Bluetooth apps stopped responding because of a memory leak in a device.

(Get more info about Windows 10 22H2 19045.4842.)

Windows 10 Build 19045.4713 (KB5040525)

Release date: July 11, 2024

Released to: Beta Channel and Release Preview Channel

In this build, Insiders in the Beta Channel get a fix in which they will see a search box on their secondary monitors when the setting for search on the taskbar is set to “Search box.”

Insiders in the Beta Channel and Release Preview Channel get fixes for a variety of bugs, including one in which the TCP send code often causes a system to stop responding during routine tasks, such as file transfers. This issue leads to an extended send loop.

(Get more info about  Windows 10 22H2 19045.4713.)

Windows 10 Build 19045.4593

Release date: June 13, 2024

Released to: Beta Channel and Release Preview Channel

In this build, Insiders in the Beta Channel get bug fixes for Windows Backup. Insiders in both the Beta and Release Preview Channels get a new feature for mobile device management in which when you enroll a device, the MDM client sends more details about the device. The MDM service uses those details to identify the device model and the company that made it.

Insiders in the Beta Channel and Release Preview Channel also get a variety of bug fixes, including for a bug that could have stopped systems from resuming from hibernation after BitLocker was turned on.

(Get more info about  Windows 10 22H2 19045.4593.)

Windows 10 Build 19045.4472 (KB5037849)

Release date: May 20, 2024

Released to: Release Preview ChannelThis build fixes a variety of bugs, including one in which TWAIN drivers stopped responding when you used them in a virtual environment, and another in which the Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) app stopped responding.

(Get more info about  Windows 10 22H2 19045.4472.)

Windows 10 Build 19045.4353 (KB5036979)

Release date: April 15, 2024

Released to: Release Preview Channel

This build introduces account-related notifications for Microsoft accounts in Settings > Home. A Microsoft account connects Windows to your Microsoft apps. This feature displays notifications across the Start menu and Settings. You can manage your Settings notifications in Settings > Privacy & security > General.

A wide variety of bugs have been fixed, including one in which when your device resumed from Modern Standby you might have gotten the stop error, “0x9f DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE, and another in which the Windows Local Administrator Password Solution’s (LAPS) Post Authentication Actions (PAA) did not happen at the end of the grace period. Instead, they occurred at restart.

(Get more info about  Windows 10 22H2 Build 19045.4353.)

Windows 10 22H2 Build 19045.4233 (KB5035941)

Release date: March 14, 2024

Released to: Release Preview Channel

This build adds Windows Spotlight, which displays new images as your desktop wallpaper. If you want to know more about an image, click or tap the Learn More button, which takes you to Bing. To turn on this feature, go to Settings > Personalization > Background > Personalize your background and choose Windows spotlight. The update also adds sports, traffic, and finance content to the lock screen. To turn it on, go to Settings > Personalization > Lock screen. Note that these two features will roll out to users gradually.

In addition, in 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 it, turn on the “DisablePostLogonProvisioning” policy setting. After a user signs in, provisioning is off for Windows 10 and Windows 11 devices.

A wide variety of bugs have been fixed, including one in which some applications that depend on COM+ component had stopped responding. Also fixed was a deadlock issue in CloudAP that occurred when different users signed in and signed out at the same time on virtual machines.

(Get more info about Windows 10 22H2 Build 19045.4233.)

Windows 10 22H2 Build 19045.4116 (KB5034843)

Release date: February 15, 2024

Released to: Release Preview Channel

In this build, using Windows share, you can now directly share URLs to apps like WhatsApp, Gmail, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Sharing to X (formerly Twitter) is coming soon.

The build fixes several bugs, including one in which you weren’t able to use Windows Hello for Business to authenticate to Microsoft Entra ID on certain apps when using Web Access Management (WAM).

(Get more info about  Windows 10 22H2 Build 19045.4116.)

Windows 10 22H2 Build 19045.3992 (KB5034203)

Release date: January 11, 2024

Released to: Release Preview Channel

This update adds eye control system settings. You can back up these settings from the former device while you set up a new device. Then those settings will install automatically on the new device so you can use them when you reach the desktop.

The build fixes a wide variety of bugs, including one in which an MDM service such as Microsoft Intune might not get the right data from BitLocker data-only encryption, and another in which some single-function printers are installed as scanners.

(Get more info about  Windows 10 22H2 Build 19045.3992 (KB5034203).)

Agents, assemble! 

AI-powered coding agents are now real and usable. Indeed, coding agents are all around us, touching on every aspect of the software development life cycle, and recently InfoWorld outlined 12 of the best.  

This raised in the minds of our readers the bigger question, which they rushed to ask Smart Answers: how will this impact my career? 

Smart Answers may be a generative AI tool, but it is not in the business of replacing humans. Using our decades of human reporting it predicts that by 2027, agentic AI tools will significantly impact software engineering careers, necessitating an evolution in workflows and skill sets.  

It further forecasts that this shift means that 80% of software engineers will need to reskill for new roles as generative AI assumes more programming functions. 

Find out: How will agentic AI tools impact my software engineering career by 2027?  

CoPilot or analyst? 

Adoption of AI-driven features in productivity software can be spotty. Functionality appears, and users may not know how to take advantage (or even that it is there). So recently Computerworld outlined nine things to try with Copilot in OneNote, stating that Microsoft’s AI assistant can speed up your workflow and perform tasks you never expected in a note-taking app.  

That’s all well and good, but can Copilot analyze data? That was the question readers asked Smart Answers – our very own AI assistant.  

The answer is that OneNote is somewhat useful in this respect, but its capabilities are spotty. Smart Answers says that Microsoft Copilot in Excel offers various capabilities for data analysis, including chart creation, formula generation, and insight extraction, aiming to simplify complex tasks for users. While it has shown promise in certain areas, its effectiveness can vary, with some users experiencing limitations or inconsistencies.  

Getting there but must do better. 

Find out: How effective is Microsoft Copilot for data analysis in Excel currently? 

Data platforms’ AI security challenges 

A big story with readers of CIO.com has been our analysis of the battle between Snowflake and Databricks for the heart of enterprise AI. We reported that the two companies’ data science platforms have become core components for many CIOs who are focused on leveraging organizational data to drive AI deployments, as the market for similar tools rapidly expands and evolves. 

Readers wanted to understand better the implications for security when data platforms are using AI. Smart Answers agrees there is a challenge here, stating that data platforms face several security challenges when handling AI workloads. Generation of insecure code by AI-augmented development tools is one major concern. And AI models trained on sensitive data risk inadvertently exposing that information within the generated code.  

There’s more, but you need to ask Smart Answers for that. 

Find out: What security challenges do data platforms face for AI workloads? 

About Smart Answers 

Smart Answers is an AI-based chatbot tool designed to help you discover content, answer questions, and go deep on the topics that matter to you. Each week we send you the three most popular questions asked by our readers, and the answers Smart Answers provides. 

Developed in partnership with Miso.ai, Smart Answers draws only on editorial content from our network of trusted media brands—CIO, Computerworld, CSO, InfoWorld, and Network World—and was trained on questions that a savvy enterprise IT audience would ask. The result is a fast, efficient way for you to get more value from our content. 

In a recent episode of the First Person podcast we met Chris Fuller. UK-born Chris now runs a startup in the US. Once a reluctant student with dyslexia, Chris was hand-picked to do a paid PHD and then worked in the UK intelligence community before emerging to work in cyber security startups.

In an engaging and thoughtful conversation Chris told us that learning a skill and working as hard as you can are key to success in any career. And he said that his experience of working in startup organizations has taught him to address as many risks as possible, and then lead with confidence.

You can view our interview here, listen to it here, or watch in the box below:

Eliminate risks, live with fear

“How do you know if something’s a rocket ship? You put rocket fuel in it and see if it takes off.”

So said Chris Fuller in our recent conversation. He was sharing the wisdom of one of his backers. I asked him to explain.

“Most startups fail,” he said. “We’re incredibly lucky to have the team that we have on staff. The other two founders are the most brilliant people I’ve ever worked with. I couldn’t be happier. We’ve got an amazing crew of advisors. Great, great VC backing. We’ve got all the things to be successful.”

But still, Chris said, failure is more than possible. How does he manage that? He told us he starts by trying to capture an eliminate all the risks he can.

“I went and asked every person in the company. It’s two years time. We’ve run out of money. Why did the company fail? Once you accept that the biggest risk is you build something people don’t want, you need to understand what are the other big risks.”

It sounds terrifying. But to Chris’ point, addressing and eliminating risks helps his team live with the fear of failure.

“It helped us because we can address the risks that we think are most existential or at least understand them better,” Chris said.

“Let’s take a clear eyed look in the mirror and really understand what the risks are. De-risk them and just be honest with people about trying to understand their problems,” Chris told us. “It can be terrifying, but at some point you acclimatize to that. And that allows you a wonderful freedom to think clearly about the problem and dismiss mental biases and all those sorts of things.”

“You can’t control the outcome of things,” he said. “You just have to enjoy what you’re doing and make good and wise decisions. If I had to always be a success, then I just wouldn’t be. I’m going to do everything I can to make this startup a success. I’m going to think through and talk honestly to all the people.”

