Hello Windows Insiders,
Today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5516 (KB5054687) to the Dev Channel.
REMINDER: Starting with Build 26200.5510 releases on March 24th, the Dev Channel has jumped ahead to receive 26200 series builds. This means that the window to switch from the Dev Channel to the Beta Channel is closed. These 26200 series builds are based on Windows 11, version 24H2 and will contain many of the same features and improvements as the 26120 series builds that will continue to be released in the Beta Channel. Over time, we be making behind-the-scenes platform changes in these builds and these builds may have different known issues as a result of those changes than what we’re flighting to the Beta Channel.
Improved Windows Search for AMD and Intel®-powered Copilot+ PCs
Local Semantic Search
We are making finding your documents, photos, and settings across Windows 11 easier on AMD and Intel®-powered Copilot+ PCs by introducing semantic indexing along with traditional indexing. Whether it’s searching in File Explorer, in the Windows search box on your taskbar, or in Settings – just type what’s on your mind to find it on your Copilot+ PC. You no longer need to remember file names, exact words in file content, or settings names. For example, you can use your own words to find images by typing “bridge at sunset”, documents by describing what they are about like “Europe trip budget”, or settings like “change my theme”. Thanks to the power of the 40+ TOPS NPU onboard Copilot+ PCs, these search improvements work even when you’re not connected to the internet.
You can go to Settings > Privacy & security > Searching Windows to adjust which locations are indexed on your PC or turn on “Enhanced” to index your entire PC.
Searching for settings like “change my theme” will work within the Settings app for now. In a future flight, you will be able to do this within the Windows search box on the taskbar.
These experiences are supported in select languages (Chinese, English, French, German, Japanese, and Spanish) and document formats. Supported file formats include .txt, .pdf, .docx, .doc, .rtf, .pptx, .ppt, .xls, .xlsx for documents and .jpg/.jpeg, .png, .gif, .bmp, .ico for images. See here for more details.
You can learn more about semantic search on Copilot + PCs here.
Find photos saved in the cloud with improved Windows Search
We are also announcing support for also finding photos saved in the cloud with improved Windows Search for AMD and Intel®-powered Copilot+ PCs. Just use your own words to find photos stored and saved in the cloud by describing what they are about like “European castles” or “summer picnics” in the search box at the top right corner of File Explorer or also in the Windows search box. In addition to photos stored locally on your Copilot+ PC, photos from the cloud will now show up in the search results together. In addition to searching for photos, exact matches for your keywords within the text of your cloud files will show in the search results.
You can try this experience out today with your personal OneDrive when signed in with your Microsoft account and connected to the internet. If you are signed into OneDrive with a work or school account (Entra ID), you will only see matches for keywords you are searching for within the text of your cloud files in the search results – not photos. Third-party cloud providers will be able to support this experience with their services as well with documentation coming soon.
We’re excited to introduce a new way to find your cloud content in Windows and will continue improving search results and capabilities over time.
These improved Windows Search experiences continue to gradually roll out to Windows Insiders on Copilot+ PCs, including finding photos saved in the cloud, so you may not see these experiences right away.
You can learn more about semantic search on Copilot + PCs here.
FEEDBACK for File Explorer Search: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Files Folders and Online Storage > File Explorer Search.
FEEDBACK for Windows Taskbar Search: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Desktop Environment > Search.
FEEDBACK for Settings Search: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Settings > Search Settings.
New features gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*
Introducing speech recap in Narrator
We are always working to make Narrator more intuitive, efficient, and helpful for users who rely on it every day. With that in mind, we are introducing a new feature—speech recap —designed to help you keep track of what Narrator has spoken and access it for quick reference. With speech recap, you can quickly access spoken content, follow along with live transcription, and copy what Narrator last said—all with simple keyboard shortcuts.
You can open the speech recap window with Narrator key + Alt + X and can find the last 500 strings Narrator had spoken. Note that we refresh the text in this window every time Narrator starts. You can use standard reading commands and arrow keys to read the contents in speech recap window and copy text required for reference.
Need to save or share something Narrator just said last? You can copy it instantly without opening the speech recap window. Use Narrator key + Control + X to copy the last spoken phrase to your clipboard.
Few scenarios where you can use speech recap and related shortcuts include referring to a hint you heard when opening a new window, copying an error code that was spoken or adding Narrator speech to training materials.
