Microsoft Ships September Preview Updates for Windows 11

It’s Week D, so Microsoft has shipped preview updates for Windows 11 versions 24H2, 25H2, and 26H1 ahead of October’s Patch Tuesday releases in stable.

Those with Windows 11 versions 24H2 and 25H2 can optionally installed preview cumulative update KB5124010, which upgrades the system to builds 26100.9550 and 26200.9550, respectively, and map to the Release Preview builds that Microsoft issued about 10 days ago. Notable new features and changes include:

• File Explorer updates to the preview pane, Home, thumbnail reliability, and address bar fixes
• Emoji 17.0 support
• New Tips widget for the Widgets board and Lock screen
• Desktop background improvements
• Bluetooth improvements
• Settings app improvements
• Additional touchpad gesture controls
• New Copilot key remapping options (Right Ctrl and Context menu)
• Wi-Fi support in the Windows Recovery Environment
• Fixes for File History, Camera, and System Monitor (sysmon)

Note, too, that this will be the last monthly update for Windows 11 version 24H2 when it ships in stable next month as that version is going out of support on October 13, 2026. That suggests that Windows 11 version 26H2 will become broadly available before that date.

As for 26H1, you can install preview cumulative update KB5124006 and upgrade the OS to build 28000.3086. As always, this Windows 11 version is a month behind, so this Week D delivers the major “pain points” updates that 24H2 and 25H2 got in stable earlier this month. Notable new features and changes include:

• New Taskbar that can be resized and moved to other screen sides
• New Start menu that can be resized and more easily customized
• New Windows Search with a clean, distraction-free Home view, improved results filtering, and the ability to disable web and Store app suggestions
• File Explorer improvements including touch scrolling support and performance and reliability updates
• Improved progress updaters throughout, including during startup, sign-in, restart, shutdown, and update installation
• Enhanced app update support to time them with Windows Update-based updates
• File History fixes