Or to go back to where we started: “It’s my job to make sure that rocket fuel does work.” (See also: How to be a great Chief Product Officer.)

Learning a skill, working hard

How does one get to this point in their career? For Chris the journey has been long and not entirely straightforward. He struggled in school and initially in university, only thriving with the support of a mentor professor who ultimately offered him the opportunity to complete a PHD. From their Chris worked in the UK intelligence community.

What did he learn from this experience?

“Work is harder than you think it is,” Chris said. “But you should work harder than you think you should.”

“Careers are longer than most people think,” Chris explained. “It’s something around a hundred thousand hours that most of us are to work through our lives. You come out of school and everything’s been created for you to be very easy to digest. And then suddenly you get into the workplace and work’s not like that. But actually you look at people that are doing, you know, got 20, 30 years of experience. You look at them, they do an amazing job, but it’s because they’ve spent 20, 30 years getting good at it.”

He feels this combination of academia and working with smart people in a high-pressure government role gave him an excellent grounding of core skills and attitude. He wouldn’t recommend only working in the startup space.

“The training was amazing,” Chris told us, referring to his time working in intelligence. “I always say to people, especially early in their careers. Startups are really exciting. I love startups. But big companies are a great place to go. They’ll give you some of the best training in the world. And then if you want to go and do something else, you can. If you want to stay, you can.”

So what caused Chris to go an do something else? In the end he found his metier in building solutions to problems. But it wasn’t always straightforward.

Learning from failure, solving problems

“Being able to deal with failure is one of the most important career skills,” Chris told us. “If you’re not failing at stuff, you are not trying.”

He recounted one of his first attempts at product development, back when he was working for UK intelligence.

“I had a slightly bizarre idea. And my boss helped me to go into what was then known as the incubator program,” Chris said.

The project went well in all but one, critical, way. No-one used the product he built.

“We executed really well,” Chris told us. “But at the end of it the idea just didn’t work out because I didn’t understand how large organizations worked. I didn’t know how to bring this thing back into the business. It was frustrating for me at the time.”

“It’d been a success doing this incubator, but then it just failed to actually deliver any real value because I didn’t understand the non-technical elements.”

It was this ultimate failure that pushed Chris into the world of cybersecurity startups. He joined Obsidian in 2018 and learnt the critical lesson that products work only when they solve customer problems.

“I watched it grow from a company that was struggling to find what it wanted to build,” Chris recalled. “I was there to help build something that really worked. It created the whole new category of products.”

Startups don’t need to do that. But they do need to provide solutions, according to Chris.

“Most startups fail because they build a product people don’t want,” he said. “You’re there to build something people want. It’s an incredibly hard thing to do.”

Before you go: Watch First Person and meet the most interesting people in IT.

A new study from AI security provider CalypsoAI reveals a “growing use and misuse of AI” within US organizations by employees at all levels, including C-suite executives.

Of note, it said, “half (50%) of executives say they’d prefer AI managers over a human, although 34% aren’t entirely sure they can tell the difference between an AI agent and a real employee. Over a third of business leaders (38%) admit they don’t know what an AI agent is — the highest of any role. Almost the same proportion (35%) of C-suite executives said they have submitted proprietary company information so AI could complete a task for them.”

Those findings and others are contained in the firm’s study, The Insider AI Threat Report, which states, “hidden reality inside today’s enterprises: employees at every level are misusing AI tools, often without guilt, hesitation, or oversight.”

For many, it is fine to break rules

The survey of more than 1,000 US workers revealed that, overall, 45% of employees say they trust AI more than their co-workers, 52% of employees would use AI to make their job easier, even if it violates company policy, and 67% of executives say they’d use AI even if it breaks the rules.

The misuse, said the Dublin-based company in the release, even extends to “highly regulated industries” and includes:

• 60% of respondents from the finance industry admitting to violating AI rules, with an additional one-third saying they have used AI to access restricted data.
• 42% of employees in the security industry knowingly using AI against policy, and 58% saying they trust AI more than they do their co-workers.
• A mere 55% of workers in the healthcare industry following their organization’s AI policy, and 27% saying they “would rather report to [AI] than a human supervisor.”

Asked what prompted the study, CalypsoAI CEO Donnchadh Casey said via email on Friday, “we wanted hard data on what is happening inside enterprises with AI adoption. External threats often get the attention, but the immediate and faster-growing risk is inside the building, with employees at all levels using AI without oversight. Our customers are already telling us they are seeing this risk grow. The research confirms it.”

‘Shadow AI now the new shadow IT’

He said his initial reaction to the findings as they began to pour in, especially when it comes to C-suite leaders’ habits with AI, was that it was surprising to see how quickly the C-suite is bypassing its own rules.

Senior leaders, said Casey, “should set the standard, yet many are leading the risky behavior. In some cases, they are adopting AI tools and agents for business tasks faster than the teams responsible for securing them can respond. Our customers see the same pattern across industries, which is why this is as much a leadership challenge as it is a governance challenge.”

Justin St-Maurice, technical counselor at Info-Tech Research Group, said, “Shadow AI has become the new shadow IT. Employees are using unsanctioned tools to get real work done because AI can deliver two things they actually feel: Cognitive offload takes the drudge work off of their plates, and cognitive augmentation is helping them to think, write, and analyze faster.”

CalypsoAI’s numbers, he said, “show how strong that pull is. Their data shows that more than half of workers say they would use AI even if their organization’s policy says no, a third have already used it on sensitive documents, and almost half of surveyed security teams admitted to having pasted proprietary material into public tools. I’m not sure it’s as much about disloyalty as it is about how governance and enablement lag behind how people work today.”

The risk here is clear, added St-Maurice, because every unmonitored prompt can lead to intellectual property, corporate strategies, sensitive contracts, or customer data leaking out to the public. “And naturally,” he noted, “if IT blocks these AI services, it’ll drive users further underground to look for new ways to access them. The practical fix is through structured enablement.”

A proper strategy, he said, is to provide a sanctioned AI gateway, connect it to identity, log prompts and outputs, apply redaction for sensitive fields, and publish a few clear and plain rules that people can remember. This should be paired with short, role-based training and a catalog of approved models and use cases. This gives employees a safe path to the same gains.

Casey agreed, noting that any solution geared toward correcting the problem of unauthorized AI use must address both people and technology.

“Many enterprises’ initial reaction is to block AI entirely, but this is counterproductive, as employees often circumvent rules to capture AI productivity gains,” he said. “A better approach is to give access to AI across the organization, but monitor and control this access to step in when behavior deviates from policy.”

This, he said, means organizations should have clear, enforceable policies paired with real-time controls that secure AI activity wherever it happens, which includes oversight of AI agents used for business tasks that can operate at scale and touch sensitive data.

“By securing AI where it is deployed and doing real work, enterprises can allow its use without losing visibility or control,” he said.

The survey was conducted in June by research firm Censuswide, who surveyed 1,002 full-time office workers in the US, aged 25-65.

Long before Taco Tuesday became part of the pop-culture vernacular, Tuesdays were synonymous with security — and for anyone in the tech world, they still are.  Patch Tuesday, as you most likely know, refers to the day each month when Microsoft releases security updates and patches for its software products — everything from Windows to Office to SQL Server, developer tools to browsers.

The practice, which happens on the second Tuesday of the month, was initiated to streamline the patch distribution process and make it easier for users and IT system administrators to manage updates.  Like tacos, Patch Tuesday is here to stay.

In a blog post celebrating the 20th anniversary of Patch Tuesday, the Microsoft Security Response Center wrote: “The concept of Patch Tuesday was conceived and implemented in 2003. Before this unified approach, our security updates were sporadic, posing significant challenges for IT professionals and organizations in deploying critical patches in a timely manner.”

Patch Tuesday will continue to be an “important part of our strategy to keep users secure,” Microsoft said, adding that it’s now an important part of the cybersecurity industry.  As a case in point, Adobe, among others, follows a similar patch cadence.

Patch Tuesday coverage has also long been a staple of Computerworld’s commitment to provide critical information to the IT industry. That’s why we’ve gathered together this collection of recent patches, a rolling list we’ll keep updated each month.

In case you missed a recent Patch Tuesday announcement, here are the latest six months of updates.

For August, a ‘complex’ Patch Tuesday with 111 updates

Microsoft’s August Patch Tuesday release offers a rather complex set of updates, with 111 fixes affecting Windows, Office, SQL Server and Exchange Server — and several “Patch Now” recommendations. 

Publicly disclosed vulnerabilities in Windows Kerberos (CVE-2025-53779) and Microsoft SQL Server (CVE-2025-49719) require immediate attention. In addition, a CISA directive about a severe Microsoft Exchange vulnerability (CVE-2025-53786) also requires immediate attention for government systems. And Office is on the “Patch Now” update calendar due to a “preview pane” vulnerability (CVE-2025-53740). More info on Microsoft Security updates for August 2025.

For July, a ‘big, broad’ Patch Tuesday release

With 133 patches in its Patch Tuesday update this month, Microsoft delivered a big, broad and important release that requires a Patch Now plan for Windows, Microsoft Office and SQL Server. A zero-day (CVE-2025-49719) in SQL Server requires urgent action, as do Git extensions to Microsoft Visual Studio. More info on Microsoft Security updates for July 2025.