Live transcription of Narrator speech is useful for Assistive Technology (AT) trainers, teacher of students with visual impairments (TSVI) who support students in class and for professionals who are hard of hearing and want to use Narrator. To see live transcription of Narrator audio, use the same command Narrator key + Alt + X to open the speech recap window and snap it to the portion of the screen you want to view it. As you do tasks, you can see real-time transcriptions of Narrator speech.
These keyboard shortcuts follow a simple patten making it easy to learn:
Control + Windows key + Enter = Turn Narrator on/Off
Narrator key + X = Re-hear what Narrator said last
Narrator key + control + X = Copy what Narrator said last
Narrator key + Alt + X = Open Speech recap window for history and live transcriptions
FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Accessibility > Narrator.
Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*
[General]
We’re previewing a new, more streamlined UI for unexpected restarts which better aligns with Windows 11 design principles and supports our goal of getting users back into productivity as fast as possible. We’ve simplified your experience while preserving the technical information on the screen. As a reminder, for Windows Insiders this appears as a “green screen”. This is beginning to roll out to Windows Insiders on Windows 11, version 24H2 and higher in the Beta, Dev, and Canary Channels.
[Copilot on Windows]
You can now launch Copilot on Windows with Win + C. You can personalize your Copilot key and Win + C experience at any time with the existing “Customize Copilot key on keyboard” under Settings > Personalization > Text input.
To access the press to talk feature and start a conversation with Copilot on Windows, press and hold the Copilot key for 2 seconds. For PCs without the Copilot key, press and hold Win + C for 2 seconds. To end your conversation, press the Esc key. If there is no speaking for several seconds, Copilot will automatically end the conversation. When the conversation is over, the microphone on the screen will disappear. As announced previously, you can also press and hold Alt + Spacebar to talk with Copilot on Windows. Press to talk allows you to interact with Copilot using your voice, providing instant responses while staying in your current workflow and continuing tasks without interruption. Press to talk is supported in the latest Copilot app update (version 1.25033.139.0 and higher). This update is beginning to roll out across Insider Channels via the Microsoft Store.
Developers can get the same trigger for press to talk for their apps that support the Copilot key by using Handle Microsoft Copilot hardware key state changes. Note, the enterprise-focused Microsoft 365 Copilot app does not have this support today.
Win + C and press to talk are gradually rolling out so not all Insiders will get the update right away. We are excited to be previewing improvements with our Insiders to ensure all our customers have a great Copilot experience for Windows.
[Click to Do (Preview)]
On your Copilot+ PCs, you can now access Click to Do from the Start menu including the ability to pin it to Start and your taskbar.
Click to Do can now perform intelligent text actions in Spanish and French in addition to English. We will continue to roll out support for additional languages in future updates. Text actions are currently available on Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PCs and coming soon for AMD and Intel®-powered Copilot+ PCs.
Click to Do has a text action to create a bulleted list. Currently available in English, Spanish, and French and on Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PCs and coming soon for AMD and Intel®-powered Copilot+ PCs.
We are providing policies for managing Click to Do in a commercial environment. IT admins can learn more here.
[Windows Share]
When you share links or web content using the Windows share window, you will see a visual preview for that content.
In the Windows share window, we are adding the ability to quickly edit and enhance images while sharing. This includes in-line image editing capabilities, such as cropping, rotating, and applying filters, as well as the ability to compress images to reduce file size for easier sharing. This ability works only for local images stored on your PC. Supported image formats: .jpg, .jpeg, .dib, .png, .tif, .tiff, and .bmp.
[Other]
We’re removing the bypassnro.cmd script from the build to enhance security and user experience of Windows 11. This change ensures that all users exit setup with internet connectivity and a Microsoft Account.
Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel
Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel receive updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 via an enablement package (Build 26200.xxxx).
Many features in the Dev Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
For Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel who want to be the first to get features gradually rolled out to you, you can turn ON the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update*. Over time, we will increase the rollouts of features to everyone with the toggle turned on. Should you keep this toggle off, new features will gradually be rolled out to your PC over time once they are ready.
Features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.
Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.
Please note that some accessibility features may not work with features like Recall and Click to Do while in preview with Windows Insiders.
Because the Dev and Beta Channels represent parallel development paths from our engineers, there may be cases where features and experiences show up in the Beta Channel first.
Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.
Before you update your machine, visit the Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5516 (Dev Channel) | Windows Insider Blog today to view full details on new features, general changes, improvements, known issues and much more!