Build 26120.1542: Windows Insider Dev Channel, August 2024. Widgets move on left-aligned taskbars; taskbar navigation improves

Build 26120.1542 for the Dev Channel moves the Widgets entry point on left-aligned taskbars, adds keyboard navigation, and includes fixes for input, Registry Editor, and other components.

Does it affect you? Applies to: Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel.

Review notes Additional details from the official release notes (1) Read note

In detail Insiders joining the Dev Channel from PCs running Windows 11, version 24H2 build 26100.xxxx, will see “(repair version)” beside the latest Dev build in Windows Update. It means an in-place upgrade will update the PC to the latest Dev build.

The official sources are linked at the end of the page.

This is a test build for people in the Windows Insider Program. Features in it can change, be removed, or never reach regular Windows releases.

What changes

Fixes 9 changes

Hardware keyboard text suggestions

Gradual rollout

For: Insiders with the latest-updates toggle on

Selecting a hardware-keyboard text suggestion no longer unexpectedly joins it to the surrounding text.¹

Emoji panel

Gradual rollout

For: Insiders with the latest-updates toggle on

The emoji panel stays open when you switch to the kaomoji or symbols sections, or select an emoji.²

Registry Editor

Gradual rollout

For: Insiders with the latest-updates toggle on

A pasted hexadecimal value in a DWORD or QWORD entry is saved as entered.³
Fixes an issue where a pasted value such as 0x1 could be saved as 0x411.

Additional languages and optional features

For: Everyone in the Dev Channel

Adding additional languages or optional features no longer fails with error 0x800f081f.⁴

Group Policy Preferences Item Level Targeting and Local Users and Groups

Administrators can choose groups from a target domain and accounts from Local Users and Groups in the affected multi-forest deployments.⁵
The issue affected Enhanced Security Admin Environment (ESAE), Hardened Forests (HF), and Privileged Access Management (PAM) deployments where the target domain has a one-way trust with the admin's domain.

Share button

For: Everyone in the Dev Channel using USB controllers

The Share button works with Game Bar on USB controllers.⁶

GPU-paravirtualized virtual machines and containers

For: Everyone in the Dev Channel using GPU-paravirtualized virtual machines or containers

Graphics allocation creation is more reliable after a virtual machine or container restarts.⁷

PowerShell and VBScript

For: Everyone in the Dev Channel using PowerShell or VBScript

Scripts can use Windows Update Agent APIs again.⁸

BitLocker

For: Everyone in the Dev Channel using BitLocker

Firmware updates no longer fail because BitLocker is turned on.⁹

Improvements 4 changes

Widgets

Gradual rollout 2 items

The Widgets board gets security and API changes for creating widgets and feeds.¹⁰
For users in EEA regions, the Microsoft Start Experiences app powers the Microsoft Start widget and feed experiences.
Some existing widgets are modified, which temporarily affects their functionality.¹¹

Windows Kernel Vulnerable Driver Blocklist

For: Everyone in the Dev Channel

The driver blocklist includes more drivers that are at risk of BYOVD attacks.¹²
The update adds entries to DriverSiPolicy.p7b.

Domain Name System (DNS)

For: Everyone in the Dev Channel; DNS administrators may notice the configuration warning

DNS server security is hardened. Out-of-date domain configurations might cause a SERVFAIL error or a timeout.¹³

New features 2 changes

Widgets

Gradual rollout

For: Insiders with the latest-updates toggle on

On left-aligned taskbars, the Widgets entry point moves to the left of the system tray and becomes wider. The Widgets board opens from the right.¹⁴

Taskbar & System Tray

Gradual rollout

For: Insiders with the latest-updates toggle on

When the taskbar has keyboard focus, pressing a letter jumps to an open or pinned app whose name starts with that letter. Home and End move focus to the first and last taskbar items.¹⁵
For an uncombined taskbar, letter navigation uses the window name instead of the app name. Repeatedly pressing a letter moves to the next matching app.

Removals 2 changes

Widgets

Gradual rollout

For: Insiders with the latest-updates toggle on

Some existing widgets are removed as part of the Widgets board update.¹⁶

NetJoinLegacyAccountReuse

For: Everyone in the Dev Channel

The NetJoinLegacyAccountReuse registry key is removed.¹⁷
The release notes refer to KB5020276 for details about domain join hardening changes.

Technical details

Data sheet · Security · Downloads · Components Click to collapse or expand

Data sheet

Released: 2024-08-19
Type: Windows Insider build

Version	Build	Channel
—	26120.1542	Dev Channel

Security

No vulnerabilities are listed for this update.

Sources

Windows Insider Blog

Updated Oct 27, 2026

Cited passages from Microsoft's official notes (17)

1. Fixed an issue causing text suggestions for the hardware keyboard to not work properly (selecting one unexpectedly concatenated). blogs.windows.com
2. Fixed an issue causing the emoji panel to close when trying to switch to the kaomoji and symbols sections, or after selecting an emoji. blogs.windows.com
3. Fixed an issue in Registry Editor where when editing a DWORD or QWORD if you pasted in a HEX value into the text box and saved it, the value saved might not be the one you had entered (for example, pasting 0x1 would become 0x411). blogs.windows.com
4. Fixed an issue where adding additional languages or optional features might fail with error 0x800f081f in the last few flights. blogs.windows.com
5. You cannot choose a group from the target domain for ILT. Also, you cannot choose an account from Local Users and Groups. blogs.windows.com
6. On USB controllers, the button might not work with Game Bar. blogs.windows.com
7. After you restart it, graphic allocation creation might fail. Because of this, the VM and Container are not as reliable as you expect. blogs.windows.com
8. The issue stops you from using Windows Update Agent (WUA) APIs in your scripts. blogs.windows.com
9. A firmware update might fail if you turn on BitLocker. blogs.windows.com
10. We are rolling out an update to the Widgets Board to improve security and the APIs for creating widgets and feeds for users in EEA regions. blogs.windows.com
11. others will be modified, temporarily affecting their functionality. blogs.windows.com
12. This update adds to the list of drivers that are at risk for Bring Your Own Vulnerable Driver (BYOVD) attacks. blogs.windows.com
13. This update hardens DNS server security to address CVE-2024-37968. If the configurations of your domains are not up to date, you might get the SERVFAIL error or time out. blogs.windows.com
14. The taskbar entry-point will move to the left of the systems tray and will be wider so you can see richer content from Widgets on your taskbar. When you launch the Widgets board, it will fly out from the right side instead of the left side. blogs.windows.com
15. Updated the taskbar to now support first letter navigation, so when keyboard focus is set to the taskbar (WIN + T), you can press a letter, and it will jump to the open or pinned app whose name starts with that letter. blogs.windows.com
16. some existing widgets will be removed blogs.windows.com
17. This update removes this registry key. For more information refer to KB5020276—Netjoin: Domain join hardening changes. blogs.windows.com

Checked automatically: 8 of 8 checks passed, 17 quoted passages

Quotes found in the official pages: passed
Numbers found in the sources: passed
Vulnerabilities from the dossier only: passed
Links to allowed domains only: passed
Every official change covered: passed
Readable plain text: passed
Changes confirmed by the file list: passed
Sources agree: passed

A second AI read the text against the sources: correctness 4/5, clarity 4/5, completeness 4/5. How we work

Published by The Update Bureau. Written with AI from Microsoft's own documents, checked by rules and a second AI. How we work · Report a mistake