June Patch Tuesday: 68 fixes — and two zero-day flaws

Microsoft offered up a fairly light Patch Tuesday release for June, with 68 patches to Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office. There were no updates for Exchange or SQL server and just two minor patches for Microsoft Edge. But two zero-day vulnerabilities (CVE-2025-33073 and CVE-2025-33053) mean IT admins need to get busy with quick patching plans. More info on Microsoft Security updates for June 2025.

May’s Patch Tuesday serves up 78 updates, including 5 zero-day fixes

This May Patch Tuesday release is very much a “back-to-basics” update with just 78 patches for Microsoft Windows, Office, Visual Studio, and .NET. Notably, Microsoft has not released any patches for Microsoft Exchange Server or Microsoft SQL Server. However, five zero-day exploits for Windows mean this month’s Windows updates should be patched now. More info on Microsoft Security updates for May 2025.

For April, a large ‘dynamic’ Patch Tuesday release

IT admins will be busy this month: the latest patch update from Microsoft includes 126 fixes, including one for an exploited Windows flaw and five critical patches for Office. The April Patch Tuesday release is large (126 patches), broad and unfortunately very dynamic, with several re-releases, missing files and broken patches affecting both the Windows and Office platforms. More info on Microsoft Security updates for April 2025.

For March’s Patch Tuesday, 57 fixes — and 7 zero-days

For so few patches from Microsoft this month (57), we have seven zero-days to manage (with a “Patch Now” recommendation for Windows) and standard release schedules for Microsoft Office, Microsoft browsers (Edge) and Visual Studio.  Adobe is back with a critical update for Reader, too — but it’s not been paired (at least for now) with a Microsoft patch. More info on Microsoft Security updates for March 2025.

Microsoft’s August Patch Tuesday release offers a rather complex set of updates, with 111 fixes affecting Windows, Office, SQL Server and Exchange Server — and several “Patch Now” recommendations. 

Publicly disclosed vulnerabilities in Windows Kerberos (CVE-2025-53779) and Microsoft SQL Server (CVE-2025-49719) require immediate attention. In addition, a CISA directive about a severe Microsoft Exchange vulnerability (CVE-2025-53786) also requires immediate attention  for government systems. And Office is on the “Patch Now” update calendar due to a “preview pane” vulnerability (CVE-2025-53740). 

Thankfully, Microsoft’s browsers and development platform (Visual Studio) can be added to a standard release cadence. 

To help navigate these changes, the team from Readiness crafted a helpful infographic detailing the risks of deploying updates to each platform. (More information about recent Patch Tuesday releases is available here.)

Known issues 

Unusually, this month’s known issues do not cover Windows, but rather two Microsoft server products: 

• Microsoft Exchange Server: The Edge Transport service (EdgeTransport.exe) stops responding and then restarts. For more information and a workaround, see Edge Transport service stops responding after installing November 2024 SU or Exchange 2019 CU15.
• Microsoft SharePoint Server: After you install this update, you might experience an issue when you configure calendar overlay settings. For more information, see “Invalid EWS URL: ” error in Overlay settings in CalendarService.ashx (KB5064829). (No, that’s  not a typo, but the real title of this Microsoft Knowledge Base (KB) article.)

Major revisions and mitigations

There are more than the usual number of updates and changes to existing patches, recommendations and remediations this month. We distilled this long list to just the changes that require developer/administrator attention as opposed to more informational or documentation changes:

• CVE-2025-53786: Microsoft Exchange Server Hybrid Deployment Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability. Microsoft released new information on an Elevation of Privilege (EoP) vulnerability that was not addressed by recent security changes as documented in the April 18 Exchange Team blog post.
• CVE-2022-41089: .NET Framework Remote Code Execution Vulnerability. Microsoft had published a number of technical workarounds for this vulnerability in .NET. Please note that if you used any workaround or mitigations for this issue, they are no longer needed; Microsoft recommends you remove them. To do so, see the instructions in the “Alternative Workaround” section of KB5022083.
• CVE-2024-29187: GitHub: CVE-2024-29187 WiX Burn-based bundles are vulnerable to binary hijack when run as SYSTEM. Microsoft added Windows version 1607 to the affected system table, so we added this to our updated CVE list (recognizing that 1607 is a very old build). But the packages generated on this legacy build are still in circulation.

Windows lifecycle and enforcement updates

The company didn’t publish any enforcement updates, but the following Microsoft products are nearing their end of service life cycles:

• Support for Windows Server 2008 will end in January 2026.
• Windows Server 2008 Premium Assurance will end on Jan. 13, 2026.

Though no surprise to some, Microsoft will remove PowerShell 2.0 from Windows starting this month, eight years after announcing its deprecation and keeping it around as an optional feature. 

As always, the Readiness team analyzed Microsoft’s latest updates and provides technically sound, actionable testing plans. August’s release brings updates to core Windows components, with significant changes affecting printing subsystems and remote desktop authentication. Two components have been designated as high-risk and warrant immediate attention: the Printing Subsystem and Remote Desktop Authentication components.

For this testing guide, we grouped Microsoft’s updates by Windows feature and accompanied each section with prescriptive test actions and rationales to help prioritize enterprise validation efforts.

Core OS and printing

Microsoft updated core kernel components affecting Windows as a whole, including kernel and system drivers. The printing subsystem update carries high risk necessitating immediate validation. These low-level system changes can affect system stability and printing functionality across the enterprise. We recommend the following testing approach:

• Apply the security updates and reboot the system.
• Test various print scenarios, including printing from 32-bit applications.
• Run scenarios to test that Win32 applications properly render text content.
• Use Kernel Transaction Manager to create, roll back, migrate, and dispatch transactions.
• Test transaction NTFS scenarios.

Remote Desktop and network connectivity

This month’s updates significantly affect remote desktop authentication and network connectivity components. The updates to Microsoft Active Directory authentication are marked as high-risk and affect both Azure AD and traditional Active Directory authentication scenarios. Low-level network socket functionality has also been updated. We recommend testing of the following areas:

Authentication scenarios for AD/AAD-joined devices

• Test RDP logins using Azure AD token (interactive login), NTLM credentials and Kerberos.
• Validate RDP login via Remote Desktop Gateway (RDGW) using AD credentials.
• Ensure correct RDP session timeout and auto-reconnect behavior.
• Validate credential caching and re-authentication prompts using Connect → Disconnect → Reconnect → Logoff → Login testing cycles.
• Trigger and verify MFA challenges during RDP login.

Network connectivity testing

• Transmit UDP packets to IPv4 and IPv6 address structures and create UDP sockets with Winsock library, bind and unbind with IP addresses.
• Send and receive large packets over the network using IPv6. Test using large files.
• Establish multiple concurrent TCP connections using Winsock APIs and verify clean termination.

Filesystem and storage

Updates to core filesystem components, including ntfs.sys and cldflt.sys, require validation to ensure file system operations continue to function properly. Directory querying functionality has been specifically updated and requires targeted testing:

• Test directory querying related scenarios with DOS (i.e. short) file names.
• Apply test scenarios where your internal or line-of-business applications access SMB servers.
• Test applications that use .lnk files, specifically mentioning the TargetPath in the LNK file properties.

Media and codecs

Microsoft updated media handling components affecting video playback and image processing capabilities. These updates require validation across different media scenarios:

• Play videos or watch TV/movies with subtitles on Blu-ray using Microsoft Media Foundation — subtitles should appear as expected. (I suggest Buckaroo Banzai.)
• Embed JPEG images in Visio and other Office documents.
• Take pictures and record video with the Camera app.

Application deployment and infrastructure

Updates to Windows Installer and App Silos functionality require validation to ensure app installs function as expected. We suggest the tests:

• Install, uninstall, rollback and repair MSI Installer files.
• Test App Silos feature scenarios using silo apps that perform filesystem access.
• Verify no memory leaks when the BFS driver is invoked using “sc start bfs / sc stop bfs commands.”

Routing and Remote Access Service (RRAS)

Significant updates to RRAS components require a full test of functionality:

• Perform normal operations on the RRAS management console if RRAS is installed on a server.
• Set up RIP (Routing Information Protocol) on a remote machine and clear the “SpecialInterfaceName” flag.
• Perform configuration or viewing operations using the management console for both local and remote installations.
• Test different property pages (DHCP, NAT, RIP, IGMP, BOOTP) to ensure they show correct information for valid configurations.
• Test invalid configurations to ensure they are handled correctly (by not opening the respective page/tab or showing an error dialog).

Virtualization and development platforms

The August updates to Microsoft’s virtualization and development platform require validation across multiple scenarios:

• Establish PSDirect (PowerShell Direct) service and enable enhanced session in VMConnect, perform VM resets.
• Open remote sessions on devices with no proprietary driver installed and test applications such as Calculator and Notepad.
• Test apps that use nearby sharing functionality (Settings > System > Nearby sharing).
• Test scenarios using Active Directory components, such as Active Directory Certificate Service and LDAP.

The team recommends prioritizing remote desktop authentication testing this month, particularly around Azure AD integration scenarios, leading onto printing subsystem validation and ensuring that your RRAS configurations continue to function. Pay special attention to the high-risk components identified in this release, as any regressions could significantly hit enterprise remote access and printing capabilities.

