Microsoft said

Access to this page requires authorization. You can try signing in or changing directories .

Access to this page requires authorization. You can try changing directories .

How to get the Windows 11 2026 Update

Secure Boot client playbook for certificates expiring in 2026

An IT pro’s guide to Windows 11, version 26H2

Windows Server Secure Boot playbook for certificates expiring in 2026

You can now remap the Copilot key to function as the Right Ctrl or Context key, helping preserve familiar keyboard shortcuts and accessibility workflows.

Camera roll backup in Settings helps eligible users protect their photos with OneDrive. You can turn on the feature from the Settings or Accounts page and finish setup on your phone using a QR code.

Windows now supports Emoji 17.0 , adding new emoji such as distorted face, fight cloud, and hairy creature, and refreshing several existing designs including saluting face, goose, and lotus for better consistency across platforms. To insert them, press Windows key + Period (.) to open the emoji panel.

File Explorer now handles downloaded files more flexibly, with a new Preview anyway button for HTML files and automatic previews for non-HTML files such as PDFs, while remembers whether each section is expanded or collapsed and the reorganized Details pane shows cloud file thumbnails more reliably.

A new Open apps maximized setting automatically maximizes app windows as they open, whether you use a screen reader or magnification, work in tablet mode, or simply prefer a consistent full-screen workspace.

Windows 11, version 26H1: KB5129194

Windows 11, versions 25H2 and 24H2: KB5129195

Windows 11, versions 25H2 and 24H2 (hotpatch): KB5129241

Windows 11, version 23H2: KB5129242

Windows Server 2025: KB5129235

Windows Server 2022: KB5129237

Windows 10, version 22H2 and Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC 2021: KB5129236

Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC 2019 and Windows Server 2019: KB5129238

Windows 10 Enterprise LTSB 2016 and Windows Server 2016: KB5129239

Windows Server 2012 R2: KB5129243

Windows Server 2012: KB5129244

Touchstone Podcast Series: Cloud Native Management — Part One: “Plan”

Touchstone Podcast Series: Cloud Native Management — Part Two: “Plan"

Touchstone Podcast Series: Cloud Native Management — Part Three: "Prepare"

Touchstone Podcast Series: Cloud Native Management — Part Four: "Deploy"

This security update includes improvements that were part of update KB5120998 (released August 27, 2026).

This update expands high confidence device targeting data, increasing coverage of devices eligible to automatically receive new Secure Boot certificates . Devices receive the new certificates only after demonstrating sufficient successful update signals, maintaining a controlled and phased rollout.

This update makes quality improvements to the servicing stack, which is the component that installs Windows updates.

Windows quality updates overview

Quality update status report

Quick machine recovery updates

Quick machine recovery update status report

You can now choose whether the taskbar appears at the bottom, top, left, or right side of your screen, with tooltips, flyouts, and most customization settings, such as never combining taskbar icons, working in every position.

A new smaller taskbar option reduces the size of taskbar icons and taskbar height to maximize screen space on smaller devices, while keeping quick access to Start, , and the system tray.

The Start is now more personal, letting you choose a small or large size, independently show or hide the Pinned, Recommended, and All sections, and hide your name and profile picture.

Windows now makes results easier to scan by showing where each result comes from—app, setting, file, web, or Store—and can automatically index your most used folders so those files show up in your searches.

Launching File Explorer is now faster and more responsive, and the Recommended section supports touch scrolling for easier browsing.

Administrator protection helps reduce the risk of elevation-of-privilege attacks by using profile separation and just-in-time administrative privileges. It is off by default and can be enabled through Microsoft Intune (OMA-URI) or Group Policy.

This security update includes improvements that were part of update KB5101684 (released July 28, 2026).

This update expands high confidence device targeting data, increasing coverage of devices eligible to automatically receive new Secure Boot certificates. Devices receive the new certificates only after demonstrating sufficient successful update signals, maintaining a controlled and phased rollout.

This update makes quality improvements to the servicing stack, which is the component that installs Windows updates.

Windows 11 Enterprise, versions 25H2 and 24H2: Standalone update KB5123607

Windows 11 Enterprise, versions 25H2 and 24H2 — Additional update for devices where the Pluton security processor has been configured as the TPM: KB5123273 (restart required)

Windows Server 2022: KB5123303 (restart required)

This update adds Voice Isolation to Voice Access, helping it better recognize your voice by reducing interference from other speakers and background noise.

Windows Hello Enhanced Sign-in Security (ESS) now supports peripheral fingerprint sensors.

Taskbar notification badges for Widgets now use your Windows accent color instead of appearing red, helping reduce unnecessary attention-grabbing alerts.

File sizes in the Details view now display using appropriate units (KB, MB, GB) instead of KB-only, making them easier to understand at a glance.

New touchpad gesture controls let you adjust scroll and zoom speed, and enable accelerated scrolling for faster through long documents.

Windows 11, versions 25H2 and 24H2: KB5121767

Windows 11 Enterprise LTSC 2024: Hotpatch KB5121768

This security update includes improvements that were part of update KB5095093 (released June 23, 2026).

This update addresses an issue that affects certain third-party apps that use OLE Automation to interact with Microsoft Office.

This update changes hotkey unregister and cleanup behavior.

This update introduces a security hardening change that enforces TDI transport registration requirements.

This update upgrades the curl tool in Windows to version 8.21.0 and includes security improvements that help protect your device.

