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Windows 11 Windows 11 Insider 26H2 Insider Preview, Experimental Channel
Windows Insider

Build 26340.9596

Build 26340.9596: Windows Insider Experimental Channel, October 2026. Unicode text support and quicker profile-folder navigation

In short

Updates Unicode text support, adds ~ shortcuts in File Explorer, and adds a Settings entry for Cloud Rebuild. Settings improvements should reduce loading times in certain scenarios.

Does it affect you? Applies to: Devices enrolled in the Windows Insider Program in the Experimental Channel.

Build
26340.9596

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

Improvements 3 changes

Unicode

Gradual rollout

For: Insiders in the Experimental Channel

  • Windows can better display and shape newly encoded characters and scripts, including support for four newly encoded scripts.1
    Updates Windows text shaping support for Unicode 17.0, which added 4,803 characters, including Beria Erfe, Sidetic, Tai Yo, and Tolong Siki.

File Explorer

Gradual rollout

For: Insiders in the Experimental Channel

  • Type ~ in the Address Bar to navigate directly to your user profile folder or a subfolder, such as ~\AppData.2

Settings

Gradual rollout

For: Insiders in the Experimental Channel

  • Settings home page improvements should reduce loading times in certain scenarios.3

New feature 1 change

Recovery

Gradual rollout

For: Insiders in the Experimental Channel

  • A new entry point makes Cloud Rebuild easier to access in Settings > System > Recovery.4

Technical details

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

Data sheet

Released
2026-10-02
Type
Windows Insider build
VersionBuildChannel
— 26340.9596 Experimental Channel

Security

No vulnerabilities are listed for this update.

Sources

Updated
Cited passages from Microsoft's official notes (4)
  1. 1. We've updated Windows text shaping support for Unicode 17.0, helping Windows correctly display and shape newly encoded characters and scripts. learn.microsoft.com
  2. 2. Address Bar now supports '~' , making it quicker to navigate directly to your user profile folder and subfolders (e.g., "~\AppData"). learn.microsoft.com
  3. 3. We're making performance improvements to the Settings home page, which should result in reduced loading times in certain scenarios. learn.microsoft.com
  4. 4. We're adding a new entry point for Cloud Rebuild under Settings > System > Recovery, making it easier to access the feature from Settings. learn.microsoft.com
Checked automatically: 8 of 8 checks passed, 4 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 5/5, clarity 5/5, completeness 5/5. 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