Each month, we break down the update cycle into product families (as defined by Microsoft) with the following basic groupings: 

• Browsers (Microsoft IE and Edge);
• Microsoft Windows (both desktop and server);
• Microsoft Office;
• Microsoft SQL Server;
• Microsoft Exchange; 
• Microsoft Developer Tools (Visual Studio and .NET);
• Adobe (if you get this far).

Browsers

Microsoft released 10 updates to its browser platforms, all of them rated important. Eight of the patches are Chromium updates, with the remaining two for Microsoft Edge. All of these low-profile changes can be added to your standard release calendar.

Windows

The following Windows product areas have been updated with six critical patches, 60 rated important and one update rated as moderate:

• Windows GDI+, Graphics and DirectX Kernel.
• Microsoft Message Queuing (MSMQ).
• Windows NTLM and Hyper-V.
• Windows Kerberos.

Unfortunately, the Kerberos update (CVE-2025-53779) has been publicly disclosed leading to a “Patch Now” recommendation.

Microsoft Office

A larger-than-usual set of updates for Microsoft Office this month includes five patches (CVE-2025-5373, CVE-2025-53733 CVE-2025-53784, CVE-2025-53740, CVE-2025-53766, and CVE-2025-53784) rated critical and 13 updates rated important. Unfortunately, CVE-2025-53740 has a preview pane vulnerability leading to a “Patch Now” recommendation for Office. 

Microsoft SQL Server

Microsoft released five updates rated important to Microsoft SQL Server (CVE-2025-49758, CVE-2025-53727, CVE-2025-24999, CVE-2025-49759 and CVE-2025-47954). In addition, a patch from July (CVE-2025-49719) has been updated by Microsoft due to public disclosure. Add these updates to your “Patch Now” plan.

Microsoft Exchange Server

One of the primary points of focus for both testing and rapid deployment involves Microsoft Exchange Server. Five patches were released, and while all are rated as important, we believe that they should receive immediate attention. The primary factor: the latest directive from CISA detailing the active exploitation of CVE-2025-53786, which directly affects hybrid Exchange environments. It looks like government implementations are both particularly susceptible and actively targeted. Add this update to your “Patch Now” schedule.

Developer tools

Microsoft released two updates for its development platform, (CVE-2025-53772 and CVE-2025-53773) affecting Visual Studio and Microsoft’s Web Deploy tools. Add these low-profile updates to your standard release calendar.

Adobe (and third-party updates)

No updates this time from Microsoft for Adobe products. And the only third-party product updates were for Chromium — which don’t really count. So, I will use this space to apologise for having separate sections for Microsoft SQL and Exchange Server. It’s a lot for anybody. Luckily, I didn’t have to add an extra section for SharePoint server — that would be bad.

For all the fuss over the App Store and how competitors have lobbied governments to force Apple to open up that side of its business, one question that never seems to get answered is what is a reasonable profit margin for a company to make from its enterprise?

It is really strange it isn’t asked, as it seems a really appropriate question when so much coverage of what has always obviously been a put-up attack against the company has focused on the (up to 30%) “Apple Tax’”Cupertino puts on sales through the App Store. Competitors and regulators seem deaf to arguments that the only ones paying that much in commission were the larger software companies moving more than $1 million dollars in apps.

That implies government regulators weren’t much interested in the smaller companies, and only really wanted to listen to the big ones.

Tell me what you want, what you really, really want

What did those big firms want? Margins, of course. In this case, they want to be able to sell their software — which they know is highly profitable — outside of the App Store, not because they want to make it cheaper for consumers (which they won’t), but because they see Apple’s 30% margin and want to keep that bit of cash for themselves. 

The problem is that once that cash is removed from App Store economics, Apple will need to recoup that money somehow, which will likely translate into higher developer fees and increased costs for developers that choose to stay in the store.

Apple’s largely progressive system, in which those with the broadest shoulders carried the load, has been rejected. So, what is a reasonable profit martin for companies to make? 

Aswath Damodaran, professor of finance at the Stern School of Business at New York University, is widely regarded as the world’s leading expert on corporate financial data. He keeps a regularly updated database tracking all kinds of values, including industry specific margins. His data tells us that Apple’s 30% App Store margin is tiny in comparison to the massive profitability of the large software companies that don’t want to pay their share. In fact, the margin on Software (System and Application) sits at 72.38%. 

If you want my future, forget my past

That latter figure is astonishingly high and indicates how much of your tax dollars are subsidizing software companies. (How much does your local or national government pay in software licensing costs at roughly 70% margins?) It certainly helps Microsoft maintain its own 43.79% margin across its business — and presumably means larger software firms have been able to lavishly lobby governments and regulators to force the App Store to open up. 

The only sectors higher than software are retail REITS (shopping centers, office rentals, etc) at 77.48% and Big Pharma (70.3%), closely followed by financial services (ie. the people who gave us the financial crisis) at 68.37%. Even now, tobacco is also a high-margin industry at 61.96%.

So, if tobacco, pharmaceuticals, financial services, and software can operate at those margins, who is taxing whom here? Apple, with its own overall 31.57% margin, or its competitors in the App Store space, striving to protect and grow their 70% slice of the pie?

Taking is too easy, but that’s the way it is

Well, for that 70% you get the software you need. So, what does Apple’s existing App Store model add to that? Take a look at Apple’s system and here’s a few things to get you started:

• Universal distribution and global reach.
• Malware and virus protection.
• Developer tools and support, including verification of every developer.
• Customer tools and support, including verification of every customer.
• Fraud protection, with $2 billion in fraud blocked last year.
• Payment processing through a trusted provider.
• Consistent price structures.
• Vetted software that works and does not contain malware or adware.
• Open privacy disclosures.
• Easy to get hold of tech support.
• Accountability, including against accidental purchases by children.
• And more…

This seems to be a huge amount of value. What should the margin be on that? 

Wind it all around

Apple’s take seems pretty slim in comparison to the software sector’s margins. What’s clear is that the real money here isn’t in running the App Store but in selling the software sold on the store. That store absolutely revolutionized software sales, enabling big developers to keep even more revenue from each sale by eliminating the cost of physical distribution. They did, but prices didn’t really decline; that’s how the software industry enjoys that obscenely high margin. 

But Apple’s enemies want to keep it all, and will no doubt introduce their own App Stores to distribute their software free of Apple’s restrictions against fraud, malware, privacy erosion.  They will not emulate everything that made the App Store great because they don’t need to; and they will have their own take on the ideal consumer experience. (It almost certainly won’t aim for anything as high as Apple has always delivered. (That is why people choose Apple in the first place.)

You probably won’t get privacy disclosures, probably won’t be able to purchase some essential software at the App Store, and won’t enjoy the same after-sales support as before. But none of that matters to these people. 

All they want is to keep those margins as high as they possibly can without a word about just what a reasonably profit margin should be. 

As I see it, these people argue for the red and for the blue — on the one hand they’ll say business is based on whatever people are happy to pay, while on the other they’ll demand government interference when they find people are happy to pay more than they want them to. In the end, it’s about the green.

Get with my friends

Because rather than continue to reinvent their own business to optimize efficiency and revenue, they want to keep things exactly the same — all aided and abetted by our current crop of imagination-free governments, shoring up anemic economies by charging you more for less than you already have. Or, to paraphrase that line from All the President’s Men, “Follow the money.” 

It’s really not the Apple Tax you should be fighting — it’s the prioritization of profit over customer experience that matters. And customers aren’t winning.

You can follow me on social media! Join me on BlueSky,  LinkedIn, and Mastodon.

Nvidia has floated the idea of “Graphics 3.0” with the hope of making AI-generated graphics central to physical productivity, especially in factories and warehouses.

The concept revolves around graphics generated by generative AI (genAI) tools as opposed to humans. Nvidia said AI-generated graphics could help in multiple ways, including training robots to do their jobs in the physical world or by helping AI assistants automate the creation of equipment and structures.

[ Related: More Nvidia news and insights ]

“We believe we are now in Graphics 3.0…being superpowered by AI,” said Ming-Yu Liu, vice president of research at Nvidia, during a keynote at SIGGRAPH 2025, the graphics conference held this week in Vancouver, BC.

Nvidia’s GPUs are widely used by text-based genAI models and virtual assistants. Beyond that, the company hopes Graphics 3.0 will change the physical world by allowing AI to run robots, traffic signals, home appliances, autonomous cars, and equipment in offices, factories and warehouses.

Robots will “assist us in our homes, redefine how work is done in factories, warehouses, agriculture, and more,” Nvidia  CEO Jensen Huang said in a short video address during an event keynote.

But creating Graphics 3.0 isn’t easy, as virtual AI differs from physical AI by relying on data used to train foundation models from the likes of OpenAI and Google. Because physical AI relies on pixels, which aren’t as readily available, Nvidia is creating synthetic data by simulating virtual worlds for applications.

“Robots don’t learn from code. They learn from experience. But real-world training is slow and expensive,” Huang said.

Nvidia has created AI models and simulation tools to create pixels that can ultimately be used to train robots, autonomous cars and other physical AI devices. “We need to invent completely new tools so that artists can conceptualize, create, and iterate orders of magnitude more quickly than they can today,” Aaron Lefohn, vice president of research at Nvidia’s real-time graphics lab, explained during the keynote.