July 1 – Windows Server Secure Boot AMA

July 8 – Secure Boot Office Hours for virtualized environments

July 15 – OEM Secure Boot Office Hours

A calendar experience in Windows Update Settings ( Settings > Windows Update ) lets you pause updates by choosing an end date for up to 35 days. You can extend the pause by selecting a different end date and re‑pause updates as needed.

Point-in-time restore for Windows helps you quickly roll back your PC, including apps, settings, and personal files, to a recent automatic restore point. It helps reduce downtime and simplifies troubleshooting when issues occur.

Windows now keeps the microphone mute state in sync between the audio mixer and the Hands-Free Profile (HFP) for a more consistent experience with Bluetooth headphones with mute buttons or indicators.

You can now customize the size of the right-click zone in Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Touchpad . Choose from default, small, medium, or large to control how much of the bottom-right corner responds to a single-finger right-click. This setting is only available on touchpads with a pressable surface.

This security update includes improvements that were a part of update KB5089573 (released May 26, 2026).

This update expands high confidence device targeting data, increasing coverage of devices eligible to automatically receive new Secure Boot certificates. Devices receive the new certificates only after demonstrating sufficient successful update signals, maintaining a controlled and phased rollout.

This update includes a resolution for CVE‑2026‑45585 (BitLocker security feature bypass). The mitigation script remains part of the guidance and does not need to be reverted.

Shared audio enables two people to listen to the same audio from a single Windows 11 PC at the identical time.

Task Manager now provides enhanced visibility into NPU usage, including new metrics and AI activity insights.

Multi‑App Camera allows multiple apps to access the camera simultaneously. Basic Camera mode enables simplified camera functionality, useful for troubleshooting when your camera is not working correctly

You can now choose a custom name for your user folder on the Device Name page during Windows setup. User folder names must follow standard Windows naming requirements .

This security update includes improvements that were a part of update KB5083631 (released April 30, 2026).

This update makes quality improvements to the servicing stack, which is the component that installs Windows updates.

This update expands high confidence device targeting data, increasing coverage of devices eligible to automatically receive new Secure Boot certificates. Devices receive the new certificates only after demonstrating sufficient successful update signals, maintaining a controlled and phased rollout.

This update improves startup reliability after boot file updates, so devices start normally without entering BitLocker recovery.

This update improves the reliability of Simple Service Discovery Protocol (SSDP) notifications to help prevent the service from becoming unresponsive.

Xbox mode is now available on Windows 11 PCs, including laptops, desktops, and tablets. Xbox mode provides a streamlined, full-screen interface that places games front and center while minimizing background activity. You can enter Xbox mode from the Xbox app, Game Bar settings, or by pressing the Windows logo key + F11 .

You can now experience haptic feedback on supported input devices when performing certain actions, such as aligning objects in PowerPoint, snapping or resizing windows. Haptic feedback can be managed in Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Mouse, Touchpad, or Pen > Haptic signals .

This update adds support for a dynamic app removal list to the “Remove Default Microsoft Store Packages” policy for Windows Enterprise and Education. Administrators can remove additional MSIX/APPX apps by specifying package family names using Group Policy. For more information, see Policy-based in-box app removal .​​​​​​​

This update improves the performance of launching startup apps after starting your device (apps listed under Settings > Apps > Startup ).

Microsoft 365 Copilot is also installed.

Copilot wasn’t installed by the user.

Copilot wasn’t launched in the last 28 days.

Windows Server 2025: KB5091157 (OS Build 26100.32698) Out-of-band

Windows Server, version 23H2: KB5091571 (OS Build 25398.2276) Out-of-band

Windows Server 2022: KB5091575 (OS Build 20348.5024) Out-of-band

Windows Server 2019: KB5091573 (OS Build 17763.8647) Out-of-band

Windows Server 2016: KB5091572 (OS Build 14393.9062) Out-of-band

Windows Server 2025 Datacenter: Azure Edition: Hotpatch KB5091470 (OS Build 26100.32704) Out-of-band

Windows Server 2022 Datacenter: Azure Edition: Hotpatch KB5091576 (OS Build 20348.5029) Out-of-band

This security update includes fixes and quality improvements from KB5079391 (released March 26, 2026 - no longer offered) and KB5086672 (released March 31, 2026).

This update makes quality improvements to the servicing stack, which is the component that installs Windows updates.

This update expands high confidence device targeting data, increasing coverage of devices eligible to automatically receive new Secure Boot certificates. Devices receive the new certificates only after demonstrating sufficient successful update signals, maintaining a controlled and phased rollout.

This update improves reliability for SMB compression over QUIC, reducing timeouts and enabling more consistent and dependable performance.

This update enhances protection against phishing attacks that use Remote Desktop (.rdp) files by showing all requested connection settings before connecting, with settings turned off by default and a one‑time security warning on first use.

Narrator now provides rich image descriptions on Copilot+ PCs and works with Copilot on all Windows 11 devices, allowing users to get instant on‑device descriptions or ask Copilot for more detail.

This update improves the design of the dialog boxes in Settings > Accounts > Other users to match the modern Windows look and support dark mode. The visibility of the dialog box option depends on whether the device has a domain joined work or school account.

This update improves the File Explorer experience, including more reliable unblocking of downloaded files and support for Voice Typing when renaming files.

This update delivers several display improvements, including support for refresh rates above 1000 Hz, improved auto‑rotation and HDR reliability, and better power efficiency for USB4‑connected monitors during sleep.

Last updated on 2026-09-30