Nvidia talked about its Cosmos AI models that will help robots take commands, sense, reason, plan, and then execute tasks in the physical world. The models can help robots bring digital intelligence into the physical world, said Sonia Fidler, vice president of research at Nvidia’s spatial intelligence lab.

“Physical AI can’t scale through real world trial and error. It’s unsafe, time consuming and expensive,” Fidler said.

For example, autonomous cars are being trained in virtual worlds because crashing cars hundreds of times to create training data is not feasible.

The company also this week announced Omniverse NuRec, which turns real-world sensor data into fully interactive simulations robots can train in or test on. It includes different tools and AI models for the construction, simulation, rendering, and enhancement of 3D digital environments.

The virtual reconstruction of worlds comes through 2D data collected from cameras and sensors. Every pixel is labeled based on a visual understanding of the sensor data.

“It is very important to stress here that visual understanding is not perfect and because of different ambiguities it’s hard to perfect,” Fidler said.

The company also announced AI material-generation tools to create more realistic graphics “complete with realistic visual details, including reflectivity and surface textures,” Lefohn said.

3D experts and engineers can “engage AI assistants using simple language to describe their requirements,” Lefohn said.

IT loves buzzwords. But it is now becoming frightfully common for analysts, vendors and even other IT specialists to take established tech phrases and assign them entirely new meanings. (And to be clear, none of these folk ever spell out that that’s what they are doing.)

Case in point: “Tech debt”. That term has meant the same thing for many years: it describes coding shortcuts (either to cut costs or to speed completion or both) that may help in the short term but will eventually catch up with you — and cost you far more money and time. 

A similar definition can be found in Wikipedia, IBM, MIT, and Carnegie-Mellon, among other places. 

And yet, I have been hearing from various trusted sources (analysts, vendors, IT pros, etc.) an entirely new definition for tech debt. They’re using it more and more to describe the painful processes for dealing with legacy systems.

I first noticed this strange definition-hijacking when talking with a top analyst from Moor Insights & Strategy about the slow move to Windows11. When talking about “the increase in the complexity of the upgrade decision, these hidden interdependencies” — a perfectly viable point — the analyst dubbed the problem as “the great reckoning of technical debt.”

Since that interview, I’ve heard various other respected analysts and industy experts using the same  definition for tech debt. 

People, as someone who makes my living through the use of English words, let me say this loud and clear: Words have meaning. You can’t take a well-known phrase and just randomly assign it a new definition.

You want to talk about legacy integration headaches with on-prem data and 18 global cloud partners? Or maybe those internal programmers creating homegrown apps — and then deliberately short-cutting or entirely ignoring proper documentation? Great. Coin a new term for the concept. Don’t jam your new definition into an existing term.

It’s not just about the phrase “tech debt.” Consider Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA). That term couldn’t be simpler. It means only one thing: that you are using more than one method to authenticate users. That’s it. And yet, I recently watched a senator ask a corporate CEO who was testifying before Congress  whether his firm used MFA. 

When the CEO said “yes, ”the senator promptly moved on to a different line of questioning.

Wait a second! That answer tells us nothing. The senator should have followed up with something like,  “Great. How many authentication methods are you using and which ones are you using?”

That would allow the senator to at least evaluate the effectiveness of those authentication methods, whether it’s robust (say, perhaps FIDO2), minimally acceptable (maybe an Authenticator app) or a gift to attackers everywhere (unencrypted SMS comes to mind).

People throw out MFA as though it means something  — and others pretend they’ve been given useful information.

I have seen vendors calling their authentication mechanism “an MFA.” No. That doesn’t work. One form of authentication is not an example of “multiple forms of authentication” (unless that approach has multiple personalities).

There’s also a form of verification called Continuous Authentication (CA), which is not to be confused with Behavioral Analytics (BA), though they both have much in common. Think of BA and CA as two different security guards in a building. CA is the one in the lobby who makes sure you’re authorized to be in the building. Once you get the the greenlight, that guard’s job is mostly done.

BA is a guard making rounds on the fourth floor, ensuring you don’t try going anywhere you’re not supposed to. Think of a supply chain analyst who’s trying to access payroll records; the BA guard sounds the alarm and gets higher authorities involved.

BA is not really about authentication; it’s about making sure you don’t break bad after the lobby guard lets you in. (Yes, I’m an enthusiastic fan of Walter White.)

Another misuse of English in tech circles is the horrific “post-quantum encryption.” That term is supposed to refer to the day when true quantum systems emerge and start breaking all manner of regular cryptography. 

But that would be “quantum encryption” — meaning encryption that would theoretically be able to stand up to a quantum system. Post-quantum means after quantum. That would mean that this would protect cryptography from whatever comes along to replace quantum, presumably many, many years — if not decades-from now. 

Post means after. (Or it means a breakfast cereal company or a daily newspaper, but I digress.) Pay attention, people.

Karen Andersen,  a technical architect at IT consulting firm World Wide Technology, argues that the worlds of consulting, analysts, and vendors would implode if they were all forced to use English words and phrases properly. (She was specifically referencing tech debt.)

“If we have to use actual meaning in word choices, the whole world is going to detonate,” Andersen said, adding, “Or should I say debt-onate?” 

Rex Booth, the CISO at identify vendor SailPoint, acknowledges the loss of accuracy in language, but defends its perpetrators. 

“Tech phrases that at one point provided sufficient meaning and functionality — the classic definition” can evolve, he said. “Meaning changes over time. There can be this collision between linguistics and technical culture.”

Booth is being far too forgiving. 

Now, let me check my MFA for tech debt and make sure my BAs and CAs are all in order. 

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The AI boom has created a record-breaking wave of new billionaires and high company valuations in the past year at a rate unprecedented in history, according to CNBC.

CB Insights reports there are now 498 AI “unicorns” (private companies worth at least $1 billion) with a combined value of $2.7 trillion — and 100 of them were founded after 2023. In total, more than 1,300 AI startups have been valued at $100 million or more.

Large rounds of capital for companies like Anthropic, OpenAI, Anysphere and Safe Superintelligence have created new paper fortunes, with several founders now multi-billionaires, at least on paper.

Unlike the dotcom era, many AI companies are staying private longer, thanks to constant capital injections from venture capitalists, sovereign wealth funds and private investors. Liquidity is instead created through secondary markets, takeovers, and mergers.

Not surprisingly, the phenomenon is heavily concentrated in the San Francisco area.

Just in time to build up the late-summer Apple product refresh hype, news of a big collection of product upgrades has magically appeared as Cupertino puts the finishing touches to its iPhone keynote event invite.

To help Apple fans monitor the impact of the latest leaks on their blood oxygen levels, the company also helpfully reintroduced some support for oxygen tracking  at about the same time the latest leaks appeared. The speculation follows tantalizing promises from Apple CEO Tim Cook who in early August told an all-hands Apple employee meeting that he’d “never felt so much excitement’ about the products the company has planned.

“The product pipeline, which I can’t talk about — it’s amazing, guys. It’s amazing,” Cook said. “Some of it you’ll see soon, some of it will come later, but there’s a lot to see.”

So, what’s with the latest speculation?

Chips with everything

If the code is correct, Apple is about to breathe new life into numerous products with chip upgrades to make them more powerful. It also plans to introduce brand new product families, though the schedule for many of the following products is likely to extend into 2026. There’s exciting news across Apple’s product range:

• iPods: Apple’s plotting a new iPad mini with the same high-end A19 Pro chip you’ll find inside iPhone 17 Pro models. Also, as it seeks to broaden its market to guard against economic unpredictability, Apple plans a spring launch for a new low-cost iPad equipped with an A18 chip, a big upgrade from the A16 inside the current entry-level model.
• Vision Pro: As expected, Apple will put an M5 chip inside the Vision Pro.
• Home: Apple’s new HomePod mini will hold an updated S-series chip, while Apple TV gains an A17 Pro processor — a substantial boost beyond the current A15 Bionic chip. It will likely need this power for those sofa-based Apple Intelligence interactions. It might also need this for the smart home it plans, including a Ring-competing security camera with movement and person detection, and its first attempts at home robotics. 
• Mac: Not only do we now expect the first M5 Mac models and also a $599 MacBook, but the latest news claims Apple intends introducing a next-generation Studio Display 2. Code-named J427, this isn’t expected to debut until 2026. But the introduction of a new A19 Pro internal processor should make it capable of accurately handling modern and future video and audio codecs.
• iPhone: In a chime of loud synchronicity, all these new product speculations come just in time to raise the temperature as Apple prepares to introduce the first of its new iPhone 17 range. They’re expected to bring more memory than ever, double the entry-level storage for a small price increase, and 8x optical zoom (on Pro models). Expect iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max models.
• Apple Watch: Expect a third-generation Apple Watch Ultra, with a faster chip, larger display and 5G (including satellite messaging support); Apple Watch Series 11 gets a processor upgrade and the first Apple Watch SE upgrade since 2022.
• AirPods and AirTags: Apple is also preparing upgrades to AirPods Pro and AirTags. The latter are expected to be more accurate and operate at longer range, while AirPods Pro 3 promise improved noise cancellation and advanced sleep and hearing health features.

Is that all there is?

This extensive collection of rumored product upgrades seems to provide a good glimpse at the next 12 months of planned introductions, but there are some things missing from the list. Apple will no doubt introduce new Macs and iPad Pro models during this time, even as it will at last introduce the contextually aware Apple Intelligence it promised us at WWDC last year.

The latter introduction will probably create opportunity for additional Apple products and services, including the company’s take on a digital health coach, integration between those health services and the company’s existing products, and the opportunity to develop additional solutions, such as health assistant robotics.

Even further out, we know Apple hopes to introduce glasses equipped with visionOS as well as its first-ever folding iPhone.

Apple clearly has a lot to talk about.

You can follow me on social media! Join me on BlueSky,  LinkedIn, and Mastodon.

Google Sheets is a powerful spreadsheet app that you use through your web browser. It stores your spreadsheets in the cloud with Google Drive. In addition to the web app, there are Sheets mobile apps for Android and iOS.

Anyone with a Google account can use Sheets and Drive for free. They’re also part of Google Workspace, Google’s subscription-based collection of web apps that also includes Gmail, Google Docs, Google Slides, and more. Sheets works similarly for everybody, but it has a few more advanced features for Workspace subscribers.

This guide will teach you how to create or upload spreadsheets and work with them in the Sheets web app, including how to collaborate on them with co-workers.

[ See more Google Workspace tips and tutorials ]

We’ll also cover a few Gemini (Google’s generative AI assistant) features that are integrated with Google Sheets. Gemini tools are available in Google Docs with a Google Workspace Business Standard or greater plan, a Google AI Pro or greater plan, or if you sign up for Google Workspace Labs with your Google account.

In this story:

• Create or open a spreadsheet
• Work in a spreadsheet (with or without Gemini AI)
• Share your spreadsheet
• Collaborate on your spreadsheet
• Recover older versions of a spreadsheet
• Download and export your spreadsheet to Excel or PDF
• Use the Google Sheets mobile app
• Use keyboard shortcuts

Create or open a spreadsheet

To start a new spreadsheet or load one you’ve already saved in Google Drive, you’ll need to sign in to your Google or Google Workspace account. If you haven’t signed in yet, you’ll be prompted to do so when you click either link below.

From the Google Sheets home screen: To start a new spreadsheet, click the Blank spreadsheet thumbnail or select a template to its right. To see more templates, click the Template gallery button in the upper-right corner of the screen; click any thumbnail to start a new spreadsheet in that template.

From the Google Drive home screen: To start a new blank spreadsheet, click the New button at the upper-left of the screen and then click Google Sheets. If you want to select a template to start a new spreadsheet, click the New button, then move the cursor over the triangle to the right of “Google Spreadsheets” and select From a template. The Google Sheets template gallery will open.

From the web browser address bar: You can immediately launch Google Sheets and start a new blank spreadsheet in it by simply typing sheets.new in the address bar of your web browser. (This works if you’re already signed in to your Google or Google Workspace account on the browser.)

Open a spreadsheet

Spreadsheets that are already in your Google Drive storage appear on the Google Sheets and Google Drive home screens. Double-click a spreadsheet, and it will open in Google Sheets. You can use the search box at the top of either home screen to search for your spreadsheet’s file name or data that is in it.

On the Google Sheets home screen, you can also click the folder icon on the right above the spreadsheets list. This opens a simplified version of your Google Drive inside a panel.

To open a spreadsheet that someone else has shared with you via Google Drive: On the Google Drive home screen, click Shared with me in the left column, and then double-click the spreadsheet to open it in Google Sheets.

Upload a spreadsheet for editing in Google Sheets

If you have a spreadsheet on your PC that you want to edit in Google Sheets, you have to first upload it. Google Sheets supports Microsoft Excel (.xlsx), OpenDocument (.ods), and Comma Separated Values (.csv) formats.

To upload via the Google Sheets home screen: Click the folder icon on the right above the spreadsheets list, then click the Upload tab on the panel that opens. You can drag-and-drop the spreadsheet onto this panel or browse your PC’s storage drive to find and select the spreadsheet. The file is saved to your Google Drive in Sheets format and opens immediately in the Sheets web app.

To upload via the Google Drive home screen: Click New > File upload and select the spreadsheet from your PC’s drive. The document retains its original formatting.

Working with Microsoft Excel spreadsheets in Sheets

Google Sheets supports the ability to edit Microsoft Excel (.xlsx) files in their native format. You can edit and collaborate on an Excel file right in Sheets, with all changes made by you or your collaborators saved directly to the Excel file.

To retain the Excel format, though, you must upload the file through Google Drive. When you upload an Excel spreadsheet document through the Google Sheets home screen, it is automatically converted to the Sheets file format.

When you upload an Excel file through the Google Drive home screen, on the other hand, it is not automatically converted to Sheets file format — so an Excel spreadsheet will retain its format and .xlsx file extension. In the documents list, Excel files are designated with an X icon instead of the usual Sheets icon.

If you would prefer that Excel (and other spreadsheet format) files be automatically converted to Sheets format when you upload them via Google Drive, click the gear icon in the upper-right corner of the Google Drive home screen and select Settings from the drop-down menu. On the Settings page, scroll down to “Uploads” and check the checkbox marked Convert uploads to Google Docs editor format.

To convert Excel macros to Google Sheets: If an Excel file you’re converting to Sheets format contains VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) code, which is used for macros, and you’re subscribed to a Google Workplace Enterprise Plus plan, install the Macro Converter add-on for Google Sheets. This will do as its name implies: convert your Excel file’s VBA code to the App Script format that Google Sheets uses, so that you can execute these macros in your spreadsheet when it’s loaded into Google Sheets.

Work in a spreadsheet

When you open a spreadsheet in Google Sheets, here’s what you see:

Your spreadsheet’s title appears along the top left of the screen. To change it, click anywhere inside the title and start typing.

The menu bar is just below the spreadsheet’s title and includes the following drop-down menus:

• File: commands for taking action on the whole spreadsheet, including Print, Rename, and Share
• Edit: quick tools for deleting columns or rows
• View: control how you see the spreadsheet, such as showing or hiding formulas, freezing rows or columns, and grouping together columns or rows
• Insert: insert cells, columns, or rows; graphical elements such as charts and images; and other items such as functions, comments, and checkboxes
• Format: the same formatting tools as in the Sheets toolbar (described below), plus commands for conditional formatting and alternating colors
• Data: tools for sorting a range of columns in alphabetical order, creating a filter, protecting sheets and ranges, and validating data
• Tools: miscellaneous items such as creating a form and running spell-check
• Extensions: work with add-ons, macros, scripts, and apps
• Help: search for commands or get help for specific tasks

The toolbar is directly above your spreadsheet and has buttons for formatting the numbers and text in a cell. These include changing its number format (e.g., currency, date, percent) and font (type, size, style, color). Other buttons on the toolbar let you change the background color of a cell, merge cells, and adjust the horizontal or vertical alignment of numbers or text in a cell.

Note that there is no Save command; Sheets automatically saves any changes as soon as you make them.

To insert a chart: Click the Insert chart button (a square with vertical lines in it, like a column chart) toward the right end of the toolbar. (You might have to click the vertical three-dot icon to see it.) This opens a panel along the right from which you can select a preset chart or click the Customize tab to create your own chart.

To insert a formula: Click the Functions button (a Greek sigma) at the very end of the toolbar. (You might have to click the vertical three-dot icon to see it.) This opens a drop-down menu of formulas (a.k.a. functions) that Google Sheets supports.

Click through the categories to find the formula you want. Once you find it, click the formula to insert it inside the cell where you’ve set the cursor.

For a complete list of formulas/functions that work in Google Sheets, see the official Google Sheets functions list.

To insert a table: When you start a new, blank spreadsheet, a Tables panel may open along the right. (For some users, it doesn’t appear automatically; it seems to depend on the type of Google account you’re signed into.) If the panel doesn’t automatically appear on a new spreadsheet or if you open an existing spreadsheet, you can open the Tables panel by selecting Insert > Pre-built tables from the top menu bar.

On this panel, you can browse through a wide selection of table templates designed for specific purposes, such as “Event tasks,” “Customer contacts,” and “Inventory tracker.” A few featured tables appear at the top of the panel, with the rest organized under categories such as “Event planning,” “Project management,” “Travel planner,” and “Team planner.” There’s also a “Blank table” option you can choose if you want to start from scratch.

When you select a table template, it’s inserted onto your spreadsheet. You can then customize it to your needs — filling in cell data, changing column headers, resizing it, and so on.

If you have access to Google’s AI assistant Gemini in Sheets, some of the templates include AI elements, such AI-generated ad copy in the “Ad creation” table template. Gemini users also see a prominent “Help me create a table” button in the Tables panel. If you click it, it opens the Gemini sidebar described below.

Use Gemini AI in your spreadsheet

If you have Gemini access as described at the beginning of this guide, Google’s AI can help you create and analyze data in your spreadsheet. Click the nova star icon at the upper-right corner (next to your Google account profile headshot) to open the Gemini sidebar along the right.

At the top of this panel, Gemini may generate a summary describing the data in the spreadsheet that’s open in the main window. You’ll also see suggested prompts you can select, such as creating a table for a specific purpose or analyzing the spreadsheet’s data to identify trends.

Note: If you’re using Google Sheets under a plan that doesn’t include Gemini, clicking the nova star will open the Gemini panel showing you an ad for Gemini and a button you can click to start a trial.

Or you can type your own prompt inside the entry box at the bottom of the panel. You can instruct Gemini to do a variety of things, such as creating formulas, tables, or pivot tables; generating charts or other informational graphics; or doing other tasks like applying conditional formatting. Gemini continuously analyzes your spreadsheet so that it can help you create these and other items.

You can also try asking Gemini questions about the data in your spreadsheet. For example: You have a spreadsheet that lists sales figures (denoted as “price” on your spreadsheet) made by a specific person (“Mary”). When you type “What’s the sum of price by Mary?” Gemini should show you the total in sales that Mary made.

Note: When you prompt Gemini to show you charts or generate formulas, it may not always do so, but it may try to guide you through the process by offering suggestions on how to best work with your data.

You can insert a chart or formula generated by Gemini into your spreadsheet by clicking Insert below the item in the sidebar.

There’s lots more you can do with Gemini in Google Sheets and the other Workspace apps. See “Google Workspace: 7 great ways to use the Gemini AI sidebar” for detailed instructions and use cases.

Manage multiple sheets in a spreadsheet

Each page of your spreadsheet is represented as a tab along the bottom of the screen. Clicking one of these tabs shows you its corresponding sheet on the screen.

To add a new, blank sheet to your spreadsheet: Click the “+” at the lower-left corner.

To delete or rename a sheet: Click the triangle on the sheet’s tab. From the menu that opens, select Delete or Rename.

To change the order of your sheets: Click-and-hold a sheet’s tab, then drag it left or right to another spot in the row of tabs, and release it.

Select a design theme for your spreadsheet

On the menu bar along the top of the screen, click Format > Theme. A panel will open along the right, showing you several large thumbnails of themes. Scroll through the list and click the thumbnail for the one that you want to use for your spreadsheet. You can apply a theme to a new blank spreadsheet or to one that already has a design.

Get assistance as you enter data

As you’re entering formulas into cells, Google Sheets may make corrections to your formula (if it thinks you’ve made a mistake) or fill in cells with suggested adjustments to your formula.

For example, if you’re entering the same formula cell-by-cell down a column, but changing the formula to correspond with the row number, Sheets may automatically insert your formula into the cells further down the column and apply what it predicts will be your succeeding adjustments to the formula.

This intelligent assistance is on by default, but if you find that it gets in your way, you can turn it off: On the menu bar along the top of the screen, click Tools > Suggestion controls and deselect Enable autocomplete, Enable formula suggestions, and Enable formula corrections. On this menu, you’ll see switches for other categories, such as table and data analysis suggestions, that you can switch off.

Share your spreadsheet

Through Google Sheets or Google Drive, you can share a spreadsheet for others to view or edit.

From the Google Sheets screen where you’re editing your spreadsheet, click the light blue Share button at the upper right. Or, from the Google Drive home screen, right-click the filename of your spreadsheet and select Share > Share from the menu that opens. Either way, the Share pane opens.

Google lets you share your spreadsheet privately by inviting specific people to access it, or publicly, which means anyone with the link to it can open it. In most cases, business users will want to share their spreadsheets privately with specific colleagues. But there may be a few times when you need to share it publicly, such as when you’re seeking public comments on a spreadsheet.

Share your spreadsheet privately (only certain people can access it)

On the Share pane, type in the names or email addresses of the people you want to collaborate with on the spreadsheet. You can also type in a brief message to them.

By default, every person you add is given Editor access to your spreadsheet. You can change this by clicking Editor at the right of their name and selecting Commenter or Viewer from the dropdown that opens.

• Editor means they can change your spreadsheet, add comments to it, and reshare it with other people.
• Commenter means they can view your spreadsheet and add comments to it, but they cannot change it.
• Viewer means they can view your spreadsheet, but they cannot change it or add comments to it.

Keep in mind that this setting applies to everyone you’re currently inviting to the spreadsheet.

When you’re done, click Send. Everyone you’ve added will receive an email with a link they can click to access the spreadsheet.

Change, limit, or revoke permissions

You can change anyone’s permissions for a spreadsheet at any time by reopening the Share pane for the spreadsheet. It will list everyone who has access to the spreadsheet. Click the dropdown next to their name to change their permission level or remove their access entirely, then click Save.

You can also limit the overall permissions for a spreadsheet somewhat by clicking the gear icon in the upper right of the Share pane:

• Uncheck the first checkbox to prevent others at the Editor level from resharing the spreadsheet or changing other collaborators’ permission level.
• Uncheck the second to prevent other Editors from downloading, printing, or copying the spreadsheet. Uncheck the third to do the same for anyone with Viewer or Commenter status.

Set an expiration date

Under a Google Workspace plan, you can also cut off access to a person you’ve shared your spreadsheet with starting on a specified date.

To do this, click the down arrow to the right of a collaborator’s name on the Share pane and select Add expiration. Then, to the right of “Access expires…,” click the pencil icon and select an expiration date (and time if you want) on the pop-up calendar; it can be within one year of the current date. Click Done.

Share your spreadsheet publicly (anyone can access it)

At the bottom of the Share pane is a “Copy link” button that you can click to copy the link to your spreadsheet. By default, this link is restricted to those you invite to the spreadsheet.

To change it to a public link, click Restricted and select Anyone with the link from the dropdown menu.

By default, this link has Viewer access assigned to it. To allow people to comment on or edit your spreadsheet: Click the Viewer dropdown to the right and then select Commenter or Editor.

After you’ve made your above selections, click the Copy link button. You can now paste this link to your spreadsheet into an email, direct message, or document, or post it on a public forum or social media. Remember that anyone who sees and clicks this link will be able to access your spreadsheet.

To turn off this publicly accessible link to your spreadsheet, reopen the Share pane and click Anyone with the link. From the dropdown that opens, select Restricted. Then click the Done button.

Status of your shared spreadsheets

On your Google Drive or Google Sheets home screen, spreadsheets you’re sharing privately or publicly are marked by an icon of two silhouetted heads. (If you have the home screen of Google Drive set to “Grid layout,” this icon won’t appear with the thumbnail or filename of a shared spreadsheet.)

Collaborate on your spreadsheet

The people you’ve shared a spreadsheet with can view or work on it at the same time as you, or at other times. Remember that people who have Editor privileges to your spreadsheet can change all aspects of it.

Having multiple people making changes to a spreadsheet can get confusing and introduce errors. In most cases, setting everyone to Commenter is the best way to collaborate in Sheets. People can attach comments to specific cells, but their comments won’t interfere with your spreadsheet’s data.

To add a comment: Click inside a cell and, on the toolbar above the spreadsheet, click the Insert comment icon (the speech balloon with a + toward the right end of the toolbar — you might have to click the vertical three-dot icon to see it).

A blank comment card with your name on it opens by the cell. On this card’s entry line, type a brief comment, and when you’re finished, click the Comment button.

To draw someone’s attention to a comment: As you’re composing the comment, type the @ symbol and begin typing their name, then select the person from the list of suggested Google contacts that appears. They’ll receive an email notifying them of the comment and linking to it.

To read and reply to a comment: A cell that contains a comment is denoted by a tiny triangle at its upper-right corner. To read it, move the pointer over the cell; the commenter’s name and their comment will appear next to it.

To reply: Click the card or cell. The card will expand to reveal an entry box where you can add a comment in response. Click Reply when you’re done. The comment card will now show the original comment and your reply to it.

To edit, delete, or resolve a comment: Move the pointer over the cell that has a comment. The comment card will open. Move the pointer over the card.

• Clicking the blue checkmark marks this comment as “resolved” and removes the card from the main spreadsheet.
• Clicking the three-dot icon to the right of the original first comment opens a menu that lets you edit, delete, or get a link to your comment.
• Clicking the three-dot icon to the right of any reply opens a menu that lets you edit or delete the reply.

To see all comments in a spreadsheet: Click the speech balloon icon that’s toward the upper right of the Sheets window (it’s to the left of the Share button). The Comments panel will open along the right of the screen; it lists all the comment cards in your spreadsheet.

When you click a comment card on this list, the view of your spreadsheet in the main window will jump to the cell where the comment is located, and the comment card will be opened. You can reply to the comment from within the Comments panel or the comment card on the spreadsheet.

Resolved comments appear at the top of the Comments panel. To restore a resolved comment to the spreadsheet, move the pointer over its comment card, click the three-dot icon that appears on it, and select Re-open from the menu.

For more details about collaborating on your spreadsheet, including what it’s like to collaborate in real time, see “How to collaborate on a document” in our Google Drive guide.

Recover older versions of a spreadsheet

Mistakes happen, and you may want to undo changes you or others have made to a spreadsheet. To look up older versions of an open spreadsheet, click File > Version history > See version history. Or, above your spreadsheet, and toward the upper right, click the clock icon.

A panel opens on the right that shows a list of older versions of your spreadsheet, organized by date and time. To see what an earlier version of the spreadsheet looks like, click its date or version name in the list. That version will appear in the main window.

If you want to use this older version to replace the current version of your spreadsheet, click the blue Restore this version button at the upper-left of the screen. This restored version will then appear at the top of the version history list.

If you want to give an older version a unique name, click its date. You’ll be prompted to type in words to replace the date. The version’s date and time will then appear in smaller type underneath its new name.

Download and export your spreadsheet to Excel or PDF

You can download a spreadsheet and convert it to PDF, .xlsx (if it’s not already an Excel spreadsheet), or another format such as OpenDocument (.ods), Comma Separated Values (.csv), or Tab Separated Values (.tsv).

With the spreadsheet open, select File > Download in the top menu bar and choose a file format. The spreadsheet will be saved to your PC’s storage drive in that format.

Alternatively, you can select File > Email and then pick either Email this file or Email collaborators. This action will open a panel that lets you email your document as an attachment. PDF is the default, but you can click the PDF drop-down menu and choose Excel or Open Office Spreadsheet.

Use the Google Sheets mobile app

With the exception of the Version history tool, the Google Sheets app (available for Android, iPhone and iPad) has many of the same features described in this guide. You probably won’t want to do any heavy spreadsheet editing on a phone screen, but the mobile app is handy for making quick edits, as well as sharing and commenting on sheets.

Toolbars along the top and bottom of the screen let you add comments and new sheets to your spreadsheet. Tapping a cell brings up top and bottom toolbars. The selections on these toolbars let you add columns or rows next to the cell, or edit the formula or text inside it.

Tap the three-dot icon at the right end of the top toolbar to use the “Data validation” tool or to create named ranges, share your spreadsheet (see our Google Drive guide for instructions on sharing from the mobile app), or export it to another file format.

Use keyboard shortcuts

Save time in Sheets by using keyboard shortcuts for common tasks. Below are some of the most useful to know. For more, select Help > Keyboard shortcuts from the top menu when you have a spreadsheet open or press Ctrl + / (Windows, Chrome OS) or ⌘ + / (macOS).

Handy Google Sheets keyboard shortcuts

BASICS
Action	Chrome OS and Windows shortcut	macOS shortcut
Select column	Ctrl + Space	Control + Space
Select row	Shift + Space	Shift + Space
Select all	Ctrl + A	⌘ + A
Copy	Ctrl + C	⌘ + C
Paste	Ctrl + V	⌘ + V
Undo	Ctrl + Z	⌘ + Z
Redo	Ctrl + Y	⌘ + Y
Find	Ctrl + F	⌘ + F
Find and replace	Ctrl + H	⌘ + Shift + H
Fill down	Ctrl + D	⌘ + D
Fill right	Ctrl + R	⌘ + R
Fill range	Ctrl + Enter	⌘ + Enter
Insert comment	Ctrl + Alt + M	⌘ + Option + M
Insert rows above selection or columns to the left of selection	Ctrl + Alt + =	⌘ + Option + Shift + =
Delete selected rows or columns	Ctrl + Alt + –	⌘ + Option + –
USING FORMULAS
Action	Chrome OS and Windows shortcut	macOS shortcut
Show all formulas in spreadsheet	Ctrl + ~	Control + ~
Insert array formula	Ctrl + Shift + Enter	⌘ + Shift + Enter

Ready to take Sheets to the next level? Check out “6 quick tips for Google Sheets.”

This article was originally published in August 2019 and most recently updated in August 2025.

More Google Sheets tips:

• Google Workspace: 7 great ways to use the Gemini AI sidebar
• Google Sheets power tips: How to use filters and slicers
• Google Sheets power tips: How to use pivot tables
• How to use Google Sheets for project management
• How to use smart chips in Google Docs and Sheets
• 4 advanced ‘smart chip’ tips for Google Docs and Sheets
• Google Workspace power tips: Tap into cross-app productivity
• More Google Workspace tips and tutorials

If you’re new to Google Sheets, our Google Sheets cheat sheet can quickly get you up and running with the popular web-based spreadsheet app. Once you’ve mastered the basics, it’s time to dig in with a few intermediate tips.

We’ll guide you through a fast way to clean up your data; how named ranges can help you navigate large spreadsheets; how to embed contact info and dropdown lists in cells; why and how to use filters and slicers; and more. The features covered in this story are available in Sheets to anyone with a Google account — no subscription required.

In this article:

1. Clean up your data
2. Navigate your spreadsheet faster with named ranges
3. Add contacts or calendar events to your spreadsheet
4. Use dropdowns for guided responses
5. Zero in on key data with filters and slicers
6. Present your spreadsheet in Google Meet

1. Clean up your data

Google Sheets can help you check and edit the data consistency of your spreadsheet. On the menu bar at the top, click Data > Data cleanup > Cleanup suggestions. A panel will open to the right of the screen.

This tool analyzes your spreadsheet and offers suggestions to improve its look and performance, such as adding formatting to numbers, deleting duplicate rows, fixing inconsistent data, and more. Try this out if you have an old, complex spreadsheet that could use a review and freshening up.

2. Navigate your spreadsheet faster with named ranges

If your spreadsheet has several sheets, or a single sheet that’s so large it can’t be seen all at once in the main window without scrolling, use the “Named ranges” tool to design it for easier navigating.

To open this tool, click Data > Named ranges from the menu bar. Or, toward the upper left of your spreadsheet, click the small upside-down triangle and select Manage named ranges. This opens a “Named ranges” panel along the right.

With this panel open, click a cell or select a range of cells in your spreadsheet. You’ll see the cell or range of cells denoted in the second entry box on the right. Type in a name for this cell or range of cells, then click Done. To add more named ranges, click Add a range in the panel and repeat the process. In this way, you can build a list of other named cells and cell ranges.

From then on, whenever you open this “Named ranges” panel, or click the upside-down triangle at the upper left of your spreadsheet, you’ll be able to jump your view of the spreadsheet to a cell or cell range that you named.

You can edit an existing named range at any time by opening the panel and clicking the pencil icon to the right of the range you want to change. Now you can rename it or select a different range of cells, then click Ok and then Done.

3. Add contacts or calendar events to your spreadsheet

You can insert a mini profile card for someone in your Google contacts into a cell in your spreadsheet. Type the @ symbol inside a cell to open a panel that lists a few suggested people in your contacts. Or you can type the person’s name or their email address to pull them up from your contacts. Click the person’s name and it’ll be inserted into the cell.

(If you try to add someone who doesn’t have access to the spreadsheet, you’ll be guided through the steps of inviting them.)

This is handy in scenarios where a particular person is in charge of one of the items being tracked in the spreadsheet, for example. When you hover the pointer over the cell with their name, a mini profile card for them will pop up. On it, you can click links to email this person, start a chat message or video call with them, or add them to an event on your calendar.

This profile card is known as a “smart chip.” You can insert smart chips into cells that contain other information, such as an event scheduled on your Google calendar or a stock price that’s updated in real time. On the toolbar above your spreadsheet, select Insert > Smart chips to see these and other smart chips.

See our in-depth smart chips guide for more info on the various types of smart chips and how to use them in Google Docs and Sheets.

4. Use dropdowns for guided responses

One of the most useful types of smart chip is the dropdown list, a button that lets users of your spreadsheet select from a small number of preset options. For example, you could have a dropdown with various status stages for a project (Not started, Assigned, In progress, etc.) or one that lists specific numeric percentages. Having people select an item from a list rather than typing into a cell saves time and reduces the chance of typos and other errors.

To add a dropdown, place your cursor in the cell you want it to appear in, and choose Insert > Dropdown. The “Data validation rules” panel opens on the right. Here you can type in the text for the items in your dropdown, add more items, assign a color to each item in the list, and more. See “Google Sheets power tips: How to use dropdown lists” for step-by-step instructions.

5. Zero in on key data with filters and slicers

Large spreadsheets can be overwhelming, so it’s helpful to apply filters to a sheet when you want to focus on one type of data or on items that meet certain criteria. For instance, you can create a filter for a sales spreadsheet that hides any transactions below $5,000, allowing you to quickly zoom in on higher-value sales.

A slicer is similar, but it’s a toolbar that you embed into your spreadsheet. Anyone viewing your spreadsheet can interact with the toolbar to filter the spreadsheet data in various ways.

In a nutshell, you insert a filter by selecting a range of cells to apply the filter to, click Data > Create a filter from the top menu, and then fill out a panel with the criteria you want to apply to your filter. Inserting a slicer is fairly similar, but you start by selecting Data > Add a slicer. For complete instructions for both, see “Google Sheets power tips: How to use filters and slicers.”

6. Present your spreadsheet in Google Meet

One way to solicit feedback on your spreadsheet is to present it during a Google Meet meeting. Toward the upper right of your spreadsheet, click the camera icon. On the panel that opens, click to enter a meeting that’s scheduled on your Google calendar today, or type or paste in the web link or code that you have for another meeting.

For more details about using Google Meet, including collaborating with it, see our Google Meet cheat sheet.

More Google Sheets tips:

• Google Workspace: 7 great ways to use the Gemini AI sidebar
• How to use Google Sheets for project management
• Google Sheets power tips: How to use pivot tables
• 4 advanced ‘smart chip’ tips for Google Docs and Sheets
• Google Sheets: Create an automatically updating spreadsheet
• Google Workspace power tips: Tap into cross-app productivity
• More Google Workspace tips and